OHL Alumni Central

Is Great Britain’s Elite Ice Hockey League just using Ontario Hockey League grads for their fists? The EIHL typically has more than a few OHL alumni among the top ten scorers in the league. This year, there are just two in the top 20 with approximately 10 games to go in the regular season. These two, Mike Ramsay and Corey Neilson, fall in the 16th and 20th position. Ramsay, a player who was used sparingly by the Peterborough Petes over two partial seasons and Neilson, a 35 year old defenseman who last played for the Barrie Colts in 1997.

Yet, when it comes to time spent in the box, seven the OHL can lay claim to seven of the top 20, including three of the top five. Derek Campbell is the highest, sitting in second place with 209 PIM in just 44 games, a 4.75 PIM/GM pace. However, he doesn’t hold a candle to league leader Chris Frank of the Cardif Devils who has 286 PIM in 42 games – a 6.81 PIM per game pace!

It’s not that the British Isles are developing better talent. Just three of the top 20 point getters are from Great Britain and one includes Corey Neilson. Neilson is Canadian born but has since gotten his UK citizenship. For the most part, it’s just the way it goes in European hockey. It’s a transient hockey world and by next year at this time, OHL boys could be clogging the scoring race.

Here’s a quick breakdown of the players involved:

Top Scorers:

Mike Ramsay is tied for 16th wit 47 points in just 33 games, not bad for a guy who totaled just 5 goals with the Petes. Ramsay played with Peterborough for parts of the 2001-02 and 2002-03 season. He moved on to the QMJHL where he achieved greater success. This is Mike’s first year with the Sheffield Steelers of the EIHL.

Corey Neilson is in his sixth year with the Nottingham Panthers and truly leads by example. Neilson has also been the coach of the team for the past four years. The defenseman has 45 points in 45 games to rank him at the edge of the top 20. Ironically, his 81 PIM actually tied him for the 20th in that race, as well. Corey played in the Ontario Hockey League from 1993-94 to 1996-97 with the North Bay Centennials, Detroit Whalers and Barrie Colts.

Top Bad Boys:

Derek Campbell sits in second with 209 PIM in 44 games as a member of the Hull Stingrays. This his sixth year in the EIHL and first with Hull. Campbell played four years in the OHL from 1997-98 to 2000-01 with the Belleville Bulls, Owen Sound Platers and Kingston Frontenacs.

No surprise to Kitchener Rangers fans, Adam Keefe holds down the number 4 spot with 164 PIM in 41 games with the Belfast Giants. Keefe is in his first year in the EIHL and already has a ‘A’ on his jersey. Adam played in the Ontario Hockey League from 2000-01 to 2004-05 with the Sudbury Wolves and Kitchener.

A position behind Keefe is Colt King with 135 PIM in 41 games with the Sheffield Steelers. This is Colt’s first season in the EIHL. He played in the OHL from 1999-00 to 2003-04 with what seems like half the league. King wore the OHL jersey’s of the Guelph Storm, North Bay Centennials, Saginaw Spirit, Oshawa Generals, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and Sarnia Sting.

Frantisek Bakrlik is tied for 12th with 90 PIM in 48 games. It’ll be interesting to see how many regular season games Bakrlik ends up playing. The Fife Flyers are his third team this season in the EIHL and it looks like he’s picked up a few extra games due to scheduling differences at the time of each of his trades. Frantisek played in the OHL in 2000-01 and 2001-02 with the Barrie Colts and Sarnia Sting. This is his first year in the EIHL.

Darryl Lloyd is in 15th with 88 PIM in 37 games with the Belfast Giants. Lloyd is in his first season in the EIHL and is currently injured. Darryl played three seasons with the Windsor Spitfires from 2001-02 to 2003-04.

Drew Bannister falls in 17th spot with 84 PIM in 40 games with the Braehead Clan. Bannister will turn 38 in a few months and began his OHL career way back in 1990. He played four seasons with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds from 1990-91 to 1993-94. A second round pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning in 1992, Bannister has 176 NHL games under his belt, including playoffs. This is his second year in the EIHL and first with the Clan.

Just a minute behind Bannister is Sylvain Cloutier of the Hull Stingrays. Cloutier has 83 minutes in 41 games. This is Cloutier’s fifth EIHL season and third with the Stingrays. Like Corey Neilson with Nottingham, Sylvain is also the coach of the team and is in the third year of that position. Cloutier played three years in the OHL with the Guelph Storm from 1991-92 to 1993-94. A veteran of seven NHL games, all with the Chicago Blackhawks in 1998-99.

The Coventry Blaze of Great Britain’s Elite Ice Hockey League will have two Ontario Hockey League grads on the roster for 2011-12. As mentioned in an earlier article, Mike McLean is taking his first step across the pond to play with Coventry. Just a few days ago, it was announced that Peterborough Petes alumnus Dustin Wood will be playing the point for the Blaze.

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Also, another Ontario Hockey League alumnus, Neal Martin seems to the be the first to be honoured on the Coventry Blaze Wall of Fame. Inducted June 9, 2011, Martin was a standout defenseman for the club for four seasons from 2004-05 to 2007-08. Martin last played pro hockey with AaB in Denmark. He played in the OHL for four seasons from 1992-93 to 1995-96 with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and Sudbury Wolves. After three years of bouncing around the North American minors, Martin left for Europe, never looking back. Along with Great Britain and Denmark, Neal also played in Germany and Austria.

