Years ago, while waiting for a friend to finish a ” heater ” on the Craps Table at Casino Niagara, I bought a copy of the Hockey News and attempted to tabulate which Ontario Hockey League clubs were sending the most players to the National Hockey League.
It was a subjective project, one where I issued a point to each OHL club for each NHL’er that had passed through their system.
For that study, to be an NHL’er, the player had to be on the 25 man roster, including injuries, on the date of that Hockey News release which was March of 2010.
In many cases, again using my discretion, I had to determine which club a player belonged to.
For example, was Josh Bailey an Owen Sound Attack grad, the team that drafted him, or was he a Windsor Spitfire grad, the team that traded for him and held his rights before he made the jump to the NHL ?
In the years that followed, Attack fans asked me periodically if I was going to do another study, a follow up study.
So, again with time on my hands waiting for the same friend at the Craps Table, I did a new study, an upgraded model.
For this project, I went to the NHL stats as of Tuesday April the 16th, 2013 and examined all 30 NHL teams.
If a player was on the ” stat ” sheet of a team, he was considered to be an NHL player.
Using Owen Sound as an example, Theo Peckham’s 4 games for Edmonton made him every bit as much of an NHL’er as say, Bobby Ryan, a star with the Anaheim Ducks.
Next, after determining there were just over 200 OHL grads scattered on the stats sheets of the 30 NHL teams, I went to www.hockeydb.com and awarded the OHL club they were connected with 1 point for each year that the player played in the OHL.
So again, using Owen Sound as my example; Trevor Lewis would be worth 1 point to the Attack, Andrej Sekera or Mark Giordano would be worth 2 points, Theo ” Wreck ‘Em ” Peckham would be a 3 pointer and Joel Ward would garner 4 points.
Interestingly enough, I found just three players who accumulated 5 points for their respective clubs; Jamie Tardiff & Kurtis Foster for Peterborough & Andre Benoit of Kitchener.
Finally, in the case of Josh Bailey, or any player that was traded, I compromised and issued half points, so in Bailey’s situation, he was worth 1 & 1/2 for Owen Sound and 1 & 1/2 for Windsor.
The most staggering example of fractions and mathematics was illustrated by Brian McGrattan who earned 1 & 1/3 for Guelph, 1 & 1/2 for Sudbury, 1 & 1/2 for Mississauga, 0 for Owen Sound ( he played two games ) then 1/3 for Oshawa & 1/3 for Sault Ste Marie
I’m not saying the findings are 100 percent accurate nor are they totally conclusive, but it does give a snapshot illustration as to who is drafting, developing and graduating NHL professionals.
Enjoy the 2013 sample
Here are the 20 OHL organizations in alphabetical order with the players who moved on from their organization and eventually played at least one game in the National Hockey League as of April 16, 2013;
Again, players with fractions beside their name represent players who were dealt or acquired by the organization. Any player without a fraction, played their full term for that OHL club, in some cases, just one year, in other, very rare, cases, as many as 5 years.
Barrie Colts
Mike Weber ( 1/2 ), TJ Brodie ( 1/2 ), Michael Sgarbossa ( 1 & 1/2 ), Dalton Prout ( 2 & 1/2 ), Brian Lashoff ( 2 & 1/2 ), Kyle Clifford, Rich Clune (1) Dan Girardi ( 2 & 1/2 ), Zac Rinaldo ( 1/2 ), Alex Pietrangelo (1/2), BJ Crombeen, Bryan Little, Alexander Burmistrov, Mark Scheifele
Belleville Bulls
