Fleming Knights Men's Curling Team Competing in National Championships in Sudbury

The Fleming Knights Men’s Curling Team is heading to the Canadian College Athletic Association (CCAA) Curling Championships in Sudbury running from Wednesday to Sunday.

Photo courtesy of Fleming College.

They qualified after coming fourth in the Ontario College Athletic Association (OCAA) Curling Championships at Niagara College.  

The Knights are led by skip Nolan Galardo and teammates Cameron Fraser, Michael Duffy, Finn Duffy and Ben Potter. They will face off against the top curling teams from across Canada’s collegiate ranks.  

Coaches Todd Freeman and Tara Welbourn are guiding the team to return to the podium since Fleming won it all in 2015.

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Avery Hayes's Hat Trick Propels Peterborough Petes to 5-2 Win Over Mississauga Steelheads

Avery Hayes had the green tops flying at the Peterborough Memorial Centre as his hat trick helped the Peterborough Petes get a 5-2 over the Mississauga Steelheads on St. Patrick’s Day night on a rare Tuesday night game.

The Petes are tied with 70 points in the East Division with the Hamilton Bulldogs but are in second place with a game in hand. Photo courtesy of Kenneth Andersen and the Peterborough Petes.

Both goaltenders Liam Sztuska and Ryerson Leenders were perfect in the first period stopping 16 and 12 shots respectively and faced multiple high-scoring chances throughout the period. The game remained scoreless after one.

Mississauga broke the ice after getting a powerplay eight seconds in. Former Peter Pete Jack Van Volsen nailed a one-timed shot to put Mississauga up 1-0. Less than a minute and a half later, Hayes picked up a loose puck and sniped it past Leenders on a solo mission to tie at one a piece. Peterborough saw more offense with 18 shots but the score remained tied into the third.

The final period was all Peterborough Petes, beginning with Brennan Othmann pouncing on a rebound, getting his 28th of the season on the powerplay for a 2-1 lead. Owen Beck got on the scoresheet against his former team, blasting a slapshot to give Peterborough a 3-1 lead. Lucas Karmiris tipped in a point shot from Kasper Larsen past Sztuska to get the Steelheads within one for a 3-2 game. Avery Hayes took over, nailing his 40th and 41st goal season to put the game out of reach and a hat trick.

The Petes head to North Bay to wrap up their series with the Battalion on Thursday.

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Champions Gymnastics Take Home Over 30 Event Medals and Titles at Gasparilla Classic in Florida

Champions Gymnastics had 18 athletes representing Canada at the Gasparilla Classic International Gymnastics in St. Petersburg, Florida from Feb. 24 to 26.

All photos courtesy of Tracy Taylor.

The Gasparilla Classic is one of the largest gymnastics meets in the world, with over 6,000 athletes from 21 states and 7 countries competing at the home of the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field.

Led by Head Coach Etienne Rene and Tracy Taylor, Champions took home first place Team trophies in Level 4 and Level 6. Individually, Champions athletes won five All Around Titles and 12 All Around Silver.

Along with winning over 33 individual event medals, Taylor says that the Champions athletes made many friends among the countries represented. For athletes used to small Ontario meets this was a huge event for the young team.

“All in all a great experience for coaches, athletes and families,” said Taylor. “Everyone is already looking forward to next years event planned for Cancun, Mexico in January.”

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Peterborough U16 AAA Petes Capture Top Seed For OMHA Championship

The Peterborough U16 AAA Petes are entering the Ontario Minor Hockey Association (OMHA) Championship in Oakville as the top seed of their gourp after winning back-to-back playoff games over the weekend.

The team went a perfect 6-0 during the playoffs to earn the first seed for the OMHA Championships. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

The team shut out the Oshawa Generals at home in a 6-0 win at the Healthy Planet Arena on Saturday. The team on the second leg of a back-to-back, travelled to Aurora and earned a 3-2 victory over York-Simcoe Express on Sunday to clinch the top seed.

The team played four playoff games prior to the weekend. They defeated the Richmond Hill Coyotes twice (14-0, 9-0), Kingston Jr. Gaels (10-0) and York-Simcoe Express (4-1) when playoffs began on Feb. 25. The team went undefeated with a 6-0 record during the playoffs.

