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Four Staals and a Heerema. Five related Ontario Hockey League grads out of Thunder Bay, Ontario. Switch one from forward to defense and add a goaltender and you have a pretty decent line.

Jared Staal, the youngest of the group, is in his first year of professional hockey after a four year Ontario Hockey League career that spanned from 2006-07 to 2009-10, all with the Sudbury Wolves. Jared was a second round pick of the Phoenix Coyotes in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, 49th overall. However, he is currently in the Carolina Hurricanes system. Jared has split the 2010-11 season between the ECHL’s Florida Everblades and the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers and is biding his time until he can play with older brother, Eric, on the NHL team.

Jordan Staal played two seasons in the Ontario Hockey League with the Peteborough Petes, 2004-05 and 2005-06. Jordan won the Robertson Cup with the Petes in 2006 as the OHL’s playoff champions. He one-upped that with a Stanley Cup victory with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009. Jordan was a second overall pick at the 2006 NHL Entry Draft by the Penguins and had missed only one regular season game in his first four before being hampered by injuries at the start of the 2010-11 season.

Marc Staal in the only one of the family to play for Team Canada at the IIHF Under-20 World Junior Hockey Championships. Marc played in the 2006 and 2007 tournaments. Like brother Jared, Marc played four seasons with the Sudbury Wolves. He played from 2003-04 to 2006-07 and was team captain in his final campaign. Marc was the twelth overall pick in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, going to the New York Rangers. He is currently in his fourth season with the Rangers.

Eric Staal played three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2000-01 to 2002-03, all with the Peterborough Petes. Like brother Jordan, Eric was a second overall pick in the NHL Entry Draft. Eric went to the Carolina Hurricanes in 2003. Also, like Jordan, he has one Stanley Cup on the mantle, winning with the Hurricanes in 2006. Eric is currently the captain of the NHL club.

Cousin Jeff Heerema played three years in the Ontario Hockey League from 1997-98 to 1999-00, all with the Sarnia Sting. Jeff was an eleventh overall pick of the Carolina Hurricanes in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft. Heerema played 32 games in the NHL, split between the Hurricanes and the St. Louis Blues in 2002-03 and 2003-04. He has spent the past four seasons in Europe and is currently playing for the Nottingham Panthers of Great Britain’s Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL). Check out this previous article at OHL Alumni Central featuring Jeff Heerema.

In case you missed it, subscribers to OHL Alumni Central get a discount on any of our eBay listings. Check out this post for more details.

Corey Neilson played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1993-94 to 1996-97. He began his career with the North Bay Centennials then moved to the Detroit Junior Whalers midway through the 1995-96 season. In his final season in the OHL, Neilson played for the Barrie Colts.

In his first season with North Bay, the team won the Hamilton Spectator as the Ontario Hockey League’s regular season champion and went on to defeat Detroit to win the Robertson Cup as the league’s playoff champion. Corey was selected to the OHL’s First All-Rookie Team.

After his first season, Neilson was drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in the third round of the 1994 NHL Entry Draft, 53rd overall. For the most part, from 1999-00 to 2005-06, Corey spent his time in the ECHL with exception of the 2002-03 season which he played in the UHL and AHL. Neilson was twice and ECHL All-Star and was Defenseman of the year in 2003-04.

Since 2006-07, Corey has been a member of the Nottingham Panthers in Great Britain’s Elite Ice Hockey League. Neilson has led the league’s defensemen twice in scoring and currently leads the EIHL’s defensemen this season with 45 points in 42 games. The team is sitting in fourth place in the league with the possibility of going up a position and realistically no chance of going down. Corey has achieved his personal numbers and has led the team as head coach for the past three seasons.

His influence as head coach has brought in some very talented Ontario Hockey League grads for the stretch run, such as Daniel Tkaczuk and Jeff Heerema (click on names to view previous posts featuring those players).

Check out Corey Neilson’s profile page at the Nottingham Panthers official website.

Over the past week and a half, the Nottingham Panthers of Great Britain’s Elite Ice Hockey League have lost an Ontario Hockey League grad and gained another. Alex Penner, or as he was known in England ‘Weapon X’, returned to North America to play for his 2009-10 club, the Colorado Eagles of the Central Hockey League. Daniel Tkaczuk signed on with the Panthers for the rest of this season after playing the first half with EC Dornbirn in Austria’s tier 2.

Penner was on his way to beating the best single season goal production in his professional hockey career with the Panthers. Weapon X has notched four in 30 games. His previous best was five with Colorado last season. In that 30 games, Alex amassed 291 minutes in penalties, which is his highest single season total.

