OHL Alumni Central

Justin Hodgman of the Fort Wayne Komets accepts the trophy for IHL playoff MVP.

Ontario Hockey League grad Justin Hodgman’s streak of three playoff championships in a row may come to an end. Despite playing just twenty regular season games with the Fort Wayne Komets of the IHL over the past three seasons, Hodgman played a huge role in the team winning the past three Turner Cups. Not only did Justin play an important part of the Komets victories, he was named IHL playoff MVP in his first and second seasons with the team.

Justin Hodgman played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2005-06 to 2008-09, all with the Erie Otters. His best season in the OHL came in 2007-08 when he popped 37 goals and totalled 80 points in 64 games, leading the team in goals, assists and points. In 2008-09, Justin tied with Ryan O’Reilly for the team lead in points with 66. 

Undrafted, Justin spent the 2009-10 season, his first full season in professional hockey, in three different leagues. He split the year fairly even between the Toledo Walleye of the ECHL and the Toronto Marlies of the AHL. Of course, he ended the season with the Komets, just in time for the IHL playoffs.

This season, Hodgman has worn nothing but a Marlies jersey. He’s contributed 21 points in 41 games on a team that has a major uphill battle ahead if Justin is to have any chance of winning a championship. However, if he’s sent down to Toronto’s ECHL affiliate, the Reading Royals, the fourth championship in a row will surely be possible. Reading is currently sitting atop the ECHL standings.

You can find Justin Hodgman’s profile at the Toronto Marlies official website.

Ontario Hockey League alumni and brothers, Matt and Brian Lashoff, find themselves playing in the American Hockey League this season. The older Matt is with the Toronto Maple Leafs affiliate, the Toronto Marlies and Brian is with the Grand Rapids Griffins, the AHL affiliate of the Detroit Red Wings.

Matt Lashoff played three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2003-04 to 2005-06, all with the Kitchener Rangers. In his first season with Kitchener he was named to the Second All-Rookie Team.

Matt was taken by the Boston Bruins in the first round of the 2005 NHL draft, 22nd overall. He played his first two seasons of pro hockey mostly with Boston’s AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins. However, he was able to get his feet wet with the NHL Bruins on a number of occasions. He led the defensemen in Providence in goals, assists and points during his rookie season. He was selected for the AHL’s All-Rookie Team and appeared in the AHL All-Star game for Team PlanetUSA. The following season, he again appeared in the All-Star game.

During the 2008-09 season, Matt was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for Mark Recchi. Over two seasons with the Lightning, he played in 17 total games while spending the rest of his time with their AHL affiliate, the Norfolk Admirals. To date, Matt has appeared in 63 National Hockey League games.

Brian Lashoff played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2006-07 to 2009-10. He began with the Barrie Colts and was traded midway through his third season to the Kingston Frontenacs.  Over the season and a half that he was a member of the Frontenacs, Brian wore the ‘C’.  In his final season of junior, Brian played for Team USA at the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships and took home a gold medal.

Undrafted, Brian has seen action with the Grand Rapids Griffins since 2008-09, playing for the AHL club after the OHL season had ended. He was sent down to the Toledo Walleye for a three game stint at the start of December but is back on track with the Griffins.

You can check out Matt Lashoff’s profile at the official site of the Toronto Marlies by clicking his name at the roster page.

Check out Brian Lashoff’s profile page at the official website of the Grand Rapids Griffins.

Yesterday at OHL Alumni Central we featured another family duo of Ontario Hockey League grads playing pro hockey. Check out the post on the Smyth brothers.

Two other brother acts have been featured in previous OHL Alumni Posts:

The Henrichs

The Perrys

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.

They didn’t all play together at the same time and only two were brothers, but the London Knights had three Perrys play for the Ontario Hockey League team in the 2000′s. All three are still active in professional hockey.

Brothers Corey and Adam (A.J.) Perry and unrelated Todd Perry all played prominant roles for the Knights over the team’s decade of non-stop success. The brothers were both Knights in 2004-05 when the team won the OHL championship then went on to win the Memorial Cup.

Todd Perry played three seasons in the OHL from 2004-05 to 2006-07. His first two season were with the Barrie Colts and his last was with, of course, the Knights. A solid defenceman, Todd played a season with the Columbia Inferno of the ECHL before spending the past three seasons with the Toronto Marlies of the AHL.

Adam Perry played four seasons in the OHL from 2004-05 to 2007-08. He was with the Knights until halfway through the 2007-08 season when he was traded to the Belleville Bulls. He helped the Bulls make a long playoff run which would see them eventually lose out to the Kitchener Rangers in the OHL finals. Adam’s best season was 2006-07, with the Knights, when he scored 45 goals and added 42 assists for 87 points.

Adam split the 2008-09 season between the San Antonio Rampage of the AHL and the Arizona Sundogs of the CHL. This season he is having a great year with the Utah Grizzlies of the ECHL.

Corey Perry played his OHL career with the Knights from 2001-02 to 2004-05. In 2003-04, he was second in league scoring behind

Adam Perry with the Belleville Bulls

 Corey Locke of the Ottawa 67′s with 113 points. That total was enough to win him the Jim Mahon Memorial Trophy for most points by a right winger.

In 2004-05, Corey would put in 47 goals and add 83 assists for 130 points which would easily make him OHL scoring champion. Of course, this would make him again the Jim Mahon Memorial Trophy winner. Other accolades would include the Red Tilson Trophy as OHL MVP and the Wayne Gretzky 99 Award for OHL playoff MVP.

Corey has gone on to be a top player on the Anaheim Ducks of the NHL and was an integral part of the recent Team Canada goal medal performance at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

Interestingly, there was a fourth unrelated Perry that played for the Knights in the 1993-94 season. Sean Perry played just 22 games in the OHL and his professional career would end in 2002-03.

View Todd Perry’s profile page at the Toronto Marlies official website by clicking here.

View Adam Perry’s profile page at the Utah Grizzlies official website by clicking here.

View Corey Perry’s profile page at the Anaheim Ducks official website by clicking here.