OHL Alumni Central
Find Out Where Your Favourite OHL Grads Are Playing
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Jan 27
As this article goes live, I am already in my sixth day in Cuba at a small resort near Cienfuegos. Not a vacation, of course, but another hockey scouting mission. The Cuban ice hockey scene is flourishing and it won’t be long before they’re challenging Canada at the Olympics (ok – it’s hard enough to get ice in your drink on this island, let alone install an ice rink…).Anyhow… This is one of those ‘best of’ or ‘check out these articles’ type article. They are all from my mind and fingers. They are all mediocre to good but somewhat factually accurate.
Four London Knights That Have Won the Red Tilson Trophy
The Red Tilson Trophy has been awarded to the most outstanding player in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL, OMJHL, OHA) since 1944-45. The London Knights entered the OHA as the London Nationals for the 1965-66 season, renamed the Knights for 1968-69. In that time, four London Knights players have been named the recipient of the Red Tilson Trophy.
8 Memorial Cup Finals Decided in Overtime Since 1972
Previous to 1972, the Memorial Cup was decided with a multi-game series between two teams. Since 1972, the ultimate prize in Canadian major junior hockey has been competed for in a three or four team tournament with a one-game final to decide the champion. In the 40 years with this format, the Memorial Cup final game has been decided in overtime on seven occasions.
3,649 NHL Games Represented in the 1974-75 OMJHL’s Top 5 Scorers
The top five OHL (then the OMJHL) players in the 1974-75 race for the Eddie Powers Trophy all moved on to careers in the National Hockey League. The Eddie Powers Trophy is handed out each season to the Ontario Hockey League player with the most points during the regular season. The top five players in 1974-75 represent 3,649 regular season NHL games. One player appeared in over 1,000 NHL games but only one was a first round NHL draft pick.
3 Niagara Falls Flyers to Win The OHL’s Eddie Powers Trophy
Version ‘A’ of the Niagara Falls Flyers existed in the Ontario Hockey Association between 1960-61 and 1971-72. Previous to 1960, the franchise was still known as the Flyers but located in Barrie. The team was relocated for the 1972-73 season and still exists as the Sudbury Wolves. These Flyers are not to be confused with the team (version ‘B’) that was relocated from St. Catherines for the 1976-77 season and is now the current Saginaw Spirit.
Hockey Trivia 44 – Canadian Hockey League Goal Scoring Records
The 1970’s and 1980’s brought some incredible offensive numbers to the Canadian Hockey League. The three major junior hockey leagues acrossCanadathat make up the CHL all had their individual regular season goal scoring records set in the 1980’s.
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Sep 4
OHL Alumni Central is on vacation for the first full week of September! The Ontario Hockey League is just starting to kick things into gear and, as usual, it looks to be another exciting season for the league and its graduates.
Coming up will be the usual awesome articles and news about the alumni of the greatest developmental hockey league in the world. The OHL Alumni Big List has fallen a little behind but will be back up to speed before the start of the 2011-12 Ontario Hockey League season.
Check out the selection of OHL hockey cards available on eBay!
In the meantime… Check out these following somewhat great articles on the history of a few of the Ontario Hockey League’s top teams.
3+1 Peterborough Petes That Have Entered The Hockey Hall Of Fame
Four players that honed their craft with the Peterborough Petes of the Ontario Hockey League, end up as honoured members of the Hockey Hall of Fame. However, one player, Wayne Gretzky, played just three games with the club.
Bob Gainey played one game for the Peterborough Petes in 1971-72 then another 52 in 1972-73. Despite the low amount of playing time in the OMJHL, Gainey was selected eighth overall by the Montreal Canadiens in the 1973 NHL Amateur Draft. Bob was also taken seventh overall in the World Hockey Association Amateur Draft by the Minnesota Fighting Saints, but of course, he took the NHL route. (read more…)
Retired Numbers of the Ontario Hockey League’s Ottawa 67′s
The Canadian Centennial in 1967 brought a new franchise to the Ontario Hockey League (OHA at the time). The Ottawa 67’s began play with a dismal six win season in 1967-68. Their fortunes would soon turn, however, and they would find themselves in their first Robertson Cup final in 1971-72 and their first Memorial Cup in 1976-77.
In the forty plus years of the franchise, the Ottawa 67’s have retired just three numbers in honour of four different players. Any new player to the 67’s is forbidden to wear the numbers 14, 7 and 15. (read more at InfoBarrel…)
Before The Rangers, Kitchener Had The Greenshirts And Canucks
The Kitchener Rangers came into the Ontario Hockey Association (now Ontario Hockey League) for the 1963-64 season and have since established themselves as one of the most successful and most popular teams in the league. However, this was not the first major junior team to hail from Kitchener and call the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium home. (read more at Hubpages…)
4 Sudbury Wolves To Win The Max Kaminsky Trophy
Since their first season in the Ontario Hockey League, 1972-73, four Sudbury Wolves defensemen have been awarded the Max Kaminsky Trophy. The Kaminsky has been handed out each OHL season since 1969-70 to the league’s top defenseman.
Jeff Brown was the first Sudbury Wolves defenseman to win the Kaminsky. In 1985-86, Brown played just 45 regular season games but scored 22 goals and totalled 50 points. That season was his fourth and last with the Wolves. Brown was a second round pick of the Quebec Nordiques in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft, 36th overall. He went on to play 747 regular season NHL games with seven teams including the Nordiques, St. Louis Blues, Vancouver Canucks, Hartford Whalers, Carolina Hurricanes, Toronto Maple Leafs and Washington Capitals. (read more at Factoidz…)
Hockey Trivia 67 – Peterborough Petes
Q. The Peterborough Petes were not a new franchise when they began play in the OHA for the 1956-57 season. What team was moved to Peterborough after the 1955-56 season to become the Petes?
A. (read more at Triond…)
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May 8
For your reading pleasure, here are five hockey reads to get you through the day.
OHL Arenas: Big, Small, Old, New
Like in most spectator friendly sports leagues, a number of the teams in the Ontario Hockey League have moved into new, higher capacity and more spacious digs in recent years. However, there are still some old buildings around the league that have a certain amount of character that you just can’t find in the new arenas. (read more)
The 1983-84 Laval Voisins – Legends of the QMJHL
The 1983-84 QMJHL season was the
end of an era of sorts. The league was led by the Laval Voisins, a team that
finished the season with 54 wins and 108 points in 70 games, 25 points better
than the next best team. 1983-84 was the apex of Mario Lemieux’s junior hockey
career and the Voisins were simply an offensive nuclear bomb. (read more)The Surpassable Individual Scoring Records of the New York Rangers
Unlike teams such as the Edmonton Oilers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Los Angeles Kings and Detroit Red Wings, the individual single-season scoring records of the New York Rangers still have a chance of being broken. (read more)
The Retired Numbers of the London Knights
The London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League have produce literally hundreds of National Hockey League players since their inception as the London Nationals for the 1965-66 season. Countless others have gone on to play professionally in the lower North American leagues (AHL, ECHL, CHL, IHL, etc.) and in Europe. Of all these players, the Knights to date have selected just five players deemed great enough to have their jersey numbers retired and raised to the rafters of the John Labatt Centre. (read more)
The Only 3 To Win Both The Kaminsky and Norris Trophies
The Max Kaminsky Trophy is handed out to the top defenseman in the Ontario Hockey League each season. The Norris Trophy accomplishes the same thing only in the National Hockey League. Since 1969-70, when the first Kaminsky Trophy was awarded to the OHL’s top blueliner, only three players have gone on to win the Norris Trophy. (read more)
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