OHL Alumni Central

Thomas Dolak played one season in the Ontario Hockey League, 1997-98. He began that season with three games in a Kingston Frontenacs uniform before heading north to North Bay and playing 48 more games with the Centennials. In those 51 games, Dolak totalled 45 points.

Thomas, born in the Czech Republic, played his pre-OHL hockey in Germany and has represented the country twice in international play. Dolak was a member of Germany’s under 20 team at the world junior championships in 1999 and played for Germany in the World Championships in 2000.

After his one year in the Ontario Hockey League, Dolak returned to Germany and has played in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) since. 2011-12 will mark his fourteenth year in the league and will be played with the Hamburg Freezers, a team Thomas last played for in 2002-03.

For the past eight years, Dolak has played for the Hannover Scorpions, winning a DEL championship with the club in 2009-10. That season, his 53 points in 56 regular season games placed him tied for 17th in the league. He added 11 points in 10 playoff games on the way to the championship.

This past season, Thomas contributed 46 points in 51 regular season games as the Scorpions finished fifth in the 14 team DEL. Hannover bowed out of the playoffs in the quarter-finals. Dolak’s 46 points placed him 21st in the league.

Other than Hannover and Hamburg, Dolak has also played for the Kassel Huskies and Munchen (Munich) Barons in the DEL. He played in the DEL All-Star game as a member of the Huskies in 2000 and as a member of the Scorpions in 2004.

Well, that was probably the longest article title in the history of OHL Alumni Central…

The reigning champions of the Czech Republic Extraligy, HC Ocelari Trinec, are looking for a repeat with the help of four Ontario Hockey League alumni. Three were members of the team in 2010-11 and one is a new arrival from the Albany Devils of the American Hockey League. Two of the four are products of Stan Butler’s Brampton Battalion.

Lukas Havel is an original Brampton Battalion, playing three years with the club from 1998-99 to 2000-01. Havel averaged 20 goals per season with the Battalion, scoring 19 in the inaugural season when goals were hard to come by. In his final season of OHL play, Lukas played for the Czech Republic at the IIHF World Juniors, earning a gold medal.

Undrafted, Havel returned to his native Czech Republic and has been there since, with exception of a two year stint in the Slovak Extraligy. In 2010-11, his first with Trinec, Have played just five games after being a regular with HC Slavia Praha (Prague) the year before.

Martin Lojek also played three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League with the Brampton Battalion. Lojek played from 2002-03 to 2004-05. Like Lukas Havel, Lojek also played for the Czech Republic at the World Juniors. In 2005, Martin earned a bronze medal.

After his first season with Brampton, Lojek was taken by the Florida Panthers in the fourth round of the 2003 OHL Entry Draft, 105th overall. He played in Florida’s system until the end of the 2007-08 season, mostly with the Rochester Americans of the AHL but he did get into five NHL games during that time. In 2008-09, Martin made the return to his native Czech Republic. He has been with Trinec ever since.

Peter Hamerlik spent three seasons between the pipes in the Ontario Hockey League from 2000-01 to 2002-03, all with the Kingston Frontenacs. Hamerlik played the bulk of the games in net for the Frontenacs over the three years and backstopped Slovakia at the 2002 World Juniors.

Peter came to Kingston already a prospect of the Pittsburgh Penguins, having been drafted in the third round of the 2000 NHL Entry Draft, 84th overall. He re-entered the draft in 2002 and was taken by the Boston Bruins in the fifth round, 153rd overall. Hamerlik played for a handful of ECHL teams between 2003 and 2005 while reaching his highest level in North American hockey with the Providence Bruins of the AHL.

Hamerlik returned to Slovakia for the end of the 2004-05 season. He has been with Trinec since the start of the 2009-10 season, playing in Russia and Belarus along the way.

Rob Davison is the new guy and the only Ontario Hockey League grad playing for Trinec that is Canadian. Davison played three seasons in the OHL with the North Bay Centennials from 1997-98 to 1999-00.

Rob was drafted after his first OHL season by the San Jose Sharks in the fourth round of the 1998 NHL Entry Draft, 98th overall. He has appeared in 225 total NHL games with the San Jose Sharks, New York Islanders, Vancouver Canucks and New Jersey Devils. He spent the past season solely in the American Hockey League with the Albany Devils where he wore the ‘A’.

