OHL Alumni Central

Ontario Hockey League grad Evan McGrath will remain in Sweden’s tier 2 Allsvenskan for the 2011-12 season, but has switched teams. This season, 2010-11, was McGrath’s first season in Europe and he led Västerås is points with 43 in 49 games and placed 16th in the league. In 2011-12, Evan will play for Oskarshamn.

Evan McGrath played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2002-03 to 2005-06, all with the Kitchener Rangers. In his final season, McGrath placed fifth in the OHL in total points with 114 on 37 goals and 77 assists. He was a member of the 2002-03 Rangers team that won the Robertson Cup as OHL playoff champ and won the Memorial Cup.

After his second season in the Ontario Hockey League, McGrath was taken by the Detroit Red Wings in the fourth round of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, 128th overall. He spent the better part of four seasons with Detroit’s American Hockey League affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins. He was wearing the ‘A’ on his jersey during the 2009-10 season when Grand Rapids traded him to the Syracuse Crunch at the trade deadline.

With the Owen Sound Attack in uncharted waters as far as that franchise is concerned, it’s fitting that the head coach, two assistants and the general manager were all Canadian Hockey League players at one time and three are graduates of the Ontario Hockey League.

The Attack were the top team in the Western Conference during the 2010-11 regular season and are squaring off against the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors in the Robertson Cup final. Both teams are assured entry to the Memorial Cup tournament as Mississauga is the host.

Head Coach Mark Reeds played three years with the Peterborough Petes from 1977-78 to 1979-80. In just 54 games in his final season with the Petes, Reeds put up very respectable numbers with 34 goals and 45 assists for 79 points. Mark saw NHL action between 1981-82 and 1988-89 with the St. Louis Blues and Hartford Whalers. In 1989-90, Reeds went to Italy and contributed 131 points in just 44 games with HC Flemme Cavalese.

Reeds is in his fourth season as head coach of Owen Sound. He has been in the coaching biz since 1992-93 when he started out as the Assistant Coach of the IHL’s Peoria Rivermen. When the Rivermen made the switch to the ECHL for the 1996-97 season, Mark made the switch to head coach. He has been a head coach with the Rivermen, Missouri River Otters and Kalamazoo Wings before coming to Owen Sound.

Assistant Coach Brad Tiley played three seasons with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds from 1988-89 to 1990-91. Over his playing career, Brad saw 10 NHL games with the Phoenix Coyotes and a pair with the Philadelphia Flyers. He played actively until the 2008-09 season and appeared on teams in the IHL, AHL, DEL (Germany), EBEL (Austria) and the Asia League (Japan). This is Tiley’s second season with the Attack.

General Manager Dale DeGray played for the Oshawa Generals from 1979-80 (1 game) to 1982-83. DeGray saw NHL time in the 1980′s with the Calgary Flames, Toronto Maple Leafs, Los Angeles Kings and Buffalo Sabres. After several years in the IHL, DeGray’s playing days ended after the 1997-98 season. Dale is in his fourth year as GM in Owen Sound after spending five years as a scout for the NHL’s Florida Panthers.

Assistant Coach Terry Virtue played in the WHL from 1988-89 to 1990-91. Virtue skated in five NHL games over his career, four with the Boston Bruins and one with the New York Rangers. Terry’s lengthy hockey career, mostly spent in the AHL, came to and end after the 2006-07 season. He spent three years as assistant coach of the WHL’s Tri-City Americans before coming to Owen Sound for the 2010-11 season.

Nearly three years seperate them but the Sestito brothers got to play one season together with the Ontario Hockey League’s Plymouth Whalers in 2004-05.

Tom Sestito on the left and Tim Sestito on the right.

Tim Sestito played four years with the Whalers from 2001-02 to 2004-05. Undrafted by an NHL club, Tim has worked his way through the ranks from ECHL, to AHL and finally to the NHL. His first NHL game came in 2008-09 with the Edmonton Oilers. He played just one game with Edmonton but was captain of their AHL affiliate, the Springfield Falcons.

The past two seasons, Sestito has been in the New Jersey Devils organization, splitting time between the Devils and their AHL affiliate, the Lowell Devils in 2009-10 and the Albany Devils in 2010-11. In 2009-10, Tim got up to New Jersey for nine games. This season, the number increased to 36.

