OHL Alumni Central

Ryan Hamilton played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2002-03 to 2005-06, all with the Barrie Colts. 2002-03 was an adventure for Hamilton and proof of this man’s determination to be a hockey player.

As a seventeen year old, the Oshawa native began his season with Peterborough of the OPJHL where he played 27 games. He moved to Trenton in the same league and played 17 more games. From Trenton, he went northwest to Orillia and played 11 games with the Couchiching Terriers. He left for the WHL and the promise of a higher level of hockey. His stint with the Moose Jaw Warriors, a team that he’d play ten games for the season before, lasted five games before he was back in Ontario, playing for the Colts.

In his overage season in the Ontario Hockey League, 2005-06, Ryan scored 46 goals which was good for tops on a Colts team that was lead by Bryan Little and Hunter Tremblay in points. The team had a great regular season but lost out to the Peterborough Petes in the Eastern Conference finals.

Hamilton was never drafted and after his Ontario Hockey League days were done, he moved on to the American Hockey League where he has been ever since. Ryan began his AHL career with the Houston Aeros and was moved to the Toronto Marlies midway through the 2008-09 season.

Ryan begins the 2010-11 season with the Marlies, with hopes of a call up from the National Hockey League’s Toronto Maple Leafs.

Ryan Hamilton’s profile page can be found on the Toronto Marlies official website. Follow this link to the site where you will have to navigate through the ‘Your Marlies’ section to find Ryan’s profile.

Kris Vernarsky played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1998-99 to 2001-02, all with the Plymouth Whalers. In his second and third season, the Whalers made it to the Robertson Cup finals. Vernarsky currently stands 12th on the Whalers on the all-time games played list with 238. He is also tied for 11th on the Whalers all-time play-off games played list with 55. During his Ontario Hockey League career, Kris represented the United States at the IIHF World Junior Hockey Tournament twice.

Vernarsky was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the second round of the 2000 NHL draft, 51st overall. He has appeared in a total of 17 NHL games, all with the Boston Bruins. 14 games were during the 2002-03 season and three were the following year.

Kris spent some time in the AHL with the Providence Bruins but has been a mainstay in the UHL/IHL since 2005-06. In the lifespan of the most recent version of the IHL (2007-2010), Vernarsky is forever placed in the top 20 for IHL career games, goals, assists and points.

With the demise of the IHL and the Port Huron Icehawks, the team Vernarsky has played with for the past three seasons, Kris finds himself starting the 2010-11 season with the Wheeling Nailers of the East Coast Hockey League.

Kris Vernarsky’s profile page has yet to appear on the Wheeling Nailers official website, but the site can be found through this link.

Check out this previous post on Cory Stillman, another OHL Alumnus left without a job by the demise of the Port Huron Icehawks.

Mark Bell played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1996-97 to 1999-00, all with the

 Ottawa 67′s. In his first season, he played on a 67′s team that had high expectations of a Memorial Cup appearance but was shot down in the Ontario Hockey League’s Robertson Cup finals. In his third season, the 67′s won the Memorial Cup that they hosted despite not even appearing in the Robertson Cup final. Bell was second in scoring during that tournament.

In his final three seasons of OHL hockey, Mark was well above a point per game player. In his final season, he scored 34 goals and added 38 assists for 72 points in only 48 games.

Bell was drafted in the first round of the 1998 NHL draft by the Chicago Blackhawks, eighth overall. He played only 13 games in his first season out of junior, spending most of that season with the Norfolk Admirals of the AHL. In 2001-02, Mark became a regular with Chicago and missed only two regular season games over four seasons with the Blackhawks (not including 2004-05 – the dreaded strike year).

Mark shifted to the San Jose Sharks for the 2006-07 season then was cursed when he was sent to the Toronto Maple Leafs for 2007-08. Bell played only 35 games with the Leafs. he split 2008-09 with the Toronto Marlies and Hartford Wolf Pack of the AHL before heading to Europe.

The Kloten Flyers finished fifth in the twelve team Swiss National League A. Bell played 39 of the team’s 50 regular season games and added 27 points. Kloten is to Zurich what Mississauga is to Toronto. Like Mississauga, the Zurich airport is actually located in Kloten.

