The Ontario Hockey League awards ceremony was held on Wednesday in downtown Toronto at the Hockey Hall of Fame.
The Ontario Hockey League awards ceremony was held on Wednesday in downtown Toronto at the Hockey Hall of Fame.
The OHL awards ceremony was held Wednesday afternoon at the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Here is a full list of the 2023-24 OHL award winners, plus some quotes from the winners after accepting their award
Red Tilson Trophy (Most Outstanding Player of the Year Award) - Easton Cowan, London Knights
"It's a great feeling. Like you said there's a lot of big names on that trophy. I'm happy to have my family here today and my agent," said Cowan on what it means to have his name on the OHL's MVP trophy, which features an elite list of players who have gone on to have successful NHL careers.
Wayne Gretzky 99 Award (OHL Playoff MVP) - Easton Cowan, London Knights
Max Kaminsky Trophy (Defenceman of the Year) - Zayne Parekh, Saginaw Spirit
"I don't know if manifestation is real or not, but I said to the guys that we were going to win this thing. We're gonna end on a high and be lifting that trophy over our heads. So I kind of wrote down that there's a beauty and struggle and we found our struggle through the OHL playoffs and the beauty was winning the Memorial Cup," Parekh said to TSN's Julia Tocheri about the note he typed out in his phone before Saginaw won the Memorial Cup.
Jim Rutherford Trophy (Goaltender of the Year) - Jacob Oster, Oshawa Generals
Dave Pinkney Trophy (Lowest Team Goals-Against) - Michael Simpson & Owen Willmore - London Knights
The F.W. Dinty Moore Trophy (Lowest Rookie Goals-Against Average) - Jack Ivankovic, Mississauga Steelheads
Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy (Top Scorer) - David Goyette, Sudbury Wolves
Emms Family Award (Rookie of the Year) - Jake O'Brien, Brantford Bulldogs
Why did O'Brien feel his game translated so quickly to the OHL level? "The Brantford organization has a lot to do with that along with my teammates. They welcomed me with open arms and helped me get better from game-to-game."
Leo Lalonde Memorial Trophy (Overage Player of the Year) - Matthew Sop, Kitchener Rangers
"It means a lot playing in Kitchener. From a being a kid watching those players growing up and one day dreaming of scoring a goal in front of the fans at the Aud." said Sop on how special it was to play in Kitchener for his entire career.
William Hanley Trophy (Most Sportsmanlike Player) - Jett Luchanko, Guelph Storm
Mickey Renaud Captain's Trophy - Braden Haché, Saginaw Spirit
Ted Baker Teammate of the Year Award - Hunter Brzustewicz, Kitchener Rangers
"I want to specifically thank Simon Motew (His Kitchener teammate). He's been a terrific leader, roommate, and just a great friend to have," said Brzustewicz when accepting the inaugural Ted Baker Teammate of the Year award.
Dan Snyder Memorial Trophy (Humanitarian of the Year) - Mason Vaccari, Kingston Frontenacs
What inspired Vaccari to get involved with the Kingston community? "Yeah, you know, Kingston is such a great city and it's done so much for our organization and all of our players and billet. It's amazing to play there every night and I just wanted to give back."
Bobby Smith Trophy (Scholastic Player of the Year) - Carter George, Owen Sound Attack
"Both my grandparents were teachers and growing up it was always about school before hockey. I had to make sure my grades were good if I wanted to play hockey," said George on his educational inspiration while growing up.
Ivan Tennant Memorial Award (Top Academic High School Student) - Carter George, Owen Sound Attack
Roger Neilson Memorial Award (Top Academic Post-Secondary Student) - Thomas Sirman, Ottawa 67's
"My entire family have been instrumental in my academics and inspiring me to pursue my education, my mom, my dad, and my grandparents. Also, my brother who was a runner-up for this award when he played," said Sirman on who has inspired him to take his academics seriously.
Jack Ferguson Award (Awarded to the first overall pick in the OHL Priority Selection) - Ethan Belchetz, Windsor Spitfires/ U16 Oakville Rangers
What can Windsor fans expect from their new first-overall pick? "I'd say I'm a big, strong powerful forward and like to use my size as an advantage to create offense for me and my teammates and I like to focus playing on both sides of the puck," said Belchetz.
Matt Leyden Trophy (Coach of the Year) - Derek Laxdal, Oshawa Generals
"Our guys really took off from Christmas on. We battled from ninth place all the way up to first. The OHL is an incredible league. You know the coaching staffs and all these teams are incredible and the challenge every night to outperform the other coaches is quite a task," said Laxdal.
Jim Gregory Memorial Award (General Manager of the Year) - Adam Dennis, North Bay Battalion
Ken Bodendistel Character Award for Officials - Dustin McCrank
The U16 Oakville Rangers were honored for their OHL Cup victory, along with the U14 OHL Cup winners, the Markham Majors. And OHL Commissioner, David Branch, said that there will soon be a U12 OHL Cup tournament.