OHL Alumni Central

Over the past four decades, from 1970 to 2009, 13 teams from the Ontario Hockey League have gone on to become Memorial Cup champions. In the first decade, the league was represented by four champs and each of the following three, three OHL teams won the top prize.

The following four articles describe in a bit of detail, the OHL’s winning teams in each decade.

1970′s

In the 1970’s, the Memorial Cup became strict property of major junior hockey in Canada. Previously, the format had potentially included any ‘Junior A’ team in the country. Four times during the decade, a team from Ontario was victorious at the Memorial Cup tournament. Each year, one team from each of the three major junior leagues in Canada competed for the ultimate prize. Interestingly, in each of the Ontario victories, the Ontario representative played possum in the round robin, winning one and losing one. In fact, three of the four years, all three teams ended the round robin with 1 and 1 records. Read more

1980′s

With the champions of three league’s competing each year for the Memorial Cup (plus one additional team from the host league), over a decade the odds are that each league will win three times. For the Ontario Hockey League during the 1980’s, it was just that. Interestingly, the Cornwall Royals won the Memorial Cup in 1980 and 1981 but didn’t move from the QMJHL to the OHL until the following season. Read more

1990′s

Each year, the champions from each of the three leagues that make up the Canadian Hockey League meet to determine Canada’s top major junior hockey team. The host league of the Memorial Cup enters two teams to make it a four team tournament. In the 1990’s, three teams from the Ontario Hockey League were crowned Memorial Cup champions. Each year during the decade that an OHL team won, it was on home turf. Interestingly, the representative from the QMJHL in each of the three seasons was the Laval / Acadie-Bathurst Titan. Read more

2000′s

Going into this weekend’s action in Italy’s Lega Italiana Hockey su Ghiaccio, Ontario Hockey League alumni held the numbers one and two spots in the scoring race. At nearly the halfway point of the 40 game 2011-12 LIHG season, David Ling and Rob Hennigar are knotted at 34 points apiece. Ling holds a one goal edge in goals but has played one more game than Hennigar. Both are four points ahead of third place. OHL grads Dan Tudin and Adam Henrich also find themselves in the league’s top 20.

David Ling, who will turn 37 in January, is in his first season in Italy, playing with Val Pusteria. Ling played three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1992-93 to 1994-95, all with the Kingston Frontenacs. In his final season with Kingston, he scored 61 and assisted on 74 for 135 points. He was the OHL’s top scoring right winger and was named league MVP. He was also named CHL Player of the Year.

David, a seventh round pick of the Quebec Nordiques in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft, played a total of 93 games in the National Hockey League with the Montreal Canadiens and Columbus Blue Jackets. He was third overall in the AHL in 2004-05, contributing 88 points with the St. John’s Maple Leafs. He started the 2010-11 season with Amur Khabarovsk and ended up back in the AHL with the Providence Bruins.

Rob Hennigar is enjoying his first experience east of the Atlantic. He was a member of the Windsor Spitfires from 2000-01 to 2003-04. Hennigar followed that up with four years with the University of New Brunswick. After spending three years from 2008-09 to 2010-11 mostly in the ECHL, he finds himself with Cortina. Rob may just be the difference that has taken Cortina from last place in the nine team LIHG last season to a tie with two other teams, including Ling’s Val Pusteria, nineteen games into 2011-12.

SG Cortina finished dead last in the nine team Lega Italiana Hockey su Ghiaccio (LIHG) in 2010-11. Cortina also had the lowest goals for of all the teams. The team is looking to boost offense for  2011-12 by picking up an Ontario Hockey League grad that has led his team in points seven of the past eight season.

Rob Hennigar played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2000-01 to 2003-04, all with the Windsor Spitfires. In his final season, his 32 goals, 47 assists and 79 points were all team highs.

Hennigar went the university route and played four years for the University of New Brunswick. Rob led the team in points each of the four years. In his final year with UNB, he led all the CIS in assists (43) and points (58). In that final year, 2007-08, he was awarded the Senator Joseph A. Sullivan Trophy as the CIS player of the year. UNB was a finalist at the University Cup.

