Peterborough Petes Announced 'Big 8' Community Promotional Nights For 2024-25 Season

The Peterborough Petes have announced their ‘Big 8’ community promotional nights for the 2024-25 season that include nights such as the Teddy Bear Toss and Pink in the Rink game.

Photo courtesy of Kenneth Andersen and the Peterborough Petes.

Each game is centred around a community initiative with a local presenting partner.

The following are the Big 8 dates:

• Home Opener

• Sept. 26 - 7:05 p.m. - Kingston Frontenacs

• Pride Night

• Oct. 3 - 7:05 p.m. - North Bay Battalion

• Remembrance Day Game - Title sponsor still available

• Nov. 5 - 7:05 p.m. - Oshawa Generals

• Teddy Bear Toss

• Dec. 5 - 7:05 p.m. - Sarnia Sting

• Pink in the Rink

• Feb. 1 - 7:05 p.m. - Oshawa Generals

• Family Day Game

• Feb. 17 - 2:05 p.m. - Kitchener Rangers

• Big Brothers Big Sisters Night

• March 6 - 7:05 p.m. - Ottawa 67’s

• Fan Appreciation Night

• March 20 - 7:05 p.m. - Kingston Frontenacs

Partnership packages for the Big 8 are still available. Interested businesses can email Jeremy Coulter.

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Peterborough Lakers Hold Off Last-Second Rally to Deal Six Nations Chiefs First Loss of the Season In MSL Final

It came down to the last second but the Peterborough Lakers dealt the Six Nations Chiefs their first loss of the season with a 9-8 win to take Game One of the MSL finals at the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena on Tuesday.

Photo courtesy of the Peterborough Lakers.

Six Nations had a hot start and jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the first nine minutes of the game. Thomas Hoggarth had the lone goal on the power play for Peterborough in that stretch.

The Lakers began to swing the momentum in their favour as Owen Hiltz got another power-play goal. Joe Resetarits and Hoggarth followed up with scores to give Peterborough a 4-3 lead with a three-goal run.

Three goals came in the final two minutes of the period as Brendan Bomberry tied things up at four. Hiltz and Resetarits scored for Peterborough to restore their lead and have a two-goal cushion going into the second period, 6-4.

The second period was a low-scoring affair as both teams split three goals. The teams alternated goals as Turner Evans scored just over eight minutes into the period. Dhane Smith got one back for Six Nations but Rob Hellyer helped Peterborough pull away for an 8-5 lead going into the third.

Six Nations tried to rally against Peterborough in the final frame. Travis Longboat scored a pair of goals to cut the Lakers’s lead to one with just under halfway through the period. Peterborough was on transition and they made it count as Taylor Jensen scored with 5:40 left in the game for a two-goal lead with a 9-7 score. Randy Staats scored with 95 seconds left in regulation to make it 9-8 and pulled Six Nations within striking distance.

Smith was looking for his second goal of the game and took a shot with five seconds left. Lakers goaltender Landon Kells made the stop and preserved the win to deal Six Nations their first loss of the season.

“I expected us to come out firing,” said Kells. “It’s the MSL Finals and both teams deserve to be here. It was just going to be who wanted it more and I feel like we dictated the pace and we dictated how we wanted the game to be played.”

The Lakers allowed a combined four goals in the second and third periods, the same as they let in from the first.

“The defence makes my job easy when they play like that,” explained Kells. “They weren’t getting any looks from inside. The looks they were getting were outside shots which I should stop down the alley.”

Six Nations will look to even the series where Game Two is at the Peterborough Memorial Centre on Thursday.

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New Mayoral Golf Tournament Fundraiser Announced to Benefit Community Living Trent Highlands and Kawartha Food Share

To benefit Community Living Trent Highlands and Kawartha Food Share, Jeff Leal, Peterborough mayor has announced the inaugural Peterborough Mayoral Invitational Charity Golf Tournament fundraiser on Tuesday at City Hall.

