Peter Ratchuk
Peter Ratchuk was born in Buffalo, NY and was drafted straight out of high school in the first round, 25th overall, by the Colorado Avalanche in 1996. He began his junior hockey career in the NCAA with Bowling Green University but moved on to the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) in 1997-98. He never signed with the Avalanche and in 1998 went to the Florida Panthers as a free agent. In his rookie season he played 24 games in the NHL splitting time between the big club and the New-Haven Beast of the AHL. After spending the next couple of seasons in the minors he got another opportunity with the Panthers in 2000-01 and played in 8 more games. This was followed with a couple of minor league stops in the Penguins and Sabres organizations. The last few seasons have seen Peter Ratchuk playing hockey for the Frankfurt Lions in one of the European hockey leagues.

Eric Lavigne
Eric Lavigne was drafted in the 2nd round of the 1991 NHL draft by the Washington Capitals. He played is major-juniour hockey with the Hull Olympiques of the QMJHL and was considered a competent hockey enforcer. His stay in Washington was extremely brief as he was soon with the Los Angeles Kings, who game Lavigne his first NHL appearance in 1994-95. Since then, Eric has been going back and forth amongst various hockey teams in the IHL, AHL, Europe and second/third tier teams in North America. In 2003-04 he continued playing, for the Thetford Mines Prolab of the QSMHL and was still racking up the penalty minutes!

Nick Stajduhar
Nick Stajduhar was born in Kitchener, ON and began playing junior hockey at the age of 14 with the London Knights, of the OHL. He was drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in the first round, 16th overall in 1993 though his draft rights had been acquired by them years ago in a trade with the Los Angeles Kings that saw Wayne Gretzky leave Alberta. Nick was a big, physical defenseman who began his pro-career with Cape Breton in the AHL. After a stint with the Canadian National team, he got his opportunity in the NHL with the Oilers in 1995-96, playing in 2 games. After that stint he began a long journey through the minor leagues that has seen him play for numerous teams, in various leagues across North America. Nick spent time playing hockey in Hamilton, Pensacola, Fort Wayne, Cincinnati, Flint, Quebec City, Memphis and Houston. His pro-hockey career seems to have ended in 2000-01 with the Houston Aeros of the IHL.

Eric Lecompte
Eric Lecompte was born in Montreal, Quebec and played his major-junior hockey with the Hull Olympiques, St.-Jean Lynx and Sherbrooke Falcons of the QMJHL. He was selected in the first round of the 1993 NHL entry draft, 24th overall by the Chicago Blackhawks. He began his pro-hockey career in 1994 with the Indianapolis Ice of the IHL. He had some success in the minors but was unable to make the jump to the NHL with the Blackhawks. He moved around within the IHL for a couple of years, playing for the Fort Wayne Komets and Worcester IceCats. He turned a leaf in 1997-98 signing with the Anaheim Mighty Ducks and spending a couple of years in their farm system with the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks. In 1999 Lecompte made the decision to move to Europe, playing with Revier Lions. He also played three seasons in Italy and most recently played with Lugano in LNSw.

Mike Brown
Mike Brown was born in Surrey, BC and played his junior hockey with the Red Deer Rebels and Kamloops Blazers of the WHL. The big winger was drafted in the first round, 20th overall by the Florida Panthers. He made the jump to pro-hockey with the Syracuse Crunch. In 1999 he was traded from the Florida Panthers along with Dave Gagner, Ed Jovanovski, and Kevin Weekes to the Vancouver Canucks for Pavel Bure, Bret Hedican and Brad Ference and a flip of draft picks. He made his NHL debut in the 2000-01 season, playing one game for Vancouver and spending the majority of the season in the minors with the Kansas City Blades. He moved on to the Anaheim Mighty Ducks in 2002 playing in 16 games before on the move again, to the Toronto Maple Leafs organization. He was on the move agin in 2003, playing a few games with the Binghamton Senators and is playing with the Norfolk Admirals of the NHL this season.

