OHL Alumni Central

Ontario Hockey League grad Danny Richmond is switching to the Washington Capitals system for the 2011-12 season. The London Knights alumnus spent 2010-11 with the Toronto Marlies, the AHL affiliate of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Richmond has signed with the Hershey Bears of the AHL for one season.

Danny played just one season in the Ontario Hockey League, 2003-04, as yet another American born player snagged by the Hunter Brothers in London. With the Knights, Richmond scored 13 and totalled 35 points in 59 games from the blue line.

Richmond played for Team USA at the 2004 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships. He contributed four assists in six games as the United States won their first gold medal ever in the tournament. The U.S., undefeated up to the final, met Canada, also undefeated, in Helsinki, Finland. The States edged out Canada 4-3 for the gold.

Before Richmond came to the Knights, he was already a prospect of the Carolina Hurricanes. Danny was taken by the Canes in the second round of the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, 31st overall. In his second year of pro hockey, Richmond got into 10 games with Carolina and 10 more with the Chicago Black Hawks. He would see 22 games with Chicago in 2006-07 and seven the following year.

Richmond has spent most of his pro career in the AHL, playing 433 games with six different teams as of the end of the 2010-11 season.

Tomas Marcinko playing for Slovakia.

Tomas Marcinko played two seasons in the Ontario Hockey League, 2006-07 and 2007-08, both with the Barrie Colts. The native of Slovakia captained the team in his final season. Despite playing shortened seasons of 56 and 48 games, Tomas contributed a steady 19 goals both years.

During his junior playing career, Marcinko represented Slovakia five times at the international level. Both seasons as a Colt, Tomas played for Slovakia’s under-20 team. In 2007, the team finished eighth in Sweden and in 2008, the team finished seventh in the Czech Republic. He has also played in two IIHF under-18 championships and one under-17.

Marcinko was taken by the New York Islanders in the fourth round of the 2006 NHL draft, 115th overall. He remains in the Islanders organization, entering his third season with their AHL affiliate, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

On Bridgeport, Tomas is joined by seven other Ontario Hockey League grads: Tony Romano (London, Peterborough, Justin DiBenedetto (Toronto, Sarnia), Justin Taylor (London), Matt Martin (Sarnia), Michael Haley (Sarnia, Toronto), Rob Hisey (Sault Ste. Marie, Erie, Barrie) and Mark Katic (Sarnia). DiBenedetto, Martin, Haley and Katic were featured in a previous post at OHL Alumni Central featuring graduates of the Sting playing for the Sound Tigers.

Check out Tomas Marcinko’s profile page at the Bridgeport Sound Tigers official website.

Michal Birner played two seasons in the Ontario Hockey League, 2004-05 and 2005-06. His first season in the OHL was split between the Barrie Colts and the Saginaw Spirit. His final season in the Ontario Hockey League was played exclusively with Saginaw. While with Saginaw, he set the team’s mark for the fastest three goals scored.

Over the 2005-06 season, Birner was second on Saginaw Spirit scoring during the regular season, three points behind team leader Ryan McDonough. However, Michal played eight less games during the season. The missed games were in part due to Birner representing his native Czech Republic at the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships (under-20) that were played in Canada. The Czechs left the tournament without a medal.

Birner also represented the Czech Republic on the international stage earlier on in his hockey career when he was on the roster for the 2004 IIHF World Under-18 Championships. Michal contributed five points in seven games as the Czech’s won bronze with a win over Canada in Belarus.

Birner was drafted by the St. Louis Blues in the fourth round of the 2004 NHL draft, 116th overall. He spent his first full season after graduating from the Ontario Hockey League with the Blues’ AHL farm team, the Peoria Rivermen. The following season, he started with Peoria and ended with the Portland Pirates. In 2008-09, he played two games with the AHL’s Iowa Chops before being demoted to the ECHL. Birner chose not to report and instead signed with Pelicans of Finland’s SM-Liiga.

Michal’s season with Pelicans lasted only six games and he was sidelined for the rest of the season with a broken hand. This past season, he remained in the SM-Liiga but with TPS, a storied team that has been around since 1929 (as a sports club, TPS has been around since 1922). His 45 regular season points with TPS was good enough for third on the team in scoring, only four points from the leader. More importantly, TPS won the league championship.

Birner is signed on with TPS for the upcoming 2010-11 season.

Check out Michal Birner’s profile page on the TPS official website.

Check out this recent post on Michal’s teammate with the Spirit, Patrick Asselin.