The U16 Petes are placed in the top seed of Group 1 with the Central Ontario Wolves. The Southern Tier Admirals of South Central AAA (SCTA) will join the two teams in the group. York-Simcoe Express and Ajax-Pickering Raiders qualified in Group 2.

The OMHA Championship is at the Joshua Creek Arenas in Oakville and is a three-day tournament that runs from Friday to Sunday. The Petes play two games on Friday, one game on Saturday with championship games occurring on Sunday with opponents to be determined.

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Local Musician Releases Song Highlighting Toronto Maple Leafs Fans' Woes

While the Toronto Maple Leafs have yet to win a Stanley Cup in over 56 years, local musician Bobby McBain released a music video, singing about the NHL team’s troubles on Friday.

The video features Maple Leaf fans getting together to watch the game and then becoming frustrated after clips of heartbreaking moments of Toronto being played.

“March is always a tough time of year for Leaf fans,” said McBain in a Facebook post. “There is always a false sense of hope that this will be the year they finally make a run for the Stanley Cup and put an end to over half a century of losing. Then reality sets in and we realize we are going to play Tampa or Boston or some other team with more depth and better skillsets and the Leafs do what they always do and that's choke coming down the stretch.”

The song begins optimistically with stories of watching Leafs games when they were young. It highlights clips of the team during the 80s and beyond.

The song notes the team’s turning point involved an alleged missed high-sticking call on Wayne Gretzky to Doug Gilmore during Game 6 of the 1993 Western Conference Final between the Los Angeles Kings and the Leafs. Toronto eventually lost the series. Clips of the fans lamented over the playoff woes the team has faced since that series loss.

The video ends with a message from McBain attempting to give hope to Leafs’ fans stating, “To all the Leaf fans across Canada and around the world… You are not alone. We are in this together.”

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Peterborough U9 Petes Go On Undefeated Run To Capture League Title

The Peterborough U9 MD Durham Industrial Petes swept the Lakeshore MD Championships in Kingston going a perfect 5-0 in a three-day tournament from Friday to Sunday.

Photo courtesy of Peterborough Minor Petes.

The team rang off four straight wins in the round-robin of their division (McDavid division), defeating the Quinte West Golden Hawks (7-0), Belleville U9 MD Jr. Bulls (8-2) Whitby Wildcats (3-2) and Ajax Pickering Raiders (16-0) for the top seed in the championship game.

The Petes gave the Wildcats no chance at redemption in the finals as Peterborough earned a 6-0 shutout for the championship.

The win is the first title for Peterborough Minor Petes hockey for the 2022/23 season.

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Peterborough U16 AAA Petes Primed For Championship Run

As the Ontario Minor Hockey Association (OMHA) championship in Oakville draws closer on March 17 - 19, the top-ranked Peterborough U16 AAA Petes have a pair of playoff games this weekend to build momentum for a provincial title.

The U16 Minor Petes are ranked FIRST (ETA) with 39-1-2 record and rank second in the OHL Cup rankings behind Toronto Marlboros of the Greater Toronto Hockey League. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

The team is currently undefeated in the playoffs and has already qualified for the OMHA championship. They rang off four straight playoff wins the Richmond Hill Coyotes twice (14-0, 9-0), Kingston Jr. Gaels (10-0) and York-Simcoe Express (4-1) dating back to Feb. 25.

“The boys are putting in the work on-and-off the ice and we're really gelling right now,” said Andrew MacNeil, Minor Petes defenceman. “ (We’re) finding a way and sacrificing for everybody in the room and it's getting the job done so far.”

Photo by David Tuan Bui.

The U16 Petes have back-to-back games to round out their playoffs. Head coach Michael Farrugia says the team is not going to let up and needs to keep winning as they head into the OMHA championship.

“We're not going to change our gameplan,” he said. “We're going to play like they mean something because they do. They're two momentum games to take us to the OMHAs and we've got to be ready to play no matter what it means in the standings. 

Photo by David Tuan Bui.

The players agreed with the coach that they need to continue their winning ways.

“We need to keep playing the way we are,” said Cohen Bidgood, Minor Petes forward. “We're playing fine right now so that will get it done.”

"We're just looking to stick to the structure, play hard and these games create good habits going into next week at the OMHA championship,” said MacNeil.

