North York head coach Brent Hughes, defencemen Jeremy Szabo and Tyler Currie, and forwards Michael Morgan, Ryan Takamatsu, Nick Campoli, and goaltender Gianluca Baggetta have all been named to the 2015 Eastern Canada Cup All-Star Challenge.
Hughes, 33, is in the midst of his first year as the head coach of the North York Rangers Junior ‘A’, joining the club after a two-year spell on the bench of the East Coast Hockey League’s Brampton Beast.
“It’s always an honour to be asked to represent your league, and the players that play in it,” said Coach Hughes.
“I am happy, excited, and looking forward to it. It will be great to see a lot of players that im not familiar with, and it’s a good opportunity to see who we are up against as we move on the schedule in the season and to better understand the league. I got asked to be the head coach in the midget game a couple years ago, I got asked to be a cocoach in the OHL Gold Cup, but I had to decline on that due to getting hired. This is another great accomplishment, I am very excited honoured and looking forward to it.”
Szabo, 20, is in the middle of his second season as the captain of the club, and has amassed 43 points over 105 career Ontario Junior Hockey League games.
Currie, 20, has two Buckland Cup championships and one Dudley Hewitt Cup championship on his resume from when he was a member of the Toronto Patriots. A Bolton native, he has scored 98 points over 220 Junior ‘A’ contests.
Morgan, 20, has played 172 contests in the OJHL, split between the Stouffville Spirit and the North York Rangers. The shifty forward has 117 points over that span, counting regular and post-season games.
Takamatsu, 18, played eight games an affiliate player of the Oakville Blades before deciding to join the Rangers for the 2014-15 season. The touted winger has 58 points in 82 career Ontario Junior Hockey League contests.
Campoli, 16, is the current leading point-getter among 1999 birthyears in the league with 18 points in 19 games so far this season. Nick is a sixth round pick of the Ontario Hockey League’s Saginaw Spirit in 2015 out of the Toronto Jr. Canadiens minor midgets.
Baggetta, 19, has made 78 career OJHL starts, all with the Rangers, and currently owns the league’s seventh best goals-against average, and fourth best save percentage.
See below for the OJHL’s official release.
The Ontario Junior Hockey League today unveiled its four rosters for the 2015 Eastern Canada Cup All-Star Challenge that will be hosted by the CCHL’s Cornwall Colts.
Eighty OJHL stars from 21 of the 22 clubs will represent our league, looking to bring home a title for the third time in the tournament’s five-year history.
Leading the way with All-Star selections is the Orangeville Flyers, who have seven players taking part. The Flyers are followed closely by the East Division Cobourg Cougars, Trenton Golden Hawks and Whitby Fury, as well as the Oakville Blades, who each have six selections. Not far behind that are the Georgetown Raiders and North York Rangers with five players each.
Once again this year, the OJHL will pay honour to some of the greatest Legends to ever play in the OJHL by naming the four teams; Team (Paul) Coffey, Team (Dale) Hawerchuk, Team (Joe) Nieuwendyk and Team (Adam) Oates.
Also announced today were the staff for each of the four OJHL teams.
Behind the bench for Team Coffey will be Mississauga Chargers head coach Joe Washkurak, along with Oakville Blades assistant coach Brendan Taylor, Trenton Golden Hawks athletic therapist Sarah Ditmars and Mississauga Chargers equipment manager Derek Ho.
Team Hawerchuk will feature co-coaches Dan West of the Lindsay Muskies and Brent Hughes of the North York Rangers, along with equipment manager Havey Boutilier of the Toronto Patriots and athletic therapist Julie Chiu from the Aurora Tigers.
Coaching Team Nieuwendyk will be Burlington Cougars’ coaches Mark Jooris and Kirby Tokarski, along with equipment manager Craig Clayton from the Oakville Blades.
The defending tournament champion Team Oates will be coached by Jamie Caruso of the Orangeville Flyers and Mario Cicchillo of the Toronto Jr. Canadiens, while joined by athletic therapist Amanda Gilroy of the Markham Royals and equipment manager Andrew Groombridge of the Georgetown Raiders.
Congratulations to all our participants and remember you will be able to watch all the OJHL teams in action of FastHockey!
Below is the official press release from the CJHL & CCHL. Please CLICK HERE for the link to the event.
The Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL) today announced the schedule and rosters for the upcoming 5th Annual Eastern Canada Cup All-Star Challenge (ECCASC) which will be held November 16-18 in Cornwall, Ontario.
The format, introduced in 2011 by the Central Canada Hockey League (CCHL) in Smiths Falls, replaces the traditional all-star format with an ultra-competitive tournament between the very best in the five leagues which make up Eastern Canada.
For the first time the Maritime Hockey League (MHL) joins the Quebec Junior Hockey League (QJHL), the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOHL), the Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL) and the host CCHL.
This prestigious event will feature 180 of the best Junior ‘A’ players from over seventy teams and will showcase their skills to NHL, NCAA, CIS and CHL teams in attendance. Nine teams (4 OJHL, 2 CCHL, plus 1 NOJHL, QJHL, MHL) will play games over the three days with a unique format of two, 20 minute periods. This format will raise the intensity of the games and enhance the scouting schedules for everyone in attendance. The games will be held at the Benson Centre with daily passes available at the door.
