OHL Alumni Central

Joe Talbot on left after Sheffield wins the EIHL championship (notice the beer bottles in hand - were the Canadian women really that badass at the Olympics??).

Ontario Hockey League grad Joe Talbot is entering his fourth season with the Sheffield Steelers. This is almost unheard of for an import in Great Britain’s Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL). For imports, the EIHL, or any other European elite league for that matter, can be pretty transient with stops of just one season before moving on to the next team, league or country.

Joe Talbot played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1997-98 to 2000-01, all with the Ottawa 67′s. In his final season, his 39 goals and 40 assists for 79 points in a full 68 games helped Ottawa to a third seed ranking in the Eastern Conference. His 28 points in 20 playoff games helped the 67′s win the Robertson Cup as the Ontario Hockey League’s playoff champion. The team was unsuccessful at the Memorial Cup tournament in Regina, Saskatchewan.

Joe went undrafted by any NHL club and decided on the university route, playing two seasons with the University of Western Ontario in London.

From 2003-04 to 2006-07, Talbot played in the East Coast Hockey League with the Alaska Aces. Over the four seasons, Joe consistently averaged 25 goals per season.

For the start of the 2007-08 season, Joe travelled to England to play with the Sheffield Steelers. In each of his first three seasons with the club, his point totals have increased from 59 to 62 to 67 points. The team was EIHL playoff champion in his first two seasons.

Talbot is not alone on the team as an OHL alumus. Ontario Hockey League grads Kevin Bolibruck and Derek Campbell will also be Sheffield Steelers this season.

Check out Joe Talbot’s profile page on the Sheffield Steelers official website.

Talbot is featured in this previous post at OHL Alumni Central listing OHL grads playing for Sheffield during the 2009-10 season.

Ontario Hockey League grad Petr Kanko has taken a demotion of sorts for the upcoming season. After two years with HC Ocelari Trinec of the Czech Republic’s Extraliga, he will start this season with HC Slovan Usti of the 1. Liga, the affiliate league to the Extraliga.

Petr Kanko played three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2001-02 to 2003-04, all with the Kitchener Rangers. Each season with the Rangers, his point production increased while his games played decreased. In his second season, he was part of a Ranger team that won the Robertson Cup as Ontario Hockey League playoff champion as well as the Memorial Cup as CHL champion. Petr played a huge part in the playoff success with 27 points in 20 games for the Rangers.

As a junior, Kanko represented his homeland, the Czech Republic, twice in international play. He was member of the 2001 under-18 team that was left out of the medal standings despite Petr scoring six goals in seven games. In 2004, he was part of the under-20 team that lost out in the bronze medal game.

Kanko was drafted in the third round of the 2002 NHL draft by the Los Angeles Kings. He played four seasons with the Kings’ American Hockey League affiliate, the Manchester Monarchs, from 2004-05 to 2007-08. He was called up to the Los Angeles Kings for a short stint during the 2005-06 season when he played ten games. He scored just one goal with the Kings and that was in his first ever NHL game.

As mentioned, Petr played two seasons with HC Ocelari Trinec of the Czech Republic Extraliga. Hopefully, with a good early performance for HC Slovan Usti, he’ll make his way back to the elite league before this upcoming season is over.

Check out Petr Kanko’s profile page on the HC Slovan Usti official website.

Petr is featured in two previous posts at OHL Alumni Central:

HC Ocelari Trinec of the Czech Republic

Kitchener Rangers 2002-03 Memorial Cup Champions

Fred Brathwaite played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1989-90 to 1992-93. He began his OHL career with the Oshawa Generals and played there until the midway point of the 1991-92 season when he shifted to the London Knights. His final season was played with the Detroit Junior Red Wings.

Fred was undrafted but went on to a nine year NHL career. The pinnacle of Brathwaite’s NHL career was 1999-00 and 2000-01 when he was the primary goalie with the Calgary Flames playing 61 and 49 regular season games. Throughout his NHL days, Fred also played for the Edmonton Oilers, St. Louis Blues and the Columbus Blue Jackets.

During the 2004-05 NHL strike season, Brathwaite ventured out into the European hockey scene and played with Kazan Ak-Bars of the Russian Super League. He returned the following season and Ak-Bars won the RSL championship.

Fred made an attempt at a return to the North American game, playing for the Chicago Wolves of the AHL for the 2006-07 season and part of the 2007-08 season. The Wolves are the AHL affiliate of the Atlanta Thrashers but Fred didn’t get a call-up to the NHL club.

Since 2008-09, Brathwaite has been a member of Adler Mannheim of Germany’s Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). In his first season with the club, Fred was named the DEL Player Of The Year. The numbers that season included six shutouts, a goals against average of 2.37 and a save percentage of .925 in 49 regular season games.

Brathwaite returned to Adler Mannheim for the 2010-11 season. This will be his 18th season in professional hockey and his 21st since winning the Robertson Cup and Memorial Cup with the Oshawa Generals in his first season of Ontario Hockey League play.

