2024 award winners

2024 player of the year:

TYLER HOSKINS, Cobourg Cougars

Trevor Hoskin earned himself the OJHL’s and CJHL’s Most Valuable Player Award in the 2023-24 season. His impressive performance included 42 goals and 58 assists…The Cobourg Cougars head coach Connor Armour expressed his admiration For Trevor’s development, both as a player and as a person, and confidently stated, “He’s got a bright future in hockey.”…Trevor’s impact on the team’s success was undeniable. He was an instrumental piece of the Cougars making it to the Eastern Conference finals in playoffs, where he recorded an impressive 11 goals and 17 assists in 18 playoff games…The Belleville, Ontario native brought his hometown great pride by being a representative for Canada East in the U19 World Junior A Challenge in Nova Scotia. Trevor earned the MVP award by recording the most points by a player in the tournament at 12, putting him at 10th overall all-time for points in the tournament, with Canada East earning Silver…Trevor will be attending Niagara University in the fall and we look forward to your career.

Photo courtesy of OJHL Images

Trainer of the Year

duane butler, wentworth gryphins

His spontaneous hockey journey has been unpredictably rewarding. The opportunity to share a part of the deep rich nurturing culture is valuable. He sincerely thanks his family, supervising therapist, Gryphins, and a special thanks to their owner.

Official of the Year…presented by fox 40

Brendan Kane

Kane began his officiating career refereeing minor hockey in his hometown of Sault Ste. Marie…In 2015 he joined the OHA as a linesman while living in St. Catharines and quickly advanced to skate in the Sutherland Cup Junior B Championship series and the Schmalz Junior C Championship series in his second season. In 2018, he was hired as a linesperson in the Ontario Hockey League, where he later progressed to a referee; now entering my fifth season…Career highlights include officiating the second round of the OHL playoffs, two consecutive OJHL League Championship Series, a World Under-17 Hockey Championship, and the Centennial Cup Junior A National Championship, all while residing in Barrie, Ontario.

Photo courtesy of OJHL Images

Officiating Prospects of the Year…presented by fox 40

DAVID ELFORD & Marlowe Schott

Elford just finished his second year officiating and first year as a referee…he got into officiating after retiring from playing the game and attended the NHL Officiating Combine in 2022…he was hired by the OHL as a linesman and also worked in minor hockey and the NOJHL before making the transition to referee last summer…he refereed games this year in the OHA, AHL, OHL, and PWHL

Marlowe grew up in Elmira and started officiating around age 15 as a part time job and a way to give back. Her Grandpa, Merrill Schott, who passed away when she was quite young had refereed Jr hockey in his early days so it’s been a special privilege to her to skate in what would now be the same league. She was invited to join the OHA in 2022/23, where she had the opportunity to learn from and skate alongside guys who are both phenomenal officials and great friends for the past two seasons. Marlowe is thankful for being provided continued development within the OHA.

Photo courtesy of OJHL Images

Coach of the Year

Patrick Shearer, Frankford Huskies

Shearer appreciates the honour of being selected for this league award. He started coaching in the Quinte Red Devils and Stirling Blues Minor Hockey organizations with some great mentors. Following this, he was given opportunities to coach Jr. A for multiple teams including Kingston, Trenton and Cobourg. In 2021, he received a call from Frank Robinson about coaching the inaugural season for the Frankford Huskies. In three seasons, with a great ownership group, a supportive management team, Head of Hockey Operations Frank Robinson and General Manager Ian Green, as well a dedicated and knowledgeable coaching, equipment and training staff, Frankford has built the program to a first place regular season title in the Tod Division. He looks forward to continuing the growth of our organization and providing development and memorable experiences for all players in Frankford.

Photo courtesy of the Hamilton Steelers

Donald Sanderson award

Kenneth Wu, Aurora Tigers

Wu is an exceptional Hockey Player, Student, and individual, and has made a promising start with the Aurora Tigers, scoring 3 goals and 11 assists in his inaugural full season…Beyond his on-ice achievements, Kenneth’s dedication to his athletic and academic pursuits has been rewarded with the prestigious Donald Sanderson Award. Praised by his peers for embodying traits such as dedication, discipline, desire, and deportment, Kenneth is a beacon of sportsmanship and academic diligence. With such a strong foundation, Kenneth is undoubtedly on the path to a bright future, with success in hockey and his educational journey well within his reach.

The award is presented annually to a player in the Ontario Hockey Association that meets the criteria as set out by the Sanderson Family: Dedication, Discipline, Desire, and Deportment; traits that Donald was well known for.

Photo courtesy of the Clarington Eagles

BJ Monro award

Jonathan Morello, St. Michael’s Buzzers

The B.J. Monro Memorial Award is presented annually to the OHA player who is the highest ranked individual according to the NHL Central Scouting List for the current season.

The 2006 year-of-birth potted 25 goals and had 32 assists for an impressive season tallying 57 points…He was selected to participate in the OJHL Top Prospects game for team Oates, where he was awarded the OJHL Top Prospects award alongside notable names like Jack McBain, Jake Walman and other current NHL players. …For the upcoming NHL Entry Draft, Johnathan is ranked 98^thoverall by NHL Central Scouting for North American Skaters…Johnathan is an outstanding student, accumulating over a 90% average at St.Michaels College School…he has earned himself a scholarship at the University of Clarkson, where he is interested in the engineering and business management program in the fall.

Photo courtesy of the OJHL

Gold Stick

Morris Hart

The Gold Stick is an order of merit in hockey awarded by the OHA for outstanding service to the game other than as a player. Such outstanding service must have been for a period of not less than 10 years continuous duration. The award may be made to any person who has rendered such service to any organized hockey Association or its member clubs anywhere in the world.

Morris Hart was among the founders of what is now the Tod Division of the PJHL in 1989. He represented the new Napanee franchise with Pat Moore. He has remained on the Napanee executive for all 35 years the franchise has been in operation, and was president of the club for over 20 years. Currently, his position is past-president. Across the division and particularly in Napanee he is synonymous with the Raiders

Now in his eighties, in addition to his executive role, Morris washes the team’s uniforms and laundry each week and regularly mops and cleans the dressing room space. He is always among the first to volunteer to help players needing rides to games or needing equipment fixed. He and his late wife Jane were also key in sewing badges on sweaters and helping with team dinners.

Photo courtesy of the PJHL