OHL Alumni Central

The IIHF has what’s called the ‘Triple Gold Club’. To belong to this exclusive club you must win a Stanley Cup, World Championship and Olympic Gold Medal. Currently, and until at least 2014, there are 25 members. The 25 consist of 24 players and one coach. Seven of the players and the one coach are from Canada (read more about Canada’s Triple Gold Club members here). Of those seven, three are Ontario Hockey League grads.

Of the OHL’s three members, one has recently retired from the game and two are still active in the NHL. The first achieved all the requirements in 2002 and the third entered the club after the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Brendan Shanahan won gold at the 1994 World Championships, has three Stanley Cups with the Detroit Red Wings (1997, 1998, 2002) and won Gold with Canada at the 2002 Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Shanahan played two seasons in the Ontario Hockey League with the London Knights, 1985-86 and 1986-87. He was denied World Junior gold as a member of the team involved in the Punch-up in Piestary in 1987.

His NHL career spanned from 1987-88 to 2008-09 with the New Jersey Devils, St. Louis Blues, Hartford Whalers, Detroit Red Wings and New York Rangers. Brendan played in eight NHL All-Star games over his career. He was named the 2003 recipient of the King Clancy Memorial Trophy for leadership and humanitarian contributions.

Chris Pronger won World Championship Gold in 1997. His one Stanley Cup victory to date came in 2007 with the Anaheim Ducks. Chris has two gold medals from 2002 in Salt Lake City and 2010 in Vancouver.

Pronger played two seasons in the Ontario Hockey League with the Peterborough Petes in 1991-92 and 1992-93. In 1993, he was the CHL’s top defenseman as well as being named the Max Kaminsky Trophy winner as the OHL’s top blueliner. In 2000, Pronger won the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s top D-man, making him one of only three players to win both the Kaminsky and Norris.

Pronger’s NHL career began in 1993-94 with the Hartford Whalers. He was traded to St. Louis in 1995 for, ironically, Brendan Shanahan. Currently a member of the Philadelphia Flyers, Chris also played for the Edmonton Oilers and Anaheim Ducks along the way. He has played in six NHL All-Star games and won the Hart Memorial Trophy as league MVP in 2000.

Eric Staal was quick to join the club. Staal won the Stanley Cup with Carolina in 2006. The following year, he won gold at the World Championships. Eric was part of the 2010 gold medal winning team in Vancouver.

Staal played three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2000-01 to 2002-03, all with the Peterborough Petes. The second overall pick of the Carolina Hurricanes at the 2003 NHL Entry Draft is currently still with the club, wearing the ‘C’ on his jersey. Eric has been to four NHL All-Star games in his six seasons. He was a 100 point man in his second season with the Canes.

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.

We don’t often feature NHLers on OHL Alumni Central, but since yesterday we featured Cory Stillman the Kingston Frontenacs and Barrie Colts grad, we figured today we better feature Cory Stillman the Windsor Spitfires and Peterborough Petes grad.

Today’s Cory Stillman played three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1990-91 to 1992-93. His first two seasons were with the Windsor Spitfires and his final season was spent in his hometown with the Peterborough Petes.

With Windsor, he was awarded the Emms Family Award as the Ontario Hockey League’s best first year player. He earned this by contributing 101 points in 64 regular season games and leading the Spitfires in scoring. He added an additional 9 points in 11 playoff games that season.

With the Peterborough Petes, Stillman was part of a Robertson Cup winning team after the Petes beat out the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds in the OHL final. Ironically, it was the same Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds that beat the Petes in the Memorial Cup final. The Greyhounds gained a berth in the Memorial Cup that season as the host.

This Cory Stillman was drafted by the Calgary Flames in the first round of the 1992 NHL draft, sixth overall. He played parts of seven seasons with the Flames before moving on the St. Louis Blues, Tampa Bay Lightning, Carolina Hurricanes, Ottawa Senators and finally the Florida Panthers. He has been on two Stanley Cup winning teams: the 2003-04 Tampa Bay Lightning and the 2005-06 Carolina Hurricanes.

Cory will be entering his 16th NHL season in 2010-11 with the Panthers. Sitting at 960 NHL regular season games played and 688 regular season points, Cory is assured of reaching the 1000 game and 700 plateau’s this season.

Check out Cory Stillman’s profile page on the Florida Panthers official website.

To view yesterday’s post on the other Cory Stillman, click here.

The Phoenix Coyotes and the Detroit Red Wings are currently embroiled in a Western Conference quarter final series in the NHL’s 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs. Ten Ontario Hockey League alumni are featured in this series, five from each team. Click on the names below to view each player’s profile page on their team’s official website.

Phoenix Coyotes

Wojtek Wolski played four seasons in the OHL with the Brampton Battalion from 2002-03 to 2005-06. His final season featured a 128 point performance in just 56 games for Brampton. A first round pick of the Colorado Avalanche in 2004, Wolski came over from the Avalanche to the Coyotes at this season’s trade deadline.

Mathieu Schneider is one of the few left in pro hockey that can say they played for the Cornwall Royals. Mathieu played three seasons with the OHL team from 1986-87 to 1988-89. In his nearly 1300 game NHL career, Mathieu has played for a number of teams, including the Montreal Canadiens, New York Islanders, Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers, Los Angeles Kings, Detroit Red Wings, Anaheim Ducks, Atlanta Thrashers, Vancouver Canucks and the Coyotes.

Taylor Pyatt played three seasons in the OHL with the Sudbury Wolves from 1997-98 to 1999-00. An 8th overall pick of the New York Islanders in 1999, Taylor played his first season in the NHL with that club before being traded to the Buffalo Sabres. Taylor spent three seasons each in Buffalo then Vancouver before landing in Phoenix this season.