The Petes take on the Oshawa Generals at home in the Healthy Planet Arena on Saturday at 4:15 p.m. then clash with the York-Simcoe Express on the road at St. Andrews College in Aurora on Sunday at 6 p.m.

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Frontenacs Steal 5-4 Overtime Win Over Petes; $16,000 Raised For World Kidney Day

While the Kingston Frontenacs walk away with a 5-4 victory, the real winners are Peterborough and the Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC) as over $16,000 was raised on World Kidney Day at the Peterborough Memorial Centre on Thursday night.

The Petes are second in the East Division with 66 points with the Hamilton Bulldogs but have a game in hand. Photo courtesy of Kenneth Andersen and the Peterborough Petes.

The game recognized Petes’ associate coach, Andrew Verner, who was diagnosed with glomerulonephritis in 1999 and received a kidney transplant exactly two years ago to the day. 

The night was created to raise awareness about organ donor registration and to raise funds for equipment used in the lifesaving delivery of dialysis treatment at Peterborough Regional Health Centre. Through the PRHC Foundation, a donation page has been set up in Verner’s name and can be found online. A silent auction also ran during the game, featuring NHL-signed memorabilia. An activation was set up in the concourse during the game encouraging fans to sign up to be organ donors. 

The Petes started on the right foot with Brennan Othmann tipping an Avery Hayes shot for a 1-0 lead, five minutes into the game. Peterborough cough up two straight goals after a turnover and a powerplay. Quinton Pagé responded quickly for the Petes as he was alone in front of the net and beat Ivan Zhigalov to tie the game at 2-2. Tucker Robertson restored the lead for the Petes as he ripped a puck home with just over a minute left in the first.

The second period saw Owen Beck force a turnover at the blue line, deked out Zhigalov on the breakaway and scored his 21st of the season. The score became 4-2 heading into the third.

The final frame saw Kingston claw back into the game and tie it with goals from Gabriel Frasca and Paul Hughes for a 4-4 tie. The score remained that way after regulation and the game went into overtime.

In the extra frame, Kingston forced a turnover which led to a breakaway for Christopher Thibodeau but instead of taking a shot, he passed it to Alec Belanger who one-timed it home for the 5-4 win and his second of the night.

The Petes have a chance at revenge as they play Kingston against as part of a home-and-home series to wrap up their season series with the Frontenacs on Friday.

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Local Students Receive Career Advice From Mentors In World of Choices Program

165 elementary school students were left with words of wisdom as they attended Junior Achievement of Northern and Eastern Ontario (JA-NEO) and Peterborough Petes’ World of Choices (WOC) program listening to various mentors about career paths on Thursday morning.

Burton Lee, Petes executive director of business operations (left) addressing the 165+ students in grades 7 and 8 about his career experience with the team. Photo by David Tuan bui.

The event at the Peterborough Memorial Centre hosted grade 7 and 8 students from Crestwood, Chemong Public School, Prince of Wales and Immaculate Conception. They listened to five different mentors to gain first-hand insight into career options, benefits and career challenges in the professional sports and entertainment industry. Mentors included organizations from the Peterborough Petes, Rawscoe's Sport Collectibles, RBC, YourTV Cogeco, Corus Entertainment and more that spoke to the pre-teens.

WOC is a career exploration event aimed at helping students discover new career choices and learn from local industry professionals. Students had the opportunity to get familiar with potential educational paths and grasp a better understanding of the day-to-day duties of several careers.

“We’re excited to partner with The Peterborough Petes to help local students understand and explore a wide array of career options,” said John McNutt, JA-NEO president and CEO. “Following the completion of today’s program, students will feel empowered to continue their education towards a chosen career and be better equipped to meet the challenges of today’s working world.”

All participating students received a ticket to attend the Petes’ game that night with a family member against the Kingston Frontenacs.

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Hometown PTBO: Andrew Verner and His Kidney Transplant Leading to World Kidney Day With The Peterborough Petes

This week on Hometown PTBO, Pete Dalliday speaks with Peterborough Petes assistant coach Andrew Verner about the Petes history, their future and a heartwarming story about his kidney transplant.

The Peterborough Petes are hosting World Kidney Day on March 9 at the Peterborough Memorial Centre as they and Verner are raising money in support of equipment used in the lifesaving delivery of dialysis treatment at Peterborough Regional Health Centre.

Note: This interview was conducted back in September of 2021.

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