OHL Alumni Central

Simon Barg played parts of two seasons in the Ontario Hockey League with the Barrie Colts in 2001-02 and 2002-03. However, it wasn’t until he left the OHL and went to school that his hockey career really took off.

Barg played with the University of Toronto Blues for four seasons from 2003-04 to 2006-07. He was team’s Rookie of the Year in 2003-04. In 2005-06, he scored 20 goals in 24 games. He was honoured with the Dr. William A. Dafoe Trophy as Toronto’s Most Valuable Player. He was also named the team’s Best All-Around Forward and wore the ‘C’ on his jersey as the team captain. In his final season with the Blues, Simon was again name the Best All-Around Forward and was the team’s captain.

After leaving the University of Toronto, Barg made his way to Germany, playing for Peiting of the the Oberliga (tier 3). He played two seasons with Peiting. His first year was very productive with 59 points in just 33 games. His second season, 2008-09, was over the top. He scored 50 goals and added 86 assists for 136 points in just 59 games. He tied teammate Lubor Dibelka for the league lead in points despite played three less games. He was the league leader in assists.

This past season, 2009-10, Barg moved to Italy and played for Vipiteno in the Lega Italiana Hockey Ghiaccio Serie 2. Simon was over a point per game with the team, accumulating 42 points in 28 games. He added another 14 in ten games in the playoffs.

This season brought him back to the German Oberliga. This time around he started the season with Essen. He had a great start to the year with 39 points in just 19 games. His point total is still in the top 25 even though the remaining players have played up to twice as many games.

Simon Barg is currently playing for Löwen Frankfurt of Germany’s Regionalliga or fourth tier. It has to be assumed that this 27 year old will climb back up the ladder to higher levels of hockey. Although he only produced nine goals in his 76 Ontario Hockey League games, he has since become an offensive threat.

Check out the roster page of Löwen Frankfurt.

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Chris Taylor, wearing number 12 for the Rochester Americans.

Chris Taylor has been an off and on member of the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League (AHL) since the 1999-00 season. 2010-11 could see him make some significant moves on a few of the team’s all-time stats lists.

Taylor played in the Ontario Hockey League for four seasons from 1988-89 to 1991-92, all with the London Knights. Chris contributed 378 points in 259 regular season games plus 43 points in 34 playoff games for the Knights. In his final three seasons, he was over 100 points per season and averaged 1.8 points per game.

Taylor was in the top 10 scorers in the Ontario Hockey League for each of those final three seasons. In 1989-90, Chris was tied for 7th in the league with 105 points. In 1990-91, his 128 points were second only to Eric Lindros of the Oshawa Generals. In his senior season, he came in 6th with 122 points.

Chris was drafted by the New York Islanders in the second round of the 1990 NHL draft. he would go on to play 149 NHL games with the Islanders, Boston Bruins and Buffalo Sabres.

Taylor took three years away from the North American game and played for the Frankfurt Lions of Germany’s Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) between 2006-07 and 2008-09. This past season, he returned right back to the Amerks and contributed 61 points in 80 games while turning 38 years old in March.

Chris Taylor currently sits in 8th on the Amerk’s all-time points list. He needs a 68 point campaign to move into sole possession of 5th place. In total regular season games played, he sits in 13th spot but only needs to play 33 games to move into 10th. In doing so, he would pass the infamous Don Cherry and OHL scoring great, Norm Milley. With only 30 assists this upcoming season, Taylor would move from 5th to 3rd on the all-time list.

Check out Chris Taylor’s profile page on the Rochester Americans official website.

At 38, Chris is definitely one of the most experienced OHL grads still active in the world of professional hockey. Recently, we’ve profiled some other Ontario Hockey League alumni that are built for the long haul:

John Slaney

Paul DiPietro

Todd Elik

John Slaney as an OHLer and as a Frankfurt Lion.

Frankfurt Lions logo.

In the past week or so, we’ve posted about Ontario Hockey League alumni that have weathered the storm in the world of hockey and put in many, many years at the pro level. We’ve also recently posted on players that hold minor league records. Just the other day, we featured Sean Blanchard, a Max Kaminsky Trophy winner.

