JJ O’Connor and SHL Player of the Year Awards

JJ O’Connor 2022 illinois AHAI player of the year!

JJ O’Connor is a Loyola graduate who is the Chair of USA Hockey’s Disabled Section and has helped grow all levels and disciplines of disabled hockey. This award is granted by AHAI, the governing body of Illinois Hockey, for the best overall player in all of High School Hockey in Illinois, regardless of school or location.

Jack Gustafson had a record setting year by all accounts. He broke the SHL single season scoring record, putting up 33 Goals and 33 Assists in only 33 SHL Games, for a 2 point per game average. Including tournaments and playoffs he amassed 43 goals and 42 assists for 85 points in only 43 games.

Athlete of the Week:

By Joe Coughlin in The Record, North Shore (edited)

Jack is a senior right winger for the Loyola Gold hockey team. He was an All-State selection who led the Scholastic Hockey League in assists and points scored.

What are your plans for next year?

I believe I will be attending Indiana University. If not, I will probably go to Penn State. Indiana is my first choice but I want to see them one more time.

Why Indiana?

My grandparents went there. I have a lot of friends who go there and I really like the school as a whole.

If you could try another sport, what would it be?

Definitely football, especially with how good our football team is at Loyola. I think that would be a lot of fun. I would want to be a wide receiver, but I’m definitely too slow for that.

What is your favorite thing to do off the ice?

I really like playing pond hockey with friends when it’s winter and playing basketball in the summer. Really just spending time with friends and family, especially before we all go off to college.

What led to such a productive season for you?

Of course my teammates. I had a lot of assists this year, finishing passes that I gave them. The coaching staff, DJ, Scott and Dustin, helped me get the tools I needed, put me out there in the right situations to get points. I played with a lot of good players. If you look at my line mates, they were also in top 10 for points scored: Ryan Boersma (35 points) and Will Schrieber (35) and then Max Gabal (13) and Garet Grady (23).

How would you describe your senior season?

I’m obviously disappointed in the fact that we didn’t win state. But in the season as a whole, we accomplished so much as a team. We really didn’t have our full lineup because of injuries until the Glenbrook South game (quarterfinals) at state. We won the SHL for the second year in a row, the Jesuit Cup (over St. Ignatius), the O’Grady Cup in its 50th anniversary. It was really cool to be a part of that and how much success we had.