OHL Alumni Central

The Plymouth Whalers franchise dates back to the 1990-91 Ontario Hockey League season. The began as the Detroit Compuware Ambassadors, transforming to the Junior Red Wings before becoming the Whalers. The team really is ‘America’s Team’ in the OHL, having gone to the Robertson Cup finals three times since 2000 and winning once. The Whalers went to the 2007 Memorial Cup, losing to the host Vancouver Giants in the semi-finals. The Giants went on to be crowned Memorial Cup champions.

Currently, there are 77 Plymouth Whalers alumni known to us to be still actively playing in the hockey world. There are former Whalers in 23 different leagues in 14 countries throughout the world. Fourteen Plymouth grads are currently playing in the National Hockey League, including Tyler Seguin of the Boston Bruins, Stephen Weiss of the Florida Panthers, David Legwand of the Nashville Predators and Michal Neuvirth of the Washington Capitals.

What follows is a list, current to December 21, 2011. Any player that has played at least one game with the Whalers, Junior Red Wings or Ambassadors is considered an alumnus.

Germany’s Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) is nearing the halfway point of its 52 game 2011-12 season and three Ontario Hockey League grads can be found among the league’s top four point-getters. All three players are members of Grizzly Adams Wolfsburg. Wolfsburg is currently placed fourth in the fourteen team league. Last season, Grizzly Adams was first overall during the regular season and lost in the playoff finals.

Matt Dzieduszycki is currently tied for first in the league, with another member of Wolfsburg, with 11 goals and 14 assists for 25 points in 23 games. Matt played two seasons in the Ontario Hockey League, 1999-00 and 2000-01, with the Barrie Colts. He has been playing in the DEL since the 2006-07 season. He spent his first year with EV Duisburg then followed up with four years with the Hannover Scorpions. This is Dzieduszycki’s first season with Grizzly Adams.

Sitting alone in third place with 24 points is Tyler Haskins. Just one goal differentiates Haskins from Dzieduszycki. Haskins played five years in the Ontario Hockey League from 2002-03 to 2006-07. He began his OHL career with the Guelph Storm and was traded to the Toronto St. Michael’s Majors nine games into his second season. His final year in the OHL was spent with the Saginaw Spirit, where his 60 regular season assists placed him eighth in the league. Haskins was drafted by the Detroit Red Wings in the fifth round of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. 2011-12 is Tyler’s second year in the DEL and second with Wolfsburg.

With one point less than Tyler Haskins, Norm Milley sits tied for fourth with four other players. Milley played four years with the Sudbury Wolves from 1996-97 to 1999-00. In 98-99, he was second in points to just Peter Sarno. He surpassed the 50 goal and 100 point plateaus in both his final two seasons with Sudbury. Norm was a second round pick of the Buffalo Sabres at the 1998 NHL Entry Draft. In all, Milley played 29 NHL games, all with Buffalo. 2011-12 is his fourth in the DEL and fourth with Wolfsburg.

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.

The Iserlohn Roosters of Germany’s Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) finished out of the playoffs in 2010-11 for the third consecutive season. The Roosters finished 12th in the fourteen team league, five points out of the basement. Their possible solution for improving in 2011-12? Bring in some North American veterans with plenty of NHL experience.

The Roosters have just signed three players with plenty of NHL experience, two of which are Ontario Hockey League grads. All three probably won’t dazzle like Sidney Crosby, but all three have grit, size and leadership qualities that Iserlohn is definitely looking for.

Jeff Cowan

Jeff Cowan has 434 NHL regular season games under his belt, but has spent the last three years in the American Hockey League, most recently with the Toronto Marlies. Originally undrafted, Cowan has played for the Calgary Flames, Atlanta Thrashers, Los Angeles Kings and Vancouver Canucks.

Jeff played three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1993-94 to 1995-96. He began his OHL career with the Guelph Storm and finished off by playing for the Barrie Colts in his final year. With the Colts, he showed his scoring abilities with 38 goals in 66 games. He was team captain with Barrie.

Jassen Cullimore

Jassen Cullimore is one of very few left playing in pro hockey that started in the Ontario Hockey League in the 1980′s. Cullimore played four seasons with the Peterborough Petes from 1988-89 to 1991-92. He played for Team Canada at the 1992 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships where Canada tanked with a sixth place finish.

Cullimore was selected in the second round of the 1991 NHL Entry Draft by the Vancouver Canucks, 29th overall. He has put in 812 regular season NHL games to date with the Canucks, Montreal Canadiens, Tampa Bay Lightning, Chicago Blackhawks and Florida Panthers. He spent this past season split between the Chicago Blackhawks and the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs.

