March 21, 2024, Mississauga, ON – …. The Ontario Junior Hockey League today announced its First and Second All-Star teams for the 2023-24 season.
First Team All-Star
Goal – Ben Bonisteel (Trenton Golden Hawks)
Committed to NCAA Division I Canisius for September, Bonisteel had the fourth best goals-against average (2.25) in the OJHL this season. Bonisteel and stable mate Brady Spry helped Trenton win the East Conference regular season title. Sidelined by a midseason injury, he still went 20-9-1-0 while accumulating six shutouts and sporting a .926 save percentage. The 20-year-old from Fenwick played a season and a half with Brantford of the OJHL before being dealt to Trenton during the 2022-23 season.
Forward – Ryan Forberg (Markham Royals)
The 21-year old is committed to NCAA Division I Lindenwood University in Saint Charles, Missouri for next season. Forberg had 97 points (45 goals/52 assists) this season, second only to Trevor Hoskin of the Cobourg Cougars’ 100. Eight of Forberg’s goals were game-winners. The Thornhill resident was the OJHL Warrior East Conference Player of the Month in September and runner-up, to linemate Gavin Rocha, in December. Forberg played two seasons in Markham, following one year with the Toronto Patriots of the OJHL.
Forward – Adam O’Marra (Trenton Golden Hawks)
O’Marra broke the Trenton franchise’s single season points record when he finished with 94 (42 goals/52 assists). O’Marra is committed to NCAA Division I Robert Morris for next season. He was named OJHL Warrior East Conference Player-of-the-Month for January after he easily led the 24-team league with 24 points during eight games. O’Marra scored 13 goals and added 11 assists during the month. The 21-year-old from Mississauga began his OJHL career as an affiliate player, first with the Aurora Tigers and then the Oakville Blades. He then spent two and a half years with the Collingwood Blues before being dealt to Trenton midway through the 2022-23 OJHL season.
Forward – Trevor Hoskin (Cobourg Cougars)
Hoskin won the OJHL scoring championship, finishing the regular season with 100 points, three more than Ryan Forberg of the Markham Royals and five ahead of Andy Reist, Hoskin’s close friend and linemate in Cobourg. 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. Hoskin missed four games while representing the OJHL at the World Junior A Hockey Challenge in Nova Scotia in December. He was named to the all-tournament team after leading Team Canada East to the silver medals. 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.
Defence – David Green (St. Michael’s Buzzers)
Green is on the radar for this summer’s NHL Draft, having made Central Scouting’s mid-term rankings in January. Green led all OJHL defencemen in scoring this season with 57 points (18 goals/ 39 assists). The second-year OJHLer committed to the NCAA Division I Merrimack College Warriors in North Andover, Mass beginning with the 2025-26 season in September. The 2006-born defenceman was named to the OJHL’s Second All-Prospect Team a year ago. The Toronto resident will graduate from St. Michael’s College School this year. Green and the Buzzers begin the second round of the OJHL playoffs at home Friday.
Defence – Will Gourgouvelis (Toronto Jr. Canadiens)
Gourgouvelis’ 51-point season was second to only David Green amongst OJHL defenceman. The 20-year-old from Whitby had six goals and 45 assists. Gourgouvelis was acquired from the Jr. Canadiiens after spending two seasons with the OJHL’s Haliburton County Huskies. He played minor hockey for the Whitby Wildcats and Ajax Pickering Raiders AAA programs. He was a second-round pick of the Sarnia Sting in the Ontario Hockey League’s 2020 U18 draft. He scored the series-winning goal in the Junior Canadiens’ elimination of the Wellington Dukes from the OJHL playoffs Saturday.
Goal – Noah Pak (Collingwood Blues)
Pak won the Ontario Junior Hockey League’s Top Goaltender award for having the lowest goals against average during the 2023-24 season. On top of that 1.30 GAA, he led the league in save percentage (.945) and shutouts (12). His record was a sparkling 37-5-0-0. Pak helped Collingwood go 49-6-0-1 and win the Brant Snow Memorial Trophy as regular season champions of the OJHL. A second-team all-star in 2022-23, Pak was MVP of the 2023 OJHL playoffs, leading Collingwood to the title and a berth in the Centennial Cup national championships last spring. The Oakville product has an NCAA Division I commitment to Yale University for September.
Second Team All-Star:
Forward – Andy Reist (Cobourg Cougars)
Reist is the only OJHL player to win silver medals at the last two World Jr. A Challenges. His 95 points were good for third place in this season’s OJHL scoring race. Seven of his 35 goals were of the shorthanded variety. Reist etted 1.83 points per game in the regular season. Reist is in his third year in Cobourg after signing from the Waterloo Wolves AAA organization. Like linemate Trevor Hoskin, the 19-year-old from Waterloo is committed to NCAA Division I Niagara University.
Forward – Patrick Saini (Haliburton County Huskies)
The Toronto native finished fourth in the OJHL scoring race with 94 points (44 goals/50 assists), including eight game-winning goals. He was named Warrior East Conference Player-of-the-Month for November after he led the entire 24-team league with 22 points in 10 games. Saini played all five seasons of his junior eligibility with the ‘Huskies’ franchise, after signing with the then Whitby Fury in 2019.
Forward – Ben-Chaim Lalkin (Markham Royals)
Lalkin led the OJHL in goals, scoring 50 in 42 games. He finished with 88 points, in a tie for sixth best in the league with Markham teammate Gavin Rocha. He won a silver medal with Team Canada East at the 2023 World Jr. A Challenge in Nova Scotia. The 19-year-old from Mississauga signed in Markham ahead of the 2022-23 season after one year with the Sarnia Sting of the Ontario Hockey League. Lalkin was a second-round selection by Sarnia in the OHL’s 2021 U16 draft.
Defence – Calum Chau (Collingwood Blues)
The 20-year-old from Oakville led all OJHL defencemen in assists (46) and was third in points (50) this season. He helped the Blues win the 2023-24 OJHL regular season championship. Chau played in this season’s OJHL All-Star Game in Collingwood. He was acquired from Navan of the CCHL last July. Chau played minor hockey for the Oakville Rangers and Halton Hurricanes before two years of prep hockey at Salisbury School in New England.
Defence – Riley Pitt (Cobourg Cougars)
The Barrie resident tied for fifth in points (46) by OJHL defencemen this season. Finished with 11 goals, 35 assists and 82 minutes in penalties. He stands 6-foot-5 and weighs 200 pounds plus. Pitt, 21, played parts of three seasons with the Oshawa Generals of the Ontario Hockey League and parts of two with the Acadie-Bathurst Titan of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League.
TOMORROW: Executive 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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