OHL Alumni Central

Andris Dzerins played two years in the Ontario Hockey League, 2007-08 and 2008-09, both with the Kingston Frontenacs. In each season with Kingston, Dzerins reached 20 goals, 20 in his first and 21 in his second. Previous to the OHL, Andris played junior in Latvia, Sweden and Finland.

Since leaving the Ontario Hockey League, Dzerins has been with Dinamo Riga of Russia’s KHL. The team plays out of the 10,300 seat Arena Riga in Riga, Latvia. In its recent history, Dinamo has been mediocre, finishing around .500 each season. This season has started out as no exception with the team beginning with a 7-8 record and sitting in seventh in the eleven team KHL West Conference. Riga is captained by former NHLer Sandis Ozolins.

Like mostly every other player on Dinamo Riga, Dzerins is an annual fixture on Latvia’s national team. He played for Latvia two years in the IIHF under-18 D1 World Juniors, winning one gold and one silver. He followed that up with two years with the under-20 team, also winning a gold and silver. Over the past two seasons, he has been a member of Latvia’s squad at the World Championships. In 2011, he contributed five assists in six games.

Joining Andris on Dinamo Riga are two other Ontario Hockey League grads. Arvids Rekis played four seasons with the Erie Otters from 1996-97 to 1999-00. Juris Stals played the 2001-02 season with the Sarnia Sting and the following season with the Owen Sound Attack. Both were teammates of Dzerins on the 2011 Latvia team at the Worlds. Rekis was a member of the Team Latvia at the 2010 Winter Olympics held in Vancouver, British Columbia. Stals was the only one of the three drafted by a National Hockey League club. He was a ninth rounder of the New York Rangers in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft.

Love him or hate him (if you’re a Kitchener Rangers fan, I’m sure it’s still hate), hockey life goes on for Ontario Hockey League grad Michael Liambas. Quite frankly, Todd Bertuzzi is guilty of a far more heinous and malicious crime and hockey fans seem to have forgiven him just fine. Although, I doubt the Moore family has.

Liambas will suit up for the Cincinnati Cyclones of the East Coast Hockey League for 2011-12 after finishing out the 2010-11 season with the ECHL club. Mike completed a season with the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds of the CIS and had time leftover for the final 15 games of Cincinnati’s schedule, as well as, four games in the Kelly Cup playoffs.

Mike played parts of four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2006-07 to 2009-10, all with the Erie Otters. He was banished from the league just four games into the 2009-10 season after his controversial hit on Ben Fanelli of the Kitchener Rangers.

Previous to his stint with the Thunderbirds, Liambas played 25 games over two seasons with the Bloomington Prairie Thunder of the ill-fated IHL.

Check out Michael Liambas’ profile at the official Cincinnati Cyclones website.

Speaking of the Cincinnati Cyclones, stay tuned for the next article at OHL Alumni Central featuring the coaching staff of the team. OHL grad Jarrod Skalde is entering his second year as head coach and OHL great Andrew Cassels will be in his first year as assistant coach.

The 2009-10 season marked the second year of the Erie Otters return to respectability in the Ontario Hockey League. After 15 wins in 2006-07 and 18 in 2007-08, the Otters moved above .500 for 2008-09 and 2009-10.

Seven players that wore a Erie Otters jersey at some point during the 2009-10 season moved on to a higher level for 2010-11. There were six goalies that spent time with Erie in 2009-10. Three of those moved on to the North American pro leagues.

Adam Courchaine – Adam played mostly with the Alaska Aces of the ECHL.

Jaroslav Janus – Jaroslav split his season between the AHL’s Norfolk Admirals and the ECHL’s Florida Everblades.

Shane Owen – Shane played primarily with the South Carolina Stingrays of the ECHL.

Chris Breen – Chris put in a full season with the AHL’s Abbotsford Heat.

Paul Cianfrini – Paul went the route of higher learning and played in the OUA with the Nipissing Lakers.

Michael Liambas – Michael began the season with the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds of the CIS and ended the season with the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL.

Zack Torquato – Zack played 54 games with the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye and another 12 games with the AHL’s Rockford Icehogs.

Ontario Hockey League grad Brian Lee is continuing his European tour with a stop in Italy for the 2011-12 season. Lee has signed on with Vipiteno of Italy’s Lega Italiana Hockey Ghiaccio Serie A2.

Brian Lee played five seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2000-01 to 2004-05, all with the Erie Otters. In just his second season with the Otters, Brian helped the team from the blue line as the won the Robertson Cup with a 4-1 series victory over the Barrie Colts in the playoff finals.

After that run to a 2002 Memorial Cup appearance, the Anaheim Ducks took an interest in Brian and selected in the third round of the 2002 NHL Entry Draft, 71st overall.

After graduating from the OHL, Lee played three years in the North American pros, bouncing around from teams in the ECHL and AHL. His most stable season was 2007-08, his last in North America, when he played 72 games with the ECHL’s Stockton Thunder and contributed 34 points.

In 2008-09, it was off to Europe. Brian played for Briançon in France’s Ligue Magnus. The following year, Lee found himself playing for the Coventry Blaze in Great Britain’s Elite Ice Hockey League. Coventry was the EIHL champion in his first year. This past year with Coventy, Brian wore the A on his jersey.

After two years back playing on North American soil, Ontario Hockey League grad Rob Hisey has signed to play in Europe for the 2011-12 season. Hisey is confirmed with EHC Linz of Austria’s Erste Bank Eishockey Liga.

Rob Hisey played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2001-02 to 2004-05. He began with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and was shipped to the Erie Otters midway through his second season. He remained with Erie until his final season when he moved to the Barrie Colts after 25 games with the Otters. Rob’s best output as an OHLer came in 2003-04 with Erie when he led the Otters in every offensive category (38 goals, 58 assists, 96 points).

Hisey went undrafted by an NHL club and tested the European waters immediately after graduating from the Ontario Hockey League. Over his first four years in professional hockey, Rob played in Finland’s SM-Liiga, Germany’s DEL, Austria’s EBEL, Sweden’s Elitserien and Germany’s Oberliga.

This past season, 2010-11, Hisey played in the New York Islanders organization with their American Hockey League affiliate, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Rob was second on the team in points with 48, despite only playing 59 games.

2011-12 will mark the second time Hisey has played in the EBEL. He spent 22 games with the Graz 99ers during the 2007-08 season, contributing 16 points.