Claude Boivin
The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League is known for its skilled players and butterfly style goalies. But every once in a while, it puts out a bonafide tough guy. That was the case in 1988 when left winger Claude Boivin was drafted in the first round, in that year's entry draft. Boivin had 309 penalty minutes in 59 games with Laval in 1989-90 and began his pro career with the Hershey Bears of the AHL. He got his first taste of NHL hockey in 1991-92 playing 58 games in Philadelphia. After a playing parts of a couple of seasons in Philly, Claude moved on to the Ottawa Senators in 1993. He only managed to play in 18 games over 2 seasons for the Senators and found himself shuttling between the AHL, IHL and ECHL. He ended his professional hockey career in 1999-00 with the Long Beach Ice Dogs of the International Hockey League.

Nikos Tselios
Nikos was the prototypical defensive prospect playing his junior hockey with the Belleville Bulls of the OHL. After a year and half with the Bulls he was traded to the Plymouth Whalers in 1997. At the end of that year, he was also drafted in the first round, 22nd overall by the Hartford Whalers. The defenseman spent a couple of years playing with the Cincinnati Cyclones of the IHL, working on his defensive game and filling out his huge 6'5 frame upto 210 pounds. He got his first shot at the bigs in 2000-01 with the Carolina Hurricanes, playing in 2 games and not recording any points and 6 penalty minutes. Since then he has been back in the minors, playing with Lowell Lock Monsters, Springfield Falcons and Utah Grizzlies of the American Hockey League.

Alexandre Volchkov
Alexandre Volchkov was born in Moscow, Russia and played his major junior hockey with the Barrie Colts of the Ontario Hockey League. Considered a prolific scorer in the OHL, Volchkov was drafted by the Washington Capitals in the first round, #4 overall in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft. The first couple of years of Alexandre's pro career saw him playing in the minors with the Portland Pirates and Cincinnati Cyclones. He got his first glimpse of the NHL in 1999-2000 season playing in 3 games, though not registering any points. This would unfortunately be his only stint in the big league as he was sent back down to the AHL. In 2001 he returned to Russia and played in his homeland until the 2002-03 season.

Jesper Mattsson
The early 1990s saw the Calgary Flames dip into Europe looking for hockey talent. Jesper Mattsson was born in Malmo, Sweden. The right winger was drafted in the first round in 1993, #18 overall by the Calgary Flames. He played in Sweden for three seasons and moved to North America for the 1995-96 season, spending the next two and half years with the St John Flames of the AHL. He had average seasons with the Flames affiliate but never made the jump to the big club. He moved back to Europe in 1997-98, playing the next seven seasons for Malmo IF. Currently he is playing for Farjestads BK Karlstad of the Swedish Elite League.

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.