OHL Alumni Central

Michal Dvorak played in the Ontario Hockey League for the Kitchener Rangers for three seasons from 1996-97 to 1998-99. The Czech born player arrived part way through his rookie season after starting the year in the Czech Extraliga. That year, the Rangers won the Central Division title and fell to the eventual Robertson Cup champions, the Oshawa Generals, in the semi-finals.

Dvorak went undrafted and returned to Europe for the 1999-00 season. After one year in Germany’s DEL with Moskitos Essen, Michal returned to his homeland. Since 2000-01, he has played in the Czech Extraliga, mostly with HC Plzen. Dvorak had a three year stint with HC Karlovy Vary from 2004-05 to 2006-07 but has been with Plzen since. In a league with a 52 game regular season schedule, topping the 650 game mark and still ticking is quite an accomplishment.

With Plzen, Michal has reached the league semi-finals twice, in 2003-04 and 2008-09. The team is poised to go far in 2011-12. Currently, at nearly the 3/4 mark of the season, Plzen is neck and neck with HC Sparta Praha for the overall lead in the 14 team Extraliga. Both are head and shoulders over the next competitor.

Dvorak is currently the only Ontario Hockey League grad on the Plzen roster. However, North American hockey fans would be interested to know that not only is Martin Straka the team’s star player, he is also 70% owner and general manager! Straka was the nineteenth overall pick at the 1992 NHL Entry Draft by the Pittsburgh Penguins. Between 1992-93 and 2007-08, Straka played for the Penguins, Ottawa Senators, New York Islanders, Florida Panthers, Los Angeles Kings and New York Rangers. He played in 954 regular season NHL games and contributed 717 points. He topped out offensively in 2000-01, finished tied for fourth in the race for the Art Ross Trophy with 95 points.

Another familiar name on HC Plzen is Frantisek Kaberle, brother of current Montreal Canadiens defenseman, Tomas Kaberle. Frantisek played 523 NHL regular season games between 1999-00 and 2008-09 with the Los Angeles Kings, Atlanta Thrashers and Carolina Hurricanes.

About as far from Brampton and Ottawa as you can get in the world of hockey is Temirtau, Kazakhstan. Just a “Detroit to Montreal’s” distance from Mongolia and China, this city of 180,000 didn’t even exist before 1905. The team plays out of the ten team Kazak league and features two Ontario Hockey League grads on the roster.

Levente Szuper started his 2011-12 season in the Central Hockey League with the Arizona Sundogs. This ‘hockey vagabond’ is no stranger to the wide world of ice hockey. Since playing two seasons in net for the Ottawa 67′s in 1998-99 and 1999-00, Szuper has played in Canada, the United States, Hungary, Italy, Germany, Sweden and Austria. He has played on the world stage with his native Hungary on a yearly basis.

Levente was a fourth round pick of the Calgary Flames at the 2000 NHL Entry Draft, 116th overall. He spent three seasons with Calgary’s AHL affiliate, the Saint John Flames, and one season split between the AHL’s Worcester IceCats and the ECHL’s Peoria Rivermen before starting his world tour. He has been a member of championship teams in the Ontario Hockey League, Germany’s DEL and the AHL. With Hungary, he has won a handful of medals and individual accolades at the World Championships (D1). He played a role with the 1998-99 Ottawa team that was crowned Memorial Cup champions.

Get your Levente Szuper hockey cards on eBay, right now!

Kurt MacSweyn has been on a similar world journey since leaving the Ontario Hockey League after the 2001-02 season. Kurt was an original Brampton Battalion, playing in the franchise’s first year, 1998-99. He spent four years with the club before heading off to University  at St. Mary’s. After three years getting educated, MacSweyn spent the 2005-06 season in the ECHL with the Idaho Steelheads before heading to Europe, and beyond. Kurt has played in Germany, Austria, Hungary, Italy and Australia. 2011-12 is his first season with Temirtau.

Arystan Temirtau currently sits in fourth place in the ten team league, 38 games into their 54 game regular season schedule. In 2010-11, the team finished fifth and exited the post season after the quarter-finals. The Kazak league would best be described as a minor league to the KHL. The team plays out of the 2,700 seat Muz Aydin Sport Palace.

The Ontario Hockey League’s Kingston Frontenacs have been around at the major junior level since the 1973-74 OMJHL season. They began as the Canadians, changed to the Raiders for a season and have been called the Frontenacs since 1989-90.

The furthest Kingston has made it in the Robertson Cup playoffs is the semi-finals. The team has never played in the finals for the OHL championship. The Frontenacs have just one division title to speak of, in 1994-95 when they led the Eastern Division. This season, 2011-12, Kingston has found themselves in a position where it would take a miracle to qualify for the post-season. Currently in last place, 14 points behind the next team, it’s a long uphill battle.

Yet, despite the numbers, Kingston can produce professional hockey players with currently 90 alumni still playing around Planet Hockey in 2011-12. To be put on this list, a player needs to play just one game with the Frontenacs. More than a lot of teams, there are a number of players on the list that did just play a handful of games with the team. Amazingly, 25 players that have appeared with Kingston are now taking advantage of the CHL’s great scholarship program and are playing for various teams throughout the CIS.

Frontenacs alumni are playing in 23 different leagues in 14 different countries. Eight players are currently in the National Hockey League. Three well-known players from the early 1990′s are still rolling along: David Ling, Tyler Moss and Craig Rivet.

Information below is current as of January 10, 2012.

