Mississauga, ON – The Ontario Junior Hockey League announced the 2017-18 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 2017-18 OJHL First and Second All-Star Team recipients are:
1st Team All Stars
F Andrew Petrucci, Toronto Patriots
F Jake Bricknell, Aurora Tigers
F Lucas Condotta, Markham Royals
D Hudson Lambert, Orangeville Flyers
D Matthew Kellenberger, Oakville Blades
G Fraser Kirk, Newmarket Hurricanes
2nd Team All Stars
F Dante Spagnuolo, Toronto Patriots
F Jack Jeffers, Markham Royals
F Oliver Benwell, Toronto Patriots
D Christopher Giroday, Aurora Tigers
D Caleb Boman, Trenton Golden Hawks
G Colby Muise, North York Rangers
1st Team All Stars
Forward – Andrew Petrucci (Toronto Patriots)
Andrew Petrucci won the 2017-18 scoring title in the Ontario Junior Hockey League in dramatic fashion. The Toronto Patriots captain scored two goals during the final night of the OJHL regular season. That gave him an even 100 points on the season – one more than Aurora Tigers captain Jake Bricknell. Petrucci, who will play for NCAA Division 1 RIT next season, finished with 52 goals, 17 more than Bricknell, who was also runner-up in goal scoring. He was the Kewl OJHL Player of the Month for September and January for the regular-season champion Pats. The Toronto native joined the Patriots to begin the 2016-17 season after a trade from the Milton Icehawks. Petrucci played nine games as an Affiliate Player for the St. Michael’s Buzzers in 2014-15. The following year, 2015-16, Petrucci made the full-time jump to the OJHL, suiting up for both the Markham Royals and the IceHawks. In his first season with the Patriots, Petrucci led his club in scoring including netting 26 goals.
Forward – Jake Bricknell (Aurora Tigers)
Jake Bricknell was named the Kewl North-East Conference Player-of-the-Month for December and February. The 20-year-old centre, who came to the OJHL from the Ontario Hockey League early in 2017, had 99 points in 53 games with an Aurora team that won the conference and North Division regular season championships one year after missing the playoffs. Bricknell and linemate Austin Eastman committed to the University of Ontario Institute of Technology in Oshawa for 2018-19 last month. The native of Port Perry played two seasons, 2013-15, with the Belleville Bulls, who selected him in the second round of the 2013 OHL draft. He was moved to the Hamilton Bulldogs and then the Guelph Storm. His rights were traded again, to the Peterborough Petes, a year ago but he opted to join the eventual RBC Cup national Jr. A champion Cobourg Cougars for their run to the title. Aurora acquired Bricknell in an off-season trade that sent netminder Brayden Lachance to Cobourg.
Forward – Lucas Condotta (Markham Royals)
Following a starry, five-year career in the Ontario Junior Hockey League, Lucas Condotta of the Markham Royals will join the UMass Lowell River Hawks this fall. In 239 OJHL games, Condotta tallied 203 points (76 goals, 127 assists) – including 82 points in 54 games this year. He was named the OJHL’s Kewl North/East Player of the Month for September. During his second year with the Pickering Panthers, Condotta was traded to the Hamilton Red Wings, who moved to Markham the next season. The 6-foot-2 forward was named captain of the Royals in June 2016. The 20-year-old native of Georgetown played his final two seasons of minor hockey with the Mississauga Senators bantams and Brampton 45’s minor midgets. His brother, Jaden, is a 5-foot-5 rookie defenceman with the OJHL’s Georgetown Raiders.
Defenceman – Hudson Lambert (Orangeville Flyers)
Offence meets defence in Hudson Lambert. The second-year Orangeville Flyer led all OJHL defencemen in scoring this season with 54 points (12 goals, 42 assists). He’ll played next year at NCAA Division 1 Canisius College in Buffalo for OJHL grad Trevor Large. The Richmond Hill native was named the Kewl South-West Conference Player-of-the-Month for October after leading the conference with 18 points in just 12 games played. Lambert’s impressive October also earned him national recognition – first star from the Canadian Junior Hockey League’s in naming its three stars for the month. Lambert, 19, played minor hockey with the Mississauga Reps and Don Mills Flyers in the GTHL. He helped Markham’s Bill Crothers Secondary School Colts win their first York Region high school championship in 2016.
Defenceman – Matthew Kellenberger, Oakville Blades
Matthew Kellenberger, 19, has one of the highest profiles in the OJHL. The 6-foot-1, 175-pound smooth-skating blueliner joined the Blades in 2016 from the Toronto Young Nationals midgets. The Toronto resident was picked by the OHL Sarnia Sting in the seventh round of the league draft in 2015, but has elected to commit to Princeton University for this fall. Ranked 74th among North American skaters, he was not selected in the 2017 NHL draft. He was later invited to the Vancouver Canucks development camp in July. He is eligible again this year and ranked 178th. Kellenberger scored 12 times and assisted on 39 Oakville goals during 49 games this season.