Tom Sestito played three years for the Whalers from 2004-05 to 2006-07. His 42 goals led the team in his final Ontario Hockey League season. He added another 11 goals and 17 points in 19 playoff games that season as Plymouth captured the Robertson Cup as OHL playoff champions.

Tom was taken by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the third round of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, 85th overall. Sestito has played a total of 13 games in the NHL to date, all with the Blue Jackets. He got into nine this season with Columbus but was shipped to the Philadelphia Flyers organization in late February. Tom spent the rest of the 2010-11 season with Philadelphia’s AHL affiliate, the Adirondack Phantoms.

With one in New Jersey and another in Philadelphia, at least the Sestito boys are trying to make it easy on their upstate New York family to capture some games.

Tim Sestito was recently featured in an article at OHL Alumni Central focused on the graduates of the 2002-03 Plymouth Whalers that are still active in professional hockey.

Another Ontario Hockey League great has decided to hang up the blades. At 39 years old and with 19 NHL seasons under his belt, Adam Foote has announced his retirement.

Foote played three seasons with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds from 1988-89 to 1990-91. In his final season, he was name an OHL First Team All-Star while leading the Greyhounds to a Robertson Cup victory and a Memorial Cup berth.

Adam was selected by the Quebec Nordiques in the second round of the 1989 NHL Entry Draft, 22nd overall. With exception to six games played in the AHL in his first professional season, Foote has been one of the NHL’s premier defensemen since.

Other than three years played with the Columbus Blue Jackets, 2005-06 to 2007-08, Foote has remained with the Nordiques/Colorado Avalanche franchise. In total, Adam played in 1153 regular season and 170 playoff games in the NHL. He was the alternate captain to Joe Sakic in the four years leading up to his hiatus in Columbus. With Columbus, he was team captain for the three seasons. He got his ‘A’ back upon his return to Colorado and when Joe Sakic called it quits two years ago, Foote was named team captain in his place.

Foote was part of two Stanley Cup winning teams with the Avalanche. In 1996, Colorado swept the Florida Panthers. In 2001, it took seven games to defeat the New Jersey Devils. Adam also won gold with Team Canada at the 2002 Winter Olympic Games and the 2004 IIHF World Cup. In total, Foote was on Team Canada for three Olympic Games and two World Cups.

In the early 1990′s, there was no better team in the Ontario Hockey League than the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. In 1990-91 and 1991-92, the Greyhounds won the Robertson Cup as the Ontario Hockey League playoff champions. In both those seasons, they were unsuccessful at the Memorial Cup.

In 1992-93, Sault Ste. Marie lost to the Peterborough Petes in the Robertson Cup final but went to the Memorial Cup anyway as the host city. This time, the Greyhounds won the big prize, becoming Memorial Cup champions.

Eighteen years later, four of those players on that Memorial Cup winning team are still actively playing in the world of professional hockey. Three have moved on to coaching positions.

Ralph Intranuovo was the MVP of the 1993 Memorial Cup. He, along with Drew Bannister, were named to the tournament All-Star Team. Intranuovo played the 2010-11 season in Italy’s Lega Italiana Hockey su Ghiaccio (LIHG) with HC Asiago.

Steve Sullivan is currently a member of the Nashville Predators in the NHL. Sullivan has been sidelined with a groin injury for a good portion of the year.

Jeff Toms is playing in Switzerland’s National League A with Geneve-Servette. He played in the Spengler Cup for the team this past holiday season. After finishing fifth in the twelve team league this season, Geneve was ousted by EV Zug in the first round of the playoffs in six games.

Drew Bannister (stay tuned tomorrow as we go more indepth with Drew) was a two-time Memorial Cup tournament All-Star. Bannister is playing for the Hull Stingrays of Great Britain’s Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL).

As for those who have moved to behind the bench, one is in the AHL and two are in the OHL. Rick Kowalsky is the head coach of the AHL’s Albany Devils. David Matsos is an assistant coach with the Windsor Spitfires. Dan Cloutier is a goaltending coach for the Barrie Colts.