Michael Stewart
Michael Stewart was born in Calgary, Alberta and played his minor hockey in the US college system with the Michigan State University. In 1990 he was a highly ranked defenseman and was taken in the first round, 13th overall by the New York Rangers. He played 3 years in the NCAA before moving on to pro-hockey with the Binghamton Rangers of the AHL. He was in the Rangers system for 3 years before moving on to the Springfield Falcons and the Detroit Vipers. The 1996-97 saw Michael Stewart spend a season with the Canadian National team. He then went on to have 3 seasons with the Canucks affiliate, the Manitoba Moose of the IHL. Mike wasn't able to crack the NHL lineup and began playing in Europe, spending a year with the Frankfurt Lions and the last two seasons with Heraklith VSV EC.

Jeff Farkas
Jeff Farkas was born in Williamsville, NY and came up through NCAA system, playing for the venerable Boston College Eagles. He was a standout forward in the NCAA and was drafted in 1997 by the Toronto Maple Leafs, 57th overall in the 3rd round. Farkas got his first NHL game under his belt straight out of college, playing in 3 games for the Leafs during the 2000 playoffs, scoring 1 goal. He spent most of the following hockey season in Newfoundlad with the Leafs AHL team in St John's, putting up good offensive numbers. He again got an opportunity to play with the big club in the 2001 post season, and scored 1 goal with 2 assists in 4 games. Even with the post season success, he could not crack the Leafs on a regular basis and was eventually dealt to the Vancouver Canucks for Josh Holden. In 2003 he was one the move again, traded from the Canucks to the Atlanta Thrashers for Chris Herperger and Chris Nielsen. He played three games with the Thrashers in 2003 before being sent to the minors. He split the 2002-03 season between the Manitoba Mosse and Chicago Wolves of the AHL.

Nikos Tselios
Nikos was born in Oak Park, Illinois and started his major junior hockey career with the Belleville Bulls. In 1997 this big defenseman was drafted in the first round by the Carolina Hurricanes, 22nd overall. He moved within the OHL to the Plymouth Whalers and finished his junior career in 1999. He began his pro-hockey career with the Cincinnati Cyclones of the IHL and got his first shot in the National Hockey League in 2001-02 with the Hurricanes. He played in 2 games and registered 0 points and 6 penalty minutes. Tselios spent the next two years with the Lowell Lock Monsters of the AHL and has followed that up playing the last two hockey seasons with the Springfield Falcons, and affiliate of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Daniel Tkaczuk
Daniel Tkaczuk was born in Toronto and played his major junior hockey Barrie Colts of the OHL. He had four standout years in the OHL and was drafted in the first round, 6th overall by the Calgary Flames in 1997. The centerman joined the Saint John Flames in 1999-2000 and was a productive player in the American Hockey League. He got his first NHL callup in 2000-01 with the Flames, playing in 19 games, scoring 4 goals and adding 7 assists for 11 points. In June of 2001 Tkaczuk was traded by the Calgary Flames along with goalie Fred Brathwaite, Sergei Varlamov and 9th round pick in the 2001 draft (Grant Jacobsen) to the St. Louis Blues for goalie Roman Turek and a 4th round pick in the 2001 draft (Igor Shastin). Daniel played the next two seasons in the AHL with the Worcester IceCats and Bridgeport Sound Tigers. In 2003-04 he played in Europe with Lukko Rauma in Finland.

Corey Foster
The late 1980s saw the emergence of a young defenseman with the Peterborough Petes of the OHL. Corey Foster was a big, mobile defenseman who was selected in the first round, 12th overall by the New Jersey Devils in 1988. Foster made the jump to the NHL in 1989, playing 2 games for the Devils. Shortly after in June 1989, he was traded from New Jersey Devils to the Edmonton Oilers for 1st round pick in the 1989 draft. He played a couple of seasons for the Cape Breton Oilers before being traded again, from the Edmonton Oilers with Dave Brown and Jari Kurri to the Philadelphia Flyers, for Craig Berube and Craig Fisher and Scott Mellanby. Foster shuffled a couple of seasons within the Flyers system before signing with the Senators. Again he spent a couple of years in the AHL and IHL, before playing a handful a games for the Pittsburgh Penguins and after that, the New York Islanders. Starting in 1997 Corey Foster spent a couple of seasons playing hockey in Japan and later played for the Berlin Capitals. His last two years have seen him back in North America, playing in the AHL and QSMHL.