NEWS

The Ontario Junior Hockey League today announced the OJHL First and Second All-Star Teams.

The OJHL All-Star Team is comprised of the very best players in the OJHL this season and is selected by the OJHL General Managers, as well as an Awards Committee comprised of one media member in each OJHL market.

The 2016-17 OJHL First and Second All-Star Team recipients are:

1st Team All-Star
G – Josh Astorino (Georgetown Raiders)
D – Mark Paolini (St. Michael's Buzzers)
D – Brennan Roy (Cobourg Cougars)
F – Jack Jacome (Georgetown Raiders)
F – Brayden Stortz (Wellington Dukes)
F – Ryan Casselman (Cobourg Cougars)

2nd Team All-Star (*Note: Tie in voting for final defenceman position)
G – Chris Janzen (Trenton Golden Hawks)
D – Justin Brand (Whitby Fury)
D - Austin Cho (Georgetown Raiders)
D – Matt Watson (Burlington Cougars)
F – Nic Mucci (Wellington Dukes)
F – Nik Coric (Whitby Fury)
F - Cameron Wright (St. Michael's Buzzers)

1st Team All-Stars

Goaltender – Josh Astorino (Georgetown Raiders)
(pictured top middle - photo credit: Shawn Muir/OJHL Images)
Josh Astorino has been nothing short of sensational in his first OJHL season, leading the Georgetown Raiders to top spot in the OJHL regular season standings with the fourth most points (94) in OJHL history.  Named the OJHL Bardown Goaltender-of-the-Month in January, Astorino finished second among all netminders with a 1.93 goals against average, topped the charts with a .936 save percentage and posted a 28-3-2 record with 2 shutouts in 35 games played for the league’s second best win total.  Astorino posted five-or-more game winning streaks on three separate occasions during the regular season, including a nine game winning streak from September 24 to October 23 that helped pushed the Raiders to the top of the league standings.

Defence – Mark Paolini (St. Michael’s Buzzers)
(pictured top left - photo credit: Brian Watts/OJHL Images)
The veteran blueliner took his game to another level during his second season in the OJHL after being named one of the Buzzers alternate captains this year.  Named a member of Team OJHL Hawerchuk for the 2016 Eastern Canada Cup All-Star Challenge, Paolini recorded two points in six games played and continued that play throughout November as he posted 12 assists and 2 game-winning goals to be named the OJHL Bardown South-West Conference Player-of-the-Month.  He was also named runner-up for the award in September.  The talented rearguard would be named to Team Canada East’s Final Selection Camp, although would not be named to the final roster.  Paolini would finish fourth on St. Michael’s in scoring and tie for lead among all defencemen with 57 points in 50 games played on the strength of 20 goals, which is tied for the 10th best total in OJHL history.  His 25 power play points was second best among blueliners, as was his 5 game-winners, and he is committed to join the Princeton University Tigers beginning next season.

Defence – Brennan Roy (Cobourg Cougars)
(pictured top right - photo credit: Tim Bates/OJHL Images)
Named a 1st Team All-Star in 2015-16, Roy becomes the first back-to-back recipient of 1st Team honours after tying Paolini for the OJHL scoring lead among defencemen with 57 points.  Although his goal total was down from the previous year (20 to 14), the veteran would lead the league and finish second on the Cougars with 43 assists this season, while earning a spot on Team OJHL Oates at the 2016 Eastern Canada Cup All-Star Challenge held in Cornwall, Ontario.  Roy would be named runner-up for the OJHL Bardown North-East Conference Player-of-the-Month Award in October and was a key member of the Cougars special teams, posting 19 power play points, while helping anchor the OJHL’s number one penalty killing unit with an 89.30% success rate.  His efforts this season were rewarded with a spot on the OJHL ’96 All-Star Team that would play an exhibition game versus Team Canada East in preparation for the 2016 World Junior ‘A’ Challenge and he looks to lead Cobourg as they will host the 2017 RBC Cup, National Junior ‘A’ Championship in May.

Forward – Jack Jacome (Georgetown Raiders)
(pictured bottom left - photo credit: Shawn Muir/OJHL Images)
Named a 1st Team All-Prospect, 2nd Team All-Star and Rookie-of-the-Year last season, Jack Jacome continued his impressive progression by winning the OJHL scoring title on the final night of the 2016-17 season in dramatic fashion with a breakaway goal in the final minute of the game.  Named to Team OJHL Hawerchuk for the 2016 Eastern Canada Cup All-Star Challenge held in Cornwall, Ontario, Jacome recorded a pair of assists and continue on through the season to twice be named the OJHL Bardown South-West Conference Player-of-the-Month in December and February.  One of the league’s most exciting young talents, Jacome led all scorers with 57 assists and 91 points in 53 contests to help the Raiders clinch top spot in the OJHL regular season standings.  A key member of Georgetown’s speciality teams, he also tied for the league lead with 31 power play points and is committed to join the Clarkson University Golden Knights beginning with the 2017-18 season.

