OHL Alumni Central

The KHL regular season has come to a close in Russia for 2010-11 and Traktor Chelyabinsk finds themselves in ninth place in the Eastern Conference, 11 points out of a playoff spot. Chelyabinsk is the current club of Ontario Hockey League grad, Vitaly Yachmenev.

Yachmenev played two seasons in the Ontario Hockey League, 1993-94 and 1994-95 and took the league by storm. In his first season, he led the league with 61 goals and was named not only the OHL’s rookie of the year but the CHL’s rookie of the year as well. He helped the North Bay Centennials to a Hamilton Spectator Trophy as regular season champs and a Robertson Cup as the OHL’s playoff champions. Vitaly added 32 points in 18 playoff games for the Centennials. The team’s luck ran out at the Memorial Cup, going 0-3.

The following season, Yachmenev scored 53 for the Centennials while adding 52 assists for 105 points in 59 games. The 105 points was good enough for ninth in the OHL. He helped Russia to a Silver Medal at the IIHF Under-20 World Hockey Championships. Vitaly was also awarded the William Hanley Trophy as the Ontario Hockey League’s Most Sportsmanlike Player. The award is representative of the way Yachmenev has played the game throughout his career. His highest penalty minute total came in 2005-06 with just 30 in Russia’s Super League.

After his first season with North Bay, Yachmenev was drafted surprisingly low, going in the third round of the 1994 NHL Entry Draft, 59th overall to the Los Angeles Kings. Vitaly put in  almost 500 games in the NHL with Los Angeles and the Nashville Predators before skipping to Russia for the start of the 2003-04 season. Unfortunately, the goal scoring ability that he showed with the Centennials never really resurfaced and he topped out with a season of 19 goals with the Kings.

In his eighth season in Russia, Yachmenev scored just four goals and added 12 assists in 43 games for Chelyabinsk. His current contract expired at the end of this season.

Vitaly spent the year playing with another Ontario Hockey League grad, Alexander Buturlin, on Traktor Chelyabinsk.

Check out Vitaly Yachmenev’s profile page at the KHL official website.

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With Canada still in mourning over their stunning third period breakdown and subsequent loss to Russia at the 2011 IIHF Under-20 World Junior Hockey Championships, we thought we’d take a look back at an Ontario Hockey League grad who won two golds at the tournament.

Jamie Storr played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1991-92 to 1994-95. He was an Owen Sound Plater until midway through his final season when he was shipped to the Windsor Spitfires. He was named to the OHL’s All-Rookie Team in 1991-92 and was a First Team All-Star in 1993-94 as well as OHL Goaltender of the Year.

He played in both the 1994 and 1995 World Juniors with Canada taking the gold in both. He was also on the roster for Canada’s squad at the World Championships in 1994 with Canada winning gold in that tournament as well. He was named best goaltender of the tournament in the 1994 World Juniors. Previous to that, Jamie won gold in the under-17 and under-18 tournaments as well.

Storr was a goaltending rarity going in the high position of seventh overall in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft to the Los Angeles Kings. Jamie played parts of ten seasons in the NHL with the Kings and the Carolina Hurricanes. Another extreme rarity, Storr was selected to the NHL’s All-Rookie Team two years in a row, 1997-98 and 1998-99. He didn’t play the minimum amount of games in 1997-98 which allowed him to be still considered a rookie the next season. Currently, Jamie sits 2nd on the list for most career shutouts in a Kings uniform. He sits fourth in both wins and games played.

In 2006-07, after two seasons toiling in the American Hockey League, Storr jumped to Germany’s Deutsche Eishockey Liga. He played three seasons for the DEG Metro Stars. In his first season in Germany, his 2.33 goals against average was best in the league. Jamie retired as a player after the 2008-09 season and currently runs a goaltending school.

Looking for a good hockey read? Check out the new book review page at OHL Alumni Central.

Kip Brennan takes on giant Derek Boogaard as a member of the Anaheim Ducks during the 2005-06 NHL season.

6’4″ and 231 lb. Kip Brennan is not brought onto a team’s roster to score goals. During the six seasons when Brennan played a limited number of games in the NHL, he did not qualify for the Lady Byng. Kip Brennan is purely an old school enforcer.

Kip played five seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1996-97 to 2000-01. His first season was played with the Windsor Spitfires then, midway through his second season, he was shipped to the Sudbury Wolves. He finished out his OHL career in Sudbury.

Over his five OHL seasons, Brennan averaged just under 42 regular season games played per year. Despite the low game total (209), Kip sat in the sin bin for 826 minutes. He added another 175 minutes in 29 career OHL playoff games.

The Los Angeles Kings saw something in Kip and drafted him in the fourth round of the 1998 NHL draft, 103rd overall. His 61 career NHL games were mostly played with the Kings but he also saw action with the Atlanta Thrashers, Anaheim Ducks and New York Islanders.

