Ryan McAllister, TJ Hughes and Zach Bookman have been named to the Alberta Junior Hockey League 2021-22 Viterra All-League South Division Team, the league announced on Monday.
The three Bandits were selected to the respective rosters through a voting process completed by the General Managers and Coaches of the AJHL.
Viterra South Division All-League Team
- G Andreai Proctor-Ramirez – Canmore Eagles
- D Zach Bookman – Brooks Bandits
- D Robert Kincaid – Camrose Kodiaks
- F Ryan McAllister – Brooks Bandits
- F TJ Hughes – Brooks Bandits
- F Rieger Lorenz – Okotoks Oilers
AJHL Scoring Champion and League MVP, Ryan McAllister was a unanimous selection to the South Division AJHL All-League roster. With 139 points (57G, 82A), the Western Michigan University commit is the first AJHL player to score over 130 points in a season since the 1997-98 season. McAllister (London, ON) broke the Bandits franchise record for most points in a season and is just the second Bandit to score 50 goals in a season. He averaged 2.3 points per game, recorded 42 multi-point games and completed the season with a 12-game point streak.
The third-year Bandit was named as the 2021-22 Team MVP and Top Scorer. McAllister, 20, was selected as the Alberta Ford Dealers AJHL Player of the Month twice, the CJHL 1st Star of the Month in October 2021, received the Pizza 73 AJHL Player of the Week award four times, and was the Viterra AJHL Star of the Game in 10 games.
TJ Hughes was the first recipient of the newly created AJHL Top Forward award and the AJHL Leading Goal Scorer award. The 20-year-old forward scored a remarkable 66 goals and 127 points as well as a league leading 10 game winning goals in the regular season.
Hughes (Hamilton, ON) is the first AJHL player to reach the 60-goal mark since the 2000-01 season and set a team record for most goals in a season. The third-year Bandit was second overall in the AJHL Scoring Race with 127 points and an average of 2.1 points per game with seven hat tricks. He will enter the AJHL Record Book with the eighth most goals scored in a single season and third in the category of powerplay goals in a single season with 28.
In November 2021, Hughes was selected as the Alberta Ford Dealers AJHL Player of the Month and the CJHL 2nd Star of the Month as he recorded 30 points in 12 games and extended a 28-game point streak. He was recognized as the Viterra AJHL Star of the Game 15 times in 2021-22. Hughes was also the recipient of the Brooks Bandits Top Forward award.
Zach Bookman won the AJHL’s Outstanding Defenceman award and was also named to the Viterra South Division AJHL All-Rookie Team for the 2021-22 season along with teammate Boston Buckberger. Bookman is listed in the NHL Central Scouting Midterm Rankings for the 2022 NHL Entry Draft.
Bookman set three League Records in his final games of the regular season and finished third overall in the AJHL Scoring Race with 102 points (21g, 81a). The Merrimack College commit led all AJHL defencemen and rookies in scoring, setting new AJHL Records for most points by a defenceman (102), most assists by a defenceman (81) and most assists by a rookie (81).
He was recognized twice as the Inter Pipeline AJHL Rookie of the Week and four times as the Alberta Ford Dealers AJHL Defensive Player of the Week. Bookman (Syracuse, NY) was also a finalist for AJHL Rookie of the Year and won the team award as Top Defenceman.
The AJHL South-Final begins on Friday (April 8th), Game 1 will be at the Centennial Regional Arena in Brooks. The opponent will be the winner of the Drumheller/Okotoks series.