OHL Alumni Central

For Ontario Hockey League fans, there’s an interesting situation in Germany that should trigger the memory machine. There are four OHL grads playing for Nurnberg Ice Tigers of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). Three of the four haven’t played in the OHL since the early to mid-1990′s. With Nurnberg off to a 1-8 start, who knows how long this group will be together.

Starting from the youngest:

Patrick Ehelechner is a ripe 27 years old and played two years in the Ontario Hockey League during the present millenium. Ehelechner tended goal for the Sudbury Wolves in 2003-04 and 2004-05. He came to the Wolves already a prospect of the San Jose Sharks, taken in the fifth round of the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, 139th overall. It’s been the DEL all the way for Patrick, entering his seventh year in the league. The past five years, he has played for Nurnberg.

Paul Traynor played for the Kitchener Rangers for three years from 1994-95 to 1996-97. The 34 year old was drafted by the original Winnipeg Jets in the seventh round of the 1995 NHL Entry Draft, 162nd overall. Traynor has been in the DEL since 2004-05 and is in his first season with the Ice Tigers.

Backing up Ehelechner in net is 36 year old Tyler Moss. Moss played three years in the Ontario Hockey League from 1992-93 to 1994-95, all with the Kingston Frontenacs. A second round pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning in 1993, Tyler is the only one of the four to have NHL experience. He played games for the Calgary Flames, Carolina Hurricanes and Vancouver Canucks between 1997-98 and 2002-03. This is Tyler’s second year in the DEL and first with Nurnberg after playing in Russia and Switzerland since 2005.

At just 40 years old, Rob Leask is an inspiration to us all. I am fairly certain that he is the last active Toronto Marlboro and Hamilton Duke. Leask played in the Ontario Hockey League for four years from 1988-89 to 1991-92 with Toronto, Hamilton, Guelph Storm and Oshawa Generals (of course, the first three were all the same franchise).

The Washington Capitals picked him up in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft, 209th overall. To put that in perspective, Eric Lindros was the first overall pick that year and other first rounders included Pat Falloon, Scott Niedermayer, Peter Forsberg and Markus Naslund – all no longer active as players. Yet, this 10th rounder from North York still keeps chugging along. Leask is captain of the club and is in his third year with Nurnberg. He has been in the DEL since 1996-97.

Thomas Dolak played one season in the Ontario Hockey League, 1997-98. He began that season with three games in a Kingston Frontenacs uniform before heading north to North Bay and playing 48 more games with the Centennials. In those 51 games, Dolak totalled 45 points.

Thomas, born in the Czech Republic, played his pre-OHL hockey in Germany and has represented the country twice in international play. Dolak was a member of Germany’s under 20 team at the world junior championships in 1999 and played for Germany in the World Championships in 2000.

After his one year in the Ontario Hockey League, Dolak returned to Germany and has played in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) since. 2011-12 will mark his fourteenth year in the league and will be played with the Hamburg Freezers, a team Thomas last played for in 2002-03.

For the past eight years, Dolak has played for the Hannover Scorpions, winning a DEL championship with the club in 2009-10. That season, his 53 points in 56 regular season games placed him tied for 17th in the league. He added 11 points in 10 playoff games on the way to the championship.

This past season, Thomas contributed 46 points in 51 regular season games as the Scorpions finished fifth in the 14 team DEL. Hannover bowed out of the playoffs in the quarter-finals. Dolak’s 46 points placed him 21st in the league.

Other than Hannover and Hamburg, Dolak has also played for the Kassel Huskies and Munchen (Munich) Barons in the DEL. He played in the DEL All-Star game as a member of the Huskies in 2000 and as a member of the Scorpions in 2004.

After two consecutive years helping the Salzburg Red Bulls win the Erste Bank Eishockey Liga championships in Austria, Ontario Hockey League grad Andre Lakos is moving on. Lakos will start the 2011-12 season with Kolner Haie of Germany’s Deutsche Eishockey Liga. Lakos will join OHL grads John Tripp, Charlie Stephens, Jason Jaspers and Jonathan D’Aversa on the Cologne Sharks team that finished ninth in the fourteen team DEL in 2010-11 and were an early first round exit from the playoffs.

Andre Lakos as a member of Salzburg Red Bulls of Germany's DEL.

Lakos played two seasons in the Ontario Hockey League, 1997-98 and 1998-99. His first year was spent on the point with the Toronto St. Michael’s Majors and his last season was in a Barrie Colts jersey.

Andre was a third round draft pick of the New Jersey Devils in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft, 95th overall. He spent three years with New Jersey’s American Hockey League affiliate, the Albany River Rats, from 1999-00 until midway through the 2001-02 season when he was shifted to the Utah Grizzlies of the AHL.

