OHL Alumni Central

Medvescak Zagreb of Austria’s Erste Bank Eishockey Liga has said goodbye to two Ontario Hockey League grads, Jeff Heerema and Brad Smyth. Remaining captain Alan Letang and alternate captain John Hecimovic will be joined by three other OHL alumni for the 2011-12 season.

Zagreb, a city in Croatia, will enter it’s third season in the EBEL. The Austrian based elite league has truly become an international league with teams in Hungary, Croatia and Slovenia, as well as Austria. Zabreb finished each of it’s first two seasons in the EBEL in eighth place in the ten team league.

Michael Ouzas brings some great goaltending talent to ‘The Bears’. Ouzas played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2002-03 to 2005-06 with the Barrie Colts, Toronto St. Michael’s Majors, Mississauga IceDogs and Owen Sound Attack. In 2004-05, Ouzas was the OHL’s Goaltender of the Year with a 2.18 GAA and .926 save percentage in 44 games with the IceDogs.

Undrafted, Michael played two seasons with the University of New Brunswick before becoming a regular in the ECHL. This psat season, 2010-11, Ouzas started the ECHL All-Star game as a member of the Las Vegas Wranglers. He was a call-up for on game with the Houston Aeros of the American Hockey League.

Andy Delmore brings 283 games of NHL experience to Zagreb, despite the fact that he joins the team on a ‘try-out’ basis. Delmore played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1993-94 to 1996-97 with the North Bay Centennials and Sarnia Sting. He played NHL hockey with the Philadelphia Flyers, Nashville Predators, Buffalo Sabres and Columbus Blue Jackets.

Delmore’s highlight season came in 2005-06 with the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL. In 66 games, he scored 17 goals and totalled 72 points. He won the Eddie Shore Award as the league’s top defenseman while leading all blue liners in goals, assists and points. He played an additional seven games with the NHL’s Blue Jackets that season.

This year will not be Andy Delmore’s first European experience. He has played in Germany’s Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) and played this past season in Norway’s Get-Ligaen.

The team captain of Medvescak Zagreb, Alan Letang, begins his fourth season in the EBEL and third with Zagreb. Letang played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1991-92 to 1994-95. After playing his rookie season with the Cornwall Royals, he followed the franchise as they morphed into the Newmarket Royals and then the Sarnia Sting. In his final season, he was a teammate of Andy Delmore.

A late pick of the Montreal Canadiens in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft, Letang appeared in 14 NHL games with the Dallas Stars, Calgary Flames and New York Islanders. Letang spent four years in Germany’s DEL before moving to the EBEL.

John Hecimovic enters his third season with Zagreb. He played five seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2000-01 to 2004-05. Hecimovic was a Sarnia Sting until midway through his final season when he was sent to the Mississauga IceDogs. John has been in Europe since 2007-08. He played two seasons with The Hague in the Netherlands before moving to the EBEL.

Tom Zanoski returns to his roots, having been born in Zagreb. Tom played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2001-02 to 2004-05, starting with the Owen Sound Attack and moving to the Mississauga IceDogs midway through his third season. Zanoski is surely looking for stability with Zagreb after playing for six different teams in 2009-10 and three teams in 2010-11.

Zagreb Medvescak has been in existence since 1961. Originally part of the Yugoslav Hockey League, the have played in the Croatian Ice Hockey League from 1991. They actually play in both the CIHL and EBEL at the same time. The team plays out of the 6400 seat Dom Sportova in Zagreb.

Just a quick post today highlighting where some our Ontario Hockey League grads stand in the scoring races of the European leagues.

In Great Britain’s Elite Ice Hockey League, Ottawa 67′s grad Joe Talbot is atop the league scoring race with 9 goals and 16 assists for 25 points in just 12 games. Talbot is a member of the Sheffield Steelers.

In Austria’s Erste Bank Eishockey Liga, John Hecimovic is sitting in third place in league scoring with 10 goals and 6 assists for 16 points in 10 games with Zagreb. Hecimovic is a graduate of the Sarnia Sting and Mississauga IceDogs.

Rico Fata is the top Ontario Hockey League grad in Switzerland’s National League A. Fata is currently sitting in 12th spot with 6 goals and 7 assists for 13 points in 13 games. Rico is a graduate of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and the London Knights. Fata is currently playing for EHC Biel.

In the Swiss B League, Brent Kelly sits tied for third in league scoring. The Guelph Storm and Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds grad has 7 goals and 9 assists for 16 points in 9 games with SC Langenthal.

