Eastern Conference Champions

The club is managed by Rick Varone who has acted in various capacities with the club since their 2013-14 campaign and who up to last season were known as the Toronto Jr Canadiens. His current title is President and General Manager. Demarinis’ OJHL debut was also the 2013-14 season where he was assistant coach with the Stouffville Spirit. David has also been behind the bench for the Pickering Panthers and Cobourg Cougars. He joined the Jr Canadiens in 2021 as assistant coach before moving up to the GM/Head Coach position.

The Hurricanes finished the regular OJHL season in fourth place in the Eastern Conference with 35 wins and 73 points, scoring 226 goals and allowing 159. They were the third most penalized team in the Conference with 970 penalty minutes.

In the playoffs to date the Hurricanes have an 18% conversion record on the powerplay, 9 goals on 50 opportunities with the man advantage. In the penalty killing department they have a postseason record of 82.5% with one shorthanded goal for.

The Hurricanes will take on the winner of the Western Conference Championship in the Buckland Cup Series. The Toronto Patriots face the Collingwood Blues in game 7 tomorrow night.

Here are the Hurricane players on the postseason roster…first the blueliners…

2. JOEL TAYLOR. Joel, 20, is from Oshawa. He is in season three with the club, after playing with the Cobourg Cougars for 77 games and he’s the team captain. Joel will be attending Niagara University this Fall. Joel scored his only goal of the playoffs to date against Trenton in their final meeting and it was the game winner. He has registered 2 assists.

4. KEEGAN GILLEN. Keegan, 18, was born in Royal Oak, Michigan and has made 89 appearances for the OHL’s Soo Greyhounds, who drafted him in 2023. He joined the Hurricanes in late November. Keegan has scored 1 goal (against Haliburton) and has added 5 assists in the postseason.

7. JARED HARDING. Jared, 18, is in his second season and he has played 19 games for the OHL’s Brampton Steelheads who were the Mississauga Steelheads when they drafted him in 2023. He was a member of Team Canada East at the World Jr A Challenge. Jared has posted 1 goal, in the first game against Trenton and 4 assists.

11. ANDREW LANNI. The 21-year old played three-plus seasons with the Markham Royals. He represented OJHL Team Rodrigues in the 2024-25 season Battle of Ontario. Andrew has four assists in the playoffs.

14. COLIN MAUND. The Georgetown Raiders was the first OJHL club for Colin and he was moved to the JC’s at the 2025 trading deadline. He was a teammate of Lanni’s on Team Rodrigues. Colin has 1 goal, in game 3 against Pickering, and 3 assists.

19. TYLER VORSTADT. The 18-year old is a native of Brooklin. He started his junior hockey career in 2023 with the NOJHL’s Blind River Beavers. He is in his second season with the club. Tyler was a 2023 draft choice of the Saginaw Spirit. Tyler’s playoff goal was in game 2 versus the Huskies, and that was the winner, plus he has two assists.

44. NOAH GAUDET-BARTON. Noah, 17, is from Ajax. He has played 5 games for the Barrie Colts, who selected him in the second round, 28th overall, of the 2024 draft. Noah has appeared in 2 playoff games.

Forwards…

9. KRISTIAN LAMANNA, Kristian, 20, will be attending the University of Toronto next season. After a call up from the Markham Royals in the 2021-22 season he spent the next couple of years as a Georgetown Raider. He was a first round draft selection, 9th overall, of the Kitchener Rangers in 2022. Kristian has 3 goals and 5 assists in the playoffs.

10. JESSE VENTURO. Jesse, 19, was born in Kleinburg and made his OJHL debut with the Brantford 99ers in their 2022-23 campaign. He followed that up with two seasons playing for the St Michael’s Buzzers. He started this season with Nanaimo of the BCHL and played his first game for the Hurricanes on Jan 10th, trading deadline day. Jesse has 3 goals and 2 assists.

12. SIMON WANG. Simon, born in Tianjin, China had a 60-point season, his first in the OJHL after coming from the BCHL’s West Kelowna Warriors where he played in 2024-25 after moving from the Lindsay Muskies. In the 2023-24 season he put up over 100 points for Gilmour Academy in Gates Mills, Ohio. Simon had 6 game winners in his regular season. He was a member of the OJHL MCBain Young Guns in the 2024 Battle of Ontario. Simon leads the Hurricanes in playoff points with 21 including a team high of 16 assists.