2002-03 marked the Austrian’s return to his home country. He played two seasons with the Vienna Capitals of the EBEL. With all the NHL players coming to Europe during the 2004-05 lockout season, Andre made a return to North America, playing one season with the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL. The following season, it was back to Austria.

Along the way, Lakos has played stints in Sweden’s Eliteserien and Russia’s KHL. Through the years, Andre has been a regular on Austrian national teams, playing in the World Juniors, World Championships on several occasions and even playing in the Olympic Games in 2002.

Andre provides a great amount of offense from the blue line, something uncharacteristic in European hockey. Not surprising when you picture a 6’8″ 238 lb. behemoth barrelling down on opposing teams defense. Coincidentally, Lakos becomes the league’s tallest and heaviest player. Kolner should be the team to watch in the DEL this year, at least for OHL fans.

The Iserlohn Roosters of Germany’s Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) finished out of the playoffs in 2010-11 for the third consecutive season. The Roosters finished 12th in the fourteen team league, five points out of the basement. Their possible solution for improving in 2011-12? Bring in some North American veterans with plenty of NHL experience.

The Roosters have just signed three players with plenty of NHL experience, two of which are Ontario Hockey League grads. All three probably won’t dazzle like Sidney Crosby, but all three have grit, size and leadership qualities that Iserlohn is definitely looking for.

Jeff Cowan

Jeff Cowan has 434 NHL regular season games under his belt, but has spent the last three years in the American Hockey League, most recently with the Toronto Marlies. Originally undrafted, Cowan has played for the Calgary Flames, Atlanta Thrashers, Los Angeles Kings and Vancouver Canucks.

Jeff played three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1993-94 to 1995-96. He began his OHL career with the Guelph Storm and finished off by playing for the Barrie Colts in his final year. With the Colts, he showed his scoring abilities with 38 goals in 66 games. He was team captain with Barrie.

Jassen Cullimore

Jassen Cullimore is one of very few left playing in pro hockey that started in the Ontario Hockey League in the 1980′s. Cullimore played four seasons with the Peterborough Petes from 1988-89 to 1991-92. He played for Team Canada at the 1992 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships where Canada tanked with a sixth place finish.

Cullimore was selected in the second round of the 1991 NHL Entry Draft by the Vancouver Canucks, 29th overall. He has put in 812 regular season NHL games to date with the Canucks, Montreal Canadiens, Tampa Bay Lightning, Chicago Blackhawks and Florida Panthers. He spent this past season split between the Chicago Blackhawks and the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs.

Jassen was used sparingly in his first season with Peterborough as the won the Robertson Cup as Ontario Hockey League playoff champs. The same was true when he played for the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2003-04 when they won the Stanley Cup. Iserlohn is hoping he’ll bring some of that winning experience to Germany.

Mike York

The other former NHLer, but not OHL grad, signed by Iserlohn is Mike York. York played NCAA hockey before embarking on a 579 game NHL career with the New York Rangers, Edmonton Oilers, New York Islanders, Philadelphia Flyers, Phoenix Coyotes and Columbus Blue Jackets. York spent this past season in Finland with Pelicans of the SM-Liiga. He played for Iserlohn in the NHL lock-out season of 2004-05.

Ontario Hockey League grad Ryan Ready will return in 2011-12 to play his sixth season in Germany’s Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). 2011-12 will be Ready’s second season with EHC München (Munich) after four with Iserlohn Roosters.

Ryan played four years in the Ontario Hockey League from 1995-96 to 1998-99, all with the Belleville Bulls. In his final season in the OHL, Ready produced 33 goals 59 assists for 92 points in 63 games, helping the Bulls to a third place finish in the Eastern Conference. He exploded in the playoffs for 38 points in 21 games as Belleville took the Robertson Cup as OHL playoff champions with a seven game series win over the London Knights.

In that final season in the Ontario Hockey League, Ready was selected a CHL 2nd Team All-star and won the Leo Lalonde Trophy as the overage player of the year in the OHL.

Ready was a fourth round pick of the Calgary Flames in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft, 100th overall. His only NHL action to date was a seven game stint with the Philadelphia Flyers during the 2005-06 season. After seven years playing in the AHL and old IHL, Ryan headed to Germany for the start of the 2006-07 season and hasn’t looked back.

With Iserlohn in 2008-09, Ready contributed 56 points in 48 regular season games. The point total was good for sixth in the league, eight points away from the top spot. This season, despite only playing 43 of 52 regular season game due to injury, Ryan totalled 44 points in 43 games and finished just out of the top 20. He was on pace to finish in the top five. As for EHC München, the team finished eighth in the fourteen team DEL and made a quick exit from the playoffs.