Ed Jovanovski played two seasons in the OHL with his hometown Windsor Spitfires, 1993-94 and 1994-95. He was the first overall pick in the 1994 NHL draft, going to the Florida Panthers. This is Ed’s fourth season with the Coyotes.

Paul Bissonnette played four seasons in the OHL from 2001-02 to 2004-05. He began his career with the North Bay Centennials and moved with the team to Saginaw in his second season. In his final OHL season, Paul was shipped midway through the season to the Owen Sound Attack. Paul saw his first NHL action with the Pittsburgh Penguins last season and played 41 regular season games with the Coyotes this year.

Detroit Red Wings

Daniel Cleary played four seasons in the OHL from 1994-95 to 1997-98, all with the Belleville Bulls. Cleary was a first round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks in 1997 but only played 41 games over two seasons with the team before being traded to the Edmonton Oilers. He became an NHL regular with the Oilers in 2000-01 and played with the team for four seasons. In 2003-04, he played a full season with the Coyotes. After the strike season, he found himself in Detroit.

Todd Bertuzzi played four seasons in the OHL with the Guelph Storm from 1991-92 to 1994-95. Detroit is Todd’s sixth NHL team, the others: New York Islanders, Vancouver Canucks, Florida Panthers, Anaheim Ducks and Calgary Flames.

Kris Draper played just one 39 game season in the OHL with the Ottawa 67′s in 1990-91. Originally drafted by the Winnipeg Jets back in 1989, Kris played a total of 20 games over 3 seasons with the Jets before moving to Detroit where he has just finished his 16th regular season with the club. He has played over 1100 NHL regular season games and over 200 playoff games.

Kirk Maltby played three seasons in the OHL with the Owen Sound Platers from 1989-90 to 1991-92. Kirk is in his 14th season with the Red Wings after starting his career in Edmonton with the Oilers.

Jason Williams played four seasons in the OHL from 1996-97 to 1999-00, all with the Peterborough Petes. Jason started out in the Red Wings organization before making stops in Chicago, Atlanta and Columbus. Williams returned to Detroit at the start of this season.

The Vancouver Canucks are taking on the Los Angeles Kings in the 2010 NHL Western Conference Stanley

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 Cup quarter finals. There are ten OHL alumni featured in this series. Los Angeles has 7 OHL grads on the roster while Vancouver has the least of any NHL playoff team with just 3 former OHLers. Click on the names below to view each player’s profile page on the team’s official website.

Vancouver Canucks (click here for Vancouver Canucks Trivia)

Kyle Wellwood played four seasons in the OHL from 1999-00 to 2002-03. Kyle played his first two full seasons with the Belleville Bulls before being traded midway through his third season to the Windsor Spitfires, where he finished out his OHL career. Kyle started his NHL career with the Toronto Maple Leafs and came over to Vancouver to start the 2008-09 season.

Shane O’Brien played three seasons in the OHL from 2000-01 to 2002-03. He played his first two full seasons with the Kingston Frontenacs before splitting his final season with Kingston and the Toronto St. Michael’s Majors. Shane has previously played for the Anaheim Ducks and the Tampa Bay Lightning before coming to Vancouver at the start of last season.

Andrew Raycroft played three seasons between the pipes in the OHL from 1996-97 to 19998-99. His first two seasons were played in Sudbury with the Wolves and his final season was played with the Kingston Frontenacs. The Calder Trophy winner in 2003-04 as the NHL’s rookie of the year with the Boston Bruins, Andrew has struggled to reach that brilliance again in a career that has taken him from Boston to Toronto to Vancouver.

Los Angeles Kings

Drew Doughty played three seasons in the OHL with the Guelph Storm from 2005-06 to 2007-08. Picked second overall by the Los Angeles Kings in 2008, Drew has only missed one regular season game in his first two seasons in the NHL.

Dustin Brown played three seasons in the OHL with the Guelph Storm from 2000-01 to 2002-03. Dustin was a first round pick of the Kings in 2003 and is now the team captain.

Wayne Simmonds played two seasons in the OHL, 2006-07 and 2007-08. His first season was played with the Owen Sound Attack and his second was split between the Attack and the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. Simmonds became a regular with the Kings right out of junior.

Brad Richardson played four seasons in the OHL, all with the Owen Sound Attack, from 2001-02 to 2004-05. Brad’s first three seasons in the NHL were spent with the Colorado Avalanche and the past two have been with the Kings.

Justin Williams played two seasons in the OHL with the Plymouth Whalers, 1998-99 and 1999-00. Justin began his NHL career with the Philadelphia Flyers, the team that drafted him in the first round of the 2000 draft. He also had a stint with the Carolina Hurricanes before landing with the Kings.

Richard Clune played four seasons in the OHL from 2003-04 to 2006-07. His first three seasons were spent in Sarnia with the Sting and he played his final season with the Barrie Colts. He saw his first NHL action this season after being called up by the Kings last in the season. He has seen only 14 regular season NHL games but goes into the playoffs as an integral part of the Kings.

Sean O’Donnell played three seasons in the OHL way, way back starting in 1988-89. His full OHL career was spent with the Sudbury Wolves. Sean has played for six different teams in the NHL since 1994 including the Kings, Minnesota Wild, New Jersey Devils, Boston Bruins, Phoenix Coyotes and the Anaheim Ducks. Sean is currently on his second tour of duty with the Kings after spending his first six seasons in the league with the club.