Matt Beleskey, Cody McCormick, Matt Stajan, Daniel Cleary, Jan Mursak (1/2), Shawn Matthias, PK Subban, David Clarkson ( 1 + 3 games ), Kris Newbury ( 1 & 1/2 ), Brandon Mashinter ( 1/2 ), Jason Spezza ( 1/2 ), Matt Pelech (1), Richard Panik (1), Philipp Grubauer ( 1 & 1/2 ), Kyle Wellwood ( 2 & 1/2 ), Eric Tangradi
Brampton Battalion ( now North Bay )
Cody Hodgson, Jay Harrison, Bobby Sanguinetti (1), Matt Duchene, Cory Emmerton (1/2), Jason Spezza (1), Rotislav Klesla, Brent Burns, Raffi Torres, Jay McClement
Erie Otters
Ryan O’Reilly, Carlo Colaiacovo, Jordan Nolan (1), Mike Rupp ( 2 & 1/2 ), Mike Blunden, Brad Boyes
Guelph Storm
Peter Holland, Daniel Paille, Brian McGrattan (1 & 1/3 ), Daniel Taylor (2), Fedor Tyutin, Todd bertuzzi, Dustin Brown, Drew Doughty, Kevin Klein ( 1/2 ), Taylor Beck, Matt D’Agostini, Cam Janssen (1/2), Ryan Callahan, Dan Girardi (2), Craig Anderson, Richard Panik (1/2), Manny Malhotra
Kingston Frontenacs
Ryan Spooner ( 1 although he played 77 games ), Daniel Taylor (1), Shane O’Brien ( 2 & 1/2 ), Cory Emmerton ( 3 & 1/2 ), Brian Lashoff ( 1 & 1/2 ), Erik Gudbranson, Matt Cooke (1/2), Chris Stewart, Philipp Grubauer (1)
Kitchener Rangers
Gregory Campbell (1), Jeff Skinner, Ryan Murphy, Jeremy Morin, Gabriel Landeskog, Steve Downie (1/2), Jakub Kindl, Scott Timmins ( 2 & 1/2 ), Mike Richards, Yannick Weber, Nick Spaling, Matt Halischuk ( 2 ), David Clarkson (3), John Moore, Steve Eminger, Brandon Mashinter ( 1 & 1/2 ), Andre Benoit, Steve Mason ( 1/2 ), Mikkel Boedker, Robert Bortuzzo, Nazem Kadri (2), Mark Fraser, Derek Roy
London Knights
Corey Perry, Chris Kelly ( 3 & 1/2 ), Dennis Wideman ( 3 & 1/2 ), Akim Aliu ( 1 & 1/2 ), Patrick Kane, Dave Bolland, Kyle Quincey (1), Sam Gagner, Brandon Prust, Jarred Tinordi, Sergei Kostitsyn, Austin Watson ( 1/2 ). Tom Kostopoulos, Krys Barch, John Tavares ( 1/2 ), Rick Nash, Michael Del Zotto (1/2), Dan Girardi ( 1/2 ), Christian Thomas ( 1/2 ), Marc Methot, Zac Rinaldo (1), Steve Mason ( 2 & 1/2 ), Matt Pelech ( 1/2 ), Nazem Kadri (2), John Carlson, John Erskine
Mississauga ( Toronto ) Majors
Devante Smith Pelly, Kaspers Daugavins, Matt Ellis, Tim Brent, Justin Peters (3 & 1/2 ), Ryan Wilson (3), Shane O’Brien (1/2), Cal Clutterbuck ( 1 & 1/2 ), Peter Budaj, Kevin Klein ( 3 & 1/2 ), Matt Halischuk ( 1 & 1/2 ), Casey Cizikas, Michael Haley ( 1 & 1/2 ), Zac Rinaldo ( 2 & 1/2 )
Niagara ( Mississauga ) IceDogs
Dougie Hamilton, Brian McGrattan ( 1 & 1/2 ), Andrew Shaw (2), Daniel Carcillo ( 1/2), Jamie Oleksiak (1/2), Kyle Quincey (2), Jason Spezza ( 1 & 1/2 ), Dustin Jeffrey ( 1 & 1/2 ), Alex Pietrangelo ( 2 & 1/2 )
Oshawa Generals
Bryan Allen, Nathan Horton, Brian McGrattan ( 1/3 ), Ben Eager, Cal Clutterbuck ( 2 & 1/2 ), John Tavares ( 3 & 1/2 ), Eric Boulton ( 1 & 1/2 ), Michael Del Zotto ( 2 & 1/2 ), Christian Thomas ( 3 & 1/2 ), Scott Laughton, Michal Neuvirth (1/3)
Ottawa 67’s
Brad Stauvbitz ( 1/2 ), Bryan Bickell ( 3 & 1/2 ), Jamie McGinn, Petr Mrazek, Brian Campbell, Tyler Toffoli, Zenon Konopka, Tye McGinn, Logan Coture
Owen Sound Attack ( including Platers )
Bobby Ryan, Andrej Sekera, Mark Girodano, Brian McGrattan (0), Bobby Sanguinetti (3), Andrew Shaw (1), Lane MacDermid ( 2 & 1/2 ), Theo Peckham, Trevor Lewis, Brad Richardson, Joshua Bailey ( 1 & 1/2 ), Wayne Simmonds ( 1 & 1/2 ), Paul Bissonette ( 1/2 ), Joel Ward
Peterborough Petes
Shawn Thornton, Ryan Spooner ( 2 & 1/2 ), Jamie Tardiff, Patrick Kaleta, Eric Staal, Jordan Staal, Steve Downie ( 1 & 1/2 ), Austin Watson (2), Matt Carkner, Kurtis Foster, Jamie Langenbrunner, Zack Kassian ( 2 & 1/2 ), Zach Bogosian
Plymouth Whalers
