OHL Alumni Central

Since the end of the 1995-96 National Hockey League season, when the Winnipeg Jets fled south to Phoenix, Canadians have collectively cried foul that Bettman and the NHL were systematically taking our game away from us. On Sunday, October 9, 2011, the Winnipeg Jets return to the National Hockey League with their season opener against the Montreal Canadiens at home. At 4:00 pm CST (5:00 in Ontario) on Sunday, there better be 34,607,141 Winnipeg Jets fans glued to their televisions as NHL hockey returns to Manitoba.

The Jets return as the team formerly known as the Atlanta Thrashers. Winnipeg is relying heavily on Ontario Hockey League alumni with seven former OHL stars currently on the roster.

Zach Bogosian played two years with the Peterborough Petes, 2006-07 and 2007-08. He was the third overall pick at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, taken by the Thrashers. Bogosian has been with the NHL club since.

Alexander Burmistrov played just one season in the Ontario Hockey League, 2009-10, with the Barrie Colts. he was the eighth overall pick of the Thrashers in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft and stuck with the team as an eighteen year old this past season.

Bryan Little is another former Barrie Colts standout. Little played in the Ontario Hockey League for four seasons from 2003-04 to 2006-07, all with Barrie. Another first round pick of the Thrashers, Bryan was taken 12th overall in the 2006 draft. A two-time 100 point man with the Colts, Little’s 31 goals in 2008-09 represent his best NHL production to date.

Brett McLean was claimed off waivers by the Jets on October 6. McLean played four seasons in the OHL from 2004-05 to 2007-08 with the Erie Otters and Oshawa Generals. Brett benefited from having John Tavares as a set-up man in Oshawa, scoring 47 and 61 goals in his final two seasons. McLean was a second round pick of the Phoenix Coyotes in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, 32nd overall. He played 13 games with the Coyotes in 2010-11.

Mark Scheifele is just 18 and is fresh off his rookie season with the Barrie Colts. Mark was the first ever draft pick of the new Jets, going 7th overall in the 2011 draft. Scheifele will start with Winnipeg but will most likely be returned to Barrie.

Chris Thorburn played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1999-00 to 2002-03. After playing for the North Bay Centennials in their last three years as a franchise in the northern Ontario city, he moved with the club to Saginaw for his final season. After 37 games with the Spirit, Thorburn was moved to the Plymouth Whalers to finish out the year. A second round pick of the Buffalo Sabres in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft, Chris has played 354 NHL games with the Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins and Thrashers.

Kyle Wellwood is back and looking to stay in the NHL. After starting the 2010-11 season in Russia’s KHL, Wellwood returned to the NHL to finish off the season with the San Jose Sharks. Kyle was a fifth round pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2001 draft after a stellar four year career in the OHL from 1999-00 to 2002-03 with the Belleville Bulls and Windsor Spitfires. Wellwood has appeared in 373 NHL games to date with Toronto, the Vancouver Canucks and the Sharks.

The Niagara Falls Flyers were the kings of the castle in the mid 1960′s and Derek Sanderson was their centrepiece. Sanderson played with the Flyers for four years from 1963-64 to 1966-67. The team was sponsored by the Boston Bruins at the time and Derek was a Bruins prospect right from the word go.

Derek Sanderson with the Boston Bruins.

In 1964-65, the Flyers won the Robertson Cup as OHA playoff champions. The team moved on to win the Memorial Cup as Canada’s top major junior team.

In 1965-66, Sanderson showed how multi-faceted he could be. In 48 games with Niagara Falls, Derek scored 33 goals and totalled 76 points. He also found the time to sit out 238 minutes in the penalty box. In his final season in the OHA, Sanderson won the Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy as the league’s top scorer. Derek totalled 101 points in just 47 games and still was able to spend 193 minutes in the sin bin.

