OHL Alumni Central

Love him or hate him (if you’re a Kitchener Rangers fan, I’m sure it’s still hate), hockey life goes on for Ontario Hockey League grad Michael Liambas. Quite frankly, Todd Bertuzzi is guilty of a far more heinous and malicious crime and hockey fans seem to have forgiven him just fine. Although, I doubt the Moore family has.

Liambas will suit up for the Cincinnati Cyclones of the East Coast Hockey League for 2011-12 after finishing out the 2010-11 season with the ECHL club. Mike completed a season with the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds of the CIS and had time leftover for the final 15 games of Cincinnati’s schedule, as well as, four games in the Kelly Cup playoffs.

Mike played parts of four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2006-07 to 2009-10, all with the Erie Otters. He was banished from the league just four games into the 2009-10 season after his controversial hit on Ben Fanelli of the Kitchener Rangers.

Previous to his stint with the Thunderbirds, Liambas played 25 games over two seasons with the Bloomington Prairie Thunder of the ill-fated IHL.

Check out Michael Liambas’ profile at the official Cincinnati Cyclones website.

Speaking of the Cincinnati Cyclones, stay tuned for the next article at OHL Alumni Central featuring the coaching staff of the team. OHL grad Jarrod Skalde is entering his second year as head coach and OHL great Andrew Cassels will be in his first year as assistant coach.

The 2009-10 season marked the second year of the Erie Otters return to respectability in the Ontario Hockey League. After 15 wins in 2006-07 and 18 in 2007-08, the Otters moved above .500 for 2008-09 and 2009-10.

Seven players that wore a Erie Otters jersey at some point during the 2009-10 season moved on to a higher level for 2010-11. There were six goalies that spent time with Erie in 2009-10. Three of those moved on to the North American pro leagues.

Adam Courchaine – Adam played mostly with the Alaska Aces of the ECHL.

Jaroslav Janus – Jaroslav split his season between the AHL’s Norfolk Admirals and the ECHL’s Florida Everblades.

Shane Owen – Shane played primarily with the South Carolina Stingrays of the ECHL.

Chris Breen – Chris put in a full season with the AHL’s Abbotsford Heat.

Paul Cianfrini – Paul went the route of higher learning and played in the OUA with the Nipissing Lakers.

Michael Liambas – Michael began the season with the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds of the CIS and ended the season with the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL.

Zack Torquato – Zack played 54 games with the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye and another 12 games with the AHL’s Rockford Icehogs.

We continue our focus on the Erie Otters with the whereabouts of a recent controversial graduate of the Ontario Hockey League team. Michael Liambas was suspended for the duration of the 2009-10 regular season and playoffs for an incident in October 2009. Because Liambas was an overager with the Otters, this suspension effectively ended his OHL career.

The incident that brought on the suspension was, of course, his hit on Ben Fanelli of the Kitchener Rangers. The hit left Fanelli in critical condition with a severe head injury.

Liambas has since moved on and is now playing for the Bloomington Prairie Thunder of the IHL. The Prairie Thunder play out of the U.S. Cellular Coliseum in Bloomington, Illinois. The Arena fits 6700 fans for hockey.

Liambas was an Otter from 2006-07 until the start of the 2009-10 season, although only playing 9 games over the past two seasons. Michael was honoured for his involvement in the community as well as his scholastic achievements.

Click here to view Michael’s profile page on the team’s official website.

There has been a lot of debate over whether the hit that landed Liambas the suspension was worthy of such a lofty penalty. If you haven’t already seen the play, check it out here:

To view other recent posts involving alumni from the Erie Otters, click on the following links:

Otters Alumni playing with the Coventry Blaze of Great Britain’s EIHL.

Otters Alumni playing with the St. Louis Blues of the NHL.