[{"id":297628,"date":"2026-04-20T16:30:47","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T20:30:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/?p=297628"},"modified":"2026-04-20T16:07:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T20:07:19","slug":"2026-ohl-awards-general-manager-of-the-year-finalists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/article\/2026-ohl-awards-general-manager-of-the-year-finalists","title":{"rendered":"2026 OHL Awards – General Manager of the Year Finalists"},"content":{"rendered":"

TORONTO –\u00a0<\/strong>The Ontario Hockey League (OHL) today announced finalists for the Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award, presented annually to the OHL General Manager who best excelled at his role during the regular season.<\/p>\n

Marty Williamson<\/strong> of the Barrie Colts and\u00a0Dave McParlan<\/strong> of the Flint Firebirds were the front-runners in the voting process carried-out by OHL General Managers. The winner will be determined by a panel consisting of accredited OHL media members, as well as a representative from NHL Central Scouting.<\/p>\n

Here’s some information on this year’s finalists:<\/p>\n

Marty Williamson (Barrie Colts) – 45-14-5-4, 99 Pts., 1st Central Division
\n<\/strong>In his first season exclusively focused on managerial duties, Marty Williamson helped push the Barrie Colts to the next level with key additions at the OHL trade deadline, bringing in veterans Parker von Richter and Mason Zebeski from the Brampton Steelheads as well as Ben Wilmott from the London Knights. The Colts cruised to their second straight Central Division title, finishing 19 points ahead of second place North Bay under first-year Head Coach Dylan Smoskowitz. Led by previous Williamson acquisitions in Cole Beaudoin, Kashawn Aitcheson and Emil Hemming, the Colts led the OHL with 24 road wins, and were 31-1-1-1 in games where they scored first.<\/p>\n

Dave McParlan (Flint Firebirds) – 44-17-4-3, 95 Pts., 2nd West Division
\n<\/strong>The Flint Firebirds turned-in the best season in their 10-year history, with 44 wins, 95 points and 199 goals-against setting new benchmarks. General Manager Dave McParlan brought in several names who turned into key pieces for Flint, most notably offseason goaltending addition Mason Vaccari from the Kingston Frontenacs who helped them make a 32-point improvement in the standings. The Birds benefitted from McParland’s deadline addition of Winnipeg Jets prospect Kevin He from the Niagara IceDogs, who joined Jacob Battaglia, Ihnat Pazii and Brady Smith as in-season trade pick-ups.\u00a0 The Flint program also benefitted from McParlan’s signing of 2007-born former draft picks Dryden Allen and Luka Graziano on the blueline along with first-year 2006-born 20-goal scorer Darian Anderson. The Firebirds boasted the Western Conference’s best road record under Head Coach Paul Flache, and gave the Flint faithful plenty to cheer about in 2025-26.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The OHL has announced finalists for the Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":297629,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[186],"tags":[{"term_id":899,"name":"Awards","slug":"awards","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":910,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":296,"filter":"raw","term_order":"1078"},{"term_id":98,"name":"Barrie Colts","slug":"barrie-colts","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":98,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1503,"filter":"raw","term_order":"1087"},{"term_id":2551,"name":"Dave McParlan","slug":"dave-mcparlan","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":2567,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":4,"filter":"raw","term_order":"1601"},{"term_id":63,"name":"Flint Firebirds","slug":"flint-firebirds","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":63,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1331,"filter":"raw","term_order":"1811"},{"term_id":84,"name":"marty williamson","slug":"marty-williamson","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":84,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":14,"filter":"raw","term_order":"2551"},{"term_id":2673,"name":"OHL News","slug":"ohl-news","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":2689,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":3641,"filter":"raw","term_order":"2904"}],"class_list":["post-297628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","tag-awards","tag-barrie-colts","tag-dave-mcparlan","tag-flint-firebirds","tag-marty-williamson","tag-ohl-news","category-186","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/04\/20152618\/GM_Award-Graphics-2026-Web.jpg",1920,1080,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=297628"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297628\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/297629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=297628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=297628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=297628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":297624,"date":"2026-04-20T16:00:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T20:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/?p=297624"},"modified":"2026-04-20T17:54:55","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T21:54:55","slug":"ohl-officials-telus-cup-iihf-u18-world-championship-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/article\/ohl-officials-telus-cup-iihf-u18-world-championship-2026","title":{"rendered":"10 OHL Officials Selected to Work 2026 TELUS Cup and IIHF U18 World Championship"},"content":{"rendered":"

