OHL Alumni Central

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.

We’re calling this the ‘Early Bird’ version of the OHL Alumni in Europe for 2010-11 E-book. It’s a list of the OHL Alumni in a handy profile format that have committed and signed on with elite teams in Europe for the 2010-11 season.

The download is in PDF and is completely free to use and distribute.

Stay tuned in September for a much more complete version as more and more players figure out where they’ll play in the upcoming season. Also, a North American version is also on the way.

Just click the button below to download.

The Stanley Cup playoff time is upon us. With the Philadelphia Flyers beating the New York Rangers yesterday afternoon in a shootout, all the teams for this season’s run to the cup are set.

Of course, any Ontario Hockey League fan has one eye still focused on the OHL playoffs and the other is watching the NHL. This season, there are 93 OHL alumni competing in the Stanley Cup playoffs. All OHL teams are represented and each NHL team has at least 3 OHL grads on the roster.

Over the next 8 posts, OHL Alumni Central will feature, series by series, the OHL grads playing for the Cup. Today, we’ll look at the overall numbers by NHL and OHL teams.

The Buffalo Sabres and Colorado Avalanche are the NHL leaders with 9 OHL alumni on each roster. The Vancouver Canucks, aka Team Sweden, has the least with 3. Interestingly, the Ontario team, Ottawa Senators, has 8 OHL alumni which puts them second while the two non-Ontario Canadian teams, Montreal and Vancouver have the lowest number of OHLers.

The number of alumni representing each OHL team brings some surprises. Take note that the totals will add up to more than 93. Players that played on more than one team over their OHL career were counted on each team they played on. With all the flash of the London Knights and Windsor Spitfires, it is the Sudbury Wolves that are the biggest producer of talent in this year’s playoffs. The team that is expected to be in the OHL finals this season, the Barrie Colts, have the least.

The 1998-99 Belleville Bulls finished a distant second in the Ontario Hockey League’s Eastern Division, 18 points behind the Ottawa 67′s. The team was third in their conference and fifth in the league. Yet, the Belleville Bulls took the J. Ross Robertson Trophy as OHL playoff champs with a 7th game win over the London Knights in the final.

The team would go on to make an appearance at the Memorial Cup tournament in Ottawa, but relying completely on offense, would fall to the host Ottawa 67s in the semi-final.

Eleven years later, it’s nothing short of amazing that 14 players off that Belleville Bull team are still showing off their talent in professional hockey. Belleville alumni are represented in 9 different leagues in 5 different countries. Also, amazingly, in this day and age of building a winning team from the outside, 13 of the 14 players started their OHL careers with the Bulls. Only 5 of the 14 players finished out their OHL careers with other clubs.

As usual, where available, you can find each player’s profile page at their current team’s official website by clicking on their name.

Justin Papineau was a Bull from 1996-97 to 1999-00. He was the team’s leading scorer throughout the regular season and playoffs in 1998-99. He had 52 goals and 99 points in the regular season then exploded for 21 goals and 51 points in just 21 playoff games. Papineau logged 81 NHL games over his pro career with the St. Louis Blues and the New York Islanders. Currently, Justin is with Adler Mannheim of Germany’s DEL.

Ryan Ready was a Bull from 1995-96 to 1998-99. Ryan put in 7 games with the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers in 2005-06 before heading to Germany to play with his current club, Iserlohn Roosters.

Jonathan Cheechoo played in Belleville from 1997-98 to 1999-00. He has enjoyed a 500+ game career in the NHL with San Jose Sharks and Ottawa Senators that was highlighted by a 56 goal performance in 2005-06. He has spent the last part of this season with Ottawa’s AHL affiliate, the Binghamton Senators.

Kevin Baker played in Belleville from 1997-98 to 1999-00. Kevin is in his second season with the ECHL’s Florida Everblades. In his first season, he was the ECHL’s scoring leader with 57 goals and 45 assists for 102 points. He was also named league MVP.

Chris Stanley (the link goes to a list of the team’s forwards – click on Chris’ name to view profile) was a Bull from 1996-97 to 1999-00. Chris went the university route after the OHL and spent 4 seasons with Dalhousie in the AUS. Currently, Chris is playing in Germany’s Bundesliga 2 with Fischtown Pinguins.

Randy Rowe (link goes to team roster – click on Randy’s name to view his profile) played in Belleville from 1997-98 to 2000-01. Although he was an integral part of the championship team in 1999, his best season in the OHL came two years later when he potted 64 goals in just 63 games. Randy currently finds himself on the roster of the Lake Erie Monsters of the AHL.

Branko Radivojevic played for the Bulls 1998-99 to 2000-01. Branko played 393 games in the NHL with Phoenix Coyotes, Philadelphia Flyers and the Minnesota Wild before switching to Russia’s KHL. Branko is currently a member of Spartak Moscow. His profile page on the League’s official site can be found here.

Jason Lawmaster was acquired by the Bulls from the Plymouth Whalers during the 1997-98 season and played his second of two OHL seasons with the Bulls in 1998-99. Jason is currently with the Muskegon Lumberjacks of the IHL.

Derek Campbell was a Bull for 1997-98 and 1998-99 but finished out his OHL career with the Owen Sound Platers in 1999-00. Derek played this season with the Coventry Blaze of the Great Britain’s EIHL.

Michael Jacobson played for Belleville from 1997-98 to 2000-01. His final season in the OHL, 2001-02, was split between the Sudbury Wolves and the Owen Sound Attack. After three years playing in Italy, Michael spent this season with the Belfast Giants of Great Britain’s EIHL.

Branislav Mezei was a Bull from 1997-98 to 1999-00. He put in 240 NHL games with the New York Islanders and Florida Panthers before heading to Russia’s KHL last season. This season was split between the Czech Republic and Finland. Branislav is currently with the Blues of Finland’s SM-liiga. There isn’t a profile on the team’s official website but the roster page can be found here.

Nathan Robinson played with Belleville from 1998-99 to 2001-02. Other than the Memorial Cup appearance in his rookie season, the highlight of his OHL career was a 110 point performance in his final season. Nathan is in his 4th season in Germany’s DEL. Currently, he is with former Bull teammate, Justin Papineau, on Adler Mannheim.

Kris Newbury played in the OHL from 1998-99 to 2002-03. His first season and a half were with Belleville and the rest of his OHL career was played out with the Sarnia Sting. Kris has 48 games worth of NHL experience with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings. He is currently in the New York Rangers system with the Hartford Wolf Pack.

Doug MacIver started out his rookie season in the OHL, 1998-99, with the Bulls but was traded to the Sarnia Sting to finish out the season. Sarnia traded him to the Kingston Frontenacs the next season and he remained there until the end of his career in 2001-02. Doug played only two games with the Missouri Mavericks of the Central Hockey League this season and is currently off the active roster.