OHL Alumni Central

Tyler Donati on left (#19) and Justin Donati on right (#27) with the Elmira Jackals of the ECHL.

There are few Ontario Hockey League fans who haven’t heard of the Donati twins. Any fan of the ECHL certainly knows who they are. The Donatis are currently number one and two in league scoring and are destined to both finish the season in the top three if not the top two.

The twins played in the OHL from 2003-04 to 2006-07. They were on the same team for the first four of those five seasons. In 2003-04, they began their OHL careers in Oshawa with the Generals. In 2004-05, they were both shipped midway through the season to the Toronto St. Michael’s Majors. They spent the 2005-06 season with the Majors before parting ways in 2006-07.

Tyler played the full 2006-07 season with the Belleville Bulls. Justin split the season with the Majors and the Sudbury Wolves. They would not re-unite until this season with them both playing for the Elmira Jackals of the ECHL.

Justin’s best season in the OHL came in 2005-06 with the Majors when he notched 46 goals along with 63 assists for 109 points. This total was good for 6th in the league, tied with Bryan Little of the Barrie Colts. It would be Little’s Colts that would oust the Majors in the first round of the play-offs, 4 games to 0.

Tyler’s best season in the OHL came in 2006-07 with the Belleville Bulls. His 54 goals, 75 assists and 129 points were good enough for 4th place in the league. He would also be honoured that season with the Leo Lalonde Memorial Trophy for the best overage player in the league.

Both Donatis have mixed the past few seasons between the ECHL and the AHL.

Tyler Donati’s ECHL profile page can be found here.

Justin Donati’s ECHL profile page can be found here.

Mike Danton's New Hockey Team

Mike Danton as a St. Louis Blue

Former Sarnia Sting, Toronto St. Michael’s Major and Barrie Colt, Mike Danton is returning to hockey after being in prison since 2004.

Danton has been allowed to enroll at St. Mary’s University in Nova Scotia. After some hesitation, coach Trevor Stienburg has agreed to allow Danton to play on the varsity hockey team.

The Brampton, Ontario native began his OHL career in 1997-98 with the Sting and finished the season playing in Maple Leaf Gardens for the Majors. He split the 98-99 season with the Majors and Colts and finished up 99-00 in Barrie. He helped Barrie win the OHL Championship in his graduation season and the team went on to lose in the final of the Memorial Cup.

Danton played in the NHL with New Jersey and St. Louis before being charged in a murder for hire plot against his former agent, David Frost. Many say that Danton was the victim and Frost was a manipulating bastard that deserved what potentially was coming to him.

Regardless, the secret to Danton’s success in University hockey is not to get re-connected with Frost.

By the way, Trevor Stienburg is also an OHL grad, having played with the Guelph Platers and London Knights in an OHL career that spanned from 1983-84 to 1985-86. He went on to a mediocre NHL career with the Quebec Nordiques.