OHL Alumni Central

Ontario Hockey League European imports are typically limited to players from the Czech Republic and Russia. However, every once in a while, a Swede finds his way to the OHL. Anton Hedman played two seasons in the Ontario Hockey League, 2005-06 and 2006-07. In his first year, he played 60 games with the Sudbury Wolves, scoring 18 goals and totaling 34 points. He was the 37th overall pick by the Wolves in the 2005 CHL Import Draft. The following season, he split his time between the Owen Sound Attack and Guelph Storm.

The Stockholm, Sweden native came to the Ontario Hockey League already a prospect of the NHL’s Boston Bruins. Hedman was taken by Boston in the eighth round of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, 255th overall. Anton played a season in Sweden’s under 20 SuperElit league with Djurgarden before coming to Canada.

Things didn’t pan out in North America and Hedman returned to Sweden for the 2007-08 season. He played three years with various teams in the Allsvenskan (Sweden’s tier 2 professional league) before stepping up to the Elitserien with MODO this past season, 2010-11.

In his first season at the elite level, Hedman played 48 of MODO’s 55 regular season games, scoring five goals and contributed a total of twelve points. The team finished dead last in the twelve team Elitserien and narrowly escaped relegation. MODO is just a few years removed from winning the league championship, having won in 2007.

Many familiar names have played for MODO through the years before their big breaks in the NHL, including: Anders Hedberg, Tomas Gradin, Anders Kallur, Bo Berglund, Lars Lindgren, Tomas Jonsson, Lars Molin, Markus Näslund, Peter Forsberg, Niklas Sundström, Anders Eriksson, Mattias Timander, Per Svartvadet, Hans Jonsson, Henrik and Daniel Sedin, Samuel Påhlsson and Mattias Karlin.

Check out Anton Hedman’s profile page at the MODO official website.

Despite a last place finish in the Ontario Hockey League’s Eastern Conference Central Division in 2009-10, the Sudbury Wolves squeeked into the eighth and final seed in the conference and entered the Robertson Cup playoffs. Sudbury’s 59 points were better than the 53 of the Oshawa Generals and the 48 of the Belleville Bulls. Unfortunately, the Wolves were swept in the first round by the Hamilton Spectator Trophy winning Barrie Colts.

Nine players have moved on from that 2009-10 Wolves team to either semi-professional or university hockey. Two Sudbury grads played in the North American minors, four played in the CIS, one played in Russia, one played in Germany and one played in Finland.

John Kurtz – John played 49 games for the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League and eight with the Elmira Jackals of the East Coast Hockey League.

Jared Staal – Staal moved closer to playing in the National Hockey League with his brothers, playing 13 games with the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers and 38 with the ECHL’s Florida Everblades.

Stefan Stepanov – Stepanov played the same number of games with CSKA Moscow of Russia’s KHL as he did in the Ontario Hockey League with Sudbury in 2009-10 – seven.

Edijs Rinke-Leitans – Edijs returned to his homeland and played for Wölfe Freiburg in Germany’s Bundesliga (tier 2 to the elite DEL).

Matias Sointu – Matias returned to his home country, Finland, to play for Ilves in Finland’s elite SM-Liiga.

Andrew Loverock – Andrew played between the pipes for the Guelph Gryphons of the OUA.

Kain Allicock – Kain played for the Laurier Golden Hawks of the OUA.

Daniel Lombardi – Daniel played for the Windsor Lancers of the OUA.

Steve Reese – Steve played for the Western Mustangs of the OUA.

HK Acroni Jesenice of Austria’s Erste Bank Eishockey Liga has begun re-tooling for the 2011-12 season after a dismal 2010-11. Jesenice was six goals removed from being the lowest scoring team in the ten team league while finishing in last place overall. After picking up three Ontario Hockey League grads that have been known for their offensive abilities, goal scoring shouldn’t be a problem going into next season.

Yesterday, it was confirmed that Ontario Hockey League grads Dylan Hunter, Tyler Donati and Justin Donati will join the Slovenia based team. All three played in the North American minor leagues in 2010-11.

Dylan Hunter spent five years in the Ontario Hockey League from 2001-02 to 2005-06, all with the London Knights. In 2004-05, along with winning the Robertson Cup and Memorial Cup with the Knights, Hunter placed second in league scoring with 104 points during the regular season. In his final season, the point total increased to 117 but his position in the OHL dropped to fourth.

Dylan was taken by the Buffalo Sabres in the ninth round of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, 273rd overall. He has since bounced around with several teams in the AHL and ECHL. This past season, Hunter played for the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL and was an alternate captain. He finished out the year with the Milwaukee Admirals of the AHL.

Similar to the NHL’s Sedin twins, the Donati’s have taken turns over the past two seasons leading the ECHL in scoring. In 2009-10, it was Tyler leading the league with 114 points. This past season, it was Justin taking the title with 94.

