Uxbridge Bruins hosting alumni game on March 1st

DARRYL KNIGHT The Standard

By virtue of their third-place finish in the Orr Division regular season standings, the Uxbridge Bruins have a bye to the Cougar Cup semi-finals after Clarington and Georgina both opted to play in the opening round. However, the team will still be in action at the Bear Den on Friday, March 1st, with the Bruins hosting their 1st annual Alumni Showcase at 7:45 p.m. Admission is free to the event.

“We wanted to do something to keep our team fresh, so we put out the call to some of our recent graduates, and they responded well,” explained Bruins Assistant Coach and Assistant GM Trevor Cox. “It’s a pretty young alumni team, I think the oldest player was born in 1995, so they should provide a decent test for our team as we wait for the other series. It should be a really fun night for the community, and we’re all looking forward to seeing a lot of proud former Bruins in attendance with their families.”

This past weekend, the Bruins wrapped up the 2023-24 regular season with a pair of home games. On Friday night, the Bruins fell to Lakefield, but they were able to rebound on Sunday, Feb. 25th, with a 7-2 afternoon win over Little Britain.

On Friday night, the Bruins dropped a 5-2 decision to the Lakefield Chiefs at the Bear Den. Anthony Lamanna and Evan Gilbert scored for Uxbridge.

Looking to rebound on Sunday afternoon, the Bruins came out the gate flying, with a pair of goals by Quinn Meek giving Uxbridge an early 2-0 advantage. Former Bruin Matt Gordon scored for Little Britain, but Nolan Winter restored a three-goal lead for the home side late in the opening frame.

The Uxbridge offence continued to roll in the second period, with Ty Roberts and Tanner Ryan scoring. The Shopkeepers slipped in a powerplay goal with just one second remaining in the middle frame, but that would be as close as they would get. In the third period, Gilbert and Ryan Shier both scored for Uxbridge to wrap up the 7-2 victory. In goal, the Bruins turned to call-up player Jacob Mercer-Haper from the Whitby Wildcats Under-18 ‘AAA’ team and he shined in his junior hockey debut, turning aside 34 shots in a winning effort.

Loose Pucks:

- Prior to Friday night’s game, the Bruins honoured longtime sponsor Pat Higgins after his recent retirement from owning the local Canadian Tire store. In a pregame ceremony, the man affectionately known as ‘Mr. Uxbridge’ was gifted with a special number 25 jersey to commemorate his outstanding quarter-century of support for junior hockey in the community.

- It was a much more somber pregame ceremony on Sunday, as the team paid tribute to former captain Dave Duncan, who suddenly passed away last week. Duncan was captain of the Bruins when they captured the 2004-05 Cougar Cup championship in a thrilling triple overtime game 6 at Scugog Arena against the Port Perry MoJacks.