NEWS

 

Pickering Panther alum Jacob Roach of the Brock Badgers was named the OUA West Division’s most valuable player. (OUA photo)

Former Ontario Junior Hockey League players were front and centre when the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) announced its award winners and all-stars from the 2022-23 men’s hockey season.

Heading the list was second-year Brock Badger Jacob Roach. The former Pickering Panther produced a season to remember, as the reigning all-rookie team member wraps up his sophomore campaign as the OUA West Division’s most valuable player.

Roach appeared in 26 games during the 2022-23 season, winning the OUA West scoring title with a division-best 32 points (10 goals, 22 assists). The second-year standout would rank third overall in the entire OUA, while finishing in a four-way tie for 13th in scoring across U SPORTS.

Highlighting the MVP-calibre season was a game on Dec. 1 against York, wherein Roach netted his first career hat trick in an exciting 4-2 win over the Lions. In that contest, he also notched one of his four game-winning goals on the year. That contest also marked the first in what was an eight-game scoring streak for the dynamic offensive weapon, a stretch in which he tallied four multi-point games and 14 points overall.

Roach’s scoring prowess would also help the Badgers to a 17-9-1-0 record, resulting in a third place finish and postseason appearance in the OUA West. And when the former St. Catharines Falcons standout was in the lineup, Brock’s offence ranked second in the division in goals scored, as well as first in powerplay percentage and powerplay goals.

The sport management major from Brooklin, Ont. becomes the first Badgers player to take home player of the year honours for the program.

West Goaltender of the Year Nathan Torchia was nearly unbeatable for Windsor this season, not only backstopping the Lancers to team success, but to an individual accolade as well.

Torchia played four seasons in the OJHL in Georgetown, Stouffville and Orangeville.

It was a busy season for the second-year goalie from Baden, Ont., as Torchia played over 1,321 minutes for the blue and gold, the second most in the OUA. His constant presence in net, however, was a big reason that Windsor finished tied atop the West Division with 39 points on the year, as he co-led the conference with 16 wins (alongside fellow goaltender of the year recipient Lemieux), to go along with just three regulation and three overtime losses.

Torchia’s 2.04 goals-against average was good for fourth among his fellow provincial puck-stoppers, while his .936 save percentage paced the pack.

The sociology and criminology student joins former Lancers Jonathan Reinhart as the lone top goaltender honourees in program history.

The Lakehead Thunderwolves made sure their howl was heard across the OUA, and helping to guide the regular season champs from the West was conference coach of the year head coach Andrew Wilkins.

The former OJHL Collingwood Blues defenceman, who in his fourth year with Lakehead becomes the first Thunderwolves bench boss to claim coach of the year honours, led his team to their first regular season division title since 2008. With an impressive 18-6-3-0 record, Lakehead proved to be a tough team to play against all season, but especially in the latter half, when the Pickering, Ont. native saw his side reel off a stretch of nine wins in 11 games.

The formula for Wilkins’ team was a well-rounded one, as under his guidance, the team ranked third in goals per game (3.81), peppering the opposition with nearly 34 shots per contest, and finished in the top half of the league in goals-against average. They were also adept at drawing penalties with a second-best 129 powerplay opportunities, while staying out of the box themselves with the third-fewest times shorthanded.

Former award-winning OJHLer Kyle Bollers, the reigning rookie of the year, continued to shine both on and off the ice in his sophomore OUA campaign, taking home his second straight Randy Gregg Award.

Bollers, who takes home back-to-back all-stars honours as well, produced another productive season for the Bold. Despite only playing in 18 games, the sophomore forward finished fifth in league scoring with 30 points (12G, 18A), good for a per-game pace of 1.67. But as instrumental as the sport media student from Oshawa, Ont. is in-game, a notion that also made him a key member of the gold-medal winning Team Canada men’s hockey team at the FISU Games, his impact runs even deeper beyond it.

Bollers continues to mentor/tutor, as well as help kids learn to skate through his Against All Odds Black Aces Learn to Play Hockey Program. He is always looking to empower youth from underserved communities, helping them to reach their educational goals. His involvement in the game continues as a volunteer coach with the 08 Reps AAA, and even extends to the Boys and Girls Club. With the latter, Bollers goes in weekly and plays floor hockey with the kids, often bringing along some of his fellow TMU men’s and women’s hockey players as well.

Bollers played for Aurora and Brantford in the OJHL.

The First-Team All-Star Team (West) included Roach, Bollers, Torchia and fellow OJHL grads Spencer Blackwell (Aurora Tigers), Lakehead Thunderwolves and Cole Thiessen (Newmarket Hurricanes), Brock Badgers.

Defenceman Ryan Barbosa (Orangeville Flyers), Toronto Varsity Blues was named to the Second Team.

Lakehead goaltender Christian Cicigoi (Haliburton County Huskies) was named to the West Rookie Team.