(left to right) Jeff Leal, Peterborough Mayor; Nigel Lister, Regional Manager, Market Development of Cambium Inc; Ashlee Aitken, Kawartha Food Share general manager and Teresa Jordan, Community Living Trent Highlands executive director. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

“Supporting these two incredible organizations is a cause close to my heart," Leal said. “By coming together for a fun day on the golf course, we can make a meaningful difference in the lives of many.”

The tournament is at Kawartha Golf Club on Sept. 9. It is an open event. The friendly competition has no set fundraising goal and wants to invite as many people as possible to join the event. Proceeds will be equally divided among the two beneficiaries.

Leal easily approved the inaugural event, saying that past mayors have had their respective fundraising events and saw this tournament as an opportunity to make it his own.

“Former mayor Daryl Bennett's wife, Jewel, they sponsored the ‘Mayor's Giving Gala’ for a number of years and the proceeds of that went to the Peterborough Community Foundation and allowed them to be a very successful organization,” he explained. “Former mayor Paul Ayotte did an event with Homegrown Homes during his tenure as mayor.”

The day will include a round of golf, lunch, and dinner. Registration and lunch begin at 11 a.m. and the shotgun start is at 1 p.m. Dinner will be at 5 p.m.

The public can register online. You must have two or four players per team to register.

Sponsorship opportunities are also available that include hole promos, golf balls, hats, lunch/cart, dinner, Caesar bar, longest drive/closest to the hole or individual holes.

Those interested or seeking more information can go online or email nigel.lister@cambium-inc.com.

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Peterborough Petes Re-Sign Four Coaching Staff Ahead of 2024-25 Season

Four Peterborough Petes coaches have been re-signed ahead of the 2024-25 season as announced by the team and Michael Oke, general manager and vice president of operations on Tuesday.

(From Left to Right) Nate Oke, Andrew Verner, Patrick O’Connor and Alex Darling. Photo courtesy of the Peterborough Petes.

Andrew Verner, associate coach; Patrick O’Connor, assistant coach and director of player personnel; Nate Oke, assistant coach and Alex Darling, video coach have re-signed multi-year deals.

“After extending Head Coach Rob Wilson in the spring, we’re excited to be able to keep our coaching staff together moving forward,” said Michael. “They have all worked well together for the past few years, developing a strong relationship between themselves and with the players.”

“I’m very pleased that we were able to come to an agreement to keep our coaching staff together,” said Rob Wilson, Petes head coach. “All of their work, commitment, and dedication to the team is amazing to watch on a day to day basis. We’re all working towards the same goal of developing our young players on and off the ice, and I believe that the staff we have in place is one of the best in the OHL.”

Verner, a Petes alumnus from 1989-92, originally joined the coaching staff as a goaltending coach during the 2012-13 season. He served as an assistant coach from 2014-18 and interim head coach in 2018 before being named associate coach in August of the same year.

O’Connor joined the Petes as an assistant coach prior to the 2019-20 season. He served in the role for three years before being promoted to the role of director of player personnel and assistant coach last October.

Nate joined the Petes as the team’s skill and development coach before the 2022-23 season while he was the head coach of the U16 Central Ontario Wolves. He was named an assistant coach in August last year.

Darling was originally an intern in the Petes business office, before taking on a sales role with the team. He was named video coach and assistant to the general manager for the 2022-23 season.

All four are OHL Champions from the 2022-23 season as coaches when the Petes raised their 10th J. Ross Robertson Cup. They all rejoin Head Coach Rob Wilson who signed an eight-year extension in March. 

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Peterborough Jr. C Lakers Cap Off Perfect Season With Series Sweep to Win Meredith Cup

The Peterborough Jr. C Lakers’ perfect season is complete as they defeated the Fergus Thistles 14-7 in Game Three to capture the Meredith Cup at the Healthy Planet Arena on Saturday night.

July 28 was Peterborough’s only loss against the Nepean Knights in 6-5 result in the semifinals. Photo courtesy of Peterborough Jr. C Lakers.

The team had a perfect 16-0 record in the regular season entering the playoffs. The team only had one postseason loss and ended on an overall 28-1 record.

