OHL Alumni Central

Dave and Paul Gardner were both products of the Ontario Hockey League (OMJHL at the time) in the early 1970′s. The older, Dave, played two stellar seasons with the Toronto Marlboros and Paul played two with the Oshawa Generals.

Dave Gardner played his years with the Marlboros in 1970-71 and 1971-72. His offensive talent was explosive with 56 goals and 137 points in his first season. That total paved the way for a Red Tilson Trophy victory as most outstanding player. His second season with the Marlies saw him play just 57 games but contribute 53 goals and 129 points.

Drafted in the first round of the 1972 NHL draft by the mighty Montreal Canadiens, eighth overall, Gardner saw limited action with the big club in his first season and a half of professional hockey before being shipped to the St. Louis Blues. Over his 350 game NHL career, Dave found regularity in the California Golden Seals / Cleveland Barons organization where he put in four solid seasons from 1974-75 until 1977-78.

Gardner also played two games with the Philadelphia Flyers as well as with a handful of AHL and CHL teams before leaving for Switzerland for the 1980-81 season. He played in Switzerland’s National League until 1984-85.

Dave’s son, Ryan Gardner, is also a graduate of the Ontario Hockey League and is currently playing in Switzerland’s National League A with Bern. Check out this previous post at OHL Alumni Central on Ryan Gardner.

Paul Gardner played his two seasons with Oshawa in 1974-75 and 1975-76. Although he didn’t nearly meet his brothers numbers in his rookie season, he topped Dave’s numbers in every way during the 1975-76 season. Paul played 65 games for the Generals, scored 69 times while assisting on 75 for 144 points. This tally was good enough for third in OMJHL scoring that season.

Paul was drafted by the Kansas City Scouts in the first round of the 1976 NHL draft, eleventh overall and soon became a regular with the Colorado Rockies after the Scouts were moved to Denver. Paul was also selected by the Toronto Toros in the second round of the 1976 WHA draft, 24th overall. With the Rockies, he scored 30 and totalled 59 points in just 60 games as a rookie. The following season, he would equal that goal scoring mark but in just 46 games. His best goal scoring numbers would come as a Pittsburgh Penguin with 34 in 1980-81 and 36 in 1981-82.

Over 447 NHL games with the Rockies, Toronto Maple Leafs, Penguins, Washington Capitals and Buffalo Sabres, Gardner would contribute 402 points.

Paul was very successful in the AHL. He led the Baltimore Skipjacks with 81 points in 1983-84. In both 1984-85 and 1985-86, he won the Les Cunningham Award as the AHL’s MVP and the John B. Sollenberger Trophy as the AHL’s top point-getter. In 1984-85, he was also awarded the Fred T. Hunt Memorial Award for sportsmanship and perserverance. His totals in the AHL were an awesome 386 points in just 238 career games.

Paul went on to coach in pro hockey immediately upon retirement as a player. He has been a head coach in the AHL, Germany’s DEL and the Central Hockey League. Gardner was an assistant coach in both the AHL and NHL, most recently with the Nashville Predators from 1998-99 to 2002-03. He is currently the head coach of the Mississippi Riverkings of the Central Hockey League.

Check out Paul Gardner’s profile page at the Mississippi Riverkings official website.

The Ontario Hockey League record for most goals in a season has stood at 87 for three decades now. During the 1980-81 OHL season, Ernie Godden of the Windsor Spitfires scored at a 1.28 goals per game pace over a full 68 game schedule. He added 66 assists for a points total of 153. In addition, he would add 13 goals and 29 points in an 11 game Windsor playoff run.

Why has the record lasted so long? Some will say that the star players in the OHL today don’t get to play a full schedule because of a number of reasons, including the World Juniors and extended NHL camps. Ray Sheppard played five less games in 1985-86 and scored 81 goals. Eric Lindros scored 71 in just 57 games during the 1990-91 season. Other factors would include a longer bench, better trained goaltenders and just an overall change in the game. Regardless, Ernie Godden’s record may stand for some time to come.

Ernie Godden played three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1978-79 to 1980-81, all with the Windsor Spitfires. Over his OHL career, Godden put in 152 regular seasons goals and contributed 290 points over the three seasons. The feisty 5’8″ 160 lb’er also was a tough customer, earning 508 minutes in penalties.

In his second season with the Spitfires, 1979-80, Godden contributed 40 goals and 41 assists for 81 points in 62 regular season games then added to that total at a point per game pace in the playoffs. Windsor made it to the Robertson Cup finals before being swept by the Peterborough Petes.

Surprisingly, his 153 points in that final season in the Ontario Hockey League was not the best in the league. John Goodwin of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds scored 56 goals and assisted on another 110 for 166 points. Just one point behind Godden was Bernie Nicholls of the Kingston Canadians. In an 11 game playoff effort that saw the Spitfires lose out to the Kitchener Rangers in the semi-finals, nine points to one, Ernie did all he could with 13 goals and 29 points. However, his efforts did earn him the Red Tilson Trophy as the league’s most outstanding player.

Godden was taken by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the third round of the 1981 NHL draft, 55th overall. In 1981-82, Ernie played five games with Harold Ballard’s Leafs and spent the rest of the season with their Central Hockey League affiliate, the Cincinnati Tigers. As a rookie, Ernie fared well in Cincinnati with 32 goals and 69 points in 67 games. He also brought his feistiness, sitting out 178 minutes in penalties.

