A look at the Western Conference Champions the Toronto Patriots

The club’s Head Coach is Vince Bellissimo, in his third season behind the bench. After being Assistant Coach for the St Micheal’s Buzzers he was appointed Head Coach for the Aurora Tigers for the 2017-18 campaign. The next season he was bench boss of the Toronto Jr Canadiens. He is in his second term with the Patriots. Vince played in what was then the OPJHL for the Caledon Canadians and St Michael’s Buzzers and spent 3 seasons with Western Michigan University before playing professional hockey in the U.S. and Europe. Assistant coaches are John Luciani and Matt Iannetta. David and Marco Franco are goaltending coaches.

The club’s General Manager is Blake Ricci. He held that position for 7 seasons with the Toronto Jr Canadiens and he is in his third year with the Patriots.

Let’s take a look at the players…first the defence…

4. LUCAS VACCA. Assistant captain Lucas is one of 8 players in his last year of junior hockey on the playoff roster. He had a strong regular season, finishing second in OJHL blueliner scoring with 47 points. He has added 19 more points in the playoffs to date. The Aurora native made his League debut with his hometown Tigers before playing one game with the Jr Canadiens and a season with the Haliburton County Huskies. He is in year two with the Patriots. Lucas played for Team Rodrigues in 2024’s Battle of Ontario and was named to this season’s first All-Star team.

5. ROBERT PALERMO. In his third full season in Toronto Robert is an assistant captain. He formerly suited up for the Markham Royals and Georgetown Raiders. Robert was drafted in 2022 by the Hamilton Bulldogs in the third round, 60th overall. He is committed to Buffalo State University for next season. In the regular season he had 16 points and in the post season he has 2 goals and 4 assists.

7. GABRIEL SCHMIDT. The 17-year old from Maple had 17 points in his rookie OJHL season. In 2024 he was a draft pick of the Kingston Frontenacs. Gabriel had 3 goals and 14 assists in the regular season and he had a goal against Milton in the postseason.

11. LUKE HOWARD. Luke, 18, younger brother of forward Simon, came to the club at the trading deadline from the Aurora Tigers. He was selected for the OJHL second All-Star team this season and represented Canada East at the World Jr A Challenge. Overall he put up 44 points, 23 with the Patriots. In the playoffs he has 2 goals and 11 points. Luke is committed to the NCAA Div. 1 RIT Tigers.

21. GABRIEL TROZZO. The 19-year old started his junior hockey career with the GOHL’s Port Colborne Sailors and is in his second term in Toronto where he recorded 21 points this season.. He was a 2024 draft selection of the Sarnia Sting and he was named the OJHL’s Scholastic Player of the Year for the 2024-25 season.

44. LIAM LONGO. Oshawa-born Liam, 20, was traded at the deadline from Aurora in 2025. He started his junior hockey career with the Pickering Panthers and had a 20-point season followed by 6 assists in the playoffs so far. Liam has a scholarship for Plattsburgh State University next season.

63. ANTONIO BONAVOTA. Antonio, 17, from King City, is in his first OJHL season. He had 4 goals and 10 points in the regular season.

77. PETER KOUKOUVES. Peter, 17, from Markham in his first season in the League scored 3 goals and added 15 assists in the regular season and has 1 goal and 4 points in the postseason. In 2024 he was selected by the Mississauga  Steelheads in round six of the priority draft.

The forwards are…

8. MAX KIMELMAN. 19-year old Max had his first OJHL experience with the North York Rangers as a callup in the 2022-23 season. He came to the Patriots this season from the KImball Union Academy in New Hampshire and had 10 points in 16 games played. He was a 2022 draft selection by the Mississauga Steelheads and has committed to Middlebury College for next season.

9. OWEN MCGUCKIN. In his first OJHL season Owen reached the 20-goal mark and produced 34 points. He posted a team best 8 game winning goals. Owen has a goal and 5 assists in the playoffs. He was picked in round seven in 2024 by the Sudbury Wolves and he was selected as the OJHL’s Scholastic Player of the year for the 2025-26 season.

10. SIMON HOWARD. Elder brother of defenceman Luke. Both are former Aurora Tigers, where Simon was the captain, he came to the club at the trading deadline. He scored at a point per game pace after coming in with 18 points. In the playoffs, despite missing 3 games on a suspension he has 2 goals, both game winners and 3 assists.

12. COLE COOKSEY. Cole at 21 is the oldest player on the squad and he is committed to Brock University next season. After playing the 2022-23 season with Markham, he went to the BCHL for two years with the Salmon Arm Silverbacks. This season he started with the Niagara IceDogs of the OHL and played his first game for the Patriots in mid-December. In 2022 Cole was a member of the OJHL second Team Prospects. Cole was selected 5th overall in 2022 by the Sarnia Sting. He had 15 goals and 22 points in 17 regular season games and has 8 goals and 20 points in the postseason.

