Peterborough Lakers Finish Regular Season Home Finale With Win Over Brampton

The Lakers gave the home team what they wanted on Fan Appreciation and Little Lakers Night, as they finished their last home regular-season game with a 9-6 win over the Brampton Excelsiors at the Peterborough Memorial Centre on Thursday night.

Photo courtesy of David Pickering and the Peterborough Lakers.

The Lakers wasted no time getting on the scoreboard as Holden Cattoni scored 88 seconds into the game to draw first blood. Brampton answered on the power play to tie the game at one. Peterborough scored two straight from Mike Robinson and Carter Page to make it a 3-1 game but Brampton got one more to end the period.

The Excelsiors took their first lead of the game, scoring the stanza’s first two goals. Page scored his second but was quickly met with another Excelsior goal. Peterborough regained the lead thanks to Cattoni’s second score and Thomas Hoggarth found the scoresheet to make it a 6-5 game after two.

“I caught the ball, a defenseman jumped at me. It kind of tied my hands up, the only option I had was around the back and I just tried to get it on net and I got lucky and it went through his legs, not much to it,” explained Hoggarth.

He scored a second straight goal to open the third and give a little breathing room for the Lakers. Braedon Saris extended the lead on a shorthanded goal to give Peterborough a three-goal cushion. Brampton scored ont he power play nearly halfway through the stanza but Hoggarth completed his hat trick to seal the win and send the Laker fans home happy.

“The building was loud and rocking. They were an electric factory,” said Nick Rose, Lakers goaltender. “It’s always fun to see our fans up close; some don’t recognize us without the gear on at times, but it’s awesome to be able to get them some autographs and get fired up for playoffs.”

The Lakers finish out the regular season in Port Hope against the Cobourg Kodiaks at the Jack Burger Arena on Sunday at 6 p.m.

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Trent Athletics and Under Armour Engage In New Multi-Year Partnership

Trent University Athletics & Recreation has entered into a multi-year partnership with sports brand Under Armour, with the latter becoming the official exclusive supplier of apparel for the Trent Excalibur varsity teams.

Isabelle Pellerine, Fourth-Year Kinesiology Trent Student and Excalibur Volleyball player demonstrates a barbell row to showcase the newly-upgraded Fitness Centre at the Trent Athletics Centre. Photo by David Tuan bui.

Excalibur athletes will wear the apparel starting with the upcoming 2025-26 season, as Under Armour will start outfitting Excalibur teams with custom uniforms. 

As part of the partnership, Trent Athletics & Recreation will launch an Excalibur supporter online store to offere everyone to purchase Excalibur-branded Under Armour clothing and gear. The store will be launched later this month on the Excalibur website.

“Partnering with an innovative global leader like Under Armour reflects our commitment to excellence, a premium student-athlete experience and providing our Excalibur teams with high-performance apparel to help them succeed,” said Nathan McFadden, rent Athletics & Recreation director. “We’re excited to see our teams and supporters wearing Under Armour branded Excalibur gear and representing our program with pride.” 

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Peterborough NHL Draftee Commits to Michigan State

Less than a month after being drafted to the Philadelphia Flyers in the NHL 2025 Entry Level Draft, Peterborough’s Porter Martone is leaving the Ontario Hockey League and committing to Michigan State University, announced on Monday.

Notable Michigan State Alumni to play in the NHL include Ryan Miller, Rod Brind'Amour, Torey Krug and Mason Appleton. Photo by Jordan Cooper.

Martone was drafted by the Flyers sixth overall last month.

In November, the NCAA Division I Council voted to amend its rules, permitting players who have skated in the CHL to participate in college hockey. Martone will join the Michigan State Spartans, who had a 26-7-4 record this past season. The team plays out of Munn Ice Arena in East Lansing, Mi.

He spent most of his OHL career with the Mississauga/Brampton Steelheads and had a brief stint with the Sarnia Sting, playing 29 games during the 2022-23 season.

He finished this season with 37 goals and 61 assists in 57 games while captaining the Steelheads. He also captained Team Canada to a gold medal at the IIHF U18 World Championship last year in Finland.

The Peterborough forward was a member of the Petes U15 AAA team, scoring six goals and 15 assists in 36 games.

Porter is the son of his father and former NHL player Mike Martone. The latter was known for scoring the game-winning overtime goal in the 1996 OHL Championship against the Guelph Storm.

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Undermanned Peterborough Lakers Give Valiant Effort In Overtime Loss to Owen Sound

Despite being down several starters, the Peterborough Lakers just fell short of a comeback bid, falling 10-9 in overtime to the Owen Sound North Stars at the Eddie Bush Memorial Arena on Saturday night.

Photo courtesy of Anna Taylor and the Peterborough Lakers.

