April 27, 2022, Mississauga, ON – ….   The Ontario Junior Hockey League has named Brendan Tomilson of the Pickering Panthers its Defenceman of the Year for 2021-22, the league announced today. The award was voted on by league general managers and a panel of media members.

Tomilson led all OJHL defencemen in scoring with 55 points (14 goals/41 assists) while playing in all of Pickering’s 54 regular season games.

Tomilson joined the Panthers last fall after playing two seasons with the Halifax Mooseheads of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

The native of Cameron, ON played for the nearby Lindsay Muskies of the OJHL from 2017-19.

The former Central Ontario Wolves AAA minor hockey star was named captain in Pickering this season.

“Coming back to the OJ this year, I found it was a lot more competitive than when I played in at 16 and 17 years old,” Tomilson told the OJHL. “There’s a lot more competitiveness, a lot more skill and even a lot more grit this year. Overall, it's just a harder league to play in.

“Coming back from the Q, obviously I had a lot of knowledge and tools that I gained there. Getting more opportunities to put those into play here really helped me on my offensive side especially this year.”

The Panthers won the OJHL North Division regular season and playoff championships and finished second overall in the 21-team league. 

Head Coach and General Manager Rob Pearson gives a lot of credit to Tomilson.

“He came in and right from the get-go was very coachable and easy to talk to,” said the former NHLer who was named OJHL Coach of the Year last week. “He has just led this team. Everything that we, (Assistant Coach) Rico (Sirizzotti) and I, needed to do, Brendan has put forward and pushed the guys. That’s why he was named captain.

“Defensively, he’s the backbone, the leader back there on the ice. He sets the tone every game offensively and defensively and he’s just been tremendous for us.”   

Tomilson is a fan of Edmonton Oilers’ blueliner Duncan Keith, the two-time NHL defenceman of the year who also played in the Canadian Junior Hockey League.

“Just a good puck-moving defenceman who always plays with grit,” Tomilson said of Keith. “He was never the biggest guy but is was always into guys’ faces and is never afraid to lay on the body. But he also knows how to put up the points and get pucks on net.”

Tomilson looks forward to playing in U SPORTS and the OUA while studying business at York University in Toronto beginning this fall.

“I think U SPORTS is an underrated league,” he said. “Now especially, you see guys signing in the NHL and AHL from teams. I think there are a lot of opportunities after you’re done playing U SPORTS. So I’m excited to see where things go from here.”

George Fegaras of the North York Rangers finished runner-up in voting. Tomilson and Fegaras were named OJHL First Team All-Stars last week.

The OJHL’s InStat Top Prospect for the 2021-22 season, Fegaras has been on NHL Central Scouting’s Watch List for this July’s draft all season. 

The 17-year-old rookie played in 52 of North York’s 54 regular season games, scoring 13 goals and assisting on 35. His 48 points were third highest of all defencemen – in a pack of 20- and 21-year-olds – in the 21-team league and second-most of all Ranger players. Three of his goals were game-winners.

Fegaras committed to NCAA DI Cornell University in Ithaca, NY in late October.

Tomilson and the other OJHL award recipients will be honoured during a ceremony before Game 1 of the OJHL Nutrafarms Championship Series next week. The OJHL is announcing its 2021-22 award winners throughout the first three rounds of the playoffs.

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 22 member clubs. A proud member of the CJHL 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 had more than 125 commitments in 2019-20 – including more than 45 NCAA Division I scholarships.

Photos: OJHL Images