OHL Alumni Central

The Salzburg Red Bulls of Austria’s Erste Bank Eishockey Liga are playoff champions for the second year in a row. Salzburg has dominated the EBEL with four championships in the past five years.

This year, they had three Ontario Hockey League grads contributing as the Red Bulls took Klagenfurter to seven games in the final. Klagenfurter finished atop the EBEL during the regular season, followed closely by Salzburg and breezed through the playoffs before meeting up with their nemesis. Salzburg beat Ljubljana easily in the first round but was taken to seven by the Vienna Capitals in the semi-final.

Andre Lakos was born in Vienna, Austria and played two seasons in the Ontario Hockey League, 1997-98 and 1998-99. In his first season of OHL hockey, Andre played for the Toront St. Michael’s Majors. In his second, he played for the Barrie Colts. After his season in Barrie, the New Jersey Devils selected him in the third round of the 1999 NHL Entry Draft, 95th overall.

Lakos played three years in the American Hockey League before returning to Europe. Since, he has played in Sweden, Russian and Austria. At 6’8″ and 238 lbs., Andre was the tallest and heaviest player in the EBEL this season.

Danny Bois played four seasons with the London Knights from 2000-01 to 2003-04. The Colorado Avalanche draft pick played several years in the Ottawa Senators system with their AHL affiliate, the Binghamton Senators. After the 2009-10 season playing with Chicago’s AHL team, the Rockford IceHogs, it was off to Austria for the 2010-11 season.

As usual with Bois, he provided muscle, earning 136 PIM in 48 regular season games while also providing offense with 29 points.

Martin St. Pierre saw the most of Europe this season. He began in Russia’s KHL, switched to Finland’s SM-Liiga after eight games and finished off the season with Salzburg. St. Pierre played in the Ontario Hockey League the same four years as Danny Bois but with the Guelph Storm. He saw some NHL action through the years with the Chicago Blackhawks, Boston Bruins and Ottawa Senators. Like Bois, this was Martin’s first year in Europe.

Joe Rand, number 18 in blue, for the University of Toronto Blues.

Joe Rand played two seasons with the Toronto St. Michael’s Majors of the Ontario Hockey League, 2003-04 and 2004-05. Rand played ten playoff games for the Majors in his first season in the OHL as the team that was tops in the Eastern Conference during the regular season bowed out to the Mississauga IceDogs in the Eastern Conference finals.

Rand moved on to the Canadian university system after graduating from the Ontario Hockey League. Joe played five seasons with the University of Toronto Blues from 2005-06 to 2009-10. For some of those years with Toronto, he was teammates with Simon Barg, another OHL graduate that was featured yesterday at OHL Alumni Central. Barg is also playing in Germany.

With the Blues, Rand was for the most part a point per game player. In 2008-09 and 2009-10 he was selected as the team’s Best All-Around Forward.

In his first season of professional hockey, Rand is playing this season in Germany’s Oberliga (tier 3) with Fire Deggendorf. The team sits sixth in the ten team South Division. Joe is pushing to get up to that point per game average and sits tied for 48th on the league’s point scoring list. He is fourth on Deggendorf in points.

Check out Joe Rand’s profile page on the Fire Deggendorf official website. 

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Drew Fata as a Binghamton Senator in 2008-09.

Ontario Hockey League grad Drew Fata moved closer to brother Rico at the start of November by signing with Sparta Warriors Sarpsborg of Norway’s Get Ligaen. Drew’s brother Rico is also an OHL grad and is currently playing for EHC Biel of Switzerland’s National League A.

Drew Fata played three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2000-01 to 2002-03. He was a member of the Toronto St. Michael’s Majors until midway through his final season when he was traded to the Kingston Frontenacs.

Known more for his physical play than his speedy brother, Drew accumulated 439 minutes in penalties during 194 regular season Ontario Hockey League games. However, the big defenseman played an important role in the Majors appearing in the Eastern Conference finals in his first two seasons. In 2000-01, St. Michael’s lost four games to none to the eventual Robertson Cup winning Ottawa 67′s. In 2001-02, The team was again swept, this time by the Barrie Colts.

Fata was taken by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the third round of the 2001 NHL draft, 86th overall. He spent the first three years of his professional hockey career splitting time between Pittsburgh’s AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins, and their ECHL club, the Wheeling Nailers.

At the start of the 2006-07 season, Drew became the property of the New York Islanders and started the season with their AHL affiliate, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. That season, he finally got his first taste of NHL hockey, appearing in three regular season games and one playoff game with the Islanders. The following season, he increased the numbers getting a five game call-up with the NHL club.

For the past two seasons, Fata has bounced around the AHL, playing for the San Antonio Rampage, Binghamton Senators and Providence Bruins. He began the 2010-11 season back with the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins but was released after playing just one game.