17. MARCELLO GIORGI. Marcello, who hails from Stouffville is in his first season with the club and his last at the junior level. He had two seasons in the AJHL with the Grande Prairie Storm and the Whitecourt Wolverines. Marcello has 4 goals and 3 assists.

21. CONNOR HAYNES. In his final junior season, Connor, from Sault Ste. Marie, after two years with the Hamilton Kilty B’s moved west to play for the BCHL’s Nanaimo Clippers. Connor’s next stop was in Chicoutimi of the QMJHL. He played his first game as a Hurricane on Sept 30th and ended with a 50-point season including 15 goals. In the playoffs he has scored 5 times and has 16 points. He has 3 game winning goals, 2 of those versus Trenton.

22. LUCAS TEIXEIRA. Lucas is back with the club after stints with the Guelph Storm and Oshawa Generals of the OHL. He has committed to the University of Vermont for next season.

Lucas had 19 points in only 18 appearances for the team in the regular season, in the playoffs he has 4 goals and 6 points and he scored the Hurricanes only shorthanded goal so far.

24. JOSEPH MACCHIONE. From Streeetsville, Joseph is in his final OJHL campaign having previously played for the GOHL’s Fort Erie Meteors, the Bonnyville Pontiacs in the AJHL and the Milton Menace. Joseph has scored twice in the playoffs, both goals were game winners in games 2 and 4 against the Panthers. He has collected 12 assists.

25. ALEXANDER SEMENSTOV. Born in St petersburg, Russia, the 16-year old rookie registered a 21-point regular season and played 5 games with the Barrie Colts who drafted him in the first round, 18th overall last year. Alexander has not played in the postseason to date.

27. MATTHEW BABIY. It’s the third club this season for the 19-year old. He started out with the North York Rangers before being traded to the Milton Menace and then on to the Hurricanes. Between the 3 teams he potted 17 goals this regular season.He has scored twice in the playoffs.

71. NATHAN PHILLIPS. Nathan, 21, from Burlington, played two seasons for the Hamilton Kilty B’s and was captain in the second one and then was a teammate of Macchione in Bonnyville for a short stint. He led the team with 73 points in the regular season including 26 goals, 8 of which were game winners. In the postseason Nathan is second on the club with 7 goals and has added 8 assists.

77. MICHAEL POPE. At 16 years old Michael is the youngest player on the postseason roster. He had 44 points in 47 games this past season for the Caledon Bombers of the GOHL. Michael was a 2025 draft pick of the London Knights. Michael has appeared in 11 of the Hurricanes’ 15 postseason contests.

79. OWEN BRUINING. Owen, 19, born in Barrie, who drafted him in 2024, was one of the players obtained at the trading deadline, arriving from the King Rebellion. He also played for the Georgetown Raiders and was on the Team OJHL Hyman Young Guns at the Battle of Ontario in 2024. He has 3 playoff goals and 7 points.

88. CHASE YANNI. Hailing from Alliston, Chase’s first junior team was the CCHL’s Ottawa Jr Senators and he has appeared in 75 regular season and playoff games for the Ottawa 67’s. He was third in goals scored this season for the Hurricanes with 25 from just 44 games played and led the team with 5 while shorthanded. In the playoffs he has a team- leading 9 goals, 3 on the powerplay and a total of 16 points.

91. NICHOLAS MUZZATTI. OJHL rookie Nicholas, 17, graduated from the Toronto Jr Canadiens U18 AAA team and posted 4 goals and 12 points in the Hurricanes’ regular season. In 2024 he was a draft selection of the Niagara IceDogs. Nicholas has played in 5 games in the postseason and has collected 3 assists.

and the goalkeepers…

1. CARTER FROGGETT. Carter, 20, is from Thorndale. He was acquired at the trading deadline from the Milton Menace. He also suited up for the GOHL’s London Nationals and the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires. In his 12 regular appearances for the Hurricanes he had a 2.81 goals against average. In the playoffs Carter has played all but 17 minutes of the Panthers’ 15 games, has a 2.12 GAA and he has posted a save percentage of .930.

30. ALEX ARMELLIN. The 19-year old native of Barrie was picked up in January from the Oakville Blades and posted 5 wins in 8 regular season contests. His twin brother, Nico, tends the net for the Toronto Patriots. Alex made 26 appearances for the Blades and he was in the Hurricanes’ net for 8 regular season games with a GAA of 2.44.