OHL Alumni Central

Andris Dzerins played two years in the Ontario Hockey League, 2007-08 and 2008-09, both with the Kingston Frontenacs. In each season with Kingston, Dzerins reached 20 goals, 20 in his first and 21 in his second. Previous to the OHL, Andris played junior in Latvia, Sweden and Finland.

Since leaving the Ontario Hockey League, Dzerins has been with Dinamo Riga of Russia’s KHL. The team plays out of the 10,300 seat Arena Riga in Riga, Latvia. In its recent history, Dinamo has been mediocre, finishing around .500 each season. This season has started out as no exception with the team beginning with a 7-8 record and sitting in seventh in the eleven team KHL West Conference. Riga is captained by former NHLer Sandis Ozolins.

Like mostly every other player on Dinamo Riga, Dzerins is an annual fixture on Latvia’s national team. He played for Latvia two years in the IIHF under-18 D1 World Juniors, winning one gold and one silver. He followed that up with two years with the under-20 team, also winning a gold and silver. Over the past two seasons, he has been a member of Latvia’s squad at the World Championships. In 2011, he contributed five assists in six games.

Joining Andris on Dinamo Riga are two other Ontario Hockey League grads. Arvids Rekis played four seasons with the Erie Otters from 1996-97 to 1999-00. Juris Stals played the 2001-02 season with the Sarnia Sting and the following season with the Owen Sound Attack. Both were teammates of Dzerins on the 2011 Latvia team at the Worlds. Rekis was a member of the Team Latvia at the 2010 Winter Olympics held in Vancouver, British Columbia. Stals was the only one of the three drafted by a National Hockey League club. He was a ninth rounder of the New York Rangers in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft.

In addition to the three Ontario Hockey League grads that played for Team Latvia at the 2010 Winter Olympics, there are two more OHL alumni added to the roster for the 2010 IIHF World Hockey Championships. Juris Stals and Andris Dzerins join Olympians Arvids Rekis, Herberts Vasiljevs and Kaspars Daugavins (click here for Olympics post on Team Latvia).

Juris Stals played in the OHL for two seasons, 2001-02 and 2002-03. His first season was played with the Sarnia Sting and his second with the Owen Sound Attack. Drafted deep in the 2001 NHL draft, 269th overall, by the New York Rangers, Stals played a season with the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack and two seasons with the ECHL’s Charlotte Checkers before heading to Europe.

From 2006-07 to 2008-09, Juris alternated between the Czech Republic’s Extraliga and Russia’s KHL. This past season found him back in North America playing for the Quad City Mallards of the IHL.

Andris Dzerins played two seasons in the OHL, 2007-08 and 2008-09, both with the Kingston Frontenacs. This season he played his first of his professional career with Riga Dynamo of Russia’s KHL.

Arvid Rekis played four seasons in the OHL from 1996-97 to 1999-00, all with the Erie Otters. He spent his first three seasons of pro hockey in the ECHL with the Peoria Rivermen, with an 18 game call-up to the AHL’s Worcester IceCats during the 2001-02 season. Since the beginning of the 2003-04 season, Arvid has played in Germany’s DEL. His first five seasons were with the Augsburg Panthers and his past two have been with Wolfsburg Grizzly Adams.

Kaspars Daugavins played three seasons in the OHL from 2006-07 to 2008-09, all with the Toronto /Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors. Having been drafted by the Ottawa Senators in 2006, before he’d played a game of junior, Kaspars played a portion of each of junior seasons with the AHL’s Binghamton Senators. This past season, he played a full season with the Binghamton club with a single game with the NHL Senators.

Herberts Vasiljevs played just one season in the OHL, 1995-96 with the Guelph Storm. Vasiljevs put in 51 games in the NHL over four seasons with the Florida Panthers, Atlanta Thrashers and the Vancouver Canucks. After a year in Russia in 2003-04, Herberts has been in Germany’s DEL since, one year with Nuremburg and the past five with Krefeld. He is currently captain of the Pinguine.

Check out what other countries have OHL grads on their rosters for the 2010 IIHF World Hockey Championships:

Canada

Italy (1)

Italy (2)

Czech Republic

Norway

Finland