Dustin Wood spent the past two seasons in the Asia League with Anyang Halla. Both seasons, the team was league champion, although this past season they were co-champs after play was suspended due to the Earthquake/Tsumani. Wood played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1998-99 to 2001-02, all with the Peterborough Petes. He was team captain in his final season. Wood was destined to start the 2011-12 season with HC Ceske Budejovice in the Czech Extraliga but things fell through. He will start with Coventry in a couple of weeks after the paperwork is processed.

Mike McLean played in the Ontario Hockey League for parts of five seasons with the Oshawa Generals and Guelph Storm. After playing for nine different teams in the North American minors between 2007 and 2011, he makes the journey to Great Britain in search of stability. A Central Hockey League all-star last season with the Quad City Mallards, McLean totalled 51 points in 55 games.

Drew Bannister, as mentioned yesterday, is one of four players from the 1993 Memorial Cup winning Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds that are still playing in professional hockey today.

Bannister played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1990-91 to 1993-94, all with the Greyhounds. His first and second year, the Greyhounds were the Robertson Cup champions. In 1993, the team won the Memorial Cup, despite not winning the Robertson. They earned a berth in the Mem as the host city. In both 1992 and 1993, Drew Bannister was named to the Memorial Cup All-Star team.

In his final season in the Ontario Hockey League, Drew played for Team Canada at the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships. The tournament was held in the Czech Republic and Canada won gold. Oddly enough, not a single Canada player made the tournament All-Star team.

Bannister was taken by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the second round of the 1992 NHL Entry Draft, 26th overall. Drew has seen a total of 164 NHL games with the Lightning, Edmonton Oilers, Anaheim Ducks and New York Rangers. The last NHL game Drew played was during the 2001-02 season. Bannister has been in Europe since the 2002-03 season, with exception of 2009-10 when he returned to the American Hockey League to play for the Binghamton Senators.

Not just a champion in the OHL, Bannister was also part of the AHL’s Calder Cup winning team in 2000, the Hartford Wolf Pack. In 2007-08, he was named the top defenseman in Germany’s 2.Bundesliga as he led the Kassel Huskies to a playoff championship. This allowed Kassel to move up to the elite DEL for the next season.

This season, 2010-11, Bannister has been playing for the Hull Stingrays of Great Britain’s Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL). Drew has worn an ‘A’ on his jersey for Hull and is currently trying to help the team through the playoffs.

Check out Drew Bannister’s profile page at the Hull Stingrays official website.

Corey Neilson played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1993-94 to 1996-97. He began his career with the North Bay Centennials then moved to the Detroit Junior Whalers midway through the 1995-96 season. In his final season in the OHL, Neilson played for the Barrie Colts.

In his first season with North Bay, the team won the Hamilton Spectator as the Ontario Hockey League’s regular season champion and went on to defeat Detroit to win the Robertson Cup as the league’s playoff champion. Corey was selected to the OHL’s First All-Rookie Team.

After his first season, Neilson was drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in the third round of the 1994 NHL Entry Draft, 53rd overall. For the most part, from 1999-00 to 2005-06, Corey spent his time in the ECHL with exception of the 2002-03 season which he played in the UHL and AHL. Neilson was twice and ECHL All-Star and was Defenseman of the year in 2003-04.

Since 2006-07, Corey has been a member of the Nottingham Panthers in Great Britain’s Elite Ice Hockey League. Neilson has led the league’s defensemen twice in scoring and currently leads the EIHL’s defensemen this season with 45 points in 42 games. The team is sitting in fourth place in the league with the possibility of going up a position and realistically no chance of going down. Corey has achieved his personal numbers and has led the team as head coach for the past three seasons.

His influence as head coach has brought in some very talented Ontario Hockey League grads for the stretch run, such as Daniel Tkaczuk and Jeff Heerema (click on names to view previous posts featuring those players).

Check out Corey Neilson’s profile page at the Nottingham Panthers official website.

Jeremy Van Hoof played three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1998-99 to 2000-01, all with the Ottawa 67′s. In his first and last seasons in the OHL, Ottawa made a trip to the Memorial Cup and was successful in one attempt.

In his first season, despite the Belleville Bulls beating the London Knights for the Robertson Cup as Ontario Hockey League champions, the 67′s were the Memorial Cup host and won the Cup on home ice. In Van Hoof’s final season, Ottawa won the Robertson with a victory over the Plymouth Whalers but was unsuccessful at the Memorial Cup.

Jeremy entered the NHL Entry Draft twice. In 1999, he was taken by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round, 57th overall. Pittsburgh didn’t give him the love and he re-entered to the draft for 2001 and was picked by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the seventh round, 222nd overall.

Van Hoof played in nine games in the American Hockey League over two seasons but mostly spent his time in the East Coast Hockey League from 2001-02 to 2005-06. His first European experience came in 2006-07 with HC Fassa of Italy’s Lega Italiana Hockey Ghiaccio. After a season in the Central Hockey League in 2007-08, Jeremy returned to HC Fassa the following year.

This past season, 2009-10, in what was his best season to date as far as straight numbers, Van Hoof played for High1 of the ALIH (Asia League). High1 plays out of South Korea. Jeremy contributed 36 points from the blue line in 35 games.

Van Hoof started this season in the Federal Hockey League with the Akwesasne Warriors and appeared in eleven games. He has just recently signed with the Guildford Flames of Great Britain’s EPIHL, the second division to the EIHL.

Check out Jeremy Van Hoof’s profile page at the Guildford Flames official website.

This is the article on the Guildford Flames official website announcing Van Hoof’s arrival.

Read this previous article on Jeremy Van Hoof’s teammate with the Akwesasne Warriors.