Peterborough Blogs
First Little Lakers Night Raises Over $6,700 For Five Counties Children's Centre
/The Peterborough Lakers in their ‘Drive For Five’ quest takes time to help the community as their first-ever Little Lakers Night from July 27 raised $6,784 for Five Counties Children’s Centre (FCCC) Building Abilities For Life campaign, announced on Thursday.
Five Counties kids Mya (left) and Elsie (right) pose with Peterborough Century 21 Lakers mascot, Teddy, during Little Lakers Night on July 27. Many Five Counties clients, families, volunteers, staff and supporters took part in the first-ever event held during the Lakers’ final regular season home game. Little Lakers Night raised nearly $6,800 for Five Counties Children’s Centre. Photo courtesy of FCCC.
The fund helps FCCC reduce wait times and provide priority treatment services like speech and occupational therapies for children and youth in the region according to a press release.
“We are so thrilled to receive this support from the Peterborough Century 21 Lakers, during their drive to win a fifth consecutive Mann Cup title,” said Lyn Giles, FCCC director of fund development. “We are extremely grateful to fans, donors, supporters, volunteers, staff and others who came out to support the first-ever Little Lakers Night. It was a great success and we look forward to continuing our partnership with the Lakers for this annual event.”
Funds were raised during the game through donations, t-shirt sales, a silent auction, facepainting, sponsorships and proceeds from that night’s 50/50 draw during the team’s last home regular-season game.
Several FCCC kids and families attended the game and also played roles during the pre-game ball drop and singing of the national anthem.
During the game, four FCCC kids took part in the Peterborough Lakers Backstage Experience. They received a behind-the-scenes tour from Lakers board member John D’Altoe, got high-fives from team members on their way to the field, toured the video control room, helped in-arena hosts with giveaways and met the Lakers’ mascot, Teddy.
The partnership between FCCC and the Lakers continues during the club’s playoff run. The team’s Ticket Assist Program means Five Counties kids and their families get free tickets to every Lakers’ home game.
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Four Exemplary Student-Athletes Receive $2,000 Bursary From Peterborough & District Sports Hall of Fame
/Four student-athletes were recipients of the annual Peterborough & District Sports Hall of Fame Bursary Award at a presentation ceremony at the Peterborough Memorial Centre on Wednesday night.
(Left to right) Pat Bronson, PDSHoF chair; Delaney Hancock, 18; Parker Miller, 18; Alexis Thompson Jenkins, 18; Erik Unger, 17 and Linda de Jeu, PDSHoF Second Vice Chair. Photo by David Tuan Bui.
Delaney Hancock, Parker Miller, Alexis Thompson Jenkins and Erik Unger were all high-school student recipients that took home $2,000 apiece from the bursary.
It has been given annually to four recipients since 1996 (with 2020 having six). This year’s winners will have their headshots commemorated in the Hall of Fame and will have their names etched into the history of the awards’ beneficiaries.
Delaney Hancock, 18. Photo by David Tuan Bui.
Hancock, 18, is an honours student and a graduate of St. Peter Secondary School. She is attending St. Thomas University in Fredericton, N.B. in the fall for their Bachelor of Arts Program.
She plays sports such as field hockey, soccer, badminton, ice hockey and track and field for the St. Peter’s Saints. Hancock was also a member of the varsity running club, winning several MVP awards.
Hancock is active in the sports world not just as an athlete. She is an official for minor soccer, a hockey timekeeper, a lacrosse timekeeper and a fitness leader for the Ice Kats training camp. In high school, she was a LINK leader and a peer tutor in a special needs physical-education class and a member of the Athletics council.
She has played hockey for the PGHA Ice Kats, coccer with the Oshawa Kicks, Ice Hockey for the Central York Panthers U18 AA team and has been a member of the Kawartha Lakes Lightning running Club.
Outside of sports, Hancock volunteered for Kawartha Food Share as a food sorter, was an instructor at Girls with Game Basketball camp, a Peterborough City soccer camp instructor, baked for Humane Society Fundraiser on National Cupcake Day and helped at the Saints Classic Tournament.
Parker Miller, 18. Photo by David Tuan bui.
Miller is an honours student and a graduate of Adam Scott Collegiate. In the fall, he plans to attend McMaster University in Hamilton to study business.
During high school, the 18-year-old played volleyball, basketball, soccer and ultimate frisbee. He served as captain of the soccer and basketball teams. In ultimate, he was awarded the gold medal game MVP honours during back-to-back OFSAA championships in the past two seasons. Miller also was the 2023 Nationals gold medal game MVP.
He captained his school basketball team to an OFSAA Bronze medal earlier this year. His team also was awarded the OFSAA Sportsmanship Award.
In the community, he has played basketball with the Time 2 Hoop program as captain. Miller also played rugby in the Pagans program and ultimate.