The Sparta Warriors are pleased to have this tough import on the team. Plans were for the team not to sign another import until after the Christmas holidays but injuries made it necessary. The team sits atop the Get Ligaen at the moment and is destined to reach the league finals as they did in 2008-09.

Check out Drew Fata’s profile page on the Sparta Warriors official website.

Drew appears in this previous post at OHL Alumni Central listing the graduates of the Mississauga/St. Michael’s Majors that were active in the pro hockey world during the 2009-10 season.

Ryan Nie played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2002-03 to 2005-06. His first three seasons were played between the pipes with the Plymouth Whalers. His final season saw Nie rarely unpack his suitcase as he split the season between the Whalers, Toronto St. Michael’s Majors and the Sarnia Sting.

Ryan was a workhorse for the Whalers during the 2004-05 season, posting a 2.56 goals against average and .914 save percentage while playing 57 of the team’s 68 regular seasons games. Unfortunately, Plymouth was ousted in four games in the first round of the playoffs against the Owen Sound Attack.

Undrafted, Nie started his professional career in 2006-07 with the Kalamazoo Wings of the United Hockey League. Ryan was named UHL Rookie of the Year, posting league leading numbers (2.02 GAA, .929 save percentage, 7 shutouts). His 2.02 GAA stands as a league record for goalies with 30+ starts in a season. He helped the Wings reach the Colonial Cup final before being beat out by the Rockford IceHogs.

Last season, 2009-10, Nie returned to Kalamazoo. The Wings were now an ECHL team and Ryan was honoured as the team’s MVP, posting a 3.09 GAA, .904 save percentage and three shutouts over 44 games.

Ryan begins the 2010-11 season with Kalamazoo. For the second year in a row, Nie will be playing for head coach, and Ontario Hockey League alumnus, Nick Bootland.

Check out Ryan Nie’s profile page on the Kalamazoo Wings official website.

 Ryan appears in two previous posts at OHL Alumni Central:

St. Michael’s Majors alumni active in pro hockey during the 2009-10 season.

Sarnia Sting alumni active in pro hockey during the 2009-10 season.

Ryan Nie is on the OHL Alumni Big List.

Darryl Bootland wearing #47 with the Salzburg Red Bulls of Austria's Erste Bank Eishockey Liga.

With four points in his first five games with the Odessa Jackalopes and only 10 minutes in penalties, it almost looks like Darryl Bootland is in the Central Hockey League for his offensive abilities rather than his skills with his fists. He has proven time and again that he is proficiant in both aspects of the game.

Bootland played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1998-99 to 2001-02. He started his OHL career with the Barrie Colts but was quickly dealt to the Toronto St. Michael’s Majors midway through his first season. He would spend the rest of his OHL career with the Majors.

As a rookie, Darryl netted 30 goals between the Colts and the Majors. In his final two seasons in the Ontario Hockey League, Darryl led the Majors in goals with 32 in 2000-01 and 41 in 2001-02. In that final season, he also led the team in assists (56) and points (97). The 97 points were good enough for seventh place in the OHL.

Bootland was taken by the Colorado Avalanche in the eighth round of the 2000 NHL draft, 252nd overall. However, Darryl would spend his first five seasons in professional hockey in the Detroit Red Wings system, playing for the Wings, their ECHL affiliate (Toledo Storm) and their AHL affiliate (Grand Rapids Griffins).

As a rookie, Darryl led the ECHL’s Toledo Storm in penalty minutes with 322. For four seasons, 2003-04 to 2006-07, Bootland led the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins in penalty minutes with regular season totals of 175, 336, 390 and 222. Darryl would once again prove his offensive abilities in 2005-06, the year he sat out 390 minutes. He would also net 27 goals with the Griffins.

In all, Bootland has appeared in 32 NHL games over his career with the Red Wings and the New York Islanders. His AHL career has consisted of 382 games with the Griffins, Bridgeport Sound Tigers, Portland Pirates and Manitoba Moose, sitting out a whopping 1480 minutes in the sin bin. He also tested the European waters with 18 games over two seasons in Austria’s Erste Bank Eishockey Liga.

Darryl is reunited this season with Kenny Corupe. Bootland and Corupe played together with the St. Michael’s Majors for two seasons, 1998-99 and 1999-00. Corupe was recently featured at OHL Alumni Central – click here to read the post.

To view Darryl Bootland’s profile at the Odessa Jackalopes official website, click on his name at the team’s roster page.

Bootland can also be found on two previous posts at OHL Alumni Central:

Majors Alumni active in pro hockey during 2009-10

Colts Alumni active in pro hockey during 2009-10

Keep up to date with your favourite Ontario Hockey League grads at the OHL Alumni Big List.