A new month is upon us and it’s time we look at our draft eligible players of the month at forward, defence and in the crease. January was not an easy month to make our selections because there were a few deserving players at each position, especially among goaltenders where it was a banner month for the draft eligible goaltenders. The is the best goalie class to come from the OHL in quite some time, so enjoy it while you can.
Forward of the Month: Marek Vanacker – Brantford Bulldogs
Vanacker appeared in 11 games for the Bulldogs in January scoring 11 goals and adding 7 assists that included 2 game winning goals. He had three multi goal games and was held off the scoresheet just once in the Bulldogs first game of January. He leads the Bulldogs in scoring with 26 goals and 52 points in 45 games.
Also considered were a pair of North Bay Battalion. Anthony Romani had 11 goals and 7 assists in 11 games that included three multi point games. He was held off the scoresheet in two games. Dalyn Wakely had 7 goals and 12 assists in those 11 games. He was held pointless just once in January.
Defenceman of the Month: Zayne Parekh – Saginaw Spirit
There wasn’t much debate here or even Discussion: Parehk takes it by a landslide. In just 11 games (there was a 2-game suspension in there as well, Parekh scored 9 goals and assisted on 12. He also finished with a plus-12. Six of his 9 games were multi point games with 5, 4, 3, 2,2 and 2 points in those games. He was held pointless in just two games, once at the beginning of the month and once at the end.
There was no one else that really garnered consideration from us.
Goaltender of the Month: Jacob Oster – Oshawa Generals
We literally could have flipped a coin here but eventually settles on Oster. He appeared in 11 of the 13 Generals games in January and posted a 7-3-1-0 record while stopping 290 of the 312 shots faced for a .929 save percentage and 2.00 goals against average. He currently sits second in the OHL with a .905 save percentage and also second with 2.86 goals against average.
Also considered were: Ryerson Leenders of the Mississauga Steelheads who posted a 4-5-1-0 record with a .922 save percentage and 2.50 goals against average. Rookie Landon Miller of the Soo Greyhounds had a 4-1-0-0 record with a .925 save percentage, 1.60 goals against average and 1 shutout.
Our monthly choices:
Forward of the Month
Marek Vanacker – Brantford Bulldogs – January
Ruslan Gazizov – London Knights – December
Liam Greentree – Windsor Spitfires – November
Adrian Misaljevic – Kitchener Rangers – October
Defenceman of the Month
Zayne Parekh – Saginaw Spirit – January
Sam Dickinson – London Knights – December
Zayne Parekh – Saginaw Spirit – November
Jacob LeBlanc – Sarnia Sting – October
Goaltender of the Month
Jacob Oster – Oshawa Generals – January
Carter George – Owen Sound Attack – December
Jack Parsons – Kitchener Rangers – November
Brayden Gillespie – Guelph Storm – October
OHL Writers 