His leadership skills continued by coaching basketball and soccer at local summer camps, coaching and organizing a grade six youth basketball house-league team, officiating basketball, scoring and timing at basketball games, tournaments and camps. He helped with training sessions for Peterborough youth basketball and Time 2 Hoop program. Miller was a camp counsellor at the Raiders summer basketball camp and a Level 1 CISA ski instructor.
Alexis ‘Lexi’ Thompson Jenkins, 18. Photo by David Tuan Bui.
Jenkins is an honours student and graduate of the Crestwood Edge program at Crestwood Secondary School. In the fall, she will be attending the University of Oregon on a lacrosse scholarship while studying human physiology.
At Crestwood, she participated on the basketball, volleyball, wrestling, lacrosse, Nordic Ski and rugby teams. Individually, she did track and field and cross country. She was a captain of her teams in lacrosse, basketball and rugby. She earned numerous Kawartha and COSSA individual championships as well as being named MVP in basketball and wrestling.
At the year-end athletic banquets, Jenkins was awarded the Larry Pearson Award, the Sportsmanship Award and the Dysart Award three years in a row. To cap off her Crestwood athletic tenure, she was named ‘Student of the Year’ which recognizes leadership, character and athletics.
The 18-year-old was a member of the Kawartha Lacrosse Club, was on Team Ontario’s box lacrosse team, Peterborough Power basketball player, a Kawartha Nordic Ski Club member and part of the Peterborough Legion Pacer track and field club.
A leader both on and off the field, Jenkins displayed leadership skills by coaching and officiating rugby for elementary school athletes, volunteering at the Pagans Minis program, coaching house league lacrosse and officiating youth soccer.
She volunteered at Kawartha Food Share program as a porch pirate, Champlain animal hospital and was an ‘amigos’ for Crestwood’s lunchtime support program for the LLS students.
Erik Unger, 17. Photo by David Tuan Bui.
Unger also was an honours student and graduate of Adam Scott. He is headed south this fall to attend the University of Massachusetts – Amherst to study mechanical engineering and compete on the track and cross-country teams.
In addition to those sports, the 17-year-old also is into Nordic skiing. Known for his performance at high-level events, Unger has won almost every Kawartha, COSSA and OFSAA event he has competed in. He has 4 gold medals, 2 silver medals and a fourth-place finish in his OFSAA career.
He is a Paul Burke Honour Athlete, earned his senior and junior athletic letters and numerous MVP awards in all three sports.
Unger has four All Ontario Awards from Athletics Ontario and was named one of the top 10 athletes in the city by the Peterborough Examiner last year. He also was a 2022 Running Lane USA All-American Selection and he has received the Member of Parliament Award after his U18 National Cross Country Championship win in 2022.
Unger has raced and skied on every competitive level, including internationally with several championships.
He has volunteered with Skate Canada as a youth instructor, with Peterborough recreational power skating, cross country and a relay for life participant.
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Petes Executive Director of Business Operations Accepts New Position With Professional Women's Hockey League
/Burton Lee, Peterborough Petes executive director of business operations is leaving the organization to accept a position as director of game operations and fan experience within the Hockey Operations Department of a new professional women’s hockey league announced on Wednesday.
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 at a World of Choices program with JA-NEO. PHOTO BY DAVID TUAN BUI.
The league is planning to launch this January.
Burton originally joined the Petes in August of 2013 as the director of communications and game operations. He was formerly with the Sarnia Sting in the ticket sales department, after having spent nearly a year in the Canadian Football League with the 2012 Grey Cup Champion Toronto Argonauts.
“I’m extremely grateful to the Petes Board of Directors and to our hockey and business staff for the opportunity to have worked for the historic Petes organization for the past decade,” said Lee. “It has been a pleasure to have partnered with exceptional people at the OHL and CHL, the City of Peterborough, Peterborough & District Sports Hall of Fame, the Peterborough Lakers, and Compass Food Services. Above all, though, it has been a true joy to play a role in the growth of our business team, as our staff continues to work tirelessly to help fans, partners, alumni, and players have world-class experiences right here in Peterborough.”
After his first two years, Lee was promoted to executive director of business operations for the next eight years. He was recognized with the 2022-23 Ontario Hockey League Community Involvement Award.
“I am looking forward to contributing to one of the most exciting projects in the sport industry, working alongside a renowned ownership and executive team to establish the new professional women’s ice hockey league,” said Lee. “The Mark Walter Group and Billie Jean King Enterprises have initiated something truly special for the hockey world. I am excited to work alongside a team led by Jayna Hefford and to use the knowledge and experience I’ve gained in Peterborough to help fans across North America and around the world experience elite hockey in a new way.”