Justin Donati played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League split between the Oshawa Generals, Toronto St. Michael’s Majors and Sudbury Wolves. In 2005-06, Justin finished eight points and two positions in OHL scoring behind Dylan Hunter. This will be Justin’s second attempt at Europe, having played three games with Thurgau of Switzerland’s National League B at the start of the 2009-10 season.

In an Ontario Hockey League season when the show was stolen by Patrick Kane and John Tavares, Tyler Donati’s 2006-07 offensive totals were overshadowed. Donati finished fourth in points in the OHL with 129 on 54 goals and 75 assists with the Belleville Bulls. He added another 26 in 15 playoff games.

Tyler Donati played four seasons in the OHL, split between the Oshawa Generals, Toronto St. Michael’s Majors and Belleville Bulls. This past season, Tyler was limited to nine games with the AHL’s Connecticut Whale and 18 with the ECHL’s Elmira Jackals. Like brother Justin, Tyler played three games in with Thurgau in Switzerland at the start of the 2009-10 season.

Ontario Hockey League grad Peter Campbell led the Lega Italiana Hockey Ghiaccio Serie A2 in total goals for the second season in a row. 2010-11 was Campbell’s second season in the second division of the LIHG with Eppan-Appiano. He scored 41 goals and totalled 74 points in 32 league games, up from 33 and 72 in 31 over the 2009-10 season.

Campbell played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1996-97 to 1999-00 and really showed his goal scoring brilliance during the 1998-99 season with the Owen Sound Platers when he popped in 45. Peter’s 88 points with the Platers that season were topped only by the late Dan Snyder.

Peter began his OHL career with the Sudbury Wolves and played there for two seasons before moving to Owen Sound for one season. His final season in the league began with the Belleville Bulls but after just nine games, he was moved to the Erie Otters.

Undrafted by an NHL club, Campbell spend just two years in the North American professional leagues, most the Central Hockey League, before heading to Europe. Since, Peter has played in Great Britain, Germany, Denmark and Italy. With Ravensburg of Germany’s Oberliga (tier 3) in 2005-06, Peter scored 50 goals in 52 games and totalled 104 points.

Peter was an all-star in Great Britain’s Elite Ice Hockey League in 2007-08 while playing mostly with the Belfast Giants. With Belfast, he lead the team in goals with 34 and totalled 78 points in just 43 games with the Giants.

Campbell is slated for a return to Eppan-Appiano for the 2011-12 season.

 

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Four Staals and a Heerema. Five related Ontario Hockey League grads out of Thunder Bay, Ontario. Switch one from forward to defense and add a goaltender and you have a pretty decent line.

Jared Staal, the youngest of the group, is in his first year of professional hockey after a four year Ontario Hockey League career that spanned from 2006-07 to 2009-10, all with the Sudbury Wolves. Jared was a second round pick of the Phoenix Coyotes in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, 49th overall. However, he is currently in the Carolina Hurricanes system. Jared has split the 2010-11 season between the ECHL’s Florida Everblades and the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers and is biding his time until he can play with older brother, Eric, on the NHL team.

Jordan Staal played two seasons in the Ontario Hockey League with the Peteborough Petes, 2004-05 and 2005-06. Jordan won the Robertson Cup with the Petes in 2006 as the OHL’s playoff champions. He one-upped that with a Stanley Cup victory with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009. Jordan was a second overall pick at the 2006 NHL Entry Draft by the Penguins and had missed only one regular season game in his first four before being hampered by injuries at the start of the 2010-11 season.

Marc Staal in the only one of the family to play for Team Canada at the IIHF Under-20 World Junior Hockey Championships. Marc played in the 2006 and 2007 tournaments. Like brother Jared, Marc played four seasons with the Sudbury Wolves. He played from 2003-04 to 2006-07 and was team captain in his final campaign. Marc was the twelth overall pick in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, going to the New York Rangers. He is currently in his fourth season with the Rangers.

Eric Staal played three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2000-01 to 2002-03, all with the Peterborough Petes. Like brother Jordan, Eric was a second overall pick in the NHL Entry Draft. Eric went to the Carolina Hurricanes in 2003. Also, like Jordan, he has one Stanley Cup on the mantle, winning with the Hurricanes in 2006. Eric is currently the captain of the NHL club.

Cousin Jeff Heerema played three years in the Ontario Hockey League from 1997-98 to 1999-00, all with the Sarnia Sting. Jeff was an eleventh overall pick of the Carolina Hurricanes in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft. Heerema played 32 games in the NHL, split between the Hurricanes and the St. Louis Blues in 2002-03 and 2003-04. He has spent the past four seasons in Europe and is currently playing for the Nottingham Panthers of Great Britain’s Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL). Check out this previous article at OHL Alumni Central featuring Jeff Heerema.

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