Toronto, Ont. – The Ontario Hockey League is pleased to congratulate 10 officials currently working in the league who have been selected to officiate at national and international events this spring, including the 2026 TELUS Cup and the 2026 IIHF Under-18 Men\u2019s World Championship.<\/p>\n

Seven OHL officials have been selected by Hockey Canada<\/span><\/span> to work the 2026 TELUS Cup, Canada\u2019s U18 Men\u2019s National Club Championship, taking place from April 20\u201326 at the Peterborough Memorial Centre<\/span><\/span>.<\/p>\n

OHL referees Charlie Giesler<\/strong>, TJ Hunter<\/strong>, Derek Risebrough<\/strong>, Ian Rush<\/strong>, and Kyle Whiteman<\/strong> will take part in the event, joined by linespersons Devon Marson<\/strong> and Meck Wright<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The TELUS Cup features the host Peterborough Petes alongside five regional champions competing for a national title, showcasing the top U18 club talent from across Canada.<\/p>\n

At the international level, three OHL officials have been selected by the International Ice Hockey Federation to officiate at the 2026 IIHF Under-18 Men\u2019s World Championship in Slovakia.<\/p>\n

Referees Chad Ingalls<\/strong> and Tyson Stewart<\/strong>, along with linesperson Spencer Knox<\/strong>, will represent the OHL at the tournament, which runs from April 22 to May 2 in Bratislava and Tren\u010d\u00edn.<\/p>\n

The event features the world\u2019s top under-18 players, including eight from the Ontario Hockey League, with Canada set to face Slovakia, Latvia, Norway, and Finland in the preliminary round. TSN and RDS will broadcast 16 tournament games, including all Team Canada preliminary-round matchups and the medal rounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese assignments reflect the strength and depth of officiating in the Ontario Hockey League,\u201d said OHL Director of Officiating Conrad Hach\u00e9<\/span><\/span><\/strong>. \u201cTo see our officials recognized by Hockey Canada and the IIHF is a strong endorsement of the work being done across the league.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Ontario Hockey League continues to serve as a development path for officials, with opportunities at national and international events providing valuable experience on some of hockey\u2019s biggest stages.<\/p>\n

TELUS Cup \u2013 OHL Officials<\/h3>\n

Referees<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
REFEREE<\/th>\nOHL SEASON<\/th>\nNOTES<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Charlie Giesler<\/td>\n4<\/td>\nAll seasons as linesperson prior<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
TJ Hunter<\/td>\n4<\/td>\n1st season as OHL referee<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Derek Risebrough<\/td>\n2<\/td>\n1st season as OHL referee<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ian Rush<\/td>\n4<\/td>\n1st season as OHL referee<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Kyle Whiteman<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n1st season as OHL referee<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Linespersons<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
LINESPERSON<\/th>\nOHL SEASON<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Devon Marson<\/td>\n2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Meck Wright<\/td>\n2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

IIHF U18 World Championship \u2013 OHL Officials<\/h3>\n

Referees<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
REFEREE<\/th>\nOHL SEASON<\/th>\nYRS. AS REFEREE<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Chad Ingalls<\/td>\n4<\/td>\n4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Tyson Stewart<\/td>\n6<\/td>\n6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Linespersons<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n
LINESPERSON<\/th>\nOHL SEASON<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Spencer Knox<\/td>\n5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ten Ontario Hockey League officials have earned assignments at the 2026 TELUS Cup and IIHF U18 World Championship, highlighting the league\u2019s officiating depth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":297632,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[186],"tags":[{"term_id":3558,"name":"Officiating","slug":"officiating","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":3558,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":3,"filter":"raw","term_order":"149"},{"term_id":3560,"name":"OHL Officiating","slug":"ohl-officiating","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":3560,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":3,"filter":"raw","term_order":"151"},{"term_id":2673,"name":"OHL News","slug":"ohl-news","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":2689,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":3641,"filter":"raw","term_order":"2904"}],"class_list":["post-297624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","tag-officiating","tag-ohl-officiating","tag-ohl-news","category-186","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/04\/20175440\/2025-26-Generic_Web_Cover_Multi-Recovered-2.png",1920,1080,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297624","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=297624"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297624\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/297632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=297624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=297624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=297624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":297623,"date":"2026-04-20T15:30:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T19:30:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/?p=297623"},"modified":"2026-04-20T13:55:02","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T17:55:02","slug":"rangers-dylan-edwards-named-cogeco-ohl-player-of-the-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/article\/rangers-dylan-edwards-named-cogeco-ohl-player-of-the-week","title":{"rendered":"Rangers’ Dylan Edwards named Cogeco OHL Player of the Week"},"content":{"rendered":"

