OHL Alumni Central

At the start of March, we did a post on Ontario Hockey League alumni playing in the Australian Ice Hockey League (click here to view post). One of the players was Brad Smulders and we’d just like to add an update on this former Sarnia Sting.

Brad is signed on for the 2010 season with the Gold Coast Blue Tongues of the AIHL. The season starts in about 4 weeks, in time for the Australian winter. Last season, Brad was the league’s scoring champion with a remarkable 3.5 points per game. Expectations are no less for the upcoming season.

Brad has just finished up the winter season in the Netherlands with Romijnders Devils Nijmegen. Not the leading scorer in this league. In fact, Brad was 5th in team scoring but still was slightly over a point a game in a higher calibre league with more than twice the number of games on the schedule.

The team was the best during the regular season and just recently won the playoff championships with a sweep over Destil Trapper Tilburg.

As mentioned in the previous post, Brad only played 17 games over his OHL career. This still makes him a product of the league and a true measure of how far reaching the OHL is in the hockey world.

To view Brad Smulders profile page on the Devils official website, click here.

To check out the Gold Coast Blue Tongues roster page, click here.

Not entirely up to date. See AIHL website for new team list.

It is most likely the farthest from the epicentre of professional hockey (Orangeville, Ontario, Canada) that you will find Ontario Hockey League graduates showing off their talents. The Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL) consists of 7 teams that play during the Australian winter from April to August.

The league boasts the distinction of being the ‘biggest ice hockey league in the southern hemisphere’. Although not a true professional league, as the players do not get paid a salary, it is hockey of an elite status and is constantly improving. The AIHL is focused on developing talent from within Australia and allows only 6 import players per team and only 4 of those imports to play in any single game. Players do receive ‘assistance’ from the teams to cover living expenses.

In 2009, two OHL alumni played in the AIHL, both for the Gold Coast Blue Tongues. At this point, the final rosters for 2010 have not been finalized and it is not known if any former OHLers will be playing in 2010.

Brad Smulders played just 17 games with the Sarnia Sting in 2001-02. Brad’s previous professional experience before heading to the ‘Land Down Under’ was 5 years in Holland between 2004-05 and 2008-09, playing on 4 different teams. The Sarnia native ripped up the league last season, scoring 33 goals and adding 43 assists for 76 points in just 22 games – that’s a 3.5 points per game pace! Those numbers were good enough to lead the league.

Chris Martin played for the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds in 2000-01 and the Erie Otters in 2001-02. 2009 was the Guelph native’s 2nd season in the AIHL. Besides a few games with University of Waterloo in 2002-03, Martin’s pro hockey record up until he joined the Blue Tongues is drawing a blank. If anyone knows of any hockey Chris played between 2002-03 and 2008, let us know by e-mail or commenting on this post.

We’ll be having a follow-up post on the AIHL once the season starts in April. In the meantime, check out the league’s official website here.

View Brad Smulders’ profile at the Blue Tongue’s official website.

View Chris Martin’s profile at the Blue Tongue’s official website.