In Germany’s Deutsche Eishockey Liga, former Guelph Storm Herberts Vasiljevs is tied for sixth with 5 goals and 9 assists for 14 points in 11 games with Krefeld Pinguine.

In Germany’s 2.Bundesliga, Patrick Jarrett is second in league scoring with 2 goals and 12 assists for 14 assists in 7 games with Dresdner Eislöwen. Patrick played for the Mississauga IceDogs and Owen Sound Attack of the Ontario Hockey League.

In Italy’s Lega Italiana Hockey Ghiaccio Serie A, Luciano Aquino finds himself in second place in league scoring with 4 goals and 5 assists for 9 points in 3 games. Aquino is playing for Valpellice.

John Hecimovic played five seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2000-01 to 2004-05. His first four full seasons were spent with the Sarnia Sting and after 12 games of his fifth season, Hecimovic was shipped to the Mississauga IceDogs where he finished out his OHL career.

John was a fine example of consistency around the net scoring exactly 30 goals in his second, third and fourth seasons. In his final season, that number dropped to a combined total of 26 goals between Sarnia and Mississauga but that feat was accomplished in just 51 games.

Hecimovic was picked by the Florida Panthers in the ninth round of the 2003 NHL draft, 264th overall. The highest level John played at in North America was three partial seasons in the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL). He played 24 games with the South Carolina Stingrays in 2005-06 before jetting off to Germany to play for Straubing Tigers of the German Bundesliga. He spent 2006-07 with the Pensacola Ice Pilots, averaging more than a point per game with 55 points in 44 games.

After playing just 5 games with Pensacola in 2007-08, it was off to Europe again for Hecimovic. This time the destination was the Netherlands. In just 25 games with HYS The Hague, John scored 23 goals and added 23 assists for 46 points. The following season, despite playing just 16 regular season games, Hecimovic produced 16 points in 10 playoff games and led The Hague to the Dutch championship.

This past season, John followed his ancestral roots and landed in Zagreb, Croatia. Hecimovic played for KHL Medvescak Zagreb (the “Bears”), a Croatian team that plays in Austria’s Erste Bank Eishockey Liga. John produced 39 regular season and 10 playoff points for a combined 49 which placed him 29th in the league.

Zagreb finished fourth in the regular season during the 2009-10 season and made it to the semi-finals in the playoffs, losing out to eventual EBEL champions, EC Salzburg Red Bulls.

Medvescak Zagreb’s roster page on their official website can be found here.

Check out John Hecimovic’s profile page on the EBEL official website.

The following video features John Hecimovic putting the final touches on a great turnover and break by Zagreb. John is number 8 in blue.

The Erste Bank Eishockey Liga is done regular season play for 2009-10 and there are 5 former Ontario Hockey League players among the top 40 point-getters. The Erste Bank Eishockey Liga is Austria’s elite hockey league. The 10 team league consists of 8 teams located in Austria and one each in Slovenia and Croatia.

Rob Shearer played his OHL days with the Windsor Spitfiresfrom 1993-94 to 1995-96. This season he played for EHC LIWEST Linz. His best season with the Spits was 1995-96 when he finished 10th in league scoring with 93 points. After 5 years in the AHL and 2 games with the Colorado Avalanche of the NHL, Shearer had stops in Finland and Germany before becoming a regular with Linz in 2005-06.

Marcel Rodman of Slovenia played with the Peterborough Petes for the 1999-00 and 2000-01 seasons. Other than 2003-04, when he played a season in Germany, Marcel has played in the Austrian league. This season was with the Vienna Capitals.

John Hecimovic played 4 full seasons with the Sarnia Sting from 2000-01 to 2003-04 before splitting the 2004-05 season between the Sting and the Mississauga Icedogs. This is his first season in with Zagreb Medvescak KHL after two seasons in Holland.

Kelsey Wilson played 3 seasons in the OHL. His first full season was 2003-04 with the Sarnia Sting. He split 2004-05 between the Sting and the Guelph Storm and finished off his OHL career in 2005-06 with the Storm. Wilson played this season with Salzburg and along with finishing in the top 40, he also amassed 239 PIM.

Mike Craig is at the end of his 20th season in professional hockey. He was an Oshawa General from 1987-88 to 1989-90 and won a Memorial Cupin his final season. This is Mike’s 7th full season in Austria. His first 4 seasons were with Vienna and has spent the last three with Klagenfurt.