NEWS

April 12, 2022, Mississauga, ON – …. The Ontario Junior Hockey League today announced its 2021-22 OJHL First and Second All-Star teams. The teams were selected by a committee of OJHL general managers and media members.

Members of the 2021-22 OJHL First All-Star Team are:

FORWARDS

Dalton Bancroft, Trenton Golden Hawks. Bancroft’s fourth season in the OJHL was massive. He tied for the scoring championship with fellow first-teamer Brad Somers of St. Mike’s. Bancroft’s 92 points included 37 goals and 55 assists. The captain in Trenton scored five game-winning goals. The OJ’s October Warrior South-East Conference player of the month, Bancroft committed to NCAA Division 1 Cornell last fall. The son of former NHLer Steve Bancroft began his OJHL career with Wellington in 2018. He was traded to Trenton the following season.

Tyler Fukakusa, Toronto Jr. Canadiens. The 5-foot-10 forward from Mississauga joined the Toronto Jr A Canadiens this season after playing with the Toronto Red Wings U18 team in 2019-20. His rookie year of junior year has been spectacular. Fukakusa was named the OJHL Warrior South-East Conference Player of the Month for February 2022 after he tallied a league-best 27 points during 13 games. In March, he committed to the NCAA Division I RIT Tigers  in Rochester, NY beginning with the 2023-24 season. Fukakusa finished the season with 21 goals and a league-best 67 assists in 53 games, tops on the JRC roster. He helped lead them to the OJHL’s overall regular season championship and the South Division title.

Brad Somers, Toronto’s St. Michael’s Buzzers. Somers and fellow 1st-teamer Dalton Bancroft of the Trenton Golden Hawks tallied 92 points to share the Ontario Junior Hockey League’s 2021-22 scoring title. Somers scored 27 goals and assisted on 65 others while playing in all of the Buzzers’ 54 games. He scored three game-winning goals and another three while shorthanded. Somers was named the Warrior South-East Conference Player-of-the-Month for December after he tallied 18 points during nine games. His seven goals included one on the power play and another shorthanded. The 20-year-old is in his fourth season with Buzzers after signing with the storied Toronto franchise from his hometown Oakville Rangers U18 team.

DEFENCEMEN

Brandon Tomilson, Pickering Panthers. Tomilson led all OJHL defencemen in scoring this season, accumulating 55 points (14 goals/41assists) while playing in all of the Panthers’ 54 games. Tomilson has committed to the York University Lions in Toronto for next season. He joined the Panthers last fall after playing two seasons with the Halifax Mooseheads of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. He played for the Lindsay Muskies of the OJHL from 2017-19. The former Central Ontario Wolves AAA minor hockey defenceman was named captain in Pickering this season.

George Fegaras, North York Rangers. Fegaras jumped onto the Jr. A hockey scene like very few first-year defenceman have. The 6-foot-2, 185-pounder from Richmond Hill created that early buzz in the Ontario Junior Hockey League by being one of four OJHLers named to NHL Central Scouting’s preliminary watch list for the 2022 draft, Fegaras remained on the mid-season list for the July draft in Montreal. He also committed to the NCAA Division I Cornell University Big Red in Ithaca, NY for the 2023-24 season last fall. Fegaras, who will turn 18 in August, was a fourth-round selection of the Kitchener Rangers from the Richmond Hill Coyotes in the 2020 Ontario Hockey League Priority Selection. But instead of Kitchener he committed to the Rangers of North York ahead of the COVID-19-quashed 2020-21 OJHL season. Fegaras finished third in points by OJHL defencemen this season after scoring 13 goals and adding 35 assists in 52 games. He scored three game-winning goals.

GOALTENDER

James Gray, North York Rangers. Gray won the league’s 2021-22 Top Goaltender award, presented annually to the netminder with lowest goals-against average. All of his numbers are top notch. Gray posted a 1.96 GAA while playing in 36 games with North York this season. Selby Warren of the Toronto Jr. Canadiens was next best at 2.02. Zach Roy in Pickering had a 2.22 GAA. The GAA award recipient had to play a minimum of 20 regular season games. Gray, Warren and Christian Cicigoi of the Haliburton County Huskies all had a league-best 25 wins. Gray, Roy and Zach Dietz of the Burlington Cougars led the OJHL in save percentage, at .931. It’s a big jump for Gray, who had a 3.65 GAA and .897 save percentage in 25 games during 2019-20, his only other season of junior hockey, also played with the Rangers. Uncommitted school-wise, Gray has attracted the attention of NCAA colleges with his numbers. In the off-season, he’s a student of Pittsburgh Penguins goalie coach Andy Chiodo – a former OJHLer himself.

The OJHL is announcing its 2021-22 award winners throughout the first three rounds of the playoffs.

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 CJHL 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 U SPORTS, the NCAA, CHL, minor pro ranks and the NHL, the OJHL had more than 125 commitments in 2019-20 – including more than 45 NCAA Division I scholarships.

1st & 2nd team photo credits: OJHL Images – Charles Harrison, Andy Corneau, Tim Bates, Shawn Muir, Ed McPherson and Ray MacAloney