Friday, January 29, 2016

If there was an OJHL All-Star game...

The Ontario Junior Hockey League has participated in the Central/Eastern Canada Cup Challenge the last few years as a substitute for an all-star game. I was fortunate enough to commentate a bunch of the games last year, and truly enjoyed the hockey on display - so I am not in any way suggesting that they change that setup.

But, what if there was a Northeast vs Southwest, Conference vs. Conference game? So with that thought in mind, I thought I'd make all-star teams, based solely on my opinion on their play to date in the 2015-16 regular season. A great amount of weight is also put on consistency, versus a guy with a little more talent, but less consistency. Obviously, I have a great relationship with a great deal of players, so don't take offence out there if I don't pick you! This is just for fun, but one disclaimer I'll say is that I know the Southwest a lot better than I know the Northeast, so give me a break there! I also am not taking into account exact positions (centre, wing, etc.), and have purposely picked at least one player from each team.

The format I have set for myself is 12 forwards, 6 defenceman and three goalies per conference, and so here are Neugsie's 2015-2016 OJHL All-Star rosters!

Northeast Conference

Forwards

Luc Brown, Wellington Dukes
Anthony Rinaldi, Kingston Voyageurs
Tyson Bruce, Markham Royals
Austin Gerhart, Aurora Tigers
Drake Board, Aurora Tigers
Liam Grande, Cobourg Cougars
Cedric Ralph, Lindsay Muskies
Mark Rozanov, Newmarket Hurricanes
Chris Sekelyk, Pickering Panthers
Liam Morgan, Trenton Golden Hawks
Mitch Emerson, Trenton Golden Hawks
Ben Sokay, Wellington Dukes

Defencemen

Adam Clements, Trenton Golden Hawks
Ryan Dasilva, Stouffville Spirit
Brennan Roy, Cobourg Cougars
Jacob Panetta, Wellington Dukes
Justin Bean, Wellington Dukes
Kyle Locke, Aurora Tigers

Goalies

Daniel Urbani, Trenton Golden Hawks
David Richer, Kingston Voyageurs
Daniel Mannella, Whitby Fury

Some thoughts:

How do you pick a team that isn't full of Trenton Golden Hawks? Well, I did my best. I really like Hunter Fargey on Trenton a lot, for example, so excluding he and Kevin Lavoie, was really hard. I also think Nic Coric of Whitby has a ton of skill, and keeping a 20-goal scorer out of an all-star game is hard too. Chris Sekelyk did a lot of his damage for Pickering, and while I know he's on North York in the other conference now, I decided to cheat and let him play for the Northeast. Todd Winder has put up solid points to lead Newmarket, and he's a good player for sure, but when I'm watching the Hurricanes, it's Rozanov making more magic. I surprised myself by not putting more Markham Royals on the squad, especially a hard-nosed guy in Marco Azzano who scores a lot of goals with his speed and tenacity. Azzano is probably my first honourable mention, with a real reliable and intelligent Jon O'Hara from the Whitby Fury right beside him.

Southwest Conference

Forwards

Zach Evancho, Buffalo Jr. Sabres
Cameron Wright, St. Michael's Buzzers
Jack Jacome, Georgetown Raiders
Devin Pearce, Milton Icehawks
Scott Docherty, Mississauga Chargers
Michael Siddall, Toronto Jr. Canadiens
Grayden Gottschalk, North York Rangers
Josh Kosack, Oakville Blades
Christian Rajic, Oakville Blades
Jack Jeffers, Orangeville Flyers
Keegan Blasby, North York Rangers
Jeremy Pullara, Toronto Patriots

Defencemen

Willy Paul, Burlington Cougars
Matthew Cairns, Georgetown Raiders
Tyler Currie, North York Rangers
Patrick Kudla, Oakville Blades
Derek Topatigh, Orangeville Flyers
Mario Ferraro, Toronto Patriots

Goalies

Andrew Masters, Georgetown Raiders
Nicholas Latinovich, Orangeville Flyers
Jacob McGrath, St. Michael's Buzzers

Some thoughts:

I can already hear Greg Walters telling me "how do you not have Brendan Jacome and Josh Dickinson on this squad!", and he might be right, but there are a lot of great forwards in the Southwest and I felt I needed to spread it around. That being said, I'd love to have both those guys on my team any day of the week. I have a ton of respect for the talent of Ted Hunt, Nick Campoli, Jeremy Szabo, and Michael Morgan on North York (and obviously know them extremely well), and they all are having nice years, but to pick from the Rangers' riches is tough. The other battle I had is: what to do with the Toronto Jr. Canadiens. There is no doubt in my mind that Michael Siddall is an all-star, but they have an assortment of guys that I like a lot - including, but not limited to, Nick Ursitti, Connor Beck, Andrew Mullen, Sal Filice, and Nicky Jarzabek. Finally, Oakville has a lot of riches up front too. Ryan Garvey has been great all year, and I am a big fan of his, but just missed the cut. Tyler Rollo is in a very similar boat, so what can you do? The whole "need to have someone from every team" rule I put on made it tougher, but that's the nature of it I guess!

So there you have it...feel free to call me crazy if you want!

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