TORONTO –\u00a0<\/strong>The Ontario Hockey League (OHL) today announced that overage forward Dylan Edwards<\/a> is the Cogeco OHL Player of the Week, producing four goals, two assists and six points over three games to help the Kitchener Rangers advance to the Western Conference Championship Series.<\/p>\n

Edwards scored a hat-trick in Kitchener’s Game 3 road win on Tuesday, scoring the deciding goal with 5:17 remaining in a 4-3 victory over the Soo Greyhounds. He helped lead the charge in pushing the Rangers through to the third round of the playoffs with a goal and two assists in Friday’s 5-1 win at the Aud.<\/p>\n

A 20-year-old from Toronto, Edwards has 13 points (8-5–13) over nine games in these playoffs, building-off a 40-goal, 87-point regular season over 67 games between the Rangers and Erie Otters. The 5-foot-8, 171Ib. left-wing was originally Erie’s eighth round (150th overall) pick in the 2021 OHL Priority Selection, and produced 84 goals, 100 assists and 184 points over 222 career regular season games. Completing his fourth full OHL season, Edwards as produced 20 goals, 17 assists and 37 points over 24 career playoff contests between the Rangers and Otters. He is committed to Quinnipiac University (NCAA).<\/p>\n

2025-26 Cogeco OHL Player of the Week \u2013 Playoffs
\n<\/strong>Mar. 23-29: Jacob Battaglia (Flint Firebirds)
\nMar. 30-Apr. 5: Ben Wilmott (Barrie Colts)
\nApr. 6-12: Adam Jiricek (Brantford Bulldogs)
\nApr. 13-19: Dylan Edwards (Kitchener Rangers)<\/p>\n

