OHL Alumni Central

Well, that was probably the longest article title in the history of OHL Alumni Central…

The reigning champions of the Czech Republic Extraligy, HC Ocelari Trinec, are looking for a repeat with the help of four Ontario Hockey League alumni. Three were members of the team in 2010-11 and one is a new arrival from the Albany Devils of the American Hockey League. Two of the four are products of Stan Butler’s Brampton Battalion.

Lukas Havel is an original Brampton Battalion, playing three years with the club from 1998-99 to 2000-01. Havel averaged 20 goals per season with the Battalion, scoring 19 in the inaugural season when goals were hard to come by. In his final season of OHL play, Lukas played for the Czech Republic at the IIHF World Juniors, earning a gold medal.

Undrafted, Havel returned to his native Czech Republic and has been there since, with exception of a two year stint in the Slovak Extraligy. In 2010-11, his first with Trinec, Have played just five games after being a regular with HC Slavia Praha (Prague) the year before.

Martin Lojek also played three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League with the Brampton Battalion. Lojek played from 2002-03 to 2004-05. Like Lukas Havel, Lojek also played for the Czech Republic at the World Juniors. In 2005, Martin earned a bronze medal.

After his first season with Brampton, Lojek was taken by the Florida Panthers in the fourth round of the 2003 OHL Entry Draft, 105th overall. He played in Florida’s system until the end of the 2007-08 season, mostly with the Rochester Americans of the AHL but he did get into five NHL games during that time. In 2008-09, Martin made the return to his native Czech Republic. He has been with Trinec ever since.

Peter Hamerlik spent three seasons between the pipes in the Ontario Hockey League from 2000-01 to 2002-03, all with the Kingston Frontenacs. Hamerlik played the bulk of the games in net for the Frontenacs over the three years and backstopped Slovakia at the 2002 World Juniors.

Peter came to Kingston already a prospect of the Pittsburgh Penguins, having been drafted in the third round of the 2000 NHL Entry Draft, 84th overall. He re-entered the draft in 2002 and was taken by the Boston Bruins in the fifth round, 153rd overall. Hamerlik played for a handful of ECHL teams between 2003 and 2005 while reaching his highest level in North American hockey with the Providence Bruins of the AHL.

Hamerlik returned to Slovakia for the end of the 2004-05 season. He has been with Trinec since the start of the 2009-10 season, playing in Russia and Belarus along the way.

Rob Davison is the new guy and the only Ontario Hockey League grad playing for Trinec that is Canadian. Davison played three seasons in the OHL with the North Bay Centennials from 1997-98 to 1999-00.

Rob was drafted after his first OHL season by the San Jose Sharks in the fourth round of the 1998 NHL Entry Draft, 98th overall. He has appeared in 225 total NHL games with the San Jose Sharks, New York Islanders, Vancouver Canucks and New Jersey Devils. He spent the past season solely in the American Hockey League with the Albany Devils where he wore the ‘A’.

This is not Davison’s first tour of duty overseas. In the lockout season of 2004-05, Rob played for the Cardiff Devils in Great Britain’s Elite Ice Hockey League.

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.

Tomas Pospisil played two seasons in the Ontario Hockey League, 2005-06 and 2006-07, both with the Sarnia Sting. As a rookie on a pretty dismal Sting team that won just 17 games, Tomas was second on the team in goals (25) and points (55). The following season, his numbers improved to 29 goals and 67 points in five fewer games (55).

Twice during his junior career, Tomas played internationally for the Czech Republic. He was a member of the under-18 team in 2005 and a member of the under-20 team in 2007.

Pospisil was taken by the Atlanta Thrashers in the fifth round of the 2005 NHL draft, 135th overall. After graduating from the Ontario Hockey League, Tomas played 42 games over his first two seasons in pro hockey with the Thrashers AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves. Over those two seasons, Pospisil also played games for the Gwinnett Gladiators of the ECHL and the Albany River Rats of the AHL.

Last season, 2009-10, Tomas returned to the Czech Republic and the organization that had housed him through most of his pre-OHL career, HC Ocelari Trinec. He played 36 games for the team in 2009-10 season, contributing 10 points in 36 games.

This season, 2010-11, Pospisil finds himself still playing in the Czech Republic’s Extraliga but with Brno Kometa.

Check out Tomas Pospisil’s profile page on the official Brno Kometa website.

Tomas Pospisil appears in a previous post at OHL Alumni Central listing the graduates of the Sarnia Sting that were still active in professional hockey during the 2009-10 season. Click here to go to the post.

Ontario Hockey League grad Petr Kanko has taken a demotion of sorts for the upcoming season. After two years with HC Ocelari Trinec of the Czech Republic’s Extraliga, he will start this season with HC Slovan Usti of the 1. Liga, the affiliate league to the Extraliga.

Petr Kanko played three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2001-02 to 2003-04, all with the Kitchener Rangers. Each season with the Rangers, his point production increased while his games played decreased. In his second season, he was part of a Ranger team that won the Robertson Cup as Ontario Hockey League playoff champion as well as the Memorial Cup as CHL champion. Petr played a huge part in the playoff success with 27 points in 20 games for the Rangers.

As a junior, Kanko represented his homeland, the Czech Republic, twice in international play. He was member of the 2001 under-18 team that was left out of the medal standings despite Petr scoring six goals in seven games. In 2004, he was part of the under-20 team that lost out in the bronze medal game.

Kanko was drafted in the third round of the 2002 NHL draft by the Los Angeles Kings. He played four seasons with the Kings’ American Hockey League affiliate, the Manchester Monarchs, from 2004-05 to 2007-08. He was called up to the Los Angeles Kings for a short stint during the 2005-06 season when he played ten games. He scored just one goal with the Kings and that was in his first ever NHL game.

As mentioned, Petr played two seasons with HC Ocelari Trinec of the Czech Republic Extraliga. Hopefully, with a good early performance for HC Slovan Usti, he’ll make his way back to the elite league before this upcoming season is over.

Check out Petr Kanko’s profile page on the HC Slovan Usti official website.

Petr is featured in two previous posts at OHL Alumni Central:

HC Ocelari Trinec of the Czech Republic

Kitchener Rangers 2002-03 Memorial Cup Champions

HC Oceláři Třinec is a professional hockey club in the Czech Republic with a history stretching back to the 1920s. Třinec is located on the border of Poland and has a population of around 40,000. The club plays out of the Werk Arena which has a capacity of 3700 and was built in 1967.

Former NHLer Radek Bonk is currently the most well-known player on the team but there are also 5 OHL alumni currently playing for Třinec.

1. Peter Hamerlik played goal for the Kingston Frontenacs from 2000-01 to 2002-03 HC.
2. Martin Lojek played for the Brampton Battalion from 2002-03 to 2004-05. Martin had a cup of coffee with the Florida Panthers before returning to the Czech Republic.
3. Jan Platil was a top-notch defenseman for the Barrie Colts from 2000-01 to 2002-03. A Senators prospect, Jan returned to Czech Republic by way of the KHL in Russia.
4. Petr Kanko was a fan favourite in Kitchener with the Rangers from 2001-02 to 2003-04, winning a Memorial Cup with the team in 2002-03. A Los Angeles Kings prospect, he got to play 10 games with the NHL squad before heading to Europe. Check out this feature post on Petr.
5. Tomas Pospisil played for the Sarnia Sting in 2005-06 and 2006-07.

The team’s official website, which is only in Czech, can be found here.