Mississauga, Ontario – 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 2015-16 OJHL First and Second All-Star Team recipients are: 1st Team All-Star G – Daniel Urbani (Trenton Golden Hawks) D – Patrick Kudla (Oakville Blades) D – Brennan Roy (Cobourg Cougars) F – Luc Brown (Wellington Dukes) F – Zach Evancho (Buffalo Jr. Sabres) F – Anthony Rinaldi (Kingston Voyageurs)
2nd Team All-Star G – Andrew Masters (Georgetown Raiders) D – Ryan DaSilva (Stouffville Spirit) D – Willy Paul (Burlington Cougars) F – Thomas Beretta (St. Michael’s Buzzers) F – Jack Jacome (Georgetown Raiders) F – Josh Kosack (Oakville Blades) Goaltender – Daniel Urbani (Trenton Golden Hawks)
After leading the Kingston Voyageurs to within one game of the OJHL Championship in 2014-15, Urbani was moved in the off-season to the Trenton Golden Hawks and would lead his new club to a 44-6-4 record and their second OJHL Regular Season title in four seasons. Urbani got off to a quick start, winning the OJHL Gongshow Gear Goaltender-of-the-Month award for September and didn’t let up throughout the entire season, also winning the award in February.
He led all OJHL netminders with 34 wins, 5 shutouts and the fourth best goals against average in league history with a remarkable 1.69 GAA to win the OJHL Top Goaltender Award. Urbani was a member of Team OJHL Nieuwendyk at the 2015 Eastern Canada Cup All-Star Challenge and confirmed a commitment to play for the Canisius College Golden Griffins beginning next season.
PROUD MEMBER OF: Defence – Patrick Kudla (Oakville Blades) Patrick Kudla returned to the OJHL this season for the first time since 2013-14 and went on an early record-setting offensive tear that saw him be named the OJHL Gongshow Gear South-West Conference Player-of-the-Month for October. The blueliner continued that play throughout the entire season, finishing the year with 53 assists, tied for the tenth best total by a rearguard in OJHL history and tops among all players this season.
Kudla’s 66 points in 50 games played was tied for the 14th best total by a defenceman ever and was 13 points clear of the next closest defender, while also ranking seventh in the entire league. Quarterbacking the Blades power play, he led the OJHL with 25 power play assists, also notching 29 points with the man advantage, ranking second behind only league scoring leader Luc Brown.
Kudla was a member of Team OJHL Hawerchuk at the 2015 Eastern Canada Cup All-Star Challenge and is committed to the Arizona State University Sun Devils.
Defence – Brennan Roy (Cobourg Cougars) The native of Iroquois Falls, Ontario joined the OJHL this season after spending the previous two years in the NOJHL. Roy made an immediate impact on the Cobourg Cougars blueline, logging heavy minutes, while playing in all situations for the club.
He led all OJHL defenceman with 20 goals this season, becoming just the 16th rearguard in league history to hit the 20-goal plateau. Also finishing second in scoring behind Kudla with 53 points in 53 regular season games, Roy led the Cougars in all offensive categories, including goals (20), assists (33), points (53), power play goals (7), power play assists (13) and game-winning goals (4); a dominant performance that helped Cobourg solidify their positioning and post-season position.
Roy was a member of Team OJHL Nieuwendyk that competed at the 2015 Eastern Canada Cup All-Star Challenge.
Forward – Luc Brown (Wellington Dukes) The veteran Wellington Dukes forward recorded more points this past season than all three of his previous OJHL seasons combined, leading the league in scoring with 91 points in 51 regular season games to capture the OJHL Top Scorer Award. More than doubling his goal and point output from last season, Brown was also the OJHL’s leader with 42 goals, 14 power play goals, 33 power play points and 11 game-winning goals, which tied for the league’s best total since 2005-06.
He posted a 15-game point scoring streak that saw him capture OJHL Gongshow Gear North-East Conference Player-of-the-Month in both November and January, while finishing the year on a 14-game point scoring streak entering the playoffs. A member of Team OJHL Oates at the 2015 Eastern Canada Cup All-Star Challenge, Brown was also named to Team Canada East, recording five points in five games at the 2015 World Junior ‘A’ Challenge, and is committed to join the Union College Dutchmen beginning next season.
Forward – Zach Evancho (Buffalo Jr. Sabres) The Buffalo Jr. Sabres captain turned in a dominant performance this season in leading his club to a top four position in the South-West Conference standings. The hometown product finished second among OJHL scorers with 49 assists and 80 points in 52 regular season games played.