In his first year with the Bruins, 1967-68, Derek was the National Hockey League’s top rookie, winning the Calder Memorial Trophy. He played in the NHL from 1967-68 to 1977-78 with the Boston Bruins, New York Rangers, St. Louis Blues, Vancouver Canucks and Pittsburgh Penguins. Sanderson was to be the star of the newly formed World Hockey Association in their 1972-73 inaugural season. He played a total of eight games with the Philadelphia Blazers, tallying six points and 69 PIM. He was back with the Bruins before the season was over.

Sanderson was a member of two Stanley Cup winning teams with the 1970 and 1972 Boston Bruins. In 1970-71, he achieved his highest goal total in the NHL with 29. His best season for total points came with the St. Louis Blues in 1975-76 with 67.

Gratoony the Loony played with the Oshawa Generals for three Ontario Hockey League (OHA) seasons from 1969-70 to 1971-72. Between the pipes, the workload of Gilles Gratton increased each season from 26 games in his rookie season, to 47 in his second and 50 in his final year with the Generals.

Gilles Gratton sporting his famous mask with the New York Rangers.

In 1971-72 with Oshawa, Gratton had a goals against average of 3.55 and five shutouts, earning him a Second Team All-Star selection. The performance of Gilles also caught the eye of the Buffalo Sabres. Buffalo drafted Gratton in the fifth round of the 1972 NHL Amateur Draft, 69th overall. He would never play a game for the Sabres.

The World Hockey Association came calling in 1972-73 and Gratton answered. In the rebel league’s inaugural season, Gilles played 51 games for the Ottawa Nationals in their only season. He followed the franchise as they were relocated to Toronto and Gratton played the next two years with the Toronto Toros. It was with the Toros that Gratton’s legend grew when he supposedly refused to play a game because the Moon wasn’t in proper alignment with Jupiter.

The Buffalo Sabres sold the NHL rights to Gratton to the St. Louis Blues in 1975 and Gilles reported to the NHL team for the 1975-76 season. He played just six games with the Blues before wanting to return to the WHA. Perhaps, his desire to return to the Toros had something to do with his personality being much better suited for the zany ways of the World Hockey Association.

However, the Blues wouldn’t release him. Gilles did the only thing he could think of and retired from hockey. It was short-lived and Gratton was back in the NHL for the 1976-77 season with the New York Rangers. Gilles played 41 games with the Rangers, sharing the net with John Davidson, who played 39 games. Ironically, it was the spot left vacant by Davidson in St. Louis that Gratton was meant to fill the year before. According to Davidson, Gratton would often fake illness so that he wouldn’t have to play.

In 1977-78, the Rangers placed Gratton with their American Hockey League affiliate, the New Haven Nighthawks. Gilles played just one game in New Haven before calling it quits for good.

Among his famous quirks was the claim by opposing players that Gratton would growl at them. Gilles was a huge believer in reincarnation, was a talented classical pianist despite never taking a single lesson. He also had a thing for nudity at the rink.

Another Hockey Hall of Fame class, another denial for Rogie Vachon! Now that I’ve got my personal beef aside… Two Ontario Hockey League grads will be entering the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2011. Doug Gilmour, Cornwall Royals grad, was one and Mark Howe, Toronto Marlboros grad, was the other.

Mark Howe wearing Cooper-Alls with the Philadelphia Flyers.

Howe is a curious case. No major NHL awards. No Stanley Cups. Despite a player’s assets, those are the two items that seem to ultimately define a Hall of Famer. However, Howe did have an exceptional career that was diminished in the end by knee and back injuries.

In his one season in the OHA with the Toronto Marlboros, 1972-73, Mark scored 38 goals and added 66 assists for 104 points in just 60 games. He was selected as the Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy winner as the Memorial Cup MVP as the Marlboros won the national major junior title. Toronto lost just seven of its 63 regular season games that season.

Instead of playing another year of junior, Howe joined father Gordie Howe and brother Marty on the Houston Aeros of the World Hockey Association. In his first year in the WHA, 1973-74, Mark was awarded the Lou Kaplan Trophy as the league’s rookie of the year. He remained in the WHA until the merger with the NHL after 1978-79.

