OHL Alumni Central

Kris Vernarsky played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1998-99 to 2001-02, all with the Plymouth Whalers. In his second and third season, the Whalers made it to the Robertson Cup finals. Vernarsky currently stands 12th on the Whalers on the all-time games played list with 238. He is also tied for 11th on the Whalers all-time play-off games played list with 55. During his Ontario Hockey League career, Kris represented the United States at the IIHF World Junior Hockey Tournament twice.

Vernarsky was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the second round of the 2000 NHL draft, 51st overall. He has appeared in a total of 17 NHL games, all with the Boston Bruins. 14 games were during the 2002-03 season and three were the following year.

Kris spent some time in the AHL with the Providence Bruins but has been a mainstay in the UHL/IHL since 2005-06. In the lifespan of the most recent version of the IHL (2007-2010), Vernarsky is forever placed in the top 20 for IHL career games, goals, assists and points.

With the demise of the IHL and the Port Huron Icehawks, the team Vernarsky has played with for the past three seasons, Kris finds himself starting the 2010-11 season with the Wheeling Nailers of the East Coast Hockey League.

Kris Vernarsky’s profile page has yet to appear on the Wheeling Nailers official website, but the site can be found through this link.

Check out this previous post on Cory Stillman, another OHL Alumnus left without a job by the demise of the Port Huron Icehawks.

Cory Stillman (not to be confused with the Cory Stillman that is currently playing for the Florida Panthers) played five seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1999-00 to 2003-04. His first four seasons were with the Kingston Frontenacs and his final season was played with the Barrie Colts.

Stillman was drafted by the New York Islanders in the fourth round of the 2001 NHL draft. Since leaving the OHL, Cory has played in four different leagues on five different teams over six seasons. His first season out of the Ontario Hockey League was spent in the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) with the Pensacola Ice Pilots. Since then, he has mostly played in the Central Hockey League and the IHL. The exception being 2007-08 when he travelled to Germany to play for Ravensburg of the Bundesliga. The Bundesliga is Germany’s tier 2 league behind the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL).

Cory spent this past season with the Port Huron Icehawks of the ill-fated IHL. He contributed 7 goals and 7 assists for 14 points over 27 games with the Icehawks. Port Huron will not be one of the IHL teams merging into the Central Hockey League for the 2010-11 season. The franchise has instead chosen to cease operations.

For the time being, you can view Cory Stillman’s profile page on the IHL’s official website.