OHL Alumni Central

Thank god for the cut & paste function on word processors! If I had to type out Székesfehérvár more than once, this article would never happen. Don’t even bother trying to pronounce it…

Székesfehérvár is one of eleven teams in Austria’s Erste Bank Eishockey Liga (EBEL). Like four other teams in the league, Székesfehérvár is not actually located in Austria. Located 65 km southwest of Budapest, Székesfehérvár is the only Hungary based team in the EBEL.

Adam Munro

Two Ontario Hockey League grads are currently on the roster of Székesfehérvár. Adam Munro and Justin DaCosta are doing their part for the much improved team. In 2010-11, the club finished tied for last, when the EBEL consisted of ten teams, and finished out of the post-season. Currently, at just over the halfway point of the 54 game schedule, Székesfehérvár sits fifth and poised for a berth in the playoffs.

Adam Munro played between the pipes in the Ontario Hockey League for five years from 1998-99 to 2002-03. Munro starred with the Erie Otters until eight games into his final season when he was shipped to the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. In 2000-01, Adam had the best save percentage in the OHL. In the following season, Adam helped the Otters to a Robertson Cup victory, after topping the Barrie Colts in the final, four games to one.

Taken in the first round of the 2001 NHL Entry Draft by the Chicago Blackhawks, 29th overall, Munro played a total of 17 National Hockey League games. He was on the ice for seven with Chicago in 2003-04 and ten with the Blackhawks in 2005-06. Munro spent 2010-11 in Italy’s Lega Italiana Hockey su Ghiaccio (LIHG) with Cortina.  So far this season with Székesfehérvár, Munro has played in 27 games, posting a 2.74 GAA and .921 save percentage.

Justin DaCosta began his 2011-12 season with Chamonix of France’s Ligue Magnus. After just six games on the point with the French squad, DaCosta headed east. Justin played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2002-03 to 2005-06. He began his OHL career with the Barrie Colts. He played with the Owen Sound Attack before finishing his career with the Mississauga IceDogs.

Undrafted by an NHL club, DaCosta spent time in the Canadian university system and North American minor pros before travelling to Europe this season. In 2010-11, he played with the Allen Americans of the Central Hockey League.

Székesfehérvár is an ancient city with an area population of around 140,000. The team plays out of a 3,500 seat arena, which should feel like home to Justin after his days in Owen Sound!

It has been a recurring theme here lately to feature Ontario Hockey League grads that are getting a little long in the tooth. Recently, players like Paul DiPietro, Lee Jinman and Craig Rivet have been highlighted at OHL Alumni Central. Yesterday, a 39 years young Chris Simon signed on with Metallurg Novokuznetsk of Russia’s KHL. Chris will turn 40 during the 2011-12 season.

Be one of the few to have a Chris Simon hockey card from the KHL!

Simon on the right as a member of Vityaz Chekhov.

Chris played in the Ontario Hockey League for four seasons from 1988-89 to 1991-92. The Ottawa 67′s drafted him 42nd overall in the 1988 OHL Priority Selection and Chris played with the club until two games into his final season. For the rest of 1991-92, Simon played for the Sault Ste Marie Greyhounds. The Sault finished first in the Emms Division and took out the North Bay Centennials in seven games to win the Robertson Cup. The Greyhounds went undefeated in the round-robin at the Memorial Cup and lost to the Kamloops Blazers in the final game.

Simon was taken by the Philadelphia Flyers in the second round of the 1990 NHL Entry Draft, 25th overall. Before playing a professional hockey game, Chris was traded to the Quebec Nordiques in the deal that sent Eric Lindros to the Flyers. In 2003-04, Simon and Lindros would play together in the New York Rangers arena, MSG.

Chris played 782 regular season and 75 playoff games in the National Hockey League from 1992-93 to 2007-08. He wore the jerseys of the Nordiques, Colorado Avalanche, Washington Capitals, Chicago Blackhawks, New York Rangers, Calgary Flames, New York Islanders and Minnesota Wild. In his one year with the Avalanche, 1995-96, he helped the team to a Stanley Cup victory.

