4 Sudbury Wolves To Win The Max Kaminsky Trophy

Since their first season in the Ontario Hockey League, 1972-73, four Sudbury Wolves defensemen have been awarded the Max Kaminsky Trophy. The Kaminsky has been handed out each OHL season since 1969-70 to the league’s top defenseman.

Jeff Brown was the first Sudbury Wolves defenseman to win the Kaminsky. In 1985-86, Brown played just 45 regular season games but scored 22 goals and totalled 50 points. That season was his fourth and last with the Wolves. Brown was a second round pick of the Quebec Nordiques in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft, 36th overall. He went on to play 747 regular season NHL games with seven teams including the Nordiques, St. Louis Blues, Vancouver Canucks, Hartford Whalers, Carolina Hurricanes, Toronto Maple Leafs and Washington Capitals.

In 1992-93 with the St. Louis Blues, Brown set the team single season mark for defensemen with 78 points. He had more points than and carried his team further into the playoffs than Norris Trophy winner Chris Chelios that season.

Jamie Rivers set a Sudbury Wolves team record in 1993-94 for most points by a defenseman in a single season with 121. He finished sixth in Ontario Hockey League scoring and was awarded the Kaminsky for his efforts. Jamie was in the third of four seasons with Sudbury and was already a St. Louis Blues prospect, having been drafted in the third round of the 1993 NHL Entry Draft, 63rd overall.

Rivers has played 454 career games in the NHL to date with the Blues, New York Rangers, Ottawa Senators, Boston Bruins, Florida Panthers, Detroit Red Wings and Phoenix Coyotes. He played this past season in Austria’s Erste Bank Eishockey Liga.

Alexei Semenov won the Kaminsky Trophy in 2000-01 and has pretty much been a disappointment since. That season, he totalled 63 points in 65 regular season games then added 17 points in 12 playoff games. Semenov played three seasons with the Wolves from 1998-99 to 2000-01. After his first season in the OHL, he was drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in the second round of the 1999 NHL Entry Draft, 36th overall.

Semenov has played just 211 NHL regular season games to date with the Oilers, Florida Panthers and San Jose Sharks. Alexei played this past season in Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League with SKA St. Petersburg.

Marc Staal was the last Sudbury Wolves defenseman to win the Max Kaminsky. Staal had an excellent final season in the OHL, 2006-07, accumulating 34 points in 53 regular season games and 20 points in 21 playoff games as the Wolves made it to the Robertson Cup finals before losing to the Plymouth Whalers in six games. It was only the second time the Wolves had made it to the finals, unsuccessful on both attempts. For the second year in a row, Marc won a gold medal with Team Canada at the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships.

Staal played four seasons in the OHL, beginning in 2003-04. After his second season, he was drafted by the New York Rangers twelfth overall in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft. Marc will enter his fifth season with the Rangers in 2011-12.