Forward – Brayden Stortz (Wellington Dukes)
(pictured bottom middle - photo credit: Ed McPherson/OJHL Images)
Joining the Dukes this season out of the NOJHL, Brayden Stortz would continue his scoring exploits in the OJHL, leading the league in scoring for almost the entire year, before being passed by Jacome on the final night of the season.  Stortz kicked-off his season with a 26 point September which saw him named the OJHL Bardown North-East Conference Player-of-the-Month; an award he would also win in January.  First named to Team OJHL Coffey for the 2016 Eastern Canada Cup All-Star Challenge held in Cornwall, Stortz then notched a pair of points for the OJHL ’96 All-Star Team during a 6-4 loss in an exhibition contest versus Team Canada East as they prepared for the World Junior ‘A’ Challenge.  He led the OJHL with 37 goals and 10 game-winning goals, finished second with 90 points and was a driving force behind the Dukes speciality teams units, registering 25 power play points and 5 shorthanded points 

Forward – Ryan Casselman (Cobourg Cougars)
(pictured bottom right - photo credit: Amy Deroche/OJHL Images)
During his first full year in the OJHL, the veteran forward has proven to be Cobourg’s offensive catalyst throughout the 2016-17 season.  Casselman got off to a quick start this season and by November had earned a spot on Team OJHL Nieuwendyk, where he led the team with two goals during the 2016 Eastern Canada Cup All-Star Challenge held in Cornwall, and then continued that play through November, earning OJHL Bardown North-East Conference Player-of-the-Month honours.  He would also be named runner-up as Player-of-the-Month in January as he continued to lead the Cougars in most offensive categories.  Casselman registered 31 goals, fourth best in the OJHL, 42 assists, tenth best in the league, and 73 points, fifth best overall, while also adding 7 game-winning goals for the 2017 RBC Cup, National Junior ‘A’ Championship host Cougars.

2nd Team All-Stars (*Note: Tie in voting for final defenceman position)

Trenton Golden Hawks netminder Chris Janzen posted a 33-6-2 record during his during his first season in the OJHL to help the Golden Hawks once again finish first in the North-East Conference.  A member of Team OJHL Oates at the 2016 Eastern Canada Cup All-Star Challenge, Janzen would be named OJHL Bardown Goaltender-of-the-Month three times this season in September, November and December.  He finished the year with a 1.98 goals against average and a .927 save percentage, while his 33 wins was tops among all goaltenders.

Whitby Fury defenceman Justin Brand was his club’s captain this season, while leading the defensive corps in scoring with 44 points in 52 regular season games played.  Logging heavy minutes for the Fury against some of the other teams’ best players, Brand registered 14 goals, 30 assists and 44 points, which all ranked top 10 among OJHL blueliners.  Quarterbacking the Fury power play unit, Brand fired home 12 power play goals to lead the league among defenceman, along with 21 power play points and 3 game-winning goals.

Georgetown Raiders defenceman Austin Cho’s playmaking abilities from the point was one of the key reasons that his club would finish first overall to capture the OJHL regular season title with 94 points.  Cho was a member of Team OJHL Oates at the 2016 Eastern Canada Cup All-Star Challenge and he finished the season with 35 assists, fourth in the league among all rearguards, and 43 points in 53 games played.  His 14 power play assists ranked fifth among blueliners and Cho is committed to join the RPI Engineers beginning with the 2017-18 season.

Burlington Cougars defenceman Matt Watson was a goal scoring machine throughout the 2016-17 season, registering one goal in every two games that he played from the blueline.  Named a member of Team OJHL Oates for the 2016 Eastern Canada Cup All-Star Challenge, Watson’s 24 goals ranks as the fourth best total by a defenceman in OJHL history and he finished the year third in scoring among all rearguards with 48 points in 48 games played.  Not only did Watson score a lot, but his goals were timely as he led all blueliners with eight game-winning goals, also tied for second best among all OJHL players.

Wellington Dukes forward Nic Mucci had an eventful 2016-17 OJHL season that saw him compete first at the 2016 Eastern Canada Cup All-Star Challenge as a member of Team OJHL Coffey, and later with Team Canada East at the 2016 World Junior ‘A’ Challenge, where he would win a silver medal.  Mucci recorded 29 goals and 76 points in 50 games played to finish second on the Dukes and fourth in overall OJHL scoring, while adding a league-high four shorthanded goals this season.  He is committed to join the Niagara University Purple Eagles beginning with the 2017-18 season.

Whitby Fury forward Nik Coric was not only one of the top scorers in the entire OJHL, but also one of the cleanest, recording just two minor penalties in his 52 regular season contests.  A member of Team OJHL Nieuwendyk at the 2016 Eastern Canada Cup All-Star Challenge, Coric topped the Fury and finished third in league scoring with 79 points.  His 56 assists were second to only league scoring champion Jack Jacome, while his 26 power play assists and 31 power play points were both tops in the OJHL.

St. Michael’s Buzzers forward Cameron Wright would play in just 48 games this season due to his participation in three separate events.  He was named a member of Team OJHL Hawerchuk for the 2016 Eastern Canada Cup All-Star Challenge, attended the Team Canada East Final Selection Camp, although was not named to the team, and scored a goal for Team East during a 4-3 loss at the 2017 CJHL Prospects Game.  Despite the time away, Wright still led the Buzzers and finished second in the OJHL with 35 goals, while finishing fifth in overall scoring with 73 points.  He is committed to join the Bowling Green State University Falcons beginning next season.

The year-end OJHL Awards will be announced beginning next week.