OHL Alumni Central

Now a full season removed from leading the Ontario Hockey League in goals during the regular season, Bryan Cameron returns for his second season with the Abbotsford Heat of the American Hockey League. Cameron played 60 games with the Calgary Flames affiliate this past season, along with seven for the Victoria Salmon Kings of the ECHL.

Bryan played five seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2005-06 to 2009-10. He was a member of the Belleville Bulls until his final season when the Barrie Colts picked them up in anticipation of a long playoff run.

Over his five years, Cameron played in 76 playoff games. Compare that number to Ryan Ellis of the Windsor Spitfires who has played in 62 and Dylan Hunter of the London Knights who played in 72. Starting from his second year in Belleville, Cameron played on teams that at least made it to the Conference Finals. The 2006-07 Bulls fell to the Sudbury Wolves in the Eastern Conference Finals; The 2007-08 Bulls lost in the Robertson Cup finals to the Kitchener Rangers; The 2008-09 Bulls bowed out to the Brampton Battalion in the Conference finals and the Hamilton Spectator winning 2009-10 Barrie Colts went down in the finals to the Windsor Spitfires.

In 2008-09, Cameron won the Jim Mahon Trophy as the league’s top scoring right winger. His 37 goals and 44 assists for 81 points are the lowest totals of any Jim Mahon Trophy winner. Bryan led the OHL with 53 goals in 2009-10 and was awarded the Leo Lalonde Trophy as overage player of the year. In his final two seasons in the OHL, Cameron was selected as a First Team All-Star.

Bryan was taken by the Los Angeles Kings in the third round of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, 82nd overall. He was later signed as a free-agent by the Calgary Flames and began his professional hockey career in the Flames organization.

It was a bit of a ‘six degrees of Bryan Cameron’ situation in Abbotsford for the 2010-11 season. Playing for the Heat were Greg Nemisz who played for Windsor against Cameron at the 2010 Robertson Cup finals, T.J. Brodie who played with Bryan for the Barrie Colts in 2009-10 and Matt Pelech who played with Bryan on the Belleville Bulls for the 2006-07 season. Other Ontario Hockey League grads on the Heat included John Armstrong (Plymouth Whalers, Peterborough Petes) and Chris Breen (Saginaw Spirit, Erie Otters, Peterborough Petes).

His six goals in 60 games with Abbotsford in his AHL rookie season, suggest a different role for the OHL sniper. Time will tell if his goal scoring abilities will once again reveal themselves or if he’s destined for a the role of the energy man / checker.

It looks like the Asia League of Hockey will return to action for the 2011-12 season. The playoff championship for the league that has teams in Japan, South Korea and China was suspended due to the devastating earthquake and subsequent tsunami that rocked the region earlier this year. The Tohoku Free Blades were set to playoff against the Anyang Halla in the finals when the earthquake happened quite near Tohoku. The playoffs were suspended and eventually, both teams were determined as co-champions of the 2010-11 season.

Michael Swift as a member of the AHL's Worcester Sharks.

High1 finished fifth in the seven team league in 2010-11. The team has gone out and acquired an Ontario Hockey League grad that should put a ton of pucks in the net for the them. Michael Swift spent the past season in the American Hockey League, starting with the Albany Devils and moving to the Worcester Sharks at the trade deadline.

Swift played five season in the Ontario Hockey League from 2003-04 to 2007-08 with the Mississauga and Niagara IceDogs. Swift was the last ever team captain of the Mississauga IceDogs and the first ever of the Niagara IceDogs. In his final season with Niagara, he finished tied for seventh in league scoring with exactly 100 points. He earned the Leo Lalonde Trophy as the OHL’s top overage player. Swift is proof that low draft picks still have a chance. Michael was taken in the 10th round of the 2003 OHL Priority Draft, 186th overall.

Undrafted, Swift was scooped up by the New Jersey Devils organization and has been with their AHL affiliate since 2008-09. Michael led the Lowell Devils in goals with 24 in 2009-10 and his combined points total between the Albany Devils and the Worcester Sharks wsa good for fourth on the AHL affiliate of San Jose.

The ALH also attracts a handful of Ontario Hockey League grads each season. So far, just Swift, Ric Jackman and Bryan Young are signed up for the upcoming season.

Ontario Hockey League grad Ryan Ready will return in 2011-12 to play his sixth season in Germany’s Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). 2011-12 will be Ready’s second season with EHC München (Munich) after four with Iserlohn Roosters.