Alex Penner played two seasons in the Ontario Hockey League, 2004-05 and 2005-06. His first season in the OHL consisted of just eleven games with the Guelph Storm. In his second season, he put in 55 games with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. Check out this previous post at OHL Alumni Central on Alex Penner.

Daniel Tkaczuk will definitely be an offensive threat with the Panthers. The team currently sits fourth in the ten team league. Between fourth and fifth is the line between the have and have-nots of the EIHL. Nottingham is just six points behind Belfast and Sheffield. The Panthers sit nine points behind the first place Cardiff Devils. There is a twelve point difference between Nottingham and the fifth place Braehead Clan (a first year team).

Tkaczuk played four stellar seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1995-96 to 1998-99, all with the Barrie Colts. Daniel was team captain in the final three of the four seasons and went to the world juniors for Team Canada in 1998 and 1999. He was a sixth overall draft pick in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft, going to the Calgary Flames. He appeared in 19 games with the Flames in 2000-01.

After six seasons in Europe from 2003-04 to 2008-09, Tkaczuk returned to North America last season and was bounced around from four different teams, inlcuding: Charlotte Checkers (ECHL), Syracuse Crunch (AHL), Rochester Americans (AHL) and Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL). His European tour has taken him to Finland, Italy, Germany, Austria and now England. Check out this previous post at OHL Alumni Central featuring Daniel Tkaczuk.

Of course, both players appear on the OHL Alumni Big List.

The Nottingham Panthers sit in second place in the ten team Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) of Great Britain. The Panthers are three points  back of the Belfast Giants but have three games in hand. The Panthers have brought in a dangerous weapon to subdue the Giants and push into first place.

Ontario Hockey League grad Jeff Heerema has finally found a home for the 2010-11 season. He was not invited back to Medvescak Zagreb of Austria’s Erste Bank Eishockey Liga (EBEL) after a successful regular season but less than stellar playoff run in 2009-10.

Heerema played three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1997-98 to 1999-00, all with the Sarnia Sting. Jeff was a picture of consistency with the Sting with seasons of 32, 31 and 36 goals and 72, 70 and 77 points. He led the Sting in all offensive categories in his final season with 36 goals, 41 assists and 77 points.

Heerema was thought of quite highly by the Carolina Hurricanes in the 1998 NHL draft. Jeff went in the first round, eleventh overall. He saw action with the Hurricanes in the 2002-03 season, a year before cousin Eric Staal made his debut in Carolina. Heerema played ten games with the Hurricanes that season and 22 with the St. Louis Blues the following year to round out his NHL career.

Jeff twice led his American Hockey League team in points. in his first season in the AHL, 2001-02, he led the Lowell Lock Monsters in goals (33), assists (37) and points (70). In his last season in North America, 2006-07, Heerema led the Binghamton Senators in goals with 36 and points with 67.

The greatest playoff success Jeff achieved in North America was during the 2004-05 season. Playing for the AHL’s Manitoba Moose, the team made it to the Western Conference finals before being swept by the Chicago Wolves.

In 2007-08, it was off to Germany for Heerema. For two seasons, he played for the Frankfurt Lions of Germany’s Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL).

Jeff joins two other OHL grads on the Nottingham Panthers, Alex Penner (click here for a previous post on Alex) and Jonathan Zion (click here for a previous post on Jonathan). The Belfast Giants have brought in artillery in the form of OHL grads as well with the aquisition of Brad Smyth (click here for previous post on Brad) and Michael Jacobsen (click here for previous post on Michael). The Panthers lost OHL great Cameron Mann to retirement after the 2009-10 season (click here for previous post on Cameron).

Alex Penner played in the OHL during the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons. In his first season in the Ontario Hockey League, Alex played just 11 games as a Guelph Storm. In his second season, he provided toughness for the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.

Penner has recently signed on for the 2010-11 season with the Nottingham Panthers of Great Britain’s EIHL. Alex has put in three seasons of pro hockey in North America. This past season was spent with the Colorado Eagles of the Central Hockey League where he sat out 222 minutes in the penalty box in just 51 games.

Alex’s highest level of pro hockey since leaving the OHL was in 2008-09 when he appeared in eight games with the Lake Erie Monsters of the AHL as a call-up from the ECHL’s Johnstown Chiefs.

The Nottingham Panthers official website has already set up Alex Penner’s profile page. GM Corey Neilson is promising more signings in the near future and you can bet that more OHL grads will be signing on with the Panthers and other teams in this league. The EIHL is growning popularity in Great Britain and has expanded from eight to ten teams for the 2010-11 season.

Here is Alex Penner’s profile page from the Colorado Eagles of the CHL.

 The Nottingham Panthers were home to Peterborough Pete grad Cameron Mann in 2009-10. He has yet to sign with the club for the 2010-11 season.