OHL Alumni Central

After two years in Italy, Ontario Hockey League grad Gerome Giudice returns to North America for the 2011-12 season.  Giudice will start the season with the Tulsa Oilers of the Central Hockey League. As per Tulsa Oilers coach Bruce Ramsay, Gerome is ‘the type of player you go to war with’.

Giudice (in blue) with OHL grad Marco Insam (in white).

Gerome played four years in the Ontario Hockey League with the Sudbury Wolves from 2005-06 to 2008-09. In his final two seasons with the Wolves, Giudice was team captain. More a provider of grit and leadership, he topped out offensively in 2007-08 with 15 goals and 44 points. After Sudbury failed to qualify for the Robertson Cup playoffs in 2008-09, Gerome finished out the year with the Muskegon Lumberjacks of the IHL.

For the past two seasons, Giudice has played for HC Fassa of the Lega Italiana Hockey su Ghiaccio. The Fassa region, located in the Alps of Northern Italy, has to be a hard place to leave. The team plays out of the nearly 2,000 seat HSC Fassa Levoni in the town of Canazei. The finished seventh overall in 2010-11 and made a quick exit from the playoffs. HC Fassa has reloaded with a new crop of Ontario Hockey League grads for the 2011-12 season – stay tuned to OHL Alumni Central in the coming days to find out more.

Gerome should provide leadership and skill to a Tulsa team that has qualified for the playoffs just twice in the past ten years. This past year, they finished third in the Berry Conference and lost in the Conference Semi-Finals. The team is an affiliate of the AHL’s Lake Erie Monsters and the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche.

Read more about what coach Bruce Ramsay has to say about Gerome in this article from the Tulsa Oilers official website.

Making it to the finals in Italy’s Lega Italiana Hockey Ghiaccio (LIHG) is uncharted territory for HC Fassa. This past season, the team finished tied for seventh in the nine team league and exited early in the quarter-finals. The team has so far signed three Ontario Hockey League grads to help bring more success in 2011-12.

Jamie Vanderveeken played parts of four seasons on the blue line in the Ontario Hockey League from 2002-03 to 2005-06. He began his career playing just five games for the Guelph Storm in 2002-03. Vanderveeken played a full season with the Toronto St. Michael’s Majors in 2003-04 before splitting his 2004-05 season three ways between Toronto, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and Ottawa 67′s.

With the Ottawa 67′s, Jamie would get the chance to play in the Memorial Cup in 2004-05. The London Knights won the Robertson Cup and were also Memorial Cup hosts. Ottawa made the tournament as the Robertson Cup finalists. In an ironic twist of fate, Vanderveeken was traded to London for the 2005-06 season and was once again on the Robertson Cup finalists as London was beat out by the Peterborough Petes.

Undrafted, Jamie has spent most of his professional hockey career in the Central Hockey League, winning a championship with the Rapid City Rush in 2009-10. This past season, he was traded by Rapid City to the Arizona Sundogs mid-season.

An opponent of Jamie Vanderveeken at the 2005 Memorial Cup and a teammate of his with the London Knights in 2005-06, Trevor Kell is leaving the New Jersey Devils organization after four years to experience hockey in the Italian Alps. Kell played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2003-04 to 2006-07. His first three years were spent with the Knights and his final season saw him in a Sarnia Sting uniform.

Trevor was picked in the fifth round of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft by the Chicago Blackhawks, 131st overall but has been in the Devils organization throughout his professional hockey career. Each season, he has split his time between the ECHL and AHL affiliates of the NHL Devils. Each season, he spent more and more time with the AHL club. This past season, he was captain of the ECHL’s Trenton Devils.

Matt Piva played in the Ontario Hockey League from 2004-05 to 2008-09. He began his OHL career with the Oshawa Generals and along the way wore the jerseys of the Toronto/Mississagua St. Michael’s Majors and Niagara IceDogs. He spent 2009-10 with the University of Western Ontario Mustangs of the OUA before taking the 2010-11 season off.

HC Fassa plays out of Canazei, Italy, a city nestled in the Italian Alps. The team plays out of the 3500 seat Stadio del Ghiaccio Gianmario Scola.

The defenseman with the most assists and points in Germany’s Deutsche Eishockey Liga for the 2009-10 season has moved on to play for HC Fassa in Italy’s Lega Italiana Hockey Ghiaccio for 2010-11.

Ontario Hockey League grad Marty Wilford had 38 assists and 41 points last season with the DEL’s Iserlohn Roosters. It was the second time in three years that Wilford led the DEL’s defensemen in assists, also leading the league in 2007-08 with 34 as a member of the Hamburg Freezers.

