OHL Alumni Central

Tomi Karhunen played one year in the Ontario Hockey League, 2007-08. Karhunen had a great start between the pipes for the Sarnia Sting that season, winning OHL Player of the Week honours in November. Tomi finished the season playing in 39 games with a 3.59 goals against average and two shutouts.

Karhunen was a 35th overall pick of the Sting at the CHL Import Draft in 2007. He continued on at the junior level back in Finland for two seasons following his year in Sarnia.

In 2010-11, Tomi played 13 games for Kärpät Oulu of Finland’s elite SM-Liiga. He also spent some time down in the tier 2 Mestis. Karhunen is under contract with Kärpät until the end of the 2012-13 season. He will go into 2011-12 as the team’s number 2 goalie.

Kärpät finished the 2010-11 season eighth place in the 14 team SM-Liiga and were an early exit from the playoffs. Since being promoted from tier 2 for the 2000-01 season, they have won the SM-Liiga championship four times. In a span of seven years from 2002-03 to 2008-09, Kärpät went to the finals six times.

Kärpät plays out of Oulu, Finland. Their home arena is the Oulun Energia-Areena which seats 6,614.

Check out Tomi Karhunen’s profile page at the Kärpät Oulu official website.

Ontario Hockey League grad Rob Zepp started the 2010-11 season being named the top goaltender at the European Trophy tournament. His Eisbaren Berlin team of Germany’s Deutsche Eishockey Liga won the pre-season invitational tournament held in Salzburg, Austria. Zepp led the team with a 1.94 GAA and .930 save percentage.

The Plymouth Whalers grad kept up the pace through the regular season and playoffs, leading Berlin to the DEL championship. The team has rewarded Zepp by signing him through the end of the 2011-12 season.

Rob played three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1998-99 to 2000-01, all with the Plymouth Whalers. During all three seasons, Zepp shared the Dave Pinkney Trophy for the lowest team GAA in the OHL.

Zepp twice entered the NHL Entry Draft. he was taken by the Atlanta Thrashers in the fourth round of the 1999 draft, 99th overall. He re-entered for the 2001 draft and was picked by the Carolina Hurricanes, 100th overall in the fourth round.

Rob played four seasons in the North American pro leagues, mostly with the Florida Everblades of the East Coast Hockey League. Despite decent numbers, the NHL didn’t come calling and Rob left for Europe.

Zepp played two seasons in Finland before making his way to Berlin for the start of the 2007-08 season. Rob has been with Berlin since. In that time, the team has won the DEL Championship three times. Rob has competed for Germany at the international level over the past two seasons.

Doug Groenestege played two games in the Ontario Hockey League between the pipes with the Ottawa 67′s in 2001-02. He came back in 2003-04 and tandemed with David Shantz with the Mississauga IceDogs, putting up better numbers than his partner as the two led their team to the Robertson Cup finals.

Groenestege played 27 of Mississauga’s regular season games in 2003-04 and had a 2.54 goals against average combined with a .912 save percentage. His GAA put him fifth in the league. However, Shantz played all the playoff games and the IceDogs made it to the finals before being swept by the Guelph Storm.

After the Ontario Hockey League, Doug tried out the Canadian university system with the University of British Columbia. In 2005-06, he began his professional hockey career with the Richmond Renegades of the UHL. He followed the team into the Southern Professional Hockey League for the following season.

In 2007-08, Groenestege made his way to the Central Hockey League and has been there until this season. His highlight season to date was 2008-09 with the Oklahoma City Blazers. Doug had the best Goals Against Average in the league with 2.10. His save percentage was .922, third in the league and he was the runner-up for the league’s best goaltender.

Groenestege spent the 2010-11 season with the Arizona Sundogs, a team that he was traded to the season before. No longer on the team’s roster, Doug has signed on for a summer with the all-new Mustangs in Australia’s AIHL. The AIHL season starts next month and has been featuring more and more Ontario Hockey League grads over the past few years. The Mustangs bring the number of teams in the league up to eight. The team plays out of Melbourne, Australia.

The Netherlands likes Ontario Hockey League goaltenders. Two of the eight teams in the Eredivisie, the country’s elite hockey league, used OHL grads as their main keeper this season.

Matt Anthony played three years in the Ontario Hockey League from 2001-02 to 2003-04, all with the Windsor Spitfires. He played a backup role in his first two seasons. Anthony played the bulk of Windsor’s games in 2003-04, appearing in 54 with a goals against average of 3.00 and a save percentage of .902.

This is Matt’s third season with Eindhoven Kemphanen. This season, the team finished fifth out of eight teams during the regular season. Anthony’s 3.75 GAA was good enough for fourth in the highly offensive Eredivisie.

At 6’3″, Stephane Cesar is a radical contrast to Anthony who stands at 5’9″. Cesar played two seasons in the Ontario Hockey League as a backup in 2006-07 and 2007-08. Stephane appeared in nine games with the London Knights in 2006-07 and eight more in 2007-08 before being shipped to the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. In four games with the Greyhounds, Cesar posted great numbers with a 2.10 GAA and .921 save percentage.

This is Stephane’s second season in the Eredivisie. He played last season with Heerenveen Flyers and this season he’s the number one goalie for Nijmegen Devils. The Devils are the reigning Eredivisie champions and finished fourth out of the eight teams this season.

Matt Anthony’s profile can be found at the Eindhoven Kemphanen official website.

Stephane Cesar’s profile can be found at the Hijmegen Devils official website.

A few days ago, we featured another Ontario Hockey League grad playing in the Eredivisie, Marc Lefebvre.

Peter Hamerlik played three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2000-01 to 2002-03, all with the Kingston Frontenacs. In all three seasons, the netminder played the bulk of Kingston’s games.

In 2002, Hamerlik played for Slovakia at the IIHF World Under-20 Hockey Championships. The team finished on top of Group A during the preliminary round but were upset by Switzerland in the first game of the playoff round by losing 3-2 in a shootout. Hamerlik previously played for Slovakia’s squad at the Under-18 tournament in 1999 and 2000. In 1999, the team won bronze.

Peter twice entered the NHL Entry Draft. In 2000, before playing a game in the Ontario Hockey League, Hamerlik was taken by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the third round, 84th overall. In 2002, he was picked by the Boston Bruins in the fifth round, 153rd overall. Peter hasn’t appeared in the NHL but played for four different teams from the AHL and ECHL in 2003-04, his only full season of North American pro hockey.

Hamerlik returned to Slovakia midway through the 2004-05 season after things failed to work out with the Providence Bruins of the AHL. Since, he has played in Slovakia, Belarus, Russia and the Czech Republic. Peter was on the Slovakia team at the 201o World Hockey Championships, although he didn’t get into any games.

Over the past two seasons, Hamerlik has been the number one goaltender for HC Trinec of the Czech Republic’s Extraliga. Currently, the team has just finished up the regular season in first place and move towards a long playoff run. Peter played 34 of the team’s 52 regular season games and put up great numbers with a 2.33 goals against average and a .929 save percentage.

Check out Peter Hamerlik’s profile page at the HC Trinec official website.