OHL Alumni Central

Team Germany at the 2010 IIHF World Hockey Championships will feature two Ontario Hockey League alumni. Both players have been featured at OHL Alumni Central in previous posts. John Tripp, a Canadian born player who has attained German citizenship was also on the German team at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, BC. Rob Zepp is a Canadian born goaltender who played in the OHL with the Plymouth Whalers.

John Tripp played in the OHL with the Oshawa Generals for three seasons, from 1994-95 to 1996-97. John toiled in North America, even playing 43 total NHL games with the New York Rangers and the Los Angeles Kings, until the end of 2003-04. In 2004-05, Tripp made the jump to Germany and has been in the DEL ever since. His current team, Hamburg Freezers, is his third and he’s been with the club for three seasons.

Rob Zepp played three seasons in the OHL with the Plymouth Whalers from 1998-99 to 2000-01. In his final two seasons he shared the Dave Pinkney Trophy, awarded to the team with the best overall goals against average. Zepp has just completed his third season in the DEL, all with Eisbaren Berlin (Berlin Polar Bears).

To view John Tripp’s profile page at the Hamburg Freezers official website, click here.

To view Rob Zepp’s profile page at the Eisbaren Berlin official website, click here.

John Tripp left his journeyman’s life in North America when the NHL closed up shop for the 2004-05 season. He landed in Germany and loved playing in the DEL so much, he applied for German citizenship and will now represent Germany at the upcoming Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

John spent his OHL days in Oshawa with the Generals. There, he spent three seasons from 1994-95 to 1996-97. He totalled 92 points and 274 PIM in 173 games. He would go on to play a total of 43 games in the NHL, split between the Los Angeles Kings and New York Rangers. A lot of his time was spent in the Calgary Flames organization but he neve got to play with the big club.

One season, 2000-01, John split his playing time between teams in 4 cities in 3 leagues: Pensacola Ice Pilots, ECHL; Houston Aeros, IHL; Milwaukee Admirals, IHL; Hershey Bears, IHL.

Currently, he is a member of the Hamburg Freezers of Germany’s DEL. This is his third season with the team and sixth in the league. His first two seasons were with Adler Mannheim and his third was with Ingolstadt ERC.

He is the lone ex-OHLer representing Germany at the 2010 Olympics.

For a really cool article found on the Hamburg Freezers official website about John and featuring several pictures, click here (John is the one in the ’21′ jersey). The rough translation using Google Translate is as follows:

27/01/2010 – The abyss before my eyes even briefly left the courage of John Tripp. “I have a little jitters up here,” revealed the otherwise-nails Striker 50 meters above the rooftops of Hamburg. Along with Alexander Barta, Thomas Pielmeier, Max Brandl, Elia Ostwald and Domenic Bartels ventured Tripp on Wednesday backed the “Jochen Schweizer House running” the facade of the Holiday Inn Hotel Hamburg down – only by a thin rope.
After a short briefing by project manager John Davis Barta and Tripp were the first players who forced their way into the securing straps and the platform at the 17th Floor of the hotel climbed. An anxious glance down, deep breath – then came the hardest part of the House Runnings: Standing at the edge of the roof could be the two strikers tilt slowly forward – with a view at 50 meters depth! A little effort cost of death-defying step, but once in the vertical, was the fear vanished. 
Anxious glances before the run into the deep: Barta (left) and the other TrippAuch teammates dared and had fun at the noticeable vertical walk. Following informed themselves Barta and Co. nor more events from Jochen Schweizer and made plans to bungee jumping and skydiving. “Although the first steps have cost a lot to overcome, it really was fun,” said Elia Ostwald, when he again had solid ground under their feet. “That was certainly not my last event of this kind!”

The next House Running Events at the Holiday Inn Hamburg-rise on 20th March, 3 and 17 April. Further information at www.jochen-schweizer.de and www.hi-hamburg.de!