Check out Mark Bell’s profile page on the Kloten Flyers official website.

Mark Bell is mentioned in this previous post about the Ottawa 67′s appearance at the 1999 Memorial Cup.

Former Ottawa 67′s standout defenseman, Brendan Bell, has has enough of North American hockey and has signed on with Avangard Omsk of Russia’s KHL for the 2010-11 season.

Brendan played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1999-00 to 2002-03, all with his hometown Ottawa 67′s. Twice, he was part of 67′s teams that went to the Robertson Cup final. In 2000-01, the 67′s won the Robertson by beating out the Plymouth Whalers and went on to an unsuccessful Memorial Cup Tournament in Regina. In 2002-03, Ottawa lost out to the Kitchener Rangers in the final.

In his final season in the OHL, Brendan was honoured with the Max Kaminsky Trophy for the league’s top defenseman.

Brendan was picked 65th overall in the 2001 NHL draft by the Toronto Maple Leafs. Bell played a total of 32 games over two seasons, 2005-06 and 2006-07, with the Leafs. He also put in 16 games with the Phoenix Coyotes over two seasons, 2006-07 and 2007-08. In 2008-09, he had his most successful, and last, NHL season, playing 53 games on the blueline with the Ottawa Senators.

This past season, 2009-10, Brendan played the entire season in the AHL with the Peoria Rivermen and the Syracuse Crunch. His combined points total between the two teams made him the top point-getter on the Crunch.

The move puts him on an Avangard Omsk team that finished 11th overall in the 24 team KHL despite a team centred around the great Jamomir Jagr. The story can be found on the team’s official website. The site is in Russian. The translation is roughly:

HC Avangard – News May 20, 2010 “Vanguard” is in talks with Brendan Bell

————————————————– ——————————

Omsk Avangard in talks with a Canadian defender attacker plan
Brendan Bell from the system “Ottawa. In 2001, Bell in the NHL Entry Draft was selected
in round 3 under the 65 rooms of the club “Toronto Maple Leafs.”
The past season of 27-year-old defender clearance (height 188 cm, weight 96 kg) held in
AHL club: Peoria Rivermen “and” Syracuse Crunch “, recorded in its assets in the 71-th
Game 52 (14 +38) points. In the National Hockey League played 101 games in which
scored 28 (7 +21) points. During his career overseas, speaking in different
leagues, Bell scored 85 washers and made 312 broadcasts.

Brendan Bell’s profile page on the Syracuse Crunch official website can be found here.

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Carlo Colaiacovo and Brad Boyes were both first round picks by the Toronto Maple Leafs, Carlo in 2001 and Brad in 2000. Both played four seasons with the Erie Otters, Carlo from 1999-00 to 2002-03 and Brad from 1998-99 to 2001-02. Both are now integral parts of the St. Louis Blues of the NHL.

Colaiacovo had some promising seasons with the Maple Leafs, right out of the Ontario Hockey League, but was plagued by injuries. In 2008-09, he was shipped, along with Alex Steen, to the Blues and things have certainly looked up for the Toronto-born defenceman.

Boyes never played a single game with the Maple Leafs and was shipped off with Alyn McCauley to the San Jose Sharks system in 2002-03. He would play just one game with the Sharks in 2003-04 but would become an NHL regular in 2005-06. Brad spent the better part of two seasons with the Bruins before moving to the Blues during the 2006-07 season. He has put up steady numbers with the Blues including a 43-goal season in 2007-08.

Brad’s 90 points with the 2000-01 Otters landed him in 5th in league scoring. He was honoured with the Red Tilson Trophy that season for OHL MVP. This is an award he would receive again in 2001-02 while leading the Otters to the league championship. He would also win the Wayne Gretzky 99 Award for OHL playoff MVP.

Both Carlo and Brad would valiantly lead the Otters to the 2002 Memorial Cup but the team ended up losing to Victoriaville in overtime in the semi-final. Victoriaville would lose in the final to the Kootenay Ice.

Click here to view Brad’s profile page on the Blues’ official website.

Click here to view Carlo’s profile page on the Blues’ official website.