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.

After five years of trying to become a full-time fixture in the Edmonton Oilers dressing room, Ontario Hockey League grad Liam Reddox is taking his sticks and skates to Sweden to push his hockey career in a different direction. Reddox has signed with Växjö Lakers of Sweden’s elite league, the Elitserien.

Liam played four games for the Peterborough Petes during the 2002-03 season then was a regular for the next three seasons. In his first full year, 2003-04, Reddox led the Petes in goals (31), assists (33) and points (64). He played for Canada at the IIHF World Under-18 Championships that season and contributed six goals in seven games as Canada finished out of the medal standings.

The following season, Reddox finished second to Jamie Tardif on the team for most goals with 36. His 82 points tied him for the team lead with Daniel Ryder.

In his final season in the Ontario Hockey League, Reddox wore the A for Peterborough as the team captured the Robertson Cup as the OHL’s playoff champion with a victory over the London Knights.

Liam was taken by the Edmonton Oilers in the fourth round of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, 112th overall. In all, Reddox has played in 100 NHL games with the Oilers since the 2007-08 season. This past season, he played 44 games with the NHL club and 37 with their American Hockey League affiliate, the Oklahoma City Barons.

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.

One of the newest Ontario Hockey League grads to enter the world of professional hockey and a 99-point man with the Oshawa Generals are the two newest members of Västerås in Sweden’s Allsvenskan. The Allsvenskan is Sweden’s second league behind the Elitserien.

Matt Sisca has just come off a great season with the Guelph Storm where he put in 35 goals and added 30 assists for 65 points while playing the full 68 regular season games. Matt started his Ontario Hockey League career with the Niagara IceDogs in 2007-08 and played the full 2008-09 season with the club.

Peter Tsimikalis played five seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2002-03 to 2006-07. In his final two OHL seasons, Peter saw action in the American Hockey League. In 2005-06, he played 11 games with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers and the following season he played 19 games with the Albany River Rats.

Tsimikalis began his Ontario Hockey League career with the Ottawa 67′s and played there until he was traded to the Oshawa Generals during the 2004-05 season. As an Ottawa 67 in 2003-04, Peter played for Team Canada at the Under-18 World Junior Hockey Championships.

Peter had an excellent season with the Oshawa Generals in 2005-06, scoring 29 goals and adding 70 assists for 99 points in 64 games. The 99 points placed him tied for eighth in OHL scoring. In 2006-07, Peter found himself in Kitchener with the Rangers and in just 37 games he contributed 56 points.

Tsimikalis played in North America for the 2007-08 (Columbus Inferno – ECHL, Toronto Marlies – AHL) and 2008-09 (Charlotte Checkers – ECHL) seasons. This past season, Peter played in the Allsvenskan with Växjö Lakers.

Check out Peter Tsimikalis’ profile page on the Växjö Lakers official website.

Check out Matt Sisca’s profile page on the Guelph Storm official website.

The Västerås official website has not been updated with the two players’ profiles yet, but the site can be found through this link.

Fredrik Naslund played just one season in the Ontario Hockey League. During the 2005-06 OHL season, the big Swede played with the Peterborough Petes for 66 regular season games. He was also a part of Peterborough’s Robertson Cup winning playoff run and subsequent unsuccessful Memorial Cup appearance.

Naslund has spent the past three seasons with Nybro Vikings out of Nybro, Sweden. For his first two seasons, the team was in the first division of the HockeyAllsvenskan. This past season, the team was relegated to the third division. The HockeyAllsvenskan is Sweden’s second level hockey league after the Elitserien.

Fredrik was drafted by the Dallas Stars in the 2004 NHL draft, picked in the fourth round, 104th overall. After his season with Peterborough, he immediately returned to Sweden, playing one season with Nykoping in the same HockeyAllsvenskan.

Click here to view Fredrik Naslund’s profile page on the Nybro Vikings official website. The site is in Swedish but the profile is loaded with pictures of Fredrik as well as a list of new articles that Naslund has been featured in.

Check out these related posts:

OHL Grad Dan Hinote playing in Sweden.

Guelph Storm Alumni Playing in the Swedish Elitserien.

Former Kingston Frontenac, Mike Zigomanis, Playing in Sweden.

It’s the last day to enter the OHL Alumni Central Trivia!