Signed into the New York Islanders system, Rob split 2008-09 evenly between the AHL’s Bridgeport Sound Tigers and the ECHL’s Utah Grizzlies. Despite playing just 38 games for the Grizzlies, Hennigar led the team in points with 59. This past season, he wore the ‘A’ for the ECHL’s Victoria Salmon Kings and led the team with 63 points in 61 games.

With a measly 50 wins in 2009-10, the Windsor Spitfires won the Robertson Cup / Memorial Cup combo for the second consecutive year. The Barrie Colts had the best record in the Ontario Hockey League, ten points better than the Spitfires, but it was Windsor who prevailed when the two met in the OHL finals.

Nine players from the 2009-10 Spitfires moved on to pro hockey jobs in 2010-11. Two other sought higher education and played OUA hockey in Ontario. Six of the nine players saw action in the National Hockey League and two played their full seasons in the NHL.

Mark Cundari played in 69 games for the American Hockey League’s Peoria Rivermen.

Cam Fowler played in 75 on the point for the Anaheim Ducks and had a season worthy of Calder Memorial Trophy consideration.

Harry Young, playing in the New Jersey Devils organization, played 52 games with the AHL Albany Devils and three with the ECHL Trenton Devils.

The first overall pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, Taylor Hall, played in 65 games with the Edmonton Oilers before a season ending injury. Hall scored 22 in those 65 games with the lowly Oilers and is being considered for the Calder.

Adam Henrique played the bulk of his first pro season with the AHL’s Albany Devils. He got up to the NHL Devils for one game.

Dale Mitchell avoided the abusive Toronto press by staying with the Maple Leafs farm clubs, the Toronto Marlies and Reading Royals.

Greg Nemisz played six games with the NHL’s Calgary Flames but played most of the season with their AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Heat.

Scott Timmins appeared in 19 games with the Florida Panthers and spent the rest of his time with their AHL club, the Rochester Americans.

Eric Wellwood played 73 games in the AHL with the Adirondack Phantoms. Wellwood was a call-up for three games with the NHL Philadelphia Flyers.

Goaltender Josh Unice and left winger Conor O’Donnell played university hockey in the OUA. Unice played for the University of Western Ontario Mustangs and O’Donnell played for Nipissing.

Jason Ward changed course for 2010-11 and played his first season outside of North America, fifteen years after starting in the Ontario Hockey League. Ward has spent the season with EHC Linz  in Austria’s Erste Bank Eishockey Liga, a team that sits right in the middle of the EBEL at fifth place out of ten teams.

Ward played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1995-96 to 1998-99. He began with the Niagara Falls Thunder and moved with the team in his second year when they became the Erie Otters. His third season began with the Otters and ended with the Windsor Spitfires. His final season started with Windsor and ended with the Plymouth Whalers.

Twice, Jason played in the IIHF Under-20 World Junior Championships for Team Canada. In 1998, Canada finished out of medal contention. In 1999, the team lost a squeeker to Russia in the final game and took home the silver medal.

Ward was a first round pick of the Montreal Canadiens in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft, going eleventh overall. Jason played parts of four seasons with the Canadiens and has also played NHL hockey for the New York Rangers, Los Angeles Kings and Tampa Bay Lightning.

In 2002-03, with the Hamilton Bulldogs of the AHL, Ward finished just out of the top ten point-getters with 72. The team went to the Calder Cup finals before being eliminated by the Houston Aeros in seven games. That season, Jason played on Team Canada at the AHL All-Star, contributing a goal and an assist. He was honoured with the Les Cunningham Award as the AHL’s Most Valuable Player.

It is not know where Jason will play in 2011-12. He was joined on EHC Linz this season by another Ontario Hockey League grad, Rob Shearer.

Check out Jason Ward’s profile page at the EHC Linz official website.