April 5, 2024, Mississauga, ON – …. Patrick Saini of the Haliburton County Huskies has been voted the Ontario Junior Hockey League’s Most Gentlemanly Player for the 2023-24 season, the league announced today.
Saini totalled 94 points (44 goals/50 assists) during 56 games this season – while being assessed only one minor penalty.
The captain of the Huskies finished tied for fourth place in the OJHL scoring race.
Saini’s only penalty came with 20:09 remaining in the Huskies’ final game of the regular season.
“A tripping call – the guy stepped on his stick,” Huskies Head Coach and General Manager Ryan Ramsay told the OJHL with a laugh.
Saini scored in the game, a 2-1 Huskies’ win in Niagara Falls.
“It was kind of just a weird play,” Saini said. “We just bumped into each other. I was a little upset that I got a penalty in my last game, but that’s the way it goes sometimes.”
The coach is a big fan.
“Patty plays hard and plays 20 to 25 minutes every night,” said Ramsay. “For a guy to only get one penalty in 56 games… And he’s a guy who finishes his hits. Just a great human being, great character. I can’t say enough about the human he is.
“A heart-and-soul guy who plays honest, and not a lot of guys that play that much play that way.”
Saini, who won a silver medal with Team Canada East at the 2022 World Jr. A Challenge, averaged 9.5 minutes in penalties per season during his Jr. A career.
“I like to think that I go to the dirty areas, the spot where you should get penalties,” Saini told the OJHL. “Maybe some luck was involved. I’m not exactly sure why (I didn’t get penalties). But I’m not complaining about it.”
Saini spent all five seasons of his junior eligibility with the Huskies franchise, after signing with the then Whitby Fury in 2019. (The 2020-21 season was wiped out by COVID-19.)
“The team was so good to me,” he said. “Coach Ryan gave me so much opportunity. He taught me so much. He was the best coach you could ask for. I didn’t want to leave and play for another coach or another team.”
“Once the team became Haliburton, I loved the community and everybody in it. I’d see kids at the rink and in public and go talk to them. The kids look up to everybody on the team. It was the same with other fans. You’re such a part of the community, it’s hard to leave that.”
“I loved my time there and wouldn’t change it for anything.”
The Toronto product was Warrior East Conference Player-of-the-Month for November after he led the entire 24-team league with 22 points in 10 games.
Saini is currently weighing his post-junior options for next season.
He will be honoured along with the other OJHL award recipients at a ceremony during the OJHL Nutrafarms Championship Series in late April.
The OJHL is announcing its 2023-24 award winners throughout the first three rounds of the playoffs.
MONDAY: Defenceman of the Year
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 24 member clubs. A proud member of the Canadian Junior Hockey League 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 has had more than 45 NCAA Division I scholarships already this season.
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