NEWS

 

Entering his final year of junior hockey eligibility, Andrew Petrucci (Photo by Andy Courneau  / OJHL Images) challenged himself.

So did the hockey staff of his Toronto Patriots club.

“It was more or less now or never,” he said this week. “I wanted to play NCAA Division 1. I knew I had to train harder.”

Petrucci hit the gym at his old Toronto high school, St. Michael’s, last summer, when he wasn’t working on his edges and balance with skating instructor Lisa Clarke.

Bingo.

The 20-year-old jumped from 58 points in 2016-17 to a league-best 100 this past regular season. He won the OJHL scoring crown on the final night of the year, scoring twice to edge Aurora Tigers captain Jack Bricknell by one point.

And he’ll play those NCAA Division 1 pucks, committing to Rochester Institute of Technology for next season.

Petrucci was voted MVP of the OJHL by a panel of general managers and media representatives. Regular-season awards will be presented at a ceremony before Game 1 of the OJHL championship series Friday night in Georgetown.

Patriots general manager Mark Joslin recalls meeting with Petrucci a year ago following their team’s first-round playoff exit during “a challenging year”.

“He was our captain and I told him to hang there ‘your leadership will be needed even more next year’,” Joslin recalls. “I knew he wanted to go school and we know there are fewer scholarships for 20-year-olds. ‘But it happens’ I told Andrew.’ – And look what happened.”

“He worked his butt off, on and off the ice. We saw Andrew mature as a team leader like no other player I’ve seen in 20 years of doing this.”

New Patriots head coach John Dean, fresh from three years as an assistant with North Bay of the Ontario Hockey League, also challenged Petrucci, Joslin said.

“The new coaching staff really brought out my game,” the MVP said.

Petrucci also praised his teammates, including linemates Lee Lapid and Oliver Benwell. The three amigos combined for 232 OJHL points last season.

Other NCAA programs keen on Petrucci included RPI, AIC and Michigan Tech.

But a visit to the RIT campus, including the business department and the $30-million Gene Polisseni Center arena sold him.

Petrucci looks back one year.

“I was a little bit worried,” he admitted. “But there have been like five 20-year-olds in our league (with NCAA scholarships) this season. It’s crazy.”

In a good way. 

Fraser Kirk of the Newmarket Hurricanes was voted runner-up as MVP. The Burlington native

was voted the 22-team league’s Goaltender of the Year for 2017-18. Kirk’s 27 wins and 1.86 GAA were both second best league-wide during the regular season.

The October 2017 Kewl OJHL goaltender of the month will also play NCAA Division 1 hockey next year, at Bentley University in Waltham, Mass. - OJHL Website