This is not Davison’s first tour of duty overseas. In the lockout season of 2004-05, Rob played for the Cardiff Devils in Great Britain’s Elite Ice Hockey League.

Mike Looby played five seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2001-02 to 2005-06. He began his OHL career with the Brampton Battalion and called the Bunker home for two seasons. Looby spent the 2003-04 season with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds before heading to the Plymouth Whalers for the 2004-05 season. He split his final year between the Whalers and the Kingston Frontenacs.

After an early exit by the Frontenacs in Mike’s final OHL season (losing in the first round to the Sudbury Wolves in six games), it was off to the Central Hockey League’s Laredo Bucks. The Bucks won the CHL championship in 2005-06 and Looby played in 12 of the team’s playoff games, contributing a goal and two assists from the blue line.

Undrafted by an NHL club, Mike has spent most of his professional hockey career in the Central Hockey League. The exception was 2008-09 when he played in the East Coast Hockey League, split between the Dayton Bombers and the Gwinnett Gladiators. This past season, Mike played 54 games on the point for the CHL’s Wichita Thunder after starting the season with two games played for the Queen City Storm of the All-American Hockey League.

2011-12 brings about a major change in landscape for Looby. Mike will cross the Atlantic and play for Eaters Geleen in the Netherlands. This past season, Geleen finished sixth in the nine team Dutch elite league.

The 2009-10 Kingston Frontenacs were a picture of youth and most spent the 2010-11 season in junior hockey. However, three players moved on to professional hockey, two went to school and played OUA hockey at Ontario universities. One was slated to play elite hockey in his native Czech Republic but fell off the hockey map.

Tyler Beskerowany, a fixture during 2009-10 in all OHL arenas who played 62 of the Kingston Frontenacs regular seasons games in his final year of Ontario Hockey League action, spent his first season split between the ECHL and AHL. The Dallas Stars goaltending prospect played 20 games with the ECHL’s Idaho Steelheads and 18 with the AHL’s Texas Stars. He is slated to start the 2011-12 season with Texas.

Brian Lashoff appeared in 40 games over the 2010-11 season, 37 with the Grand Rapids Griffins of the AHL and three with the Toledo Walleye of the ECHL.

Zach Harnden played just six games with the Manchester Monarchs of the American Hockey League.

Kaine Geldart played in the OUA with the Brock University Badgers and Joe Pleckaitis played for the Carleton University Ravens. Each had outstanding rookie seasons.

Jaroslav Kruzik was signed on to play for his hometown HC Kladno of the Czech Republic’s Extraliga but didn’t play any games. We’re not sure what the situation was.

Peter Hamerlik played three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2000-01 to 2002-03, all with the Kingston Frontenacs. In all three seasons, the netminder played the bulk of Kingston’s games.

In 2002, Hamerlik played for Slovakia at the IIHF World Under-20 Hockey Championships. The team finished on top of Group A during the preliminary round but were upset by Switzerland in the first game of the playoff round by losing 3-2 in a shootout. Hamerlik previously played for Slovakia’s squad at the Under-18 tournament in 1999 and 2000. In 1999, the team won bronze.

Peter twice entered the NHL Entry Draft. In 2000, before playing a game in the Ontario Hockey League, Hamerlik was taken by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the third round, 84th overall. In 2002, he was picked by the Boston Bruins in the fifth round, 153rd overall. Peter hasn’t appeared in the NHL but played for four different teams from the AHL and ECHL in 2003-04, his only full season of North American pro hockey.

Hamerlik returned to Slovakia midway through the 2004-05 season after things failed to work out with the Providence Bruins of the AHL. Since, he has played in Slovakia, Belarus, Russia and the Czech Republic. Peter was on the Slovakia team at the 201o World Hockey Championships, although he didn’t get into any games.

Over the past two seasons, Hamerlik has been the number one goaltender for HC Trinec of the Czech Republic’s Extraliga. Currently, the team has just finished up the regular season in first place and move towards a long playoff run. Peter played 34 of the team’s 52 regular season games and put up great numbers with a 2.33 goals against average and a .929 save percentage.

Check out Peter Hamerlik’s profile page at the HC Trinec official website.