Jassen was used sparingly in his first season with Peterborough as the won the Robertson Cup as Ontario Hockey League playoff champs. The same was true when he played for the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2003-04 when they won the Stanley Cup. Iserlohn is hoping he’ll bring some of that winning experience to Germany.

Mike York

The other former NHLer, but not OHL grad, signed by Iserlohn is Mike York. York played NCAA hockey before embarking on a 579 game NHL career with the New York Rangers, Edmonton Oilers, New York Islanders, Philadelphia Flyers, Phoenix Coyotes and Columbus Blue Jackets. York spent this past season in Finland with Pelicans of the SM-Liiga. He played for Iserlohn in the NHL lock-out season of 2004-05.

At OHL Alumni Central, you’ll see at the right side of this post, some sort of on-going poll or survey that you can participate in. Over the past month and a half or so, we ran one that turned out to have a bit of popularity among visitors and some rather interesting results.

The poll asked where, you the reader, would like to see the Ontario Hockey League expand. Most potential centres in Ontario have already been tried in the past and have had their franchises shut down or moved. There are others that have the size but are a significant distance away. There are still others that go against the ‘Ontario’ in Ontario Hockey League and are located out of province.

Like the National Hockey League with Quebec and Winnipeg fighting to regain their franchises, this poll was led by North Bay, a city that had an OHL franchise from 1982 to 2002 before losing the club to Saginaw. The Centennials originally began as the St. Catherines Falcons in 1943, became the TeePees the Blackhawks before moving to Niagara Falls to play as one of the versions of the Niagara Falls Flyers.

Here are the results of the poll:

North Bay, Ontario – 21% – I have to agree. The North Bay / Sudbury rivalry needs to be restored.

Buffalo, New York – 13% – This one has been speculated about for years. It would be nice for the Erie Otters to have a close rival. The question is, are there enough fans on the Ontario side of the Niagara Peninsula to support the IceDogs, Buffalo Sabres and a new OHL franchise?? (sarcastic, but true…)

Thunder Bay, Ontario – 10% – The ‘metropolis’ of the north, Thunder Bay has the facilities and has hosted Junior A hockey before in the form of a USHL team. Of course, a team in Thunder Bay would bring a whole new level of travel for the OHL and could even usher in the need for chartered flights over the traditional bus ride.

Cornwall, Ontario – 10% – Tied with Thunder Bay, Cornwall has, of course, been in the Ontario Hockey League before. The Cornwall Royals had a short but successful stint in the OHL before becoming the Sarnia Sting by way of the Newmarket Royals. Cornwall is such a great fit for the 401 corridor rivalry that starts in Oshawa and passes through Belleville and Kingston. Not to mention, the closeness to the nation’s capital would mean a renews rivalry with the Ottawa 67′s.

Hamilton, Ontario – 9% – Thanks for the enthusiasm, Hamilton fans, but what makes anyone think that trying one more OHL franchise in the Steel City will be successful this time? If Hamilton does ever get another OHL franchise, though, I hope the resurrect the Fincups name!

Brantford, Ontario – 9% – They had the Alexanders. They had Bob Probert. They have a marginally adequate facility right beside a casino. Maybe. Just maybe.

Chatham, Ontario – 5% – I seem to remember a lot of talk, years ago, about putting a team in Chatham – Hunter brothers before they bought the Knights? I’d have to assume that the Memorial Arena’s 2,500 capacity might be the problem.

Newmarket, Ontario – 5% – The Barrie Colts didn’t exist when the Royals were in Newmarket. Wouldn’t that be an awesome rivalry?

Toronto, Ontario (Ricoh Coliseum) – 4% – Let’s be realistic. Who is willing to pay $20 to park for an OHL game?

Toledo, Ohio – 3% – Just thought I’d throw it out there…

Timmins, Ontario – 3% – Reaching Timmins after the long drive through nothingness from Sudbury is almost a surreal event for a first timer. No metropolis, but it is a bit of a shock to find 45,000 inhabitants in the middle of nowhere. With the main arena only seating 1400 or so, there would have to be some new digs. Still, you’ve got to think an OHL team would be the main attraction in this burg.

As always, the polls are open to ‘other’ responses. There were the usual crazy responses like Atlanta, Georgia; Cold Lake, Alberta and Salt Lake City, Utah. Other responses were pretty good. Ajax, Ontario – Syracuse, New York – Niagara Falls (Ontario or New York wasn’t specified) – Utica, New York and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Any other ideas or have any comments on the results? We’d love to hear from you in the comments section.