Tyler Fukakusa of the Toronto Jr. Canadiens was named Player of the Year by the Ontario Hockey Association at the Nottawasaga Inn Resort & Conference Centre Saturday. (Photo by Tim Bates / OJHL Images)
Four Ontario Junior Hockey League players were announced as award winners during the annual meeting of the Ontario Hockey Association in Alliston Saturday.
Tyler Fukakusa was named the OHA’s Player of The Year.
The OJHL’s 2022-23 scoring champion was named MVP, Most Gentlemanly Player award and a repeat First Team All-Star by the OJ this spring. The second-year forward from Mississauga scored 35 goals and added a league-high 70 assists for the regular season champion Jr. Canadiens. His 105 points was 11 more than the second-best pointgetter. During his 88-point rookie campaign in the OJHL, the now 20-year-old Fukakusa committed to NCAA Division I RIT in Rochester, NY. The 5-foot-10 forward from Mississauga joined the Toronto Jr A Canadiens in the fall of 2021 after playing with the Toronto Red Wings U18 program in 2019-20.
Riley Patterson (North York Rangers), Giacomo Martino (St. Michael’s Buzzers) and Andrew Brown (Oakville Blades) were named to the OHA’s Top Prospect Team. All three were on the OJHL’s 1st Prospect Team for 2022-23.
It’s been quite a spring for Patterson. Named Rookie of the Year in the Canadian Junior Hockey League, he is ranked 56th by Elite Prospects in its 2024 NHL Draft Rankings ‘Top 96’.
The 16-year-old from Burlington led the Rangers in scoring this season with 30 goals and 43 assists in 52 games. The 6-foot forward scored four game-winning goals and five shorthanded. The youngest player on a very youthful North York roster, Patterson committed early this season to the NCAA Division 1 Michigan State Spartans for 2024. Patterson was named OJHL Warrior South-East Conference Player-of-the-Month for November after he tallied 16 points during 10 games.
Martino made the OJHL’s 1st Prospect Team for the second straight season. He led St. Michael’s in points this season with 33 goals and 35 assists in 52 games. Martino represented the OJHL on Team Canada East, which won silver medals at the World Jr. A Challenge in Cornwall last December. Martino committed to the NCAA DI Northeastern University Huskies in Boston, MA for the 2023-24 season during his rookie year in the OJHL. The Toronto resident made NHL Central Scouting’s 2022 Preliminary and Mid-season Players to Watch lists ahead of the 2023 NHL Draft in Nashville.
Brown scored nine goals and added 27 assists for his hometown Blades this season. The second-year D-Man was co-captain of Oakville’s young squad. A graduate of the Oakville Rangers minor hockey system, he recorded 17 points in his rookie season. In 2021, Brown was drafted by the Sudbury Wolves of the OHL.
About the OHA
The Ontario Hockey Association is currently comprised of three Junior hockey leagues and one Senior hockey league: Junior A – Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL); Junior B – Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League (GOJHL); Junior C – Provincial Junior Hockey League (PJHL); and Sr. AAA – Allan Cup Hockey (ACH). In 2017-18, these four leagues encompassed 110 teams at the Junior and Senior levels. The Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) was founded on November 27, 1890 and is the governing body for the majority of Junior and Senior hockey in the Province of Ontario. The OHA is a Member Partner of the Ontario Hockey Federation (OHF), which is one of 13 Provincial and Regional Branches of Hockey Canada.
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 23 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 75 commitments in 2022-23 including more than 36 NCAA Division I scholarships.