The following two seasons, Godden spent all his time with Toronto’s AHL affiliate, the St. Catherines Saints. He spent 1984-85 in Austria with Klagenfurter before retiring from hockey.

Andre Lacroix with the San Diego Mariners of the WHA.

When hockey fans think of the Peterborough Petes, they think of Chris Pronger, Steve Yzerman and Jamie Langenbrunner. When fans think of the Philadelphia Flyers, they think of Bobby Clarke, Bernie Parent and maybe Eric Lindros. When fans that are old enough think of the World Hockey Association, they think of the Howes, Bobby Hull and Jacques Plante.

In all three situations, the player that comes to mind should be Andre Lacroix.

Andre played three seasons in the OHA from 1963-64 to 1965-66. He began with the Montreal Junior Canadiens and switched to the Peterborough Petes after his first season. In Peterborough, Lacroix exploded offensively. In 1964-65, he scored 45 and added 74 assists for 119 points in just 49 games. The following season, he scored 40 and assisted on 80 for 120 points in 48 games. Both seasons, he was awarded the Red Tilson Trophy as the league’s most outstanding player. In his final season, his 120 points gave him the Eddie Powers Trophy as the league’s top scorer. Always the playmaker with the soft hands, Andre led the league in assists for both his final two seasons.

Lacroix joined the expansion Philadelphia Flyers in their first season, 1967-68. Over the following two seasons, Andre lead the Flyers in points with 56 and 58. His NHL career consisted of 325 regular season games, mostly with the Flyers with partial seasons with each the Chicago Blackhawks and the Hartford Whalers.

It was in the WHA where the name Andre Lacroix will forever go down in history. He will forever be the league’s all-time leader in games played (551), assists (547) and points (798). He comes in slightly lower in the goals department, falling fourth in the league’s history with 251.

In six of his seven seasons in the WHA, Lacroix led his team in points. The only season he didn’t was his final season with the New England Whalers in 1978-79 when the team was led by Mark Howe. Andre twice won the Bill Hunter Trophy as the league’s top point-getter. The first time was with the Philadelphia Blazers in the first season of the WHA when he scored 50 and added 74 assists for 124 points. The second was two years later in 1974-75 with the San Diego Mariners. That season Andre scored 41 but added an astonishing 106 assists for 147 points.

At the time, his 106 assists were a professional hockey record and, along with Bobby Orr, was the only professional player to surpass the 100 assist mark. His six 100+ point seasons in a row is a feat to this day only shared by six other professional players.

Lacroix was selected to the Team Canada squad for the 1974 Summit Series that pitted the best Canadians of the WHA against the best of Russia. Andre did not disappoint as the second highest scorer on the team.

Check out some of the previous OHL Alumni Classics:

Gord Brooks

Art Stratton

Bill Sweeney

David Ling played three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1992-93 to 1994-95, all with the Kingston Frontenacs. Although he had three great seasons with Kingston, Ling is mostly known for his final season in the OHL. After point productions of 63 and 77 in his first two seasons, David exploded for 61 goals and 74 assists for 135 points in 62 games in his final season in the Ontario Hockey League.

That 135 point performance left him just four points behind Marc Savard of the Oshawa Generals for the OHL lead. It should be noted that David played four less regular season games than Savard. The interesting thing about Ling is that he led the Frontenacs in penalty minutes in his first two seasons with a whopping 275 and 254. In his final season, he still put his time in at the sin bin but his 136 PIM obviously signified a major role change.

In 1994-95, Ling was awarded the Red Tilson Trophy as Ontario Hockey League MVP, the Jim Mahon Trophy as the highest scoring right winger in the OHL and was also named the Canadian Hockey League’s player of the year.

Ling was drafted deep down in the seventh round of the 1993 NHL entry draft by the Quebec Nordiques. Of course, this was before his outstanding senior year. Despite being tough and feisty, his 5’9″ and 185 lb. (175-197, depending on the source) build maybe didn’t fit into the 1990′s NHL template of 6’4″, 200+ lb. players. Over his professional career to date, David has played just 93 NHL games, mostly with the Columbus Blue Jackets in addition to three games with the Montreal Canadiens.

David spent most of his days of North American hockey in the AHL and the old IHL. He last played in North America in the 2007-08 season with the Toronto Marlies. In 2004-05, with the Marlies’ predecessor in St. John’s, he finished third in league scoring behind Jason Spezza and Mike Cammalleri with 28 goals and 60 assists for 88 points in 80 games. While in the Columbus Blue Jackets organization, David wore either the ‘A’ or ‘C’ throughout his days with their AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch.

In 2005-06, Ling tested the European market and played his first of two seasons in the Russia Super League. In 2008-09, he returned to Europe and split his season between Biel of Switzerland’s National League-A and Jokerit of Finland’s SM-Liiga.

This past season, David played for Amur Khabarovsk of Russia’s KHL. Khabarovsk finished tenth in the twelve team Eastern Conference and out of playoff contention. Ling played 46 of the team’s 56 regular season games, contributing 8 goals and 24 assists for 32 points. He is signed on to play for Amur Khabarovsk for the 2010-11 season.

Check out David Ling’s profile page on the Amur Khabarovsk official website (in Russian).