According to a prior press release, a Peterborough junior lacrosse team has had an undefeated season in roughly 50 years.

Peterborough drew first blood in game one, taking a 9-6 win on the road at Centre Wellington Sports Complex on Wednesday night. Peterborough fought off a late rally from the Thistles to hang on for the win and lead the best-of-five series, 1-0.

The Lakers had the opportunity to win the Meredith Cup in Peterborough if they could win consecutive home games in back-to-back nights.

Peterborough had a seesaw battle with Fergus in Game Two which included several visiting Thistles fans who were almost just as loud as the Lakers crowd at the Healthy Planet Arena on Friday night.

The home team was able to clamp down defensively and deny Fergus any scoring while netting two goals to win Game Two, 13-9.

With a chance to sweep the series and win the Meredith Cup before the home Peterborough crowd, the Lakers did just that with a convincing 14-7 win at the Healthy Planet Arena on Saturday night.

Once the Lakers took the lead, they never lost it thanks to an eight-goal surge in the second period. Peterborough outscored Fergus in every period to maintain their lead and capped off their perfect season.

“We are deeply grateful for the incredible support and dedication our community has shown us this season. To our amazing sponsors, volunteers, staff, and crew, as well as our passionate fans and parents - thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Your unwavering commitment and generous contributions have been the driving force behind our success,” according to a statement released by the team following their championship win.

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Schedule Released For MSL Finals Between Peterborough Lakers and Six Nations Chiefs

Major Series Lacrosse has released the official finals schedule between the Peterborough Lakers and Six Nations Chiefs with Game One beginning at the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena on Tuesday.

Photo courtesy of David Pickering and the Peterborough Lakers.

This is the fourth consecutive season and the ninth time in the last 10 seasons that both teams will meet in the final.

The Chiefs had an undefeated regular season before sweeping the Cobourg Kodiaks in the semifinals. Despite the Lakers, finishing with a 7-5 regular season record, they swept Owen Sound and Brooklin in four to reach the MSL finals.

The winner will host the WLA champion in the Mann Cup. 

SCHEDULE

• Game 1: Tuesday, August 13 at 8:00 p.m. @ Iroquois Lacrosse Arena

• Game 2: Thursday, August 15 at 8:00 p.m. @ PMC

• Game 3: Tuesday, August 20 at 8:00 p.m. @ Iroquois Lacrosse Arena

• Game 4: Thursday, August 22 at 8:00 @ PMC

• *Game 5: Sunday, August 25 at 7:00 p.m. @ Iroquois Lacrosse Arena

• *Game 6: Tuesday, August 27 at 8 p.m. @ PMC

• *Game 7: Thursday, August 29 at 8:00 p.m. @ Iroquois Lacrosse Arena

*if necessary

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Rob Hellyer's Hat Trick Helps Lakers Sweep Brooklin L.C. to Advance to MSL Finals

The Peterborough Lakers are moving on to the Major Series Lacrosse finals against the Six Nations Chiefs as Rob Hellyer’s hat trick helped sweep Brooklin L.C. in a 13-9 win at the Peterborough Memorial Centre on Thursday night.

Photo courtesy the Peterborough Lakers.

Peterborough started the game with a three-goal run with scores from Joe Resetarits, Hellyer and Adam Thistlehwaite. Brooklin responded with a pair of scores including a power play goal to cut the deficit to one. Colton Armstrong, Thomas Hoggarth and Austin Hasen found the scoresheet with a goal each while Hellyer got his second of the game. Brooklin scored twice to make it a 7-5 game in a high-scoring first period.

In the second period, there were only five goals with both teams trading scores. Brooklin had three goals while Peterborough saw Colby Wood and Hasen score their town for a 9-8 score going into the third.

Peterborough had clamped down defensively in the final frame.

Hellyer kicked off the third period with a hat trick goal to give a two-goal lead for the Lakers. Taite Cattoni, who was back from injury, got his first score and third point of the night. Matt Gilray scored for the Lakers to give his team a four-goal cushion with 8:34 left to play.

