By Ron Valentine
The final standings and playoff seeding in the Ontario Junior Hockey League West Conference were not decided until the last day of the season, March 1.
The Toronto Patriots, winners of the Brant Snow Memorial Trophy emblematic of winning the OJHL regular season championship, are the top seed and will hold home-ice advantage throughout their playoffs.
The first-round best-of-seven series open on all four fronts this weekend.
TORONTO PATRIOTS (1) vs MISSISSAUGA CHARGERS (8)
The Patriots took all four games in their regular-season series, the first one in Port Credit 5-4 in 2OT with rookie Owen McGuckin scoring the winner along with 6-3 and 8-3 wins at home and a 7-3 road win in their final meeting. The Patriots put together a 14-game winning run between November 20 and January 11. They lost just three times on home ice in the regular season, to Niagara Falls, Milton and Stouffville while picking up a team-record 95 points. Hudson Cummins, who played in all 56 games, led the Patriots in scoring with 32 goals and 84 points followed by Tate Collins with 76 points and Luciano Bruno with 71 from only 38 games. Nico Armellin and Trey Caracciolo combined for a goals against average of 2.35 Lucas Vacca was the top defenceman in points with 47. Their powerplay clicked for a league high of 32.7% while their penalty kill ended at 84.3%. The Patriots goal differential of +164 was the overall best. They scored a league-high for the season of 296 goals.
Super-rookie Tyler Hinde put up 27 goals and 76 points for the Chargers with Spencer Hughes ending on 67 (three with Trenton) and Mason Kim produced 26 goals, including 6 game winners and 67 points. Owen Barfoot had 21 goals and 48 points and was the only player to appear in all 56 games. The club posted 1,168 minutes in penalties, the highest in the Conference. They were 20.3% on the powerplay and 76.2% on the penalty kill. The Chargers last made the playoffs in the 2013-14 season. Their 28 wins this season were equally split between home and road games.
COLLINGWOOD BLUES (2) vs KING REBELLION (7)
The Blues won all four of their regular season meetings although the first three were close affairs. Game 1 in King ended 2-1, in game 2 the Blues shut out the Rebellion 2-0 in Collingwood, the third game, in King, ended 4-3 Blues and in the final meeting the Blues posted a 6-0 shutout.
For the Blues, goalie Maksim Corovic posted the lowest goals against average in the league at 1.66 in 20 games with three shutouts and backup Hagan Bach posted a GAA of 2.25. Up front they had team captain Will Hughes leading the group with 78 points including a team-best 26 goals. He was followed by Brayden Stumpf on 54 points and Atom Thususka on 45. Talan Palmer registered 44 points from 46 games and Ethan Neller 42 from 42. Nathan Omeri contributed 39 points from the blueline. The Blues powerplay was second best in the Conference with a 28.6% success rate and on the PK they came in also in second spot on 88%. The club was unbeaten in their last 9 regular season contests and allowed just 118 goals, second best in the Conference. Their goal differential was +132.
For the Rebellion, Jared MacNeil had the most points with 51 including 19 goals. Deacon King had 43 points (32 of those with Caledon). Lachland Larmand tallied 15 goals and 38 points along with super-rookie Lincoln Edwards (17 for Cobourg) followed by defenceman Lucas Manikis on 36 (26 with Stouffville) The club had an excellent PK record, of 87.8%, second best in the OJHL. They were 17.3% on the PP.
LEAMINGTON FLYERS (3) vs BUFFALO JR SABRES (6)
Leamington took 5 of a possible 8 points, tying game 1 in at home 4-4 before losing 3-1 in Buffalo. They took the next two 4-1 at home and 4-3 in overtime Stateside.
Ethan Walker led the Flyers with 30 goals and 67 points followed by Brayden Degelas with 56 and Brendan Cooke on 54 including 28 goals. Defenceman Landon Pickersgill ended with 40 points, fifth in that position in the League. Goalie Tre Altiman posted the most shutouts in the OJHL with 7 and had a miniscule GAA of 1.78 closely followed by rookie Gannon Hunter on 1.95. Leamington won their last 10 games of the regular season and allowed just 108 goals, the lowest in the League.
For the Jr Sabres their 1-2 punch was Jaden Flora and Joey Banas. Flora had 25 goals and 62 points and Banas 23 goals and 61 points. Captain Ryan Shuler and Ian Krakowiak are the Sabres’ only 2005-born players on a youthful squad. Their leading goalscorer was rookie Tyler Lyndaker with 28. In goal Anthony Alessi had a dominant season with 16 wins and 4 shutouts. He played 2184 minutes, the third highest total in the OJHL. On the PP the Sabres were a middle-of -the pack 19.6%, 78.7% on the PK. The club was the least penalized team in the West with 610 penalty minutes.
MILTON MENACE (4) vs BURLINGTON COUGARS (5)
The Menace took the first 2 games in Milton by identical 5-1 scores and then by 4-2 and 6-4 counts in Burlington. In the 2025 playoffs the Menace eliminated the Cougars in 4 straight games in the first round on their way to the Buckland Cup where they finished as runners-up to Trenton in six games. Milton were led by Tristan Tremble with 21 goals and 68 points. Captain Graeme MacAuley ranked tied for sixth among all OJHL defencmen with 39 points, despite missing 11 games. In goal Austin McKillop made 36 appearances, posted 24 wins and had a GAA of 2.24. He is ably abetted by former Newmarket Hurricane and Collingwood Blue, Hayden Duncan. Six of their top seven pointscorers are in their final season in the OJHL. The club’s PP struggled a little at 18.4% while their PK was a strong 83.3%.
For the Cougars, captain Reid Forster was the OJHL’s leading defenceman with 12 goals and 54 points. James Wong ended on 44 points (24 with Georgetown), Colin Ronalds had 42 and Ethan Brassard had 40 (11 with the Patriots) along with Ben Trebicky. Daniel Vasic scored 17 goals in 24 games after joining the team from Haliburton.The club was 17.6% on the PP and a strong 83.4 % on the PK. A young group with just two 2005-born players on the roster.
Round 1 games have to be completed by March 19. Round two goes March 20- April 2. Round 3 must be completed by April 16 and the Buckland Cup final has an April 17-30 window with the Centennial Cup starting May 7 in Summerside, Prince Edward island.