Ryan played four years in the Ontario Hockey League from 1995-96 to 1998-99, all with the Belleville Bulls. In his final season in the OHL, Ready produced 33 goals 59 assists for 92 points in 63 games, helping the Bulls to a third place finish in the Eastern Conference. He exploded in the playoffs for 38 points in 21 games as Belleville took the Robertson Cup as OHL playoff champions with a seven game series win over the London Knights.

In that final season in the Ontario Hockey League, Ready was selected a CHL 2nd Team All-star and won the Leo Lalonde Trophy as the overage player of the year in the OHL.

Ready was a fourth round pick of the Calgary Flames in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft, 100th overall. His only NHL action to date was a seven game stint with the Philadelphia Flyers during the 2005-06 season. After seven years playing in the AHL and old IHL, Ryan headed to Germany for the start of the 2006-07 season and hasn’t looked back.

With Iserlohn in 2008-09, Ready contributed 56 points in 48 regular season games. The point total was good for sixth in the league, eight points away from the top spot. This season, despite only playing 43 of 52 regular season game due to injury, Ryan totalled 44 points in 43 games and finished just out of the top 20. He was on pace to finish in the top five. As for EHC München, the team finished eighth in the fourteen team DEL and made a quick exit from the playoffs.

In a similar situation to yesterday’s post, today’s features a team losing one Ontario Hockey League grad and gaining another. Yesterday, it was the Nottingham Panthers of the Great Britain’s EIHL (click on the team name to view article). Today, it’s Kärpät of Finland’s SM-Liiga. 

Snopek was drafted in the fifth round of the 1995 NHL Entry Draft, 109th overall by the Edmonton Oilers. Jan’s pro career in North America consisted of just two games in the American Hockey League during the 1997-98 season. He has been in the Czech Extraliga since the 1998-99 season. During his five year stint with HC Pardubice from 2004-05 to 2008-09, the team won the league championship in his first year and he was team captain in the final two seasons. This year was Snopek’s second season with HC Ceske Budejovice. 

Martin St. Pierre started this season with Neftekhimik of Russia’s KHL but after just eight games found himself with Kärpät. He played 25 games with the club, contributing 14 points before parting ways with the club this week. 

Martin St. Pierre as a member of the AHL's Rockford IceHogs

St. Pierre played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2000-01 to 2003-04, all with the Guelph Storm. In his first season, he was the OHL’s rookie leader in assists and points. In his final season, the Storm won the Robertson Cup and Martin led the league in playoff assists and points. He was awarded the Wayne Gretzky 99 Award as the playoff MVP. He was also awarded the Leo Lalonde Trophy as the OHL’s Overage Player of the Year. 

Undrafted, St. Pierre has made his way into 38 games in the NHL with the Chicago Blackhawks, Boston Bruins and Ottawa Senators. He has averaged well over a point per game in 367 AHL games with 405 points. Twice he was an AHL All-Star. 

Rumours abound that St. Pierre will be heading to EC Salzburg Red Bulls in Austria’s Erste Bank Eishockey Liga. Salzburg has always been very OHL alumni friendly. 

Jan Snopek was featured in this previous post at OHL Alumni Central. 

Martin St. Pierre was featured in this previous post at OHL Alumni Central.

Michael Swift played five seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2003-04 to 2007-08. His first four seasons were played with the Mississauga IceDogs and he moved down the road with the rest of the IceDogs organization to play as Niagara for his final season. Michael served as captain with the club while in Niagara. Swift was originally drafted by the St. Michael’s Majors deep in the 2003 draft – 1oth round, 186th overall.

In Swift’s third and fourth seasons, he was the team points leader. In 2005-06, his 54 points tied him with Jordan Owens. In 2006-07, his 93 points were good enough for sole lead on the team. In his final season, Michael achieved the 100 point plateau but was second on the team in total points to Luca Caputi. The total was good enough to tie him for seventh in the league with Jack Combs of the Saginaw Spirit. However, he did lead the team in assists with 62. His 18 points in just 10 playoff games was still good for tenth in the league.

His performance in his final season earned him the Leo Lalonde Trophy as the Ontario Hockey League’s Overage Player of the Year.

Although not drafted to the NHL, he has been playing in the New Jersey Devils organization since graduation from the Ontario Hockey League. His first two seasons in professional hockey were played with the Lowell Devils of the American Hockey League. This past season, 2009-10, Swift was Lowell’s leader in goals scored with 24 and he was a close second on the team in points with 55.

This season, 2010-11, he follows the team as they move to Albany where they retain the Devils nickname.

Check out the previous posts at OHL Alumni Central featuring other Leo Lalonde Trophy winners:

Stan Drulia (OHL Alumni Classics)

Andre Benoit

Martin St. Pierre

Cory Pecker