Reilly O’Connor managed to score with 3:43 in regulation to try and give Brooklin a fighting chance but Joey Cupido had an unassisted goal just 72 seconds later to ice the game and give the Lakers the sweep over the visitors.

Lakers goaltender Doug Buchan started the game and saved 30 of 38 shots but was swapped out for Landon Kells stopped 17 of 18 shots to help Peterborough secure the win.

“They thought it was their year but it was great to four-bang them for the second straight year,” said Cattoni.

“There were a lot of guys that were out there grinding,” said Dylan Hutchinson, Lakers defender. “We had a young left side out there on offence and they were all out there. Colby, Nate and Adam were all doing a good job and then Taite was kind of the vocal guy, handling the ball a little more. What they were able to do was great for us and definitely helped the outcome.”

The finals are expected to begin on Tuesday in a rematch against the defending Mann Cup champion Six Nations Chiefs. Game two is likely at the Peterborough Memorial Centre; however, the league has not confirmed the dates.

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Four Exceptional Student-Athletes Graduates Receive Peterborough & District Sports Hall of Fame Bursary

Four graduating 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) Linda de Jeu, PDSHoF Second Vice Chair; Ireland Payne, TASS graduate; Ava Johnston, Adam Scott Graduate, Brynn Jenkins, Crestwood Graduate; Finn Hughes, Holy Cross Graduate and Tim Barrie, first vice chair. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

Finn Hughes, Brynn Jenkins, Ava Johnston, and Ireland Payne were this year’s winners, taking home $2,000 apiece from the bursary. Each recipient was a graduating high school student that attending University in the fall.

This year’s winners will have their headshots commemorated in the Hall of Fame and their names etched into the history of the awards’ beneficiaries. The award has been given annually to four recipients since 1996 (with 2020 having six).

Hughes graduated from Holy Cross Secondary School, will attend Laurier University, study Business Administration and play rugby for the Golden Hawks.

He is an honours student with a 90 per cent average.

The Hurricane alumnus captained football, basketball, and rugby for Holy Cross. He was named senior athlete of the year and earned several MVP awards. He also served on the school’s student council.

In the community, he was a member of the U18 Team Canada rugby program, U19 Team Ontario rugby, Peterborough Pagans, Petes minor hockey and Otters football.

As a volunteer, Hugues was a link leader at Holy Cross, volunteered with special needs students, was an OFSAA lacrosse volunteer and gave back to minor hockey as a referee and scorer and timer.

“It's an honour,” explained Hughes. “I'd just like to thank the Peterborough and District Sports Hall of Fame for thinking of us and getting us in here. It feels great.”

Jenkins graduated from Crestwood Secondary School this past summer with a 94 per cent average as an honours student. She is attending Queens University, studying Health Sciences and will play varsity rugby.

At Crestwood, she played rugby, basketball, volleyball, track and field and wrestling. She was captain of the rugby team and earned an OFSAA gold medal in wrestling. She competed at OFSAA in track and field for four years. She earned MVP honours in rugby and was given the Dysart award, one of the highest athletic honours at Crestwood.

Outside of school, Jenkins was a member of the Peterborough Pagans Rugby Club, played Kawartha lacrosse, soccer and has attended the Rugby Canada development academy.

Jenkins was an active volunteer. She worked with Kawartha Food Share, was a referee for junior rugby, coached mini rugby and advocated for black athletes on social media.

“It feels wonderful to be recognized for all of the hard work that I've put in and all of us,” said Jenkins.

Johnston is a graduate of Adam Scott Collegiate and is attending the University of Guelph. She will study Health Sciences and play rugby for the Gryphons.

The 96 per cent average honours student played high school rugby, volleyball, wrestling and ultimate frisbee. She was captain of several teams, leading them to OFSAA gold medals in Ultimate and Kawartha and COSSA championships in Rugby and volleyball. She was Adam Scott’s senior female athlete of the year and earned many MVP awards.