From 1979-80 until 1994-95, Howe played in the NHL for the Hartford Whalers, Philadelphia Flyers and Detroit Red Wings. Mark was originally drafted by the Boston Bruins in 1974 but never played with them. He was the NHL’s plus/minus leader in 1985-86 and he played for Stanley Cup finalists in 1986-87 with Philadelphia and 1994-95 with Detroit.

The Phoenix Coyotes and the Detroit Red Wings are currently embroiled in a Western Conference quarter final series in the NHL’s 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs. Ten Ontario Hockey League alumni are featured in this series, five from each team. Click on the names below to view each player’s profile page on their team’s official website.

Phoenix Coyotes

Wojtek Wolski played four seasons in the OHL with the Brampton Battalion from 2002-03 to 2005-06. His final season featured a 128 point performance in just 56 games for Brampton. A first round pick of the Colorado Avalanche in 2004, Wolski came over from the Avalanche to the Coyotes at this season’s trade deadline.

Mathieu Schneider is one of the few left in pro hockey that can say they played for the Cornwall Royals. Mathieu played three seasons with the OHL team from 1986-87 to 1988-89. In his nearly 1300 game NHL career, Mathieu has played for a number of teams, including the Montreal Canadiens, New York Islanders, Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers, Los Angeles Kings, Detroit Red Wings, Anaheim Ducks, Atlanta Thrashers, Vancouver Canucks and the Coyotes.

Taylor Pyatt played three seasons in the OHL with the Sudbury Wolves from 1997-98 to 1999-00. An 8th overall pick of the New York Islanders in 1999, Taylor played his first season in the NHL with that club before being traded to the Buffalo Sabres. Taylor spent three seasons each in Buffalo then Vancouver before landing in Phoenix this season.

Ed Jovanovski played two seasons in the OHL with his hometown Windsor Spitfires, 1993-94 and 1994-95. He was the first overall pick in the 1994 NHL draft, going to the Florida Panthers. This is Ed’s fourth season with the Coyotes.

Paul Bissonnette played four seasons in the OHL from 2001-02 to 2004-05. He began his career with the North Bay Centennials and moved with the team to Saginaw in his second season. In his final OHL season, Paul was shipped midway through the season to the Owen Sound Attack. Paul saw his first NHL action with the Pittsburgh Penguins last season and played 41 regular season games with the Coyotes this year.

Detroit Red Wings

Daniel Cleary played four seasons in the OHL from 1994-95 to 1997-98, all with the Belleville Bulls. Cleary was a first round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks in 1997 but only played 41 games over two seasons with the team before being traded to the Edmonton Oilers. He became an NHL regular with the Oilers in 2000-01 and played with the team for four seasons. In 2003-04, he played a full season with the Coyotes. After the strike season, he found himself in Detroit.

Todd Bertuzzi played four seasons in the OHL with the Guelph Storm from 1991-92 to 1994-95. Detroit is Todd’s sixth NHL team, the others: New York Islanders, Vancouver Canucks, Florida Panthers, Anaheim Ducks and Calgary Flames.

Kris Draper played just one 39 game season in the OHL with the Ottawa 67′s in 1990-91. Originally drafted by the Winnipeg Jets back in 1989, Kris played a total of 20 games over 3 seasons with the Jets before moving to Detroit where he has just finished his 16th regular season with the club. He has played over 1100 NHL regular season games and over 200 playoff games.

Kirk Maltby played three seasons in the OHL with the Owen Sound Platers from 1989-90 to 1991-92. Kirk is in his 14th season with the Red Wings after starting his career in Edmonton with the Oilers.

Jason Williams played four seasons in the OHL from 1996-97 to 1999-00, all with the Peterborough Petes. Jason started out in the Red Wings organization before making stops in Chicago, Atlanta and Columbus. Williams returned to Detroit at the start of this season.