OHL Alumni Central

Every year the best of the Ontario Hockey League join the best junior hockey players in the world in hopes of being drafted high in the National Hockey League entry draft. It is often said that despite two days and round after round of picks, the players chosen in the first and second round are the ones with any glimmer of hope to make it to the NHL.

However, there are always exceptions to the rule and we have some examples of that today.

Eric Boulton played in the Ontario Hockey League for three seasons from 1993-94 to 1995-96. He played his first season with the Oshawa Generals and his last with the Sarnia Sting. The middle campaign was split between the two. Over the three seasons, Boulton sat out 651 minutes in penalties over 162 regular season games.

Eric was drafted way back in the ninth round of the 1994 NHL draft by the New York Rangers, 234th overall. Boulton is now entering his tenth season as a regular in the NHL. His NHL career started in 2000-01 in Buffalo where he played four seasons with the Sabres. He played for Columbia Inferno of the ECHL during the 2004-05 strike season. Since, he has been an Atlanta Thrasher, the team he will play for in 2010-11. To date, Boulton has played 480 NHL games.

Shane O’Brien played three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2000-01 to 2002-03. He played his first two full seasons with the Kingston Frontenacs and split his final season between the Frontenacs and the Toronto St. Michael’s Majors.

O’Brien was drafted in the eighth round of the 2003 NHL draft by the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, 250th overall. Shane spent his first three seasons in professional hockey playing in the American Hockey League (Cincinnati Mighty Ducks, Portland Pirates). 2006-07 saw O’Brien break into the NHL as a regular, starting the season with the Anaheim Ducks then being traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning. He played the full 2007-08 season with the Lightning. He became a Vancouver Canuck at the start of the 2008-09 season and has been with the team since.

A real inspiration to those not drafted in the first two rounds is Dan Girardi. Girardi wasn’t drafted at all and was signed as a free agent in 2006 by the New York Rangers. This past season was his fourth with the Rangers and he has not missed a game over the past three.

Girardi played in the Ontario Hockey League for five seasons from 2000-01 to 2004-05. He began with the Barrie Colts and was traded to the Guelph Storm midway through the 2002-03 season. After helping the Storm to a Robertson Cup victory in 2003-04, he was traded to the London Knights during the 2004-05 season and helped the Knights to a Memorial Cup victory.

These three are just a few of the players that prove that anyone can make it to the big show.

If you haven’t yet checked it out, the OHL Alumni In Europe For 2010-11 early bird version is available for download free.