Five members of the London Knights coaching staff and front office began their playing careers in the OHL and have come back to give back to the league that developed them. Three of the five played their Ontario Hockey League (OHA, OMJHL, OHL – it’s all the same…) careers with London.

Dale Hunter has left his post as the head coach of the London Knights for the same position with the National Hockey League’s Washington Capitals. However, he remains president and co-owner of the Knights. Hunter played in the OHL for three seasons from 1977-78 to 1979-80. He played his first season with the Kitchener Rangers and the following two with the Sudbury Wolves. In his second season, he totaled 110 points in 59 games with the Wolves.

Dale was a second round pick of the Quebec Nordiques at the 1979 NHL Entry Draft, 41st overall. From 1980-81 to 1998-99, Hunter played 1,409 regular season NHL games with the Nordiques, Washington Capitals and Colorado Avalanche. He was captain of the Capitals from 1994-95 to 1998-99 and his number 32 is one of just four Washington Capitals retired numbers. Hunter was head coach of the Knights from 2001-02 until the fall of 2011 when he replaced Bruce Boudreau behind the Capitals bench.

Mark Hunter is general manager, vice-president, co-owner and, now, head coach of the London Knights. Mark played two seasons in the Ontario Hockey League, 1979-80 and 1980-81, with the Brantford Alexanders. In 119 OHL regular season games, Hunter totaled 168 points. He was selected seventh overall at the 1981 NHL Entry Draft by the Montreal Canadiens. Mark has been general manager of the Knights since 2000-01.

Mark played 628 regular season NHL games from 1981-82 to 1992-93 with the Canadiens, St. Louis Blues, Calgary Flames, Hartford Whalers and Washington Capitals. In 1985-86, Hunter scored 44 goals with the St. Louis Blues. He was part of the 1988-89 Calgary Flames Stanley Cup winning team.

Basil McRae co-owns the Knights with the Hunter Brothers. McRae played three seasons with the Knights from 1978-79 to 1980-81. Basil was a fifth round pick of the Quebec Nordiques at the 1980 NHL Entry Draft, 87th overall. He played in 576 NHL regular season games from 1981-82 to 1992-93 with the Nordiques, Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings, Minnesota North Stars, Tampa Bay Lightning, St. Louis Blues and Chicago Blackhawks.

Basil sits 24th all-time in career penalty minutes in the NHL. He sat out 2,457 minutes over his career. In 1989-90, with the Minnesota North Stars, McRae led the NHL in penalty minutes with 351.

Dylan Hunter, son of Dale, played five seasons with London from 2001-02 to 2005-06 and was team captain in his final two seasons. In 315 Ontario Hockey League games, Hunter contributed 369 points. He was a major factor in the Knights becoming Memorial Cup champions in 2004-05.

Dylan was taken by the Buffalo Sabres in the ninth round of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, 273rd overall. He spent five years splitting time between the AHL and ECHL. He last played in 2010-11 with the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL and the Milwaukee Admirals of the AHL. This is his first year behind the bench.

Rob Ramage starred with the Knights for three seasons from 1975-76 to 1977-78, co-winning the Max Kaminsky Trophy with Brad Marsh in his final season. After a year in the World Hockey Association with the Birmingham Bulls in 1978-79, Ramage was taken first overall in the 1979 NHL Entry Draft by the Colorado Rockies.

Ramage played 1,044 regular season NHL games from 1979-80 to 1993-94 with the Rockies, St. Louis Blues, Calgary Flames, Toronto Maple Leafs, Minnesota North Stars, Tampa Bay Lightning, Montreal Canadiens and Philadelphia Flyers. He won the Stanley Cup twice, in 1988-89 with the Calgary Flames and 1992-93 with the Montreal Canadiens. Rob is in his first season as assistant coach.

The 2007-08 Kitchener Rangers finished atop the Ontario Hockey League during the regular season with 110 points, earning them the Hamilton Spectator Trophy. The Rangers finished 28 points ahead of Midwest Division rival, the London Knights. The Rangers bulldozed the Plymouth Whalers, Sarnia Sting and Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, losing just one game to the Hounds, enroute to a Robertson Cup showdown with the Belleville Bulls. The Bulls took the Rangers to seven games but Kitchener came out victorious.

Justin Azevedo was awarded the Eddie Powers Trophy as the OHL’s top scorer with 124 points on 43 goals and 81 assists in 67 games. Azevedo was also awarded the Red Tilson Trophy as the most outstanding player in the Ontario Hockey League. Other major award winners included goaltender Josh Unice winning the Dinty Moore Trophy and Nick Spaling winning the William Hanley Trophy.

Kitchener hosted the Memorial Cup and, despite finishing the round robin with one win and two losses, the Rangers made it to the final game against the Spokane Chiefs of the WHL. Spokane won the game 4-1 to become Memorial Cup champions. Belleville finished the round robin with two wins and loss but Kitchener had their way with the Bulls in the semi-final game, winning 9-0. The Gatineau Olympiques were the representative from the QMJHL. The infamous dropping of the Memorial Cup incident occurred when the Chiefs were receiving the trophy after beating the Rangers.

Of the players that played at least one game with the Rangers during the 2007-08 season, including those that were traded away before the playoffs, 26 are still actively playing in 2011-12. A remarkable seven each are in the NHL and AHL. Eight are taking advantage of the CHL scholarship program and are playing for teams in the CIS. Two are in the ECHL, one is in Switzerland and one is still a member of the Kitchener Rangers. Coach Peter DeBoer is now the head coach of the NHL’s New Jersey Devils.

Here’s where the 26 are playing (as of Jan. 7, 12):