Six times to date, Brennan has led his team in penalty minutes. He led the Sudbury Wolves in his second last season in the OHL with 228 minutes in 55 games while also scoring 16 goals. In 2001-02, as an AHL rookie with the Manchester Monarchs, he led the team with 269 minutes despite playing just 44 games. The following season, he led the Monarchs again with 195 minutes in just 35 games.

In 2004-05, Kip would lead the Chicago Wolves of the AHL in PIM with 267 in just 48 games. That season, Brennan would shine offensively as well. Kip put in a career pro high seven goals with Chicago. He led the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in 2007-08 with 247 in 49. This past season, 2009-10, he sat 263 in 53 with the AHL’s Springfield Falcons.

Twice during his professional hockey career, Kip has been slapped with lengthy suspensions. During the 2003-04 season, he was suspended for ten games for returning to the ice to join an altercation after already being sent off. During the 2007 AHL playoffs, Brennan was suspended for the remainder of the post season for an altercation with a fan who attacked him in the penalty box.

This good ol’ Kingston boy fills a void on the Allen Americans left by the retirement of Britt Dougherty. Brennan has just signed on with the Central Hockey League club and only fortifies Allen’s position atop the league standings.

A profile page has been set up for Kip Brennan at the Central Hockey League official website, although it is currently unpopulated. Click here to check it out.

Brennan joins fellow Ontario Hockey League grad Tobias Whelan on the Americans. Whelan was featured in this previous post at OHL Alumni Central.

Jason Morgan as Washington Capitals hopeful for the 2007-08 season (he played the season with the Hershey Bears).

Keeping with the recent Norwegian theme, yet another Ontario Hockey League grad has chosen to play in Norway’s Get Ligaen for the 2010-11 season. Jason Morgan brings his many years of pro experience to Stjernen. Although still considered on a ‘tryout’, his close to a point per game production after 10 games with the team is an indication that he may stay.

Jason played three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1993-94 to 1995-96. He began his career with the Kitchener Rangers and became a Kingston Frontenac midway through his second season. His best offensive totals in the OHL came in his final season with Kingston when he scored 16 and assisted on 38 for 54 points in 66 games.

Morgan was picked by the Los Angeles Kings in the fifth round of the 1995 NHL draft, 118th overall. He played in three games with the Kings in his first season after graduating from the OHL. In total, he’s played 44 games in the NHL between the Kings, Calgary Flames, Chicago Blackhawks and Minnesota Wild.

The bulk of Jason’s pro career in North America was in the American Hockey League. he has played 584 games in the AHL, producing 325 points. His highest producing season was in 2002-03 with the Saint John Flames when he contributed 53 points in 80 games for the Calgary affiliate. He last played in the AHL at the start of this past 2009-10 season when he dressed for four games with the Springfield Falcons.

This season marks his third in Europe, each in a different country. 2008-09 saw him play in Sweden’s Elitserien with Södertälje. This past season after leaving Springfield he played in Austria’s Erste Bank Eishockey Liga for Klagenfurter AC.

Check out Jason Morgan’s profile page on Stjernen’s official website.

Check out these recent posts on Ontario Hockey League alumni playing in Norway:

Paul Ballantyne

Andy Delmore

Danny Taylor played three seasons between the pipes in the Ontario Hockey League from 2003-04 to 2005-06. His first two seasons were with the Guelph Storm and his final season was played with the Kingston Frontenacs.

In his first season with the Storm, he backed up Adam Dennis as Guelph took the Robertson Cup as the Ontario Hockey League’s playoff champion. The team was shutout at the Memorial Cup. As a backup, Taylor played 26 regular season games and posted a very respectable 2.71 GAA.

In his final season with the Frontenacs, Danny played 57 of the team’s 68 regular season games leading Kingston to a second place finish in the East Division and the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference. The team made a quick exit from the playoffs with a four games to two series loss against the Sudbury Wolves in the first round.

Taylor was taken by the Los Angeles Kings in the seventh round of the 2004 NHL draft, 221st overall. To date, he has played one period of hockey in the NHL, during the 2007-08 season with the Kings. This past season, he became the property of the Columbus Blue Jackets and played nine games with their AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch. The rest of his season was spent in the ECHL with the Gwinnett Gladiators.

Danny starts this season with the Springfield Falcons of the AHL. He has had a great start, putting up excellent numbers. Springfield is the Edmonton Oilers AHL affiliate.

Check out Danny Taylor’s profile page at the official Springfield Falcons website.

Danny Taylor can be found in a previous post at OHL Alumni Central featuring grads of the 2003-04 Memorial Cup winning Guelph Storm still active in pro hockey during the 2009-10 season.