Lee was born and raised in Delhi and been an active community member since 2013. He is the current chair of the board of directors for Peterborough and the Kawarthas Economic Development and serves as program advisory council chair for various programs at Fleming and Loyalist Colleges. Lee is also involved in minor and recreational sports, having organized the Peterborough Squash Club’s PSB Wilson Squash Classic for several years as well as coaching minor sports teams.
“Burton has been the driving force behind our business operations for the past 10 years,” said Dave Pogue, Petes president. “His innovative and progressive ideas spawning some major changes in our business model have helped the Petes organization make huge strides and Burton’s team is regarded as one of the best and most respected in junior hockey.”
Lee’s last day with the organization is on Aug. 15. Lee, his partner Heather and their two children are remaining in Douro-Dummer and continue to be with Peterborough County.
“Although we will greatly miss Burton’s talent, leadership and most of all, his second-to-none work ethic, we are very excited for him to be able to take on new challenges with his next career move,” said Pogue. “On behalf of the Peterborough Petes, please join me in wishing Burton the best of luck. We look forward to seeing him, his wife Heather and their children Louie and Lottie around the rink and in the community.”
Lee has worked alongside the hockey operations department throughout his time with the Petes. His decade-long tenure saw him work closely with Michael Oke, Petes general manager to ensure the smooth operation of the team.
“On behalf of everyone in hockey operations, I’d like to congratulate Burton on joining the new professional women’s hockey league,” said Oke. “It’s been ten great years working with Burton and we’re all excited to see him continue his career in something he’s very passionate about. Since we brought Burton on board, we have seen a tremendous amount of growth on the business side of the Petes. Burton’s vision and ideas were an integral part of this growth. Although we will miss him, we know that he’s going to be a great addition to the new league.”
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Holden Cattoni Becomes Overtime Hero As Peterborough Lakers Sweep Brooklin L.C. 12-11 to Make Eight-Straight MSL Final
/Holden Cattoni gets the series-winning goal as he helped the Peterborough Lakers sweep the Brooklin L.C. 12-11, in overtime to advance to the Major Series Lacrosse final for an eighth-consecutive time at the Iroquois Park Sports Centre on Tuesday night.
The Lakers await the winner of the Six Nations Chiefs and Cobourg Kodiaks. The Chiefs hold a 3-1 series lead with Game Five on Thursday. Photo courtesy of the Peterborough Lakers
The Lakers were off to a rough start as the Cattoni scored the team’s lone goal of the period. Brooklin scored four straight in the period to take a 4-1 lead after the first.
Brooklin continued their run with a Tanner Cook goal to make it 5-1 and seemingly have all the momentum. Peterborough shrugged off their sluggish start with a pair of goals from Matt Gilray and Colton Armstrong to make it a 5-3 game. Kyle Waters gave Brooklin breathing space with a goal to make it 6-3 but Peterborough went into overdrive shortly after.
Just as Cattoni started the scoring for Peterorough, he kept them going with a pair of goals to start a five-goal run. Thomas Hoggarth, Eli McLaughlin and Taite Cattoni got into the mix with goals to get an 8-6 lead. Brooklin broke the streak with a pair of goals to tie it up but McLaughlin got a powerplay goal to round out the period and give Peterborough a 9-8 lead, scoring eight in the second period.
The final frame saw a low-scoring affair from both teams as they traded goals until the end of the period. Brooklin opened and ended the scoring, tallying three scores while Peterborough had two and sent the game into overtime with 11-11 apiece.
As Holden Cattoni started it, he also finished it as Josh Currier and Holden’s brother Taite got in on the assistant helped him get the game winner in overtime 2:30 in to send Brooklin packing in a 4-0 sweep with a walk-off series win.
Riley Hutchcraft made 42 saves to pick up the win for Peterborough. The series victory gives Peterborough their eighth-straight MSL final appearance including their 18th in 19 seasons. The winner of the MSL Final will travel west to meet the WLA champion for the Mann Cup championship.
Tracey Kelusky Becomes 2023 Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame Inductee
/Four-time Mann Cup champion and former Peterborough Laker Tracey Kelusky has been named as a 2023 Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame inductee.
Photo courtesy of the Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame.
Kelusky was one of five inductees for this year’s Hall of Fame. He joins Steve Dietrich, Bob Watson, William (Bill) Hutton and Larry Loyd as this year’s inductees.
The former Laker was a top-three scorer during his Junior A carer from 1994-1996. He was awarded the Ontario Lacrosse Association’s Junior ‘A’ League’s Top Defensive Player in 1996.
He won four Mann Cup Champions with the Lakers in 2006, 2007, 2010 and 2012.
He was drafted first overall in the National Lacrosse League in 2000 to the now-defunct Columbus Landsharks (who became the Arizona Sting in 2004 and disbanded in 2008). He was named Rookie of the Year and a Second-Team All-Star in 2001, a First-Team All-Star in 2002-2004 and named the MVP in 2003. He won the NLL Champions Cup with the Calgary Roughnecks in 2004 and 2009.
