By Jim Mason/OJHL Communications
OJHL MVP Trevor Hoskin and dad Shane sport Calgary Flames hats outside their home in Belleville after the Cobourg Cougars’ star was selected by Calgary in the 2024 NHL Draft Saturday. (Hoskin family photo)
Prior to this weekend, Trevor Hoskin of the Ontario Junior Hockey League’s Cobourg Cougars was best known for a video on his TikTok account that has more than 29 million views.
The post, part of a 2021 online challenge, shows Trevor’s dad, Shane, unofficially the ‘Fastest stick taper in the world’, dressing up a blade in less than five seconds.
Shane, who played briefly for the London Knights, picked up the skill while working in a sporting goods store. He now drives a Zamboni in the AHL’s Belleville Senators’ arena.
Now it’s Trevor time.
The late-blooming, high-scoring forward was selected by the Calgary Flames in the fourth round of the 2024 NHL Draft at the Sphere in Las Vegas Saturday afternoon.
Hoskin was home in Belleville watching the draft unfold with his folks, some aunts and uncles and cousins. His sister, Alexa, recently completed her fifth year of NCAA Division I pucks at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut.
“My dad was sitting on the couch, I was kind of just looking at my phone, texting with my sister,” Hoskin said on the Flames website. “I look up and my dad’s screaming ‘You got picked! Your name came up!’
“All of a sudden I looked at the screen and my name was right beside Calgary’s logo, after that I just blacked out. It’s so surreal and so exciting.”
“I wasn’t sure if I was going to get picked later on or picked at all,” he told the OJHL about not making the trip to Vegas. “I gambled and said ‘I’ll just watch it with my family at home’. It worked out.”
The 20-year-old opened a lot of eyes during the 2023-24 season. He was somewhat shocked himself Saturday.
“I was a little surprised to see my name come up that early,” he said.
The 106th pick overall, Hoskin is the recipient of the John Grisdale Award as the highest selected player across the Canadian Junior Hockey League.
Hoskin was not shocked to be picked by the Flames. Of all the NHL teams that spoke to him and his representative, they were the most persistent. “The main team,” as he put it.
Flames director of amateur scouting Tod Button credited scout Terry Doran with steering the Flames in Hoskin’s direction. Doran watched Hoskin extensively with Cobourg and at the World Jr. A Challenge this season.
Hoskin and his dad met with a Calgary team rep in Barrie during their drive to the OJHL awards celebration in Collingwood May 19.
Next up will be Flames’ development camp in Calgary in early July.
Hoskin was voted the CJHL’s MVP and Top Forward in 2023-24.
He was the Ontario Junior Hockey League’s MVP and Leading Scorer for 2023-24.
Hoskin won the scoring championship after finishing the regular season with 100 points. Hoskin accumulated points at an astounding clip of 1.92 per game.
His 42 goals included nine game-winners, four while shorthanded and nine on the power play.
An assistant captain in Cobourg this season, the third-year Cougar is committed to NCAA Division 1 Niagara University for next season after receiving multiple scholarship offers. He’ll be joined on the Purple Eagles’ Incoming class by Cobourg linemate and close friend Andy Reist.
Hoskin signed with Cobourg following his U16 AAA in Kingston.
The MVP at the OJHL’s Eastern Canada All-Star Challenge in Trenton in November, Hoskin was voted the OJHL Warrior East Player of the month for October.
At the World Jr. A Challenge in Nova Scotia in December he was the leading scorer and selected to the all-star team as a member of silver medal winning Team Canada East.
“It’s been so surreal to have a year like I did,” Hoskin told the OJHL. “I feel you just have to go day by day.
“I came into the year off a 60-point season. I knew I had a good summer trying to make the jump to being a top player in the league. Things just fell into place as I continued to work hard and I got rewarded.”
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. The OJHL is home to the Centennial Cup champion Collingwood Blues. 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 scholarship commitments already this season.
For more information on the Ontario Junior Hockey League, follow us on Instagram (@OJHLOfficial), Twitter (@OJHLOfficial) and Facebook (OJHLOfficial).