Check out Fred Brathwaite’s profile page on the Adler Mannheim official website.

Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds alumnus Ralph Intranuovo will be entering his 18th season in professional hockey and his 12th season in Europe. Intranuovo will return to HC Asiago of Italy’s Lega Italiana Hockey Ghiaccio (LIHG) for his second season with the club.

Ralph Intranuovo played three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1990-91 to 1992-93, all with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. In 1991-92, Ralph finished eighth in OHL scoring with 113 points on 50 goals and 63 assists in 65 games. The Greyhounds finished atop the Emms Division and beat out the North Bay Centennials for the Robertson Cup as Ontario Hockey League champions. Despite being undefeated in the round robin of the Memorial Cup, the Greyhounds fell to the Kamloops Blazers in the Memorial Cup final.

In his final season, he contributed 31 goals and 47 assists for 78 points in just 54 games. The Greyhounds once again took the Emms Division crown but fell in the Robertson Cup final to the Peterborough Petes. However, the Greyhounds participated in the Memorial Cup as the host team and won the Cup by beating out the Petes in the final. Intranuovo was named the Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy winner as tournament MVP and was also named as the All-Star centre.

As if that final season wasn’t magic enough for Ralph, he was also a member of the 1993 gold medal winning Team Canada squad at the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships.

All that success during his Ontario Hockey League career got him drafted in the fourth round of the 1992 NHL draft by the Edmonton Oilers, 96th overall. Intranuovo appeared in 19 games for the Oilers over three seasons and spent most of his time in the American Hockey League with Edmonton’s affiliate, the Cape Breton Oilers.

Ralph was an AHL all-star in 1994-95 and 1995-96. In 1994-95, he was fourth in league scoring with 46 goals and 47 assists for 93 points in 70 games with a dismal Cape Breton team. In 1994-95, despite appearing in just one game with the NHL Oilers, Intranuovo was an integral part of the Team Canada team at the IIHF World Hockey Championships. Canada took home a bronze medal and Ralph helped out with 5 goals and an assist in 8 games.

Ralph appeared in three more NHL games as a Toronto Maple Leaf during the 1996-97 season but his NHL career never quite took flight. He spent two seasons with the Manitoba Moose in the old IHL before heading to Europe to start the 1999-00 season. He has since split most of his time between teams in Germany’s DEL and Austria’s EBEL until moving over to Italy this past season.

Intranuovo should be a great mentor to the number of Ontario Hockey League grads on HC Asiago for 2010-11. The team is a heavy favourite to do well this season and will certainly be interesting to watch.

Ralph Intranuovo’s profile can be found from the HC Asiago official website roster page.

Ralph will be teammates with fellow Ontario Hockey League grad, Andrew Perugini.

Michael with Wolfsburg of Germany's DEL.

It’s all in the family this upcoming season in Italy as Adam Henrich joins older

Adam with Wilkes-Barre Scranton of AHL.

 brother Michael on HC Asiago of Italy’s Lega Italiana Hockey Ghiaccio.

Michael Henrich played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1996-97 to 1999-00, all with the Barrie Colts. Henrich led the team in goals in his second season with 41, was second on the team to Daniel Tkaczuk in goals his third season and finished eleventh overall in the Ontario Hockey League for total points in his final season.

In his senior year, the Colts won the Robertson Cup as Ontario Hockey League playoff champion. Michael’s 28 points in 25 games during those playoffs was good enough for team lead.

Michael was drafted in the first round of the 1998 NHL draft by the Edmonton Oilers, 13th overall. He spent two full seasons with Edmonton’s American League affiliate, the Hamilton Bulldogs. It wasn’t until 2004-05, playing in Austria’s Second Tier that Henrich regained his goal scoring touch, netting 42 in just 34 games.

Between 2005-06 and 2007-08, Henrich spent three seasons in Germany playing in the DEL and the Bundesliga. He made the move to Italy for this past season and found great success. His 60 points in 39 regular season games with HC Asiago placed him first on the team. The 60 points placed him sixth in league scoring behind fellow Ontario Hockey League alumni, Luciano Aquino, Daniel Sisca and Dan Tudin. Michael added another 18 points in 15 playoff games for Asiago.

Adam Henrich spent four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2000-01 to 2003-04, all with the Brampton Battalion. Although not quite as prolific, Adam shared his brother’s abilities around the net during his OHL career with 33, 31 and 29 goals seasons in his final three.

Adam was also drafted, going in the second round of the 2002 NHL draft to the Tampa Bay Lightning, 60th overall. Henrich has spent time on eight different teams over the past six seasons. Last season alone he appeared in games for four different teams: Springfield Falcons – AHL; Ontario Reign – ECHL, Cincinnati Cyclones – ECHL; Hamburg Freezers – DEL.

Adam has just signed with HC Asiago for the 2010-11 season and should feel quite at home in a league that is packed full of Ontario Hockey League grads.

Check out the article about Adam’s arrival with HC Asiago at the team’s official website. The article is in Italian so use Google Translate to cut and paste the article.