Playing in all situations for the Sabres, Evancho keyed the club’s power play unit, finishing third in the league with 28 power play points. Putting up a consistent effort throughout the season, he was named the OJHL Gongshow Gear South-West Conference Player-of-the-Month in December after being named runner-up for the award in both October and November.
Evancho was a member of Team OJHL Nieuwendyk at the 2015 Eastern Canada Cup All-Star Challenge and he is committed to join the Army West Point (United States Military Academy) Black Knights next season.
PROUD MEMBER OF: Forward – Anthony Rinaldi (Kingston Voyageurs) Playing his first season in the OJHL after spending the previous year in the BCHL, Anthony Rinaldi was just what the doctor ordered for the rebuilding Kingston Voyageurs. Having gone to the OJHL Championship Series the previous year and with extensive turn-over on the roster, Rinaldi made a seamless transition and got off to a quick start, going on a tear in October that saw him named the Gongshow Gear North-East Conference Player-of-the-Month, while extending a 13-game point scoring streak into November.
Along with leading the Vees in most offensive categories, Rinaldi tied for second in the OJHL with 38 goals and was third overall in the scoring race with 73 points in 52 games played, as well as with 8 game-winning goals. A member of Team OJHL Hawerchuk at the 2015 Eastern Canada Cup All-Star Challenge, he is committed to join fellow 1st Team All-Star Luc Brown with the Union College Dutchmen next season.
2nd Team All-Stars Georgetown Raiders netminder Andrew Masters posted an impressive 28-9-3 record with a 2.00 goals against average after spending the previous three years playing Junior ‘B’ and Junior ‘C’. Back-to-back winner of the OJHL Gongshow Gear Goaltender-of-the-Month Award in December and January, Masters played the second most games (43) and led the entire OJHL with an impressive .934 save percentage.
Stouffville Spirit defenceman Ryan DaSilva quickly took on a leadership role with his new club early in the season and finished third on the Spirit in scoring with 51 points in 50 games, ranking him third among all OJHL defenders. DaSilva’s 17 goals were second among defencemen, while his 8 power play markers and 5 game-winning goals were tops among blueliners, helping him earn the OJHL Gongshow Gear North-East Conference Player-of-the-Month for December and a 1st Team All-Prospect spot.
Burlington Cougars defenceman Willy Paul proudly wore the Cougars’ ‘C’ on his chest this season and nearly doubled his offensive output from a season ago, keying the blueline for the league’s most potent offence. Paul finished third among rearguards with 16 goals, tied for fourth in scoring with 50 points and second with 25 power play points this season.
St. Michael’s Buzzers forward Thomas Beretta led the young club in scoring this season with 38 goals, tied for second most in the entire OJHL, and 66 points in 53 games played to finish seventh in overall scoring. The Buzzers captain also led the team with 18 power play points and five game-winning goals. Beretta is committed to join the Michigan Tech University Huskies beginning next season.
Georgetown Raiders forward Jack Jacome had an impressive campaign, not only topping the Raiders in scoring, but also all OJHL rookies. Jacome’s 44 assists were fifth best in the OJHL, while he was sixth in overall scoring with 67 points, being named the runner-up for the OJHL Gongshow Gear South-West Conference Player-of-the-Month in January, as well as 1st Team All-Prospect. He is committed to join the Clarkson University Golden Knights beginning with the 2017-18 season.
PROUD MEMBER OF: Oakville Blades forward Josh Kosack had a break-through offensive year in his second OJHL season, leading the Blades in scoring with 34 goals and 68 points, which also both ranked fourth among all OJHL scorers. Steering one of the league’s top offences, Kosack earned a spot on Team Canada East for the 2015 World Junior ‘A’ Challenge and is committed to the Union College Dutchmen for the 2017-18 season.
Next week the OJHL will start announcing the year-end award recipients, beginning with the Executive-of-the-Year, Volunteer-of-the-Year and the Trainer-of-the-Year Awards.
About the OJHL – “League of Choice” The Ontario Junior Hockey League is the largest Junior ‘A’ league operating under the auspices of the Canadian Junior Hockey League with 22 member clubs. A proud member of the Canadian Junior Hockey League and Ontario Hockey Association, the OJHL was originally named the Ontario Provincial Junior ‘A’ Hockey League and it was formed out of the Central Junior ‘B’ Hockey League in 1993-94.
With a long and storied history of developing players for the next level, including the CIS, NCAA, CHL, Minor Pro ranks and the NHL, the OJHL has had more than 100 commitments in 2014-15, including 51 NCAA Division I scholarships. For more information on the Ontario Junior Hockey League, please visit www.ojhl.ca. –
