Jr. Canadiens Excel On And Off Ice

Photo from Instagram | @ portermartone94

’06 squad leaves its mark on youth hockey — and the community — during 2021-22 season

The ’06 Toronto Jr. Canadiens had a remarkable 2021-22 campaign, on and off the ice.

On it, they won the Sylvia Jacobs Memorial Fall Classic and Whitby Silver Stick Championship – both times taking down their rivals and main competition in the Mississauga Senators. While the Sens got them back in the OHL Cup finals, the Jr. Canadiens still reached the title game of one of the most prestigious youth hockey tournaments in the world.

All that caught the attention of scouts, which led to an impressive first round and full OHL Draft experience for the roster.

Yet off of the ice, they made quite the impact as well, both on their community and their head coach. The Jr. Canadiens launched a fundraiser in January to support the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and raised more than $34,000 in the first 48 hours. The team did so in honor of Christopher Sisca, the 2-year-old son of head coach Daniel Sisca.

The younger Sisca was diagnosed with a Wilms’ tumor, a childhood cancer that begins in the kidneys.

As it stands today, the fundraiser is at $62,055 with a target goal of $70,000.

The 2021-22 season was the last time the Habs would be together on the ice as a team, as OHL teams came calling quickly in the 2022 Priority Selection.

The Jr. Canadiens led all teams in the number of first-round draftees, as five different players were selected in the first 22 picks.

Forward Porter Martone, who posted a dominant 104 points in 53 games this year, was chosen by the Sarnia Sting at No. 5 overall. Martone has already signed an OHL Standard Player Agreement with the Sting, and he should be a force for Sarnia next fall.

Martone kicked off a string of Habs selections, as forward Jack Van Volsen was picked at No. 6 by Peterborough. Van Volsen topped Martone in the scoring race this past season, as he logged 110 points in 57 games. He has signed on to play with the Petes next season.

One pick later, the Ottawa 67s claimed Henry Mews, an Ottawa native. The talented defenseman logged 78 points in 52 games from the back-end, leaning on the skills he developed as a former forward to be a dominating force at both ends of the ice. Mews will be suiting up for his hometown OHL club this fall.

The OHL member clubs gave the Habs management a chance to catch up by going elsewhere for the No. 8 pick, but they were right back on the Jr. Canadiens roster for No. 9, as Kitchener claimed Michael Hage. A forward who found the scoresheet even more than Martone and Van Volsen this season as he put up 116 points, it is unclear where Hage will be playing next fall, as he also signed a USHL tender with the Chicago Steel. You don’t normally see top-10 picks in the OHL who aren’t planning on reporting the following fall.

The last of the first-round picks was Anthony Cristoforo, the second defenseman off the board for the Habs. He was chosen at No. 22 overall by the Windsor Spitfires after posting 78 points in 56 games.

Here is a look at all of the Jr. Canadiens selected by OHL clubs this spring:

Jacob Battaglia, Antonio Tersigni, Aidan Russell, Joshua Colosimo, Ryan Koss and Ian Biancofiore made it a total of nine forwards off the roster selected in the OHL Draft. Defensemen Andoni Fimis, and Jonah Ziskinder were also selected, along with both goaltenders in Paolo Frasca and Carter Frost.

In total, 15 players were selected, as the Jr. Candiens tied the Senators and the North York Rangers for most players from a single youth team in this year’s draft. A record 110 players were chosen from the GTHL, as well.

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