Sometime soon, the OHL will release the results of their annual Coaches Poll, where the league's bench bosses vote on a number of categories within their own Conference. As is the annual tradition, below you can find my own opinion on how the results should look.
One thing worth noting though. OHL teams are only allowed to submit the name of one player per category for the ballot, thus on the results you won't notice any teams having more than one player per category. On my ballot, you'll see that I don't follow that rule (and never have), as the intention of this from my end is to highlight the very best of the league without that restriction. So this works as both a prediction, and also a fake ballot if I were indeed an OHL coach (which I am obviously not).
It goes without saying that these are not the results and below is strictly my opinion. As mentioned, the results should be released soon-ish.
As is the case every year, some of these categories were really hard to narrow down; a testament to the talent level in the Ontario Hockey League. So if your favourite player isn't listed...my apologies.
Most Underrated Player
East
1. Jacob Oster
2. Owen Van Steensel
3. Marek Vanacker/Finn Harding/Andre Anania
West
1. Jacob Julien
2. Sam Sedley/Carter George
3. Trent Swick/Jett Luchanko
Most Improved Player
East
1. Anthony Romani
2. Marek Vanacker/Florian Xhekaj
3. Jacob Battaglia/Finn Harding
West
1. Jacob Julien
2. Jett Luchanko
3. Trent Swick
Smartest Player
East
1. Cal Ritchie
2. Anthony Romani
3. Luca Pinelli
West
1. Zayne Parekh
2. Denver Barkey
3. Jack Beck
Hardest Worker
East
1. Luke Misa
2. Marek Vanacker
3. Beau Jelsma
West
1. Denver Barkey/Easton Cowan
2. Gavin Hayes
3. Coulson Pitre/Matthew Sop/Owen Beck
Best Playmaker
East
1. Cal Ritchie
2. David Goyette/Quentin Musty
3. Dalyn Wakely
West
1. Zayne Parekh
2. Denver Barkey/Easton Cowan
3. Jett Luchanko
Most Dangerous in the Goal Area
East
1. Anthony Romani
2. Luca Pinelli
3. Beau Jelsma/David Goyette
West
1. Colby Barlow
2. Matthew Sop
3. Gavin Hayes
Best Skater
East
1. Luke Misa
2. Nick Lardis
3. Paul Ludwinski/Marek Vanacker/Henry Mews
West
1. Sam Dickinson/Isaiah George
2. Carey Terrance
3. Owen Beck/Oliver Peer/Jorian Donovan/AJ Spellacy
Best Shot
East
1. Luca Pinelli/Nick Lardis
2. Anthony Romani
3. Dalibor Dvorsky
West
1. Carson Rehkopf
2. Colby Barlow
3. Braeden Bowman/Gavin Hayes
Hardest Shot
East
1. Ty Nelson
2. Connor Punnett
3. Samuel Mayer
West
1. Carson Rehkopf
2. Colby Barlow
3. Arttu Karki
Best Stickhandler
East
1. David Goyette/Quentin Musty
2. Beau Jelsma
3. Sandis Vilmanis/Luca Pinelli
West
1. Rodwin Dionicio
2. Liam Greentree
3. Easton Cowan
Best on Faceoffs
East
1. Jax Dubois
2. Dalibor Dvorsky
3. Beau Jelsma
West
1. Owen Beck
2. Pano Fimis
3. Jacob Julien
Best Body Checker
East
1. Liam Arnsby/Ethan Procyszyn
2. Daniil Sobolev
3. Andre Anania/Roman Schmidt/Connor Punnett
West
1. Couslon Pitre
2. Braden Hache
3. Ryan McGuire/AJ Spellacy/Sam O’Reilly
Best Shot Blocker
East
1. Paul Christopoulos
2. Connor Punnett
3. Andre Anania
West
1. Braden Hache
2. Andrew Gibson
3. Taos Jordan/Matt Andonovski
Best Defensive Forward
East
1. Liam Arnsby
2. Cole Beaudoin
3. Jax Dubois/Gavin Bryant
West
1. Matyas Sapovaliv/Owen Beck
2. Cedrick Guindon/Deni Goure
3. Marko Sikic/Easton Cowan
Best Penalty Killer
East
1. Jacob Oster
2. Marek Vanacker
3. Justin Ertel/Liam Arnsby
West
1. Easton Cowan/Denver Barkey
2. Owen Allard
3. Carey Terrance/Malcolm Spence/AJ Spellacy
Best Offensive Defenseman
East
1. Ty Nelson
2. Henry Mews
3. Samuel Mayer
West
1. Zayne Parekh
2. Rodwin Dionicio
3. Hunter Brzustewicz/Sam Dickinson
Best Defensive Defenseman
East
1. Connor Punnett
2. Andre Anania/Nolan Collins
3. Paul Christopoulos/Danil SobolevMatthew Mayich
West
1. Andrew Gibson
2. Matt Andonovski
3. Oliver Bonk/Braden Hache/Michael Buchinger
Best Puck Handling Goalie
East
1. Matteo Drobac
2. Jacob Oster
3. Dom DiVincentiis/Owen Flores
West
1. Michael Simpson
2. Carter George
3. Joey Costanzo
Best Shootout Shooter
East
1. Braeden Kressler
2. Luke Misa
3. Quentin Musty
West
1. Denver Barkey
2. Liam Greentree
3. Eduard Sale/Malcolm Spence
Best Shootout Goalie
East
1. Jacob Oster
2. Jakub Vondras
3. Mason Vaccari
West
1. Carter George
2. Brayden Gillespie
3. Charlie Schenkel