Wilford played three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1994-95 to 1996-97, all with the Oshawa Generals. Yesterday, we featured a teammate of Wilford’s with Oshawa, Jan Snopek (see post here). In his final season with the Generals, he was second to Marc Savard on the team scoring list with 62 points from the blueline. The team won the Robertson Cup as OHL playoff champion and Marty contributed another 20 points in 16 games during that playoff run.

Marty was selected in the sixth round of the 1996 NHL draft, 149th overall, by the Chicago Blackhawks. Although never playing an NHL game, Wilford put in 539 games in the American Hockey League over seven seasons. Twice he finished second on his team in total points, 2000-01 and 2003-04, both with the Norfolk Admirals. Both times, Marty was just two points out of the number one spot.

Wilford made the switch to European hockey in 2007-08 when he began play in the DEL. This season marks a change as he leads the blueliners for HC Fassa of the LIHG. His importance as an offensive defenseman hasn’t diminished with the new league as he’s producing at over a point per game average after 17 games.

Check out the roster page at HC Fassa’s official website.

Marty was recently featured in a post regarding the Ontario Hockey League grads in the LIHG’s top 100 scorers.

Aaron Power has signed with the Las Vegas Wranglers of the East Coast Hockey League for the 2010-11 season. The Ontario Hockey League grad returns to the team he played for in 2006-07 and 2007-08 before a two year stint in Europe.

Power played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1999-00 to 2002-03. His first three years were spent with the Barrie Colts and his final season was played with the Sarnia Sting. Aaron progressively became more of an offensive defenseman throughout his OHL career with 17, 23, 39 and 57 points.

In 2001-02, he helped the Barrie Colts get to the Robertson Cup finals before losing to the Erie Otters for the Ontario Hockey League playoff crown.

With the Las Vegas Wranglers in 2007-08, Power helped the team to a first place finish in the National Conference. The team had a great playoff run and made it to the Kelly Cup finals before losing to Cincinnati.

Over the past two seasons, Aaron has played in Europe. Last season, Power played for HC Fassa of Italy’s Lega Italiana Hockey Ghiaccio (LIHG). The season before, Aaron played in Germany’s Bundesliga with Heilbronner Falken.

Previous to his first go-around with the Las Vegas Wranglers, Aaron spent three seasons with the South Carolina Stingrays of the ECHL as well as AHL call-ups to the Hamilton Bulldogs and Bridgeport Sound Tigers as well as an extended stay with the Cleveland Barons for 50 games in 2005-06.

Adam Dennis backstopped not one but two Ontario Hockey League teams to the Memorial Cup. In his four year OHL career, Dennis made three trips to the Robertson Cup finals, once with the Guelph Storm and twice with the London Knights. Adam was a member of the Guelph Storm Robertson Cup winning team in 2003-04 and was traded to the London Knights the following season. With the Knights, he was a major part of the team’s Robertson Cup and Memorial Cup winning season in 2004-05 and helped the Knights to another Robertson Cup appearance the following season.

Dennis spent the 2009-10 season with HC Fassa of Italy’s Lega Italiana Hockey Ghiaccio (LIHG) Serie A1. Despite the team finishing sixth in the nine team league, Adam shone with a 2.23 GAA (best in the LIHG) and a .935 save percentage while playing 37 of the team’s 40 regular season games.

This upcoming season, 2010-11, Adam is definitely receiving a promotion for his efforts. He has signed on with Kölner Haie of Germany’s Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). The DEL is ranked considerably higher in IIHF rankings than the LIHG and may well help Adam finally make the big step to the NHL.

Adam Dennis played his four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2002-03 to 2005-06. He started with the Guelph Storm and was traded to the London Knights during the 2004-05 to, of course, help with the Knights Memorial Cup run. In his final season, he was OHL goaltender of the year and a CHL second team all-star.

Despite his junior hockey success, Adam went fairly low in the 2005 NHL draft. The Buffalo Sabres chose Dennis in the sixth round, 182nd overall. Adam spent three seasons in the American Hockey League (AHL) from 2006-07 to 2008-09, two with the Rochester Americans and one with the Portland Pirates.

Check out the profile page for Adam Dennis on the Kölner Haie official website.

Adam has appeared in these previous posts at OHL Alumni Central:

2004-05 London Knights Alumni

2003-04 Guelph Storm Alumni

London Knights Alumni

If you haven’t yet checked it out, the OHL Alumni In Europe For 2010-11 early bird version is available for download free.