Tyler Sequin, Gregory Campbell (2), Chad Larose, Brett Bellemore, Chris Terry, Michal Jordan (2 & 1/2 ), Justin Peters ( 1/2 ), John Mitchell, James Wisniewski, Jared Boll, Stephen Weiss, Justin Williams, Matt Hackett ( 2 & 1/2 ), David Legwand, Tim Sestito, JT Miller, James Neal, Tom Sestito, Michal Neuvirth ( 1 & 1/3 ), Chris Thorburn (1/2)
Saginaw Spirit ( was North Bay Centennials )
TJ Brodie ( 3 & 1/2 ), Brandon Saad, Michael Sgarbossa (1), Dalton Prout (1/2), Jamie Oleksiak (1/2), Jan Mursak ( 1 & 1/2 ), Chris Neil ( North Bay ), Paul Bissonette ( 3 & 1/2 ), Tom Pyatt, Chris Thorburn ( 3 & 1/2 )
Sarnia Sting
Ryan Spooner ( 1/2 ), Daniel Carcillo ( 2 & 1/2 ), Ryan Wilson (2), Dalton Prout ( 1 & 1/2 ), Nail Yakupov, Alex Galchenyuk, Rich Clune (3), Matt Martin, Eric Boulton ( 1 & 1/2 ), Kris Newbury ( 3 & 1/2 ), Michael Haley ( 3 & 1/2 ), Brandon Mashinter (3), Matt Pelech ( 2 & 1/2 ), Steven Stamkos
Sault Ste Marie Greyhounds
Brad Staubitz ( 3 & 1/2 ), Brian McGrattan ( 1/3 ), Jiri Tlusty, Ray Emery, Trevor Daley, Jeff Carter, Jake Muzzin, Jordan Nolan (2), Steve Sullivan, Robin Lehner, Wayne Simmonds (1/2 ), Tyler Kennedy, Dustin Jeffrey ( 2 & 1/2 ), Joe Thornton, Andrew Desjardins
Sudbury Wolves
Chris Kelly ( 1/2), Adam McQuaid, Marcus Foligno, Dennis Wideman ( 1 & 2 ) Brian McGrattan ( 1), Akim Aliu ( 2 in total ), Michael Sgarbossa ( 1 & 1/2 ), Nick Foligno, Derek MacKenzie, Mike Fisher, Marc Staal, Taylor Pyatt, Mike Smith, Benoit Pouliot
Windsor Spitfires
Cam Fowler, Steve Ott, Mike Weber ( 3 & 1/2 ), Akim Aliu ( 1/2 ), Tim Gleason, Michal Jordan ( 1/2 ), Bryan Bickell (1/2), Steve Downie (2 + 1 game ), Lane MacDermid (1/2), Taylor Hall, Ed Jovanovski, Scott Timmins ( 1 & 1/2 ), Jordan Nolan (2), Mike Rupp (1/2), Matt Hackett ( 1 & 1/2 ), Ryan Ellis, Austin Watson ( 1 & 1/2 ), Adam Henrique. Andrei Loktionov, Cam Janssen ( 2 & 1/2 ), Joshua Bailey ( 1 & 1/2 ), Jason Spezza (1), Eric Wellwood, Michael Leighton, Matt Cooke ( 2 & 1/2 ), Richard Panik ( 1/2 ), Zack Kassian ( 1 & 1/2 ), Michal Neuvirth ( 1/3), Philipp Grubauer ( 1/2 ), Kyle Wellwood ( 1 & 1/2 )
And so, after examining the stats sheet for all 30 NHL teams as of April 16th, then assigning a point value, ranging from 1/3 to 5 for each individual player for their OHL club- here are the OHL to NHL Standings based on this formula;
1 Kitchener Rangers 57
2 Windsor Spitfires 55 & 1/3
3 Plymouth Whalers 50 & 1/3
4 London Knights 47
5 Guelph Storm 41
6 Toronto-Mississauga Majors 38 & 1/2
7 Sault Ste Marie Greyhounds 38
8 Peterborough Petes 37 & 1/2
9 Sudbury Wolves 36
10 Belleville Bulls 35
11 Sarnia Sting 32 & 1/2
12 Owen Sound Attack ( Platers ) 30
13 Ottawa 67’s 28
14 Oshawa Generals 27 & 1/3
15 Barrie Colts 27
16 Saginaw Spirit ( North Bay Centennails in 3 cases ) 23
17 Brampton Battalion 22 & 1/2
18 Erie Otters 17 & 1/2
19 Kingston Frontenacs 17
20 Niagara ( Mississauga ) IceDogs 16
There are many different ways you could do this experiment;
-You could establish a minimum number of NHL games played in order for a player to qualify
– You could make NHL’ers more valuable to their OHL club based on average ice time. or points per game or…..
-You could decree that only players who played their entire term with one OHL club would be eligible to accumulate points for that OHL club
-You could disqualify any player who played less than 3 years for an OHL organization from acquiring points…..
Regardless, these are the rules we established for 2013 and the Kitchener Rangers are the leaders in graduating OHL players to the National Hockey League.
