OHL Alumni Central

The Lahden Pelicans of Finland’s SM-Liiga are treading in rare territory. Three quarters of the way through the 2011-12 season, Pelicans find themselves in second place in the fourteen team Finnish elite league. The team has never never won a championship and has really never enjoyed any great playoff success. 2011-12 might just be the year of the Pelicans.

Pelicans are led by an Ontario Hockey League grad and the team has recently picked up two more OHL alumni for the playoff run. Justin Hodgman is tied for tenth in league scoring. Czech natives Jan Platil and Radek Smolenak are recent pickups from other SM-Liiga teams.

Justin Hodgman played four years in the Ontario Hockey League with the Erie Otters from 2005-06 to 2008-09. Undrafted, Hodgman spent the past two years bouncing around between the IHL, ECHL and AHL. In 2010-11, Justin played mostly with the Toronto Marlies of the AHL with a few games down in the ECHL with the Reading Royals. This is his first season in Finland.

Jan Platil played for the Barrie Colts for three seasons from 2000-01 to 2002-03. A seventh round pick of the Ottawa Senators at the 2001 NHL Entry Draft, Platil spent three years in Ottawa’s farm system with the AHL’s Binghamton Senators before heading to Europe for the 2006-07 season. Jan has since played in Russia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany and Austria. He began the season with Orli Znojmo in Austria’s EBEL before moving to Tappara in the SM-Liiga.

Radek Smolenak played two seasons with the Kingston Frontenacs, 2004-05 and 2005-06. Drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning after his first year in the OHL, Radek excelled in his second season with Kingston, scoring 42 and assisting on another 42 for 84 points in 65 games. Smolenak did get into seven NHL games after turning pro, six with Tampa Bay in 2008-09 and one with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2009-10.

Smolenak has been in Europe for the past two seasons. in 2010-11, he played for his hometown HC Sparta Prague. He began the current season in Finland with Assat.

Lou Dickenson with Vaasan Sport in Finland.

Never known as a scorer in the Ontario Hockey League, Lou Dickenson poured it on last season in Finland’s Mestis League, a level below the elite SM-Liiga. Lou was the league’s leading point-getter, playing for Vaasan Sport. His 26 goals and 35 assists for 61 points over 44 games was good enough for the league lead. The season before, with KooKoo, Lou lead the league in goals with 28 in 43 games.

Dickenson played five seasons in the Ontario Hockey League. He also appeared on five different team rosters over his OHL career. He began in the OHL in 1998-99 with the Mississauga IceDogs and played his first two full seasons at the Hershey Centre. In 2000-01, he started the season with the London Knights and midway through the season ended up with the Kingston Fontenacs. 2001-02 was split between the Frontenacs and the Guelph Storm and his final season was split between the Storm and the Ottawa 67′s, a team that lost out in the Robertson Cup finals that year.

Lou was drafted in the 4th round of the 2000 NHL draft by the Edmonton Oilers, 113th overall. He spent one season, 2003-04, in the Canadian university system with St. Thomas in New Brunswick. He followed that by a season in the North American pro hockey scene with three different teams: San Antonio Rampage (AHL), Texas Wildcatters (ECHL) and Laredo Bucks (CHL).

2005-06 was Dickenson’s introduction to the world of European hockey. He played in the Italian Serie B and scored 43 goals and 79 points in just 41 games. The following year, he literally toured Europe playing on two Swedish teams, the Edinburgh Capitals of Great Britain’s EIHL and Ljubljana in Slovenia.

Lou returned to North America for the 2007-08 season but found his way back to Europe for the following campaign. Lou has been in Finland since.

The 2010-11 season has Lou stepping up to the SM-Liiga and playing for the Pelicans. The Pelicans play out of Lahti, Finland, a city with just over 100,000 people and the eighth largest city in Finland. Lahti is just 100km out of Helsinki.

Check out Lou Dickenson’s profile page on the Pelicans official website.