Goaltender – Fraser Kirk (Newmarket Hurricanes)
You can bet the Newmarket Hurricanes are happy with the deal they made in January 2017 to acquire Fraser Kirk. Kirk joined Newmarket after two seasons with the Jr. B Thorold Blackhawks. He paid immediate dividends for the Hurricanes, who were in search of a No. 1 netminder. He closed out the regular season in Newmarket on a hot streak that continued into the playoffs. This season, Kirk had 27 wins and a GAA of 1.87 – both second best in the OJHL. He was one of the leaders on a Newmarket team that finished as third seed in North/East. He was the OJHL Kewl Goaltender-of-the-Month for October after posting a 6-1-1 record with a goals-against average of 1.59 and a .939 save percentage during October. The 20-year-old will join the NCAA Division 1 Bentley University Falcons in Waltham, Massachusetts this fall. Kirk also tended goal for the Grimsby Peach Kings Jr. C club. He played his minor midget season with his hometown Burlington Eagles AAA team.
2nd Team All Stars
Forward – Dante Spagnuolo (Toronto Patriots)
How do you like them apples? Dante Spagnuolo and Patriots teammate Oliver Banwell, led the OJHL in assists this season with 66 each. Spagnuolo finished third in league points with 89. Spagnuolo was Kewl South-West Conference Player-of-the-Month for December after accumulating 22 points in 12 games. In his second season with the Patriots, the 19-year-old has committed to skate for the Mercyhurst Lakers in 2019-20. After playing in the York-Simcoe Express AAA system, the Newmarket resident played two years of midget AAA with the Richmond Hill Coyotes, tallying campaigns of 63 and then 90 points. He played seven games as a midget affiliate with the OJHL’s Aurora Tigers in 2015-16 and one game the next year with the Trenton Golden Hawks before joining the Patriots.
Forward – Jack Jeffers (Markham Royals)
Jack Jeffers’ career year in points – 79 – were fifth highest in the OJHL this season. His 56 assists were fourth best across the 22-team league. Jeffers confirmed his commitment to join the NCAA Division 1 University of Alabama in Huntsville Chargers beginning with the 2018-19 season. The 20-year-old joined the Royals this season from his hometown Oakville Blades. He also played for the OJHL’s Burlington Cougars and Orangeville Flyers. Jeffers played minor hockey for the Brampton 45’s minor midgets and Oakville Rangers major midgets, where he blossomed as a pointgetter. The 6-foot-1, 185-pound forward was on NHL Central Scouting’s radar in 2016. Selected to play in the 2016 Canadian Junior Hockey League Prospects Game, Jeffers represented the Ontario Junior Hockey League at the Eastern Canada All-Star Challenge last November.
Forward – Oliver Benwell (Toronto Patriots)
On a team as deep as the Toronto Patriots, you can’t sleep on Oliver Benwell. The 19-year-old amassed 78 points on a talented Pats team that was ranked in the top 10 nationally much of this season. His 66 assists tied for tops in the entire league – with teammate Dante Spagnuolo – during the regular season. A product of the Don Mills Flyers GTHL organization, Benwell played for the Oakville Blades in 2015-16 before an all-OJHL transaction brought him to the Patriots. He had 43 points last year.
Defenceman – Christopher Giroday (Aurora Tigers)
Already named to the OJHL 1st All-Prospects team, Christopher Giroday adds to an impressive season. The 17-year-old from Toronto scored 15 times and assisted on 34 goals for a veteran Aurora team in 2017-18. Playing midget for the Toronto Canadiens the previous season, he played four games with the Jr. Canadiens of the OJHL. Last fall, he was invited to camp with Team Canada East for the 2017 World Jr. A Challenge hockey tournament in Nova Scotia. His play this season helped also earned him an offer from Western Michigan University. Giroday is scheduled to play at the Kalamazoo school beginning in 2019-20.
Defenceman – Caleb Boman (Trenton Golden Hawks)
Few teams can boast of having a player with NCAA Division 1 experience. The Trenton Golden Hawks acquired one when they got the rights to 1997-born defenceman Caleb Boman from the Notre Dame Hounds of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League in a deal that sent fan favourite defenceman Chays Ruddy the other way last August. A Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario native, Boman played for his hometown Thunderbirds for two seasons, 2014-16, tallying 80 points in 95 games, before committing to the Niagara University Purple Eagles for last season. He had five points in 20 games in his freshman campaign with Western New York School in 2016-17. This year, Boman had 24 goals and 30 assists in 54 games in Trenton – fourth best among OJHL defencemen.
Goaltender – Colby Muise (North York Rangers)
Colby Muise has already been named the OJHL’s goaltender with the best goals against average during the 2017-18 season. It was a tremendous year for Muise, a 19-year-old rookie from Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. In 31 games with the Rangers, Muise led all goaltenders with a 1.81 goals-against average and a .934 save percentage to top off a 22-7-1 record that included four shutouts. Muise teamed up with Jett Alexander to make one of the most dangerous goaltending duos in the entire country, helping North York to the best regular season in the club’s history. Muise, OJHL Kewl Goaltender-of-the-Month for November and December, joined the Rangers this season after high school hockey at Upper Canada College in Toronto for the past two campaigns. Muise is a multi-sport athlete, having also played high-level baseball during his career.
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 had more than 135 commitments in 2016-17, including 52 NCAA Division I scholarships.
For more information on the Ontario Junior Hockey League, please visit www.ojhl.ca.