Johnston was a member of the Ice Kats for hockey, part of the Peterborough Pagans Rugby Club and has been a member of the Ontario Rugby program.

Off the field, the Adam Scott Lion alumnus was a Sunday school volunteer and assisted with the Million Meals program. She was also an active volunteer and referee at the KPR elementary rugby and ultimate tournaments.

“It's just really awarding putting in a ton of hours into both sports and off the field,” explained Jenkins. “It's satisfying knowing that you're getting recognition for all of it and it's awesome for all of us.”

Payne graduated from Thomas A. Stewart and will attend the University of New Brunswick in the fall to study environmental management and play volleyball.

She played high school basketball, volleyball, badminton, tennis, soccer and track and field. Ireland earned multiple MVP awards in her sports while maintaining a 94 per cent average.

She was a member of Peterborough Thunder Volleyball, Soul Beach Volleyball and Peterborough Badminton Club.

Her volunteer work involves helping at Kawartha Food Share, Peterborough Humane Society and several KPR elementary sporting events.

“I'm very grateful that I got to be recognized and just very happy,” said Payne. “It makes me feel proud of myself and affects my self-esteem. It helps me feel more confident when you're recognized for high school accomplishments.”

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Peterborough Jr. C Lakers Hold Off Third-Period Surge From Fergus Thistles To Take Game One of the Meredith Cup In 9-6 Win

The Peterborough Jr. C Lakers draw first blood in the Meredith Cup finals, fighting off a late rally from the Fergus Thistles to take Game One in a 9-6 victory at the Centre Wellington Sports Complex on Wednesday night.

SCreenshot.

The Lakers opened the scoring just under five minutes into the game as Jeremiah Wade scored get break the ice. It took just over eight minutes for the next score Nick Fornier extended Peterborough’s lead to make it 2-0. Fergus got on the board under a minute later but Drew Calderwood got one right back for the Lakers to end the first in a 3-1 lead for Peterborough.

Only one player found the scoresheet in the second period but it was Wade who scored three consecutive goals to extend Peterborough’s lead to 6-1.

The Thistles attempted to mount a comeback, scoring the first four of five goals for a 7-5 game. Ryder Perry had the lone goal for Peterborough in nearly the first 15 minutes of the period. The Lakers were able to make one more push, getting the next two goals thanks to Liam Vollins and Reed Chamberlin with the latter scoring on the power play. Fergus scored with 68 seconds left but it was too little, too late and the Lakers hung on for 9-6 win.

The Lakers return home to the Healthy Planet Arena to play back-to-back games for Games Two and Three on Friday and Saturday night at 8 p.m. If they win both home games in the best-of-five series, the Lakers can sweep the Thistles and win the Meridith Cup at home.

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Peterborough Petes Release Ticket Details For Port Hope Preseason Game Against Niagara IceDogs

The Peterborough Petes the Municipality of Port Hope and the Port Hope Panthers have released ticket details for the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) preseason game between the Petes and the Niagara IceDogs on Sept. 1 at the Jack Burger Sports Complex.

Photo courtesy of Kenneth ANdersen and the Peterborough Petes.

Tickets for the game range from $20 to $30 (plus applicable fees) and are available online. All tickets sold online are reserved seating and are available while supplies last. A limited number of standing-room tickets will be available at the door on gameday starting at 1 p.m. The game will also feature a 50/50 draw and other fundraising opportunities.

Peterborough’s full 2024 preseason schedule is as follows:

• Sept. 1 - Niagara @ Peterborough - 2:05 p.m. (Jack Burger Sports Complex - Port Hope)

• Sept. 6 - Peterborough @ Guelph - 7:07 p.m.

• Sept. 8 - Sudbury @ Peterborough - 3:05 p.m. (Asphodel Norwood Community Centre - Norwood)

• Sept. 20 - Peterborough @ Kingston - 7:00 p.m.

• Sept. 21 - Guelph @ Peterborough - 7:05 p.m. (Cavan Monaghan Community Centre - Millbrook)

Puck drop for the game is scheduled for 2:05 p.m.

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