Kelusky is no stranger to having his name immortalized as he was inducted into the NLL’s Hall of Fame in 2016.
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Peterborough Lakers One Win Away From Series Sweep With 16-7 Rout Over Brooklin L.C.
/The Peterborough Lakers are one game away from sweeping the Brooklin L.C. after convincingly winning 16-7 at the Peterborough Memorial Centre on Sunday night.
Photo courtesy of the Peterborough Lakers
The Lakers went on a huge run early in the game, scoring the first five goals of the period including a power play score from Holden Cattoni for Peterborough to go up 5-0.
Brooklin finally got themselves on the board, taking advantage of Lakers penalties and scoring two on the man advantage to cut into the lead for a 5-2 score at the end of the first.
Penalty woes continued to hit Peterborough but Matt Gilray turned it into a positive for the Lakers as he opened the scoring shorthanded to make it 6-2. The Lakers continued their offensive prowess with an eight-goal period while only relinquishing four to make it 13-6 at the end of the second.
Luke Pilcher tried to get the comeback going for Brooklin scoring on the power play to open the period. Peterborough kept going as Gilray scored shorthanded to cap off his first hat trick of the season as part of a three-goal run. The Lakers won 16-7 and have a three-game stranglehold on the series over Brooklin.
Landon Kells made 44 saves to get the win for Peterborough.
The Lakers can close out the series on Tuesday as they travel back to Whitby for Game Four against Brooklin.
Rotary Club of Peterborough Brings Back Fore the Kids Golf Tournament For Sept. 14
/The Fore the Kids Golf Tournament is making its return on Sept. 14, at Bellmere Winds Golf Course in Keene, announced by The Rotary Club of Peterborough.
Tournament proceeds are going towards the Five Counties Children’s Centre.
“We're excited to work with Linwood Homes again this year on the Fore the Kids Golf Tournament to make a lasting impact on the lives of children and youth in need within our communities,” said Wayne Harding, tournament Chair and former Rotary president. “Five Counties Children's Centre holds a special place in our hearts and this golf tournament serves as a beacon of hope, uniting individuals and businesses in a spirit of giving and camaraderie.”
All golfers are invited to register for $150 per person with a shotgun start of 1 p.m. The fee includes a round of golf, a cart, lunch and the chance to win hole prizes. Prizes include exclusive golf lessons, lake toys and a chance at driving home in a brand-new car from Jack McGee Chevrolet-Cadillac!
The tournament also features a raffle to win items such as a Plauski Square Stern canoe and paddles. Tickets are $10 apiece or three for $20.
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Peterborough Lakers Dominate Opening Playoff Game In 12-9 Win Over Brooklin L.C.
/The Peterborough Lakers drew first blood in their opening playoff game, never relinquishing the lead against the visiting Brooklin Lacrosse Club in a 12-9 victory at the Peterborough Memorial Centre (PMC) on Thursday night.
Photo courtesy of the Peterborough Lakers.
After allowing an early goal, Peterborough got down to business, scoring four straight goals from four different goal-scorers to command a 4-1 lead. Jake Stevens cut the deficit to two for Brooklin shorthanded but Peterborough with two special-team goals on the power play and shorthanded from Holden Cattoni’s second goal of the game and Matt Gilray respectively. Peterborough led 6-2 after the first.
Cattoni got a hat trick to start the second period and Austin Hasen joined him on the scoresheet for his first of the playoffs. The teams traded goal-for-goal with Peterborough narrowly widening the gap 10-5 after the second.
Major Series Lacrosse commissioner Lynn Withers presented Cattoni with the league’s leading scorer award prior to the third period. Cattoni finished the regular season with 28 goals and 50 assists.
Brooklin did not want to leave the PMC quietly as they had a hot start to the period, scoring the first two goals. Eli McLaughlin got a hat trick on the powerplay to give the Lakers more breathing room. The teams traded goals once again that included McLaughlin’s team-leading fourth goal of the night. Brooklin was able to make it 12-9 with just over two minutes left in regulation but the Lakers held on and left the PMC as winners of game one.
Landon Kells picked up the win for Peterborough, making 44 saves on 53 shots.
The Lakers hit the road to Whitby Friday for Game two at Iroquois Park Sports Centre at 8 p.m.
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Former Peterborough Petes Captain Shawn Spearing Commits to StFX X-Men
/Former Peterborough Petes captain Shawn Spearing is headed to the east coast as he is joining the StFX X-men in Antigonish, N.S., announced on Thursday afternoon.
Spearing suffered a jaw injury in early may from a puck during the OHL Playoffs. Photo by Samantha Bianco.
