OHL Alumni Central

Hockey – It’s popular everywhere. Ontario Hockey League grad Richard Rochefort is one of a handful of Canadians that is bringing credibility to the Asia League Ice Hockey.

Rochefort played three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1994-95 to 1996-97. His first two seasons were played with the Sudbury Wolves and his final season was split between the Wolves and the Sarnia Sting. Richard was a steady 20+ goal scorer in each of his three seasons and had seasons of 65, 65 and 70 points.

Rochefort was drafted in the seventh round of the 1995 NHL draft by the New Jersey Devils, 174th overall. He spent five seasons, from 1997-98 to 2001-02, with the Albany River Rats of the American Hockey League.

Starting in 2002-03, Richard became a world traveller, toting his hockey equipment from country to country. He has played in Finland, Switzerland, Denmark, Italy, Germany and Japan. This past season, Rochefort played in Germany’s Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) with the Augsburg Panthers.

This upcoming season, 2010-11, Richard returns the ALIH with the Nikko Icebucks. The Icebucks have been less than marvelous over the past few seasons. They’re counting on Rochefort to help them into a top four position in the seven team league in order to move on to the post season.

Richard played previously in the ALIH for two seasons, 2007-08 and 2008-09. Both seasons were played with the Seibu Prince Rabbits which played out of Tokyo. The team is now defunct.

The ALIH official website is in English and can be found here.

The Nikko Icebucks website is only in Japanese and is not quite ready to go the for new season. The site can be found here.

Check out this previous post on the Asia League Ice Hockey.

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In Germany’s DEL (Deutsche Eishockey Liga), the Augsburger Panthers are battling it out with the Hannover Scorpions in the best of 5 2010 playoff final. Among those on the Augsburger roster are two Ontario Hockey League alumni, Matt Ryan and Richard Rochefort. Click on their names below to view their profile pages at the Augsburger Panthers official website. Use our German Hockey Language Guide to help navigate the site.

Matt Ryan played two seasons in the OHL with the Guelph Storm, 2002-03 and 2003-04. In his final season, he was a big part of Guelph’s run to a Memorial Cup berth. The team upset the London Knights in the Conference final and swept the Mississauga IceDogs to win the J. Ross Robertson Cup. The team was outplayed at the Memorial Cup, losing all three games in the round-robin portion.

Matt spent four seasons in the Los Angeles Kings organization, mostly with the Manchester Monarchs of the AHL. However, he was able to suit up as a King for 12 games during the 2005-06 season. This is Matt’s second season with Augsburger.

Richard Rochefort played three seasons in the OHL from 1994-95 to 1996-97. Richard played for the Sudbury Wolves up until midway through his final season when he was traded to the Sarnia Sting. A seventh round pick of the New Jersey Devils in the 1995 NHL draft, Richard never go a chance to play in the show. He played five seasons in the AHL with the Albany River Rats right out of junior before heading on a European tour that would take him to Finland, Switzerland, Italy and Germany. This is Rochefort’s first season with Augsburger and he has been used sparingly.

Check out these other posts on OHLers in Germany:

Patrick Jarrett with Dresdner Eislowen

Ron Newhook with Starbulls Rosenheim

OHL Grads with Bad Nauheim

Rob Zepp with Eisbaren Berlin

John Tripp represents Germany at the 2010 Olympics