The Lakers were down several starters since they were attending defenceman Jordan Stouros’ wedding.

The opening frame looked like Peterborough had not skipped a beat, scoring the first two goals thanks to Braedon Saris and Justin Sykes. They allowed a three-goal run to find themselves down 3-2 but rang off another pair of scores with Saris’s second and Nick Fournier’s first for a 4- 3 lead after one period.

The middle stanza was all Owen Sound. They had five of the six goals with Micheal Blaymires getting the lone score for the Lakers for a 7-5 game in favour of the home team.

Both teams alternated scores for the opening five goals. Lucas Fraser, Alex Pace and Jeremiah Wade all scored their first goal of the season for Peterborough. Adam Thistlethwaite had some last-minute heroics for the Lakers, scoring with just four seconds left to tie the game at nine to force overtime.

“We had a play set up for Justin Sykes to come down the side on a double steal,” explained Thistlethwaite. “We’d run it once or twice before in the game so they kinda knew what was coming. So when I came up from the bottom to seal up on Sykes’ guy, I just flashed into the middle into Saris and he threw it to me. Page was double sealing through on the backside just kind of bear-hugging guys, creating chaos and I shot overtop and hit it top left.”

The extra frame did not take long as Owen Sound scored just 29 seconds in to get the 10-9 victory.

“There were a lot of roles that were getting filled tonight,” said Thistlethwaite. “A lot of different guys in the lineup so a lot of guys were stepping up in different places all over the floor. We had a lot of good young players who were running the floor and playing well.”

“Not happy at all with the result, but happy with the effort,” said Bobby Keast, Lakers assistant coach. “The group that we called up to support did an outstanding job.”

The Lakers finish their last home game this Thursday against the Brampton Excelsiors for Little Lakers Night support of Five Counties Children’s Centre and Fan Appreciation Night.

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Peterborough Women’s Special Olympic Soccer Team Brings Home Gold at Provincials

Peterborough Women’s Special Olympic Soccer Team made history at the 2025 Provincial Special Olympic Games, taking home a gold medal in an undefeated run in Brantford over the weekend.

Photo courtesy of Debbie Quinlan.

Throughout the three-day event the team hosted a Women’s division at the Provincial Summer Games for the first time. The team won despite extreme heat conditions.

Candace Bushie, Crystal Cochrane, Jasmine Davis, Haley Fowler, Heather Fowler, Nicole Hewitt, Kristen Lackey, Gillian McHugh, Miriam McHugh, Kacee Quinlan, Jenn Wildman, Carlea Wilkie-Ellis and coaches Shawna Goode, Debbie Quinlan and Linda Wilkie were all part of the winning team.

The Peterborough Panthers Soccer team wona silver medal at the Provincial Games. Coached by Patrick Henry, Corlea Freeland and Bill Chapman, the team consisted of: Adam Ferguson, Brian Davis, Blair Bastien, Mary McDougall, Jacob Zitman, Mike Ludlow, Makaya Dafoe, Steve Caban, Ryan Blinn and Dylan Armstrong.

Peterborough’s Special Olympic track athletes, coached by Sydney Venton, saw results from the following atheletes:

• Gaerrisen Freeland: Gold medal in 100 m., 200 m., 400 m., shotput and Javelin

• Lisa Butler: Gold medal in 400 m, shot put and javelin. Bronze medal in 100 m

• Mercedes Laking: Gold medal in shotput and bronze medal in 100 m

Coached by Toni Hill and Alan Brioux, the following Bocce Special Olympic athletes achieved these results:

• Dalton Davis: Gold medal

• Jesse Campbell, Julien Cloutier-Austin and Florence Ekman: Bronze medals

• Monique St Pierre: Fourth place

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Peterborough Lakers Continue Winning Streak With Home Win Over Oakville Rock

The Lakers keep rolling with their fourth win in a row, defeating the Oakville Rock 9-6 at the Peterborough Memorial Centre on Thursday night.

Photo courtesy of David Pickering and the Peterborough Lakers.

“I think they're keeping it simple and they’re playing with a bit of pace,” said Mike Hasen, Lakers head coach. “The ball is moving. We have had a tendency of getting it stuck on one side. Right now, it's swinging side to side and a lot of guys are getting a lot of good looks. We’re getting a lot of great shots and great opportunities and, you know, I think the biggest thing for us is that we're sticking with it. We’re not bailing on things when it doesn't go our way. Like 27-28 shots after the first period tonight with (only) one goal, right, we stuck with it. We didn't try to change anything, we just continued through and that’s a great sign of maturity, basically.”

The opening frame was a low-scoring affair, with each team only finding the back of the net once. Mike Robinson scored first for the Lakers followed by Chris Weier for Oakville.

The second period saw the most scoring in the game as the teams traded scores for the first eight goals. Braedon Saris, Holden