In 2008-09, Simon made the jump to KHL and played for Vityaz Chekhov. The team was, and still is, the laughing stock of the league and only provides entertainment to its fans through fighting. Chris fit right in, leading the league in penalty minutes in his first season with 263 in just 40 games. It was the first of three years with Chekhov and in the second season he was team captain. Chris wasn’t all fists with the team, he contributed 82 points in 116 games over the three seasons. He shown signs of offensive talent throughout his career with a 29 goal season with the Capitals in 1999-00 and 36 goals in 57 games with the 67′s in 1989-90.

Simon’s new club, Metallurg Novokuznetsk, is currently sitting tied for eighth position in the KHL’s East Conference. The team also features former NHLers Brent Sopel and Sergei Brylin. Novokuznetsk is still looking for their first post season appearance in the league.

Joining Simon on Novokuznetsk is one other Ontario Hockey League grad. Maxim Kitsyn returns to the city of his birth after playing for the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors in 2010-11. Kitsyn came to the Majors in January of 2011 and played 32 regular season games down the stretch. He contributed 19 points in 20 playoff games as the Majors made it to the Robertson Cup finals before losing to the Owen Sound Attack. He was also a member of the gold medal winning Russian team at the 2011 IIHF World Junior Championships in Buffalo, New York.

Maxim was a 17th overall pick of Mississauga’s at the 2010 CHL Import Draft. He went in the sixth round of the NHL Entry Draft the same year to the Los Angeles Kings, 158th overall. Kitsyn has contributed just a goal and assist in 17 games with Novokuznetsk thus far in 2011-12.

Ontario Hockey League grad Kevin Mitchell has been conditionally joined on Villacher SV of Austria’s Erste Bank Eishockey Liga (EBEL) by two other OHL Alumni. Mitchell is entering his second year with Villacher. One of the others has already been playing in the EBEL while the second has played in Switzerland for the past four years. Both are with the team on a try-out basis for now.

Mike Craig is one of the oldest active Ontario Hockey League alumni in the world right now. Craig played three years with the Oshawa Generals from 1987-88 to 1989-90, twice playing for Team Canada at the IIHF World Juniors. Mike was drafted by the Minnesota North Stars in the second round of the 1989 NHL Entry Draft, 28th overall. He played 423 regular season NHL games with the North Stars, Dallas Stars, Toronto Maple Leafs and San Jose Sharks.

After one season in Switzerland in 2002-03, Craig has played in the EBEL since. In 2004-05 with the Vienna Capitals, he led the league in points with 71. In both 2006-07 and 2008-09, he led the EBEL in goals with 43 and 30. This past season, he scored 24 and added 14 assists for 38 points in 46 games for Klagenfurter AC.

Cory Pecker played five years in the Ontario Hockey League from 1997-98 to 2001-02. He began his career with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and was traded to the Erie Otters during the 2000-01 season. In his final year with Erie, he scored 53 goals in just 56 games and totalled 99 points. His 25 goals and 42 points in 21 playoff games helped the Otters to a Robertson Cup victory and a Memorial Cup berth. Cory was taken by the Calgary Flames in the sixth round of the 1999 NHL Entry Draft, 166th overall.

Pecker spent most of his North American pro career in the American Hockey League between 2002-03 and 2006-07, never making it to the big show. For the 2007-08 season, he crossed the pond to play in Switzerland’s National League B. With Visp in 2009-10, Cory scored 40 and contributed 101 points in just 41 games. This past season was spent split between Visp and Lausanne.

Kevin Mitchell spent four years in the Ontario Hockey League from 1997-98 to 2000-01, his first three with the Guelph Storm and his final season with the Oshawa Generals. Mitchell was drafted by the Calgary Flames in the ninth round of the 1998 NHL Entry Draft, 234th overall. He began playing in Europe for the 2004-05 season after three years on a handful of teams in the AHL and ECHL. Kevin has played in Germany, Switzerland and the Czech Republic before settling in with Villacher this past season.

