22, the league announced the results of their first-ever Ontario Hockey League Priority Selection Draft Lottery. The Saginaw Spirit won the lottery and selected Michael Misa from the Mississauga Senators of the GTHL. The entirety of the OHL Priority Selection Draft will take place over two days, as rounds 1-3 take place on April 29, while rounds 4-15 will be on April 30.
These are the results for the first round of the draft:
2022 CHL Import Draft.
On July 1, 2022, the Canadian Hockey League conducted the 2022 CHL Import Draft, in which teams in all three CHL leagues participate in. The Saginaw Spirit held the first pick in the draft by a team in the OHL. The Spirit selected Martin Misiak from Slovakia with the OHL's first selection in the draft.
Below are the players who were selected in the first round by Ontario Hockey League teams in the 2022 CHL Import Draft.
2022 NHL Entry Draft.
On July 7–8, 2022, the National Hockey League conducted the 2022 NHL Entry Draft at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec. Shane Wright of the Kingston Frontenacs was the highest player from the OHL to be selected, as he was taken with the fourth overall pick by the Seattle Kraken. A total of 35 players were drafted from the OHL.
Below are the players selected from OHL teams at the NHL Entry Draft.
Kubota CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game.
The Kubota CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game is an annual event in which forty of the top NHL Entry Draft eligible prospects in the Canadian Hockey League play against each other in an all-star game format. The 2021-22 Kubota CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game was held at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium in Kitchener, Ontario. Eighteen players from the OHL participated in the event.
Team Red.
Team Red was coached by Jamie McLennan, who is a co-host of the radio show "OverDrive" and a former NHL goaltender. His assistant coaches were his OverDrive co-host Bryan Hayes, Kitchener Rangers head coach Mike McKenzie and Derek Roy, who was the Rangers captain when they won the 2003 Memorial Cup, before moving on to the NHL.
Ten players from the OHL were named to the Team Red roster. The players included were Luca Del Bel Belluz, Mississauga Steelheads; Michael Buchinger, Guelph Storm; Jorian Donovan, Hamilton Bulldogs; Isaiah George, London Knights; David Goyette, Sudbury Wolves; Hunter Haight, Barrie Colts; Ty Nelson, North Bay Battalion; Matthew Poitras, Guelph Storm; Shane Wright, Kingston Frontenacs; and Danny Zhilkin, Guelph Storm. Wright was named captain of the team.
During the game, Wright scored the opening goal of the game 3:43 into the first period, as Zhilkin earned an assist. This would be the only goal of the game for Team Red, as they lost the game 3-1. Wright was named Team Red player of the game.
Team White.
Team White was coached by former Guelph Storm and NHL player Jeff O'Neill, who is a co-host of the radio show "OverDrive". His assistant coaches were Guelph Storm head coach George Burnett, former Ottawa 67's head coach Brian Kilrea, "Leafs Lunch" radio show host Michael Distefano, and former Ottawa 67's assistant coach Bert O'Brien.
Eight players from the OHL were named to the roster. The players included were Owen Beck, Mississauga Steelheads; Ruslan Gazizov, London Knights; Jake Karabela, Guelph Storm; Paul Ludwinski, Kingston Frontenacs; Bryce McConnell-Barker, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds; Pavel Mintyukov, Saginaw Spirit; Vinzenz Rohrer, Ottawa 67's; and Matyas Sapovaliv, Saginaw Spirit.
Karabela scored a goal and earned an assist for the White Team in a 3-1 victory.
Game Summary.
Shane Wright of the Kingston Frontenacs opened the scoring for Team Red at 3:43 into the first period, as Danny Zhilkin of the Guelph Storm and Matthew Seminoff of the Kamloops Blazers earned assists for an early 1-0 lead. Team White tied the game midway through the period as Jagger Firkus of the Moose Jaw Warriors scored at 13:44. Jake Karabela of the Guelph Storm earned the lone assist on the goal. Team White outshot Team Red 12-4 in the period.
In the second period, Team White took a 2-1 lead, as Jake Karabela of the Guelph Storm scored, as Jagger Firkus of the Moose Jaw Warriors earned the assist, giving both players two points in the game, 5:20 into the period. Just over three minutes later, at 8:23, Nathan Gaucher of the Quebec Remparts scored to give Team White a 3-1 lead, as Antonin Verreault of the Gatineau Olympiques and Denton Mateychuk of the Moose Jaw Warriors earned assists. Midway through the period, both teams made a goaltender substitution. Ivan Zhigalov of the Sherbrooke Phoenix made 13 saves on 16 shots for Team Red, while Tyler Brennan of the Prince George Cougars faced only four shots, stopping three of them for Team White. Following the goaltending changes, there were no more goals in the period. Team White continued to dominate, as they outshot Team Red 12-5 in the period and 24-9 overall in the game through two periods.
Neither team would score in the third, as Team White held on to a 3-1 victory. In the period, Team White outshot Team Red 15-11, as they finished the game with a 39-20 advantage. Team Red goaltender Reid Dyck of the Swift Current Broncos stopped all 23 shots he faced in the game, while Team White goalie Mason Beaupit of the Spokane Chiefs stopped all 16 shots he saw after coming into the game.
Shane Wright was named Team Red Player of the Game, as he scored the lone goal for the team. Jagger Firkus was named the Team White Player of the Game, as he scored the first goal of the game for his team, while adding an assist on the game winning goal. Attendance for the game at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium was 5,969.
2022 IIHF World Junior Championship.
The 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship was originally held at Peavey Mart Centrium in Red Deer, Alberta and at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta starting on December 26, 2021. The tournament was scheduled to end on January 5, 2022. On December 29, 2021, the IIHF Council cancelled the remainder of the tournament due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and spread of the Omicron variant.
In February 2022, it was announced that the tournament would be replayed from scratch at a later date, with all statistics and results from the first playing being thrown out. The tournament was rescheduled to run from August 9-22, 2022 with all games played at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta.
Twenty-four current and former OHL players were on nine rosters in this tournament, including nine on Canada, three on Czechia, three on Switzerland, two on Finland, Germany and the United States, and one on Latvia, Slovakia and Sweden.
Canada.
The Canadian team had seven current and former OHL players on their roster. The players on the Canadian team who currently played in the OHL were: Brett Brochu, London Knights; Will Cuylle, Windsor Spitfires; Ethan Del Mastro, Mississauga Steelheads; Tyson Foerster, Barrie Colts; Mason McTavish, Hamilton Bulldogs; Ryan O'Rourke, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds; Brennan Othmann, Flint Firebirds; and Jack Thompson, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. Former Kitchener Rangers player Donovan Sebrango, who played with the Grand Rapids Griffins of the American Hockey League in 2021-22, was also named to the team.
McTavish, who was named captain of the team, led the tournament in scoring, as he registered eight goals and 17 points in nine games. Foerster scored three goals and six points in seven games, while Othmann had two goals and six points in six games. Cuylle recorded two goals and four points in seven games and Thompson scored a goal and four points in seven games. Sebrango earned two assists in seven games, O'Rourke had one assist in seven games, and Del Mastro was held off the scoresheet in six games. In goal, Brochu did not see any game action.
Canada finished the round robin portion of the tournament with a perfect 4-0-0-0 record, earning twelve points and first place in Group A. In the quarter-finals, Canada defeated Switzerland 6-3, followed by a 5-2 win over Czechia in the semi-finals. In the gold medal game, Canada defeated Finland in overtime by a score of 3-2 to win the tournament.
Czechia.
Team Czechia had three OHL players on their roster. The players named to the team were: Pavel Cajan, Kitchener Rangers; Jan Myšák, Hamilton Bulldogs;