2025-26 Cogeco OHL Player of the Week \u2013 Regular Season
\n<\/strong>Sept. 18-21: Cole Davis (Windsor Spitfires)
\nSept. 22-28: Ethan Czata (Niagara IceDogs)
\nSept. 29-Oct. 5: Kashawn Aitcheson (Barrie Colts)
\nOct. 6-12: Jake O\u2019Brien (Brantford Bulldogs)
\nOct. 13-19: Adam Benak (Brantford Bulldogs)
\nOct. 20-26: Kieron Walton (Sudbury Wolves)
\nOct. 27-Nov. 2: Harry Nansi (Owen Sound Attack)
\nNov. 3-9: Alex Kostov (Flint Firebirds)
\nNov. 10-16: Nathan Aspinall (Flint Firebirds)
\nNov. 17-23: Marek Vanacker (Brantford Bulldogs)
\nNov. 24-30: Kieron Walton (Sudbury Wolves)
\nDec. 1-7: Alex McLean (Guelph Storm)
\nDec. 8-14: Christopher Brown (Soo Greyhounds)
\nDec. 15-21: Alex Pharand (Sudbury Wolves)
\nDec. 28-Jan. 4: Egor Barabanov (Saginaw Spirit)
\nJan. 5-11: Cole Beaudoin (Barrie Colts)
\nJan. 12-18: Nikita Klepov (Saginaw Spirit)
\nJan. 19-25: Jake O\u2019Brien (Brantford Bulldogs)
\nJan. 26-Feb. 1: Kevin He (Flint Firebirds)
\nFeb. 2-8: Ben Wilmott (Barrie Colts)
\nFeb. 9-15: Egor Barabanov (Saginaw Spirit)
\nFeb. 16-22: Quinn Beauchesne (Guelph Storm)
\nFeb. 23-Mar. 1: Liam Greentree (Windsor Spitfires)
\nMar. 2-8: Sam O\u2019Reilly (Kitchener Rangers)
\nMar. 9-15: Cooper Foster (Ottawa 67\u2019s)
\nMar. 16-22: Jake O\u2019Brien (Brantford Bulldogs)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dylan Edwards of the Kitchener Rangers is the Cogeco OHL Player of the Week with six points in three games.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":297627,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[186],"tags":[{"term_id":2353,"name":"Dylan Edwards","slug":"dylan-edwards","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":2368,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":18,"filter":"raw","term_order":"1711"},{"term_id":82,"name":"Kitchener Rangers","slug":"kitchener-rangers","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":82,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1629,"filter":"raw","term_order":"2320"},{"term_id":2673,"name":"OHL News","slug":"ohl-news","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":2689,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":3641,"filter":"raw","term_order":"2904"},{"term_id":469,"name":"player of the week","slug":"player-of-the-week","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":475,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":358,"filter":"raw","term_order":"3039"}],"class_list":["post-297623","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","tag-dylan-edwards","tag-kitchener-rangers","tag-ohl-news","tag-player-of-the-week","category-186","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/04\/20135357\/16_9-PLAYER-OF-THE-WEEK-copy-4.jpg",1920,1080,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297623","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=297623"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297623\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/297627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=297623"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=297623"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=297623"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":297622,"date":"2026-04-20T15:00:23","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T19:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/?p=297622"},"modified":"2026-04-20T13:26:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T17:26:15","slug":"colts-ben-hrebik-named-mary-browns-chicken-ohl-goaltender-of-the-week-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/article\/colts-ben-hrebik-named-mary-browns-chicken-ohl-goaltender-of-the-week-2","title":{"rendered":"Colts’ Ben Hrebik named Mary Brown’s Chicken OHL Goaltender of the Week"},"content":{"rendered":"

TORONTO –\u00a0<\/strong>The Ontario Hockey League (OHL) today announced that Ben Hrebik<\/a> is the Mary Brown’s Chicken OHL Goaltender of the Week, going 2-1 with a 2.36 goals-against average and .933 save percentage to help the Barrie Colts advance to the Eastern Conference Championship Series.<\/p>\n

Hrebik made a total of 98 saves last week, rebounding from a Tuesday night loss with 33 saves in a 3-2 road win on Thursday. He closed out the second round series with another 33 saves against the Ottawa 67’s in Game 5 as the Colts prevailed by a score of 4-1.<\/p>\n

A 20-year-old from Milton, ON, Hrebik is 8-1 in these playoffs with a 2.34 goals-against average and .923 save percentage with one shutout. The 6-foot-3, 204Ib. netminder was Barrie’s ninth round (173rd overall) pick in 2022, and played to a regular season mark of 26-11-3-3 with a 2.81 goals-against average and .920 save percentage over 43 games.<\/p>\n

2025-26 Mary Brown\u2019s Chicken OHL Goaltender of the Week \u2013 Playoffs
\n<\/strong>Mar. 23-30: Joey Costanzo (Windsor Spitfires)
\nMar. 31-Apr. 5: Jack Lisson (North Bay Battalion)
\nApr. 6-12: Ryerson Leenders (Brantford Bulldogs)
\nApr. 13-19: Ben Hrebik (Barrie Colts)<\/p>\n