Villacher went through a ten year period from 1998-99 to 2006-07 where they were in the league finals nine times and were crown champions on three occasions. Since, the team has fallen into mediocrity.

Josh Godfrey was just three years old when Craig Rivet played his first Ontario Hockey League game. The two OHL grads will lead the defense of the Elmira Jackals of the East Coast Hockey League for the 2011-12 season.

Rivet played three seasons with the Kingston Frontenacs from 1991-92 to 1993-94. His high offensive numbers reached with Kingston, 74 and 64 points in his final two seasons, were replaced with a stay-at-home style once he reached the NHL. In 923 National Hockey League games, Craig has scored an even 50 goals.

Rivet was taken by the Montreal Canadiens in the third round of the 1992 NHL Entry Draft, 68th overall. He remained with the Habs until midway through the 2006-07 season when he was shipped to the San Jose Sharks. He spent 2007-08 with San Jose, moved to Buffalo for the 2008-09 season and split this past season with Buffalo and the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Craig brings an incredible amount of leadership to the ECHL club, having worn a letter on his jersey since 2001-02 with three different NHL clubs. For the past three seasons, Rivet was team captain for Buffalo.

Josh Godfrey played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2004-05 to 2007-08. He began his OHL career with the Guelph Storm and switched to the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds midway through the 2005-06 season. In 2006-07, he led the league’s defensemen in the goals department with 24. In his final season, he won World Junior gold with Team Canada, leading the tournament’s defensemen in assists with 5.

Godfrey was a second round pick of the Washington Capitals in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, going 34th overall. For the past three seasons, Josh has played within Washington’s system, mixed between their AHL club (Hershey Bears) and their ECHL club (South Carolina Stingrays). This past season, he played in the ECHL All-Star game.

The Graz 99ers of Austria’s Erste Bank Eishockey Liga have bolstered their blue line for 2011-12 with two Ontario Hockey League alumni. Cole Jarrett comes from Japan and Dustin VanBallegooie played the past three seasons in Denmark.

Cole Jarrett played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1999-00 to 2002-03, all with the Plymouth Whalers. He proved his offensive abilities in his final season with 55 points in 58 regular season games for the Whalers. Undrafted, he was picked up by the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the American Hockey League and played seasons with the New York Islanders affiliate, appearing in one game with the NHL club in 2005-06.

2006-07 saw Cole jump the Atlantic to play in Germany’s Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) with Eisbaren Berlin. Since, he was played in Finland, Sweden and Japan. He played for Graz two years ago before jumping to the Aisa League of Hockey last season, playing for Tohoku Free Blades. Tohoku was to play for the league championship when the devastating earthquake and tsunami hit. Tohoku was named co-champion with Jarrett leading the league in goals and points for defensemen.

Thought of highly in Graz, Jarrett starts the 2011-12 season as team captain. Graz finished sixth out of ten teams in 2010-11, one game over .500 and made a quick quarter-final exit. They’ll need the defensive help if they plan to take on Salzburg, champions 4 of the past 5 years, who have a tandem of London Knights in Danny Bois and Daniel Erlich.

Dustin VanBallegooie scored 23 goals from the point over four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League between 2000-01 and 2003-04. In his first season in Denmark, Dustin scored 17 to lead all defensemen. In fact, over his three years with Sonderjysk in Denmark, VanBallegooie led the league’s blueliners in goals each year.

Dustin started his Ontario Hockey League career with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and played for the Oshawa Generals and Owen Sound Attack before finishing with the Toronto St. Michael’s Majors. Undrafted, VanBallegooie played three seasons in the East Coast Hockey League with the Fresno Falcons (with an 11 game call-up to the AHL’s Bridgeport Sound Tigers in 2006-07) before heading to Europe. Dustin played one season in Germany’s DEL with Duisburg before heading to Denmark.