OHL Alumni Central

Since the end of the 1995-96 National Hockey League season, when the Winnipeg Jets fled south to Phoenix, Canadians have collectively cried foul that Bettman and the NHL were systematically taking our game away from us. On Sunday, October 9, 2011, the Winnipeg Jets return to the National Hockey League with their season opener against the Montreal Canadiens at home. At 4:00 pm CST (5:00 in Ontario) on Sunday, there better be 34,607,141 Winnipeg Jets fans glued to their televisions as NHL hockey returns to Manitoba.

The Jets return as the team formerly known as the Atlanta Thrashers. Winnipeg is relying heavily on Ontario Hockey League alumni with seven former OHL stars currently on the roster.

Zach Bogosian played two years with the Peterborough Petes, 2006-07 and 2007-08. He was the third overall pick at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, taken by the Thrashers. Bogosian has been with the NHL club since.

Alexander Burmistrov played just one season in the Ontario Hockey League, 2009-10, with the Barrie Colts. he was the eighth overall pick of the Thrashers in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft and stuck with the team as an eighteen year old this past season.

Bryan Little is another former Barrie Colts standout. Little played in the Ontario Hockey League for four seasons from 2003-04 to 2006-07, all with Barrie. Another first round pick of the Thrashers, Bryan was taken 12th overall in the 2006 draft. A two-time 100 point man with the Colts, Little’s 31 goals in 2008-09 represent his best NHL production to date.

Brett McLean was claimed off waivers by the Jets on October 6. McLean played four seasons in the OHL from 2004-05 to 2007-08 with the Erie Otters and Oshawa Generals. Brett benefited from having John Tavares as a set-up man in Oshawa, scoring 47 and 61 goals in his final two seasons. McLean was a second round pick of the Phoenix Coyotes in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, 32nd overall. He played 13 games with the Coyotes in 2010-11.

Mark Scheifele is just 18 and is fresh off his rookie season with the Barrie Colts. Mark was the first ever draft pick of the new Jets, going 7th overall in the 2011 draft. Scheifele will start with Winnipeg but will most likely be returned to Barrie.

Chris Thorburn played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1999-00 to 2002-03. After playing for the North Bay Centennials in their last three years as a franchise in the northern Ontario city, he moved with the club to Saginaw for his final season. After 37 games with the Spirit, Thorburn was moved to the Plymouth Whalers to finish out the year. A second round pick of the Buffalo Sabres in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft, Chris has played 354 NHL games with the Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins and Thrashers.

Kyle Wellwood is back and looking to stay in the NHL. After starting the 2010-11 season in Russia’s KHL, Wellwood returned to the NHL to finish off the season with the San Jose Sharks. Kyle was a fifth round pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2001 draft after a stellar four year career in the OHL from 1999-00 to 2002-03 with the Belleville Bulls and Windsor Spitfires. Wellwood has appeared in 373 NHL games to date with Toronto, the Vancouver Canucks and the Sharks.

Paul Traynor played three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1994-95 to 1996-97, all with the Kitchener Rangers. Traynor led the Rangers in assists in his final season with 48. His 59 points topped all Kitchener blue-liners.

Traynor was selected in the seventh round of the 1995 NHL Entry Draft by the Winnipeg Jets, 162nd overall. Paul spent seven seasons in the North American minors, sharing time between the AHL, IHL, and ECHL but never getting a chance to play in the National Hockey League.

Since 2004-05, Traynor has been playing in Germany’s Deutsche Eishockey Liga. His first two seasons were spent with Kölner Haie (Cologne Sharks). For three seasons from 2006-07 to 2008-09, Paul had his best span of pro hockey. In those three years, as a member of the Iserlohn Roosters, Traynor led the DEL’s defensemen in assists for the 2007-08 season with 34 and was a DEL All-Star in 2008-09.