In John Slaney, you have all that. John began his Ontario Hockey League career in 1988-89 with the Cornwall Royals. He played four seasons with the Royals and in his second season with the club won the Max Kaminsky Trophy as the OHL’s top defenseman. That season, he had 38 goals and 97 points in 64 games.

Slaney was drafted by the Washington Capitals in the first round of the 1990 NHL draft, 9th overall. Just finishing his 18th season in professional hockey, John played a total of 268 NHL games with the Capitals, Colorado Avalanche, Los Angeles Kings, Phoenix Coyotes, Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers.

However, a good part of John Slaney’s career in North America was spent in the AHL. He played for five different teams in the league: Baltimore Skipjacks, Portland Pirates, Cornwall Aces, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and Philadelphia Phantoms. From 2000-01 to 2006-07, his time was mostly spent with the Phantoms. In his first two seasons with the Phantoms, he was awarded the Eddie Shore Award as the AHL’s best defenseman.

John currently has his name in the American Hockey League’s record book in three different spots. He holds the record for most goals by a defenseman in a single season with 30. Also his is the record for most goals by a defenseman in a career with 166. Naturally, Slaney also holds the record for most points by a defenseman in a career with 519.

John has spent the past three seasons in Germany in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). His first season was played with the Cologne Sharks and the past two were spent in Frankfurt with the Lions. This past season, the Lions finished in second place in the 15 team league over the 56 game schedule. John contributed 24 points in 44 games.

Check out John Slaney’s profile page on the DEL’s official website.

John is a teammate of another Max Kaminsky Trophy winner, Sean Blanchard. We featured Sean in a recent post.

Hockey card of Sean Blanchard with the Frankfurt Lions.

Sean Blanchard played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1994-95 to 1997

Frankfurt Lions logo.

-98, all with the Ottawa 67′s. Blanchard is slated to played for the Frankfurt Lions of Germany’s DEL in the upcoming season.

Sean Blanchard’s Ontario Hockey League career was great throughout, but his third season topped them all. His 68 points in 66 regular season games helped him earn the Max Kaminsky Trophy as the OHL’s best defenseman. He also contributed 18 points in 24 playoff games for the 67′s but the heavily favoured team lost out in the Robertson Cup finals and were denied a visit to the Memorial Cup.

Sean was a 4th round pick of the Los Angeles Kings in the 1997 NHL draft, 99th overall. After three seasons toiling in the North American minors (AHL, ECHL, IHL) he began his European career in 2001-02. The season before, Blanchard bounced around, playing for three different teams: Florida Everblades – ECHL, Grand Rapids Griffins – IHL, Manitoba Moose – IHL.

Blanchard made a return to North America in 2006-07 and split his season between the Augusta Lynx of the ECHL and the Portland Pirates of the AHL. Since the start of the 2007-08 season, Sean has played in Germany in the DEL. The 2010-11 season will be his second with the Frankfurt Lions.

Sean has also played in Great Britain (BISL), Switzerland (National A and National B) and Italy’s Lega Hockey Italiano Ghiaccio.

Check out the Franfurt Lions official website.

Check out Sean Blanchard’s profile page on the DEL’s official website.

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Ontario Hockey League alumnus, Jamie Wright, has signed on with EHC Basel Sharks of the Swiss-B National League for the 2010-11 season. In 2009-10, Wright played in Germany’s DEL for the Frankfurt Lions and an additional 10 games with Sierre-Anniviers of the Swiss-B league.

Jamie played three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1993-94 to 1995-96, all with the Guelph Storm. Wright averaged over a point per game over the three seasons and excelled in his second season with 43 goals and 82 points in 65 games. He was a member of Team Canada at the 1996 World Junior Hockey Championships.

Wright was a fourth round pick of the Dallas Stars in the 1994 NHL draft. Jamie played a total of 124 games in the NHL with the Dallas Stars, Calgary Flames and Philadelphia Flyers.

In 2005-06, he made the jump to Europe and played in Finland. Jamie has spent the past four seasons on a mix of teams in Germany and Switzerland.

Jamie is already profiled on the EHC Basel Sharks official website.

Click here to view Jamie Wright’s profile page at the DEL official website.