April 3, 2025, Mississauga, ON – …. TJ Hill of the Stouffville Spirit is the Ontario Junior Hockey League’s Coach of the Year for 2024-25, the league announced today.
It’s the third league award for the Spirit this spring. Governor and General Manager Ken Burrows was named Executive of the Year yesterday and team captain David Paglia is the OJHL Humanitarian of the Year.
Hill, who also played two seasons in the OJHL, loves helping young people achieve their goals and helping them be better on and off the ice.
He does it as coach of the Spirit, as a teacher in neighbouring Richmond Hill and, in his spare time, coaching his son’s U8 rep team in Aurora, another York Region community.
“Players learn to be leaders, earn the right to be confident, learn the value of hard work, and learn to deal with difficult situations,” the OJHL’s Coach of the Year said during a radio interview.
And, under Hill, they also win.
Hill was promoted from assistant coach in Stouffville to head coach on Nov. 28, 2022. He took over a team with a 10-13-1-4 record. The Spirit finished that season at 18-28-1-7.
Last season they improved to 29-20-2-5 and finished eighth.
They were swept in the first round of the playoffs both years.
This year, the Spirit had its best winning percentage in 10 years (0.625), going 33-19-0-4 and finishing in fourth place in the 12-team OJHL East. In the playoffs, they had brooms of their own, sweeping the Wellington Dukes in the first round of the playoffs.
Hill’s assistant coaches were Rob Ascenzi, Tom Plommer and Bobby Berkenblit.
The Spirit were eliminated from the playoffs Tuesday night in Trenton, falling in five games to the host Golden Hawks, the top seed in the 24-team league. The first four games in the series were all decided by ‘one goal’ with empty-netters thrown in during two games.
When Scott Donato resigned as Spirit coach mid-season in 2022, Burrows handed the reins to Hill – but only on an interim basis.
“I told TJ, ‘Give me two weeks to think about it and you give me your best’,” Burrows recalls. “He had to run every practice by himself and I watched every one of them. I saw how hard he worked and how committed he was and I knew right then that he was a good fit. Things were not going to fail because of a lack of preparation under TJ.
“It’s gotten to the point where I’ve almost totally backed away. I will make suggestions, but he’s already got it figured out by then. He’s very prepared. And he relates very well with the older kids. It’s so important to get them to buy in and TJ has done that with our vets.”
The Spirit prides itself on advancing players to the next level. Eight alumni have played in the NHL.
Under Hill, the franchise had a record 10 commitments to NCAA Division I and Ontario Hockey League programs during the past year. More are in the offing.
A junior A and minor hockey coach for almost 20 years, Hill was on OJHL coaching staffs in Ajax, Newmarket and Pickering before Stouffville
The Aurora resident was also a AAA head coach with the Ajax Pickering Raiders and South Central Coyotes organizations.
“I’m really proud of how things have gone over the past three years,” Hill told the OJHL. “We continue to get better every year as we add good pieces and good people. We have a lot of character in our room and on our staff. It’s a pleasure to coach this team and I’m very grateful for the opportunity. I’m having a blast doing it and have enjoyed seeing the improvements that we’re making and the success we’ve had.
“I’m really looking forward to next year. We had a really good season and took a step. I’m happy for the guys moving on with commitments to the NCAA, OHL or Canadian universities and also looking forward to seeing some of our young guys take that next step and become our leaders for next season. That’s the big fun of watching guys progress through their careers and grow and improve and take advantage of opportunities they are given.”
Hill sees parallels between his day and night jobs.
“Big time,” he said earlier. “It plays out in how I communicate with the players, how I structure my practices. A lot comes from my education background, including how to break things down and long-range planning. And I was a coach before I was a teacher, so I use a lot of things I learned in coaching in the classroom, too.”
Hill will be honoured along with the other OJHL award recipients at a ceremony during the OJHL Championship Series later this month
The OJHL is announcing its 2024-25 award winners throughout the first three rounds of the playoffs.
TOMORROW: General Manager of the Year
About the OJHL – “League of Choice”
The Ontario Junior Hockey League is the largest Junior ‘A’ league operating under the auspices of the Canadian Junior Hockey League with 24 member clubs – including the 2024 national champion Collingwood Blues. A proud member of the Canadian Junior Hockey League and Ontario Hockey Association, the OJHL was originally named the Ontario Provincial Junior ‘A’ Hockey League and it was formed out of the Central Junior ‘B’ Hockey League in 1993-94. With a long and storied history of developing players for the next level, including the CHL, U SPORTS, the NCAA, minor pro ranks and the NHL, the OJHL has had more than 100 NCAA Division I scholarships already this season.
For more information on the Ontario Junior Hockey League, follow us on Instagram (@OJHLOfficial), X (@OJHLOfficial) and Facebook (OJHLOfficial)