Paul is in his second season with Grizzly Adams Wolfsburg of the DEL. He wears the ‘A’ on his jersey and is helping his team battle it out for top spot in the league. Currently, there is a three way fight for first place in the fourteen team DEL. Wolfsburg sits in second place overall, one point ahead of Krefeld Pinguine and one point behind Eisbären Berlin.

Joining Paul Traynor on Grizzly Adams Wolfsburg is fellow Ontario Hockey League grad Norm Milley. Norm leads the team in scoring and is tied for eleventh in the league.

Check out Paul Traynor’s profile page on the Grizzly Adams Wolfsburg official website.

The Phoenix Coyotes and the Detroit Red Wings are currently embroiled in a Western Conference quarter final series in the NHL’s 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs. Ten Ontario Hockey League alumni are featured in this series, five from each team. Click on the names below to view each player’s profile page on their team’s official website.

Phoenix Coyotes

Wojtek Wolski played four seasons in the OHL with the Brampton Battalion from 2002-03 to 2005-06. His final season featured a 128 point performance in just 56 games for Brampton. A first round pick of the Colorado Avalanche in 2004, Wolski came over from the Avalanche to the Coyotes at this season’s trade deadline.

Mathieu Schneider is one of the few left in pro hockey that can say they played for the Cornwall Royals. Mathieu played three seasons with the OHL team from 1986-87 to 1988-89. In his nearly 1300 game NHL career, Mathieu has played for a number of teams, including the Montreal Canadiens, New York Islanders, Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers, Los Angeles Kings, Detroit Red Wings, Anaheim Ducks, Atlanta Thrashers, Vancouver Canucks and the Coyotes.

Taylor Pyatt played three seasons in the OHL with the Sudbury Wolves from 1997-98 to 1999-00. An 8th overall pick of the New York Islanders in 1999, Taylor played his first season in the NHL with that club before being traded to the Buffalo Sabres. Taylor spent three seasons each in Buffalo then Vancouver before landing in Phoenix this season.

Ed Jovanovski played two seasons in the OHL with his hometown Windsor Spitfires, 1993-94 and 1994-95. He was the first overall pick in the 1994 NHL draft, going to the Florida Panthers. This is Ed’s fourth season with the Coyotes.

Paul Bissonnette played four seasons in the OHL from 2001-02 to 2004-05. He began his career with the North Bay Centennials and moved with the team to Saginaw in his second season. In his final OHL season, Paul was shipped midway through the season to the Owen Sound Attack. Paul saw his first NHL action with the Pittsburgh Penguins last season and played 41 regular season games with the Coyotes this year.

Detroit Red Wings

Daniel Cleary played four seasons in the OHL from 1994-95 to 1997-98, all with the Belleville Bulls. Cleary was a first round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks in 1997 but only played 41 games over two seasons with the team before being traded to the Edmonton Oilers. He became an NHL regular with the Oilers in 2000-01 and played with the team for four seasons. In 2003-04, he played a full season with the Coyotes. After the strike season, he found himself in Detroit.

Todd Bertuzzi played four seasons in the OHL with the Guelph Storm from 1991-92 to 1994-95. Detroit is Todd’s sixth NHL team, the others: New York Islanders, Vancouver Canucks, Florida Panthers, Anaheim Ducks and Calgary Flames.

Kris Draper played just one 39 game season in the OHL with the Ottawa 67′s in 1990-91. Originally drafted by the Winnipeg Jets back in 1989, Kris played a total of 20 games over 3 seasons with the Jets before moving to Detroit where he has just finished his 16th regular season with the club. He has played over 1100 NHL regular season games and over 200 playoff games.

Kirk Maltby played three seasons in the OHL with the Owen Sound Platers from 1989-90 to 1991-92. Kirk is in his 14th season with the Red Wings after starting his career in Edmonton with the Oilers.

Jason Williams played four seasons in the OHL from 1996-97 to 1999-00, all with the Peterborough Petes. Jason started out in the Red Wings organization before making stops in Chicago, Atlanta and Columbus. Williams returned to Detroit at the start of this season.