13. LUCIANO BRUNO. Luciano, 19, was selected to the second All-Star team this season. In the 2022-23 campaign he was called up for five games by the Jr Canadiens. After playing one season for the Patriots he moved to the BCHL but came back late in the 2024-25 season. Luciano had a 71-point regular season, including 27 goals, third on the team, despite missing 18 games. He was a 2022 selection of the Kingston Frontenacs and is committed to NCAA Div 1 Clarkson for next season and he leads the Patriots in playoff scoring with 8 goals and 28 points.

17. HUDSON CUMMINS. With 84 points, Hudson, 20, led the team in point scoring.with 84 points, including 32 goals, 15 of which came on the powerplay. He came to the club after two seasons with the St Michael’s Buzzers. He was selected to this year’s OJHL All-Star team. Hudson has 3 goals and 11 points in the postseason to date.

18. IVAN BAZUNOV. Ivan, 17, is in his first OJHL season. He had 19 regular season points from 34 games.

19. COLTON WOODS, Another OJHL rookie, Burlington-born Colton played the 2024-25 season with the GOHL’s Pelham Panthers. He had 41 regular season points including 18 goals, all at even strength and has added 7 points in the playoffs.

22. ANTHONY GIACALONE. Team captain Anthony, from Whiby, had 52 points, 12 more than his first campaign with the Patriots. In the 2023-24 season he had 35 points for the GOHL’s Hamilton Kilty B’s (now the Steel). He was a 2022 seventh round pick of the London Knights. Anthony had 52 points in 51 games in the regular season. Nine of his goals came on the powerplay and 4 were game winners and in the playoffs so far he has 3 goals and 9 points.

26. DOUGLAS MITCHELL. Dougie played a handful of games for the North York Rangers before joining the Georgetown Raiders for the 2024-25 season. He was a seventh round draft pick by the Niagara Falls IceDogs in 2023. In the regular season Dougie collected 8 goals and 18 points.

61. BODHI RYAN. Rookie Bodhi had a strong first regular season with 8 goals and 45 points. He has played 7 games for the OHL’s Sudbury Wolves who selected him in the 2024 draft. In the playoffs, despite missing 3 games with a suspension he has 3 goals and 7 points with the Patriots.

71. TATE COLLINS. The Huntsville-born 18-year old is the younger brother of Ty, who had a 77- point season in 2022-23 for Haliburton. Tate played four games for Aurora as a call up and is now in his second season in Toronto and he is one of the assistant captains. His 76-point regular season saw him finish in second spot on the team in scoring. He has 8 goals and 3 assists in the playoffs with 4 game winners, the biggest of which was in game seven against Collingwood which put his team through to the Buckland Cup. He has a scholarship with Union College.

72. NOAH LODOEN. Before joining the Patriots the Newmarket native spent two years with Halibuton. He reached the 50-point mark in the regular season, including 23 goals, 5 of which came on the powerplay. In the playoffs to date he has 4 assists.

89. KYLE MOREY. Kyle from Kitchener played the regular season for the GOHL’s Elmira Sugar Kings where he put up 86 points in the regular season and 17 in their playoffs. He was called up April 8. He previously played in the GOHL for the St Marys Lincolns and in the OHL for his hoometown Rangers and Barrie Colts as well as in the QMJHL for the Baie-Comeau Drakkar. He was a 2021 selection of the Owen Sound Attack. He has committed to the University of Waterloo for next season. Kyle has 9 points in 5 playoff appearances.

91. ALEXANDER HEBBLETHWAITE. Alex, 20, will be attending RIT University in the Fall. In the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons Alex posted 55 points for the Niagara Falls Canucks, the first in the GOHL and the second in the OJHL. He played for 3 BCHL clubs in the following season and this year had 52 points in 41 games for Toronto. In 2023 he was selected for Team Hawerchuk in the Eastern Canada Cup. In the postseason Alex has 5 points.

93. TOMMY KARMIRIS.Tommy, 19, from Brantford, played for both Cougars, Cobourg and Burlington and spent a short time in the BCHL before returning to play for the OHL’s Brantford Bulldogs. In just 24 games this season for the Patriots he had 35 points and he carried that through to the playoffs with 11 goals and 21 points.

and the tenders of the twine…

31. TREY CARACCIOLO. Trey was born in Whitby and played in the 2024-25 season for the CCHL’s Brockville Braves where he was named to the CCHL’s Team Robinson Young Guns in 2024. In his first season as a Patriot he made 30 appearances and won 25 games, posting a 2,42 goals against average and a save percentage of .932. He has played in 8 playoff games; he has a 1.73 goals against average and a .952 save percentage.

34. NICO ARMELLIN. Nico, from Barrie, is the twin brother of the Newmarket Hurricanes’ goalie Alex. He also had 30  regular season appearances for the team, racking up a 2.20 GAA and a save % of .932. In 2024-25 he played for the GOHL’s St Marys Lincolns and was selected this season as a member of the OJHL second All-Star team. He was drafted by the Barrie Colts in 2023. In the playoffs to date Nico has a 2.40 GAA and a save % of .934 in 7 appearances.