2025-26 Mary Brown\u2019s Chicken OHL Goaltender of the Week \u2013 Regular Season
\n<\/strong>Sept. 18-21: Jason Schaubel (Kitchener Rangers)
\nSept. 22-28: Joey Costanzo (Windsor Spitfires)
\nSept. 29-Oct. 5: Gavin Betts (Kingston Frontenacs)
\nOct. 6-12: Mason Vaccari (Flint Firebirds)
\nOct. 13-19: Patrick Quinlan (Sarnia Sting)
\nOct. 20-26: Ryerson Leenders (Brantford Bulldogs)
\nOct. 27-Nov. 2: Aleksei Medvedev (London Knights)
\nNov. 3-9: Matthew Minchak (Kingston Frontenacs)
\nNov. 10-16: Ben Hrebik (Barrie Colts)
\nNov. 17-23: Easton Rye (Peterborough Petes)
\nNov. 24-30: Zach Bowen (Brampton Steelheads)
\nDec. 1-7: Vladislav Yermolenko (Niagara IceDogs)
\nDec. 8-14: Mason Vaccari (Flint Firebirds)
\nDec. 15-21: Ryder Fetterolf (Ottawa 67\u2019s)
\nDec. 28-Jan. 4: Easton Rye (Peterborough Petes)
\nJan. 5-11: Zachary Jovanovski (Guelph Storm)
\nJan. 12-18: Matthew Humphries (Oshawa Generals)
\nJan. 19-25: Carter George (Soo Greyhounds)
\nJan. 26-Feb. 1: Zach Bowen (Brampton Steelheads)
\nFeb. 2-8: Easton Rye (Peterborough Petes)
\nFeb. 9-15: Christian Kirsch (Kitchener Rangers)
\nFeb. 16-22: Gavin Betts (Kingston Frontenacs)
\nFeb. 23-Mar. 1: Ryder Fetterolf (Ottawa 67\u2019s)
\nMar. 2-8: Arvin Jaswal (Barrie Colts)
\nMar. 9-15: David Egorov (Brantford Bulldogs)
\nMar. 16-22: Mike McIvor (North Bay Battalion)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ben Hrebik of the Barrie Colts is the Mary Brown’s Chicken OHL Goaltender of the Week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":297626,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[186],"tags":[{"term_id":2904,"name":"Ben Hrebik","slug":"ben-hrebik","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":2904,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":41,"filter":"raw","term_order":"787"},{"term_id":98,"name":"Barrie Colts","slug":"barrie-colts","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":98,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1503,"filter":"raw","term_order":"1087"},{"term_id":2419,"name":"Goaltender of the Week","slug":"goaltender-of-the-week","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":2434,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":161,"filter":"raw","term_order":"1866"},{"term_id":2673,"name":"OHL News","slug":"ohl-news","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":2689,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":3641,"filter":"raw","term_order":"2904"}],"class_list":["post-297622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","tag-ben-hrebik","tag-barrie-colts","tag-goaltender-of-the-week","tag-ohl-news","category-186","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/04\/20132547\/16_9-GOALIE-OF-THE-WEEK-3.jpg",1920,1080,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=297622"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297622\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/297626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=297622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=297622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=297622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":297620,"date":"2026-04-20T14:30:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T18:30:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/?p=297620"},"modified":"2026-04-20T13:16:03","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T17:16:03","slug":"67s-ryder-fetterolf-named-ohl-rookie-of-the-week-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/article\/67s-ryder-fetterolf-named-ohl-rookie-of-the-week-4","title":{"rendered":"67’s’ Ryder Fetterolf named OHL Rookie of the Week"},"content":{"rendered":"

TORONTO –\u00a0<\/strong>The Ontario Hockey League (OHL) today announced that 2026 NHL Draft eligible goaltender Ryder Fetterolf<\/a> of the Ottawa 67’s is the OHL Rookie of the Week, going 1-2 with a 2.70 goals-against average and .924 save percentage.<\/p>\n

Fetterolf’s 67’s saw their playoff run come to an end, but the OHL Goaltender of the Year did not disappoint, making 97 saves over three games to give the Barber Poles a chance against the Barrie Colts. Fetterolf made 36 saves in a 5-2 Game 3 victory on Tuesday, turned aside 40 shots as the 67’s lost 3-2 in Game 4 and made 21 saves in Game 5 as Ottawa’s season came to an end in a 4-1 final.<\/p>\n

An 18-year-old from Sewickley, Pennsylvania, Fetterolf claimed the Jim Rutherford Trophy as OHL Goaltender of the Year, becoming the first rookie in his first two seasons of eligibility to do so in OHL history. He played to a record of 29-9-2-1 with a franchise record 2.07 goals-against average and league-leading .923 save percentage, posting an OHL rookie record six shutouts. In the playoffs, Fetterolf was 5-4 with a 3.04 goals-against average and .900 save percentage over nine games. He is listed as the OHL’s top NHL Draft eligible netminder on NHL Central Scouting’s final rankings released last week, coming in at 11th in North America.<\/p>\n

2025-26 OHL Rookie of the Week \u2013 Playoffs<\/strong>
\nMar. 23-29: Caleb Malhotra (Brantford Bulldogs)
\nMar. 30-Apr. 5: John McLaughlin (Windsor Spitfires)
\nApr. 6-12: Caleb Malhotra (Brantford Bulldogs)
\nApr. 13-19: Ryder Fetterolf (Ottawa 67’s)<\/p>\n

2025-26 OHL Rookie of the Week \u2013 Regular Season
\n<\/strong>Sept. 18-21: Thomas Vandenberg (Ottawa 67\u2019s)
\nSept. 22-28: Caleb Malhotra (Brantford Bulldogs)
\nSept. 29-Oct. 5: Nikita Klepov (Saginaw Spirit)
\nOct. 6-12: Jaxon Cover (London Knights)
\nOct. 13-19: Ryder Cali (North Bay Battalion)
\nOct. 20-26: Jaakko Wycisk (Guelph Storm)
\nOct. 27-Nov. 2: Ryder Fetterolf (Ottawa 67\u2019s)
\nNov. 3-9: Easton Walos (Sarnia Sting)
\nNov. 10-16: Ryder Fetterolf (Ottawa 67\u2019s)
\nNov. 17-23: Caleb Malhotra (Brantford Bulldogs)
\nNov. 24-30: Levi Harper (Saginaw Spirit)
\nDec. 1-7: Caleb Malhotra (Brantford Bulldogs)
\nDec. 8-14: Robin Kuzma (Kingston Frontenacs
\nDec. 15-21: Caleb Mitchell (London Knights)
\nDec. 28-Jan. 4: Nikita Klepov (Saginaw Spirit)
\nJan. 5-11: Charlie Murata (Flint Firebirds)
\nJan. 12-18: Nikita Klepov (Saginaw Spirit)
\nJan. 19-25: Ryerson Edgar (Niagara IceDogs)
\nJan. 26-Feb. 1: Keaton Ardagh (Brampton Steelheads)
\nFeb. 2-8: Kale Osipenko (Sarnia Sting)
\nFeb. 9-15: Nikita Klepov (Saginaw Spirit)
\nFeb. 16-22: Joe Salandra (Barrie Colts)
\nFeb. 23-Mar. 1: Evgeny Dubrovtsev (North Bay Battalion)
\nMar. 2-8: Nolan Snyder (Kingston Frontenacs)
\nMar. 9-15: Ryder Fetterolf (Ottawa 67\u2019s)
\nMar. 16-22: Cam Warren (North Bay Battalion)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NHL Draft eligible goaltender Ryder Fetterolf of the Ottawa 67’s is the OHL Rookie of the Week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":297625,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[186],"tags":[{"term_id":3361,"name":"Ryder Fetterolf","slug":"ryder-fetterolf","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":3361,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":38,"filter":"raw","term_order":"348"},{"term_id":3162,"name":"Rookie of the Week","slug":"rookie-of-the-week","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":3162,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":62,"filter":"raw","term_order":"542"},{"term_id":2673,"name":"OHL News","slug":"ohl-news","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":2689,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":3641,"filter":"raw","term_order":"2904"},{"term_id":90,"name":"Ottawa 67's","slug":"ottawa-67s","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":90,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1616,"filter":"raw","term_order":"2947"}],"class_list":["post-297620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","tag-ryder-fetterolf","tag-rookie-of-the-week","tag-ohl-news","tag-ottawa-67s","category-186","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/04\/20131457\/16_9-Rookie-OF-THE-WEEK-copy-1.jpg",1920,1080,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=297620"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297620\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/297625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=297620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=297620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=297620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":297590,"date":"2026-04-20T10:54:28","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T14:54:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/?p=297590"},"modified":"2026-04-20T10:54:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T14:54:28","slug":"from-erie-to-elite-how-matthew-schaefer-took-the-nhl-by-storm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl\/article\/from-erie-to-elite-how-matthew-schaefer-took-the-nhl-by-storm","title":{"rendered":"From Erie to Elite: How Matthew Schaefer Took the NHL by Storm"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are rookie seasons, and then there is what Matthew Schaefer accomplished this past year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The New York Islanders defenceman, at just 18 years old, spent the 2025-26 season rewriting NHL record books that had stood for decades. But to appreciate just how extraordinary his first professional campaign was, you have to rewind the tape.<\/span><\/p>\n

Schaefer’s path to stardom began in April 2023, when the Erie Otters selected him first overall in the OHL Priority Selection, making him just the third player in franchise history to carry that distinction, following Ryan O’Reilly and Connor McDavid. The Stoney Creek product was also the first defenceman ever taken first overall by the Otters.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In his 2023-24 rookie OHL season, Schaefer suited up for 56 games on Erie’s blue line, posting 17 points (3-14\u201317). His poise, skating, and play-driving ability earned him a spot on the OHL All-Rookie First Team, and he capped the year by captaining Team Canada White to gold at the 2023 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge before adding another gold with Canada’s Under-18 team the following summer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Entering the 2024-25 season, Schaefer was already a highly touted prospect for the upcoming NHL Draft, and he started the year proving exactly why. He posted 22 points (7-15\u201322) in just 17 games with the Otters, a pace of more than a point per game from the back end. He was then chosen to represent Canada at the 2025 World Junior Championship, which ended in a way that nobody expected.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the team’s round-robin upset loss to Latvia, Schaefer suffered a broken collarbone, an injury that ended his tournament and, ultimately, his OHL season.<\/span><\/p>\n

Most prospects would have seen their draft stock slip, but Schaefer’s never wavered. When June rolled around, the New York Islanders made him the first-overall pick, betting on the player they had seen and trusting that the skill set he’d flashed in Erie would translate to the game’s highest level.<\/span><\/p>\n

And while most had expected him to do fairly well in his first season, Schaefer ended up defying every reasonable expectation. He signed an entry-level contract with the Islanders in August and made his debut on October 9, 2025, where he registered his first NHL point. The next game, he scored his first NHL goal, becoming the second-youngest defenceman in league history to do so, and he never looked back. By season’s end, Schaefer led all NHL rookies in virtually every category that mattered for a defenceman.<\/span><\/p>\n

His 23 goals tied Hall of Famer Brian Leetch’s NHL record for goals by a rookie defenceman, a mark that had stood since 1988-89. His 36 assists and 59 points were the most ever by an 18-year-old defenceman in NHL history, breaking Phil Housley’s 43-year-old record of 57 points set in 1982-83. Schaefer also led the Islanders with eight power-play goals, 18 power-play points, a plus-13 rating and an average of 24:41 of ice time per game, while ranking second on the team with 221 shots on goal and third with 111 blocked shots.<\/span><\/p>\n

Along the way, he became the youngest defenceman in NHL history to record a multi-goal game, the youngest player in NHL history to score an overtime goal, and, at just 18 years and 195 days, became the youngest defenceman ever to reach 50 career points. He also broke the long-standing Islanders franchise record for goals by a rookie defenceman, previously held by Hall of Fame legend and OHL alumnus Denis Potvin.<\/span><\/p>\n

Schaefer was named NHL Rookie of the Month in both October and December, and he enters the awards calendar as a front-runner for the Calder Trophy.<\/span><\/p>\n

“It’s crazy to think that I’d be playing in the NHL this year,” Schaefer said. “I was going to NHL games as a fan last year, up top in the nosebleeds with my brother and parents. It’s a dream come true. I can’t thank this organization enough, and all my teammates, staff and everyone. It was an amazing year. I got to learn so much.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Schaefer’s journey has also been shaped by personal loss. His mother, Jennifer, passed away from breast cancer in February of 2024.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I wish my mom could be here too,” Schaefer said. “I’d love to see her reaction with the fans. I wish she could be at the games, and I could give her a big hug after. At the end of the day, she’s always with us in spirit. My dad, my brother and I looked up to my mom so much, and she was the backbone of our family, the strongest person in our family, and the boss, for sure. She’s someone that you always think about and will never get off your mind.”<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What makes Schaefer’s season so remarkable isn’t just the records. It’s the road he travelled to get here. A draft year ended with a broken bone on the coveted World Junior stage and just 73 OHL games under his belt to prepare for the best league in the world. What he managed to do in spite of it all was historic. Schaefer completely rewrote the book on what an 18-year-old defenceman can do in his first NHL season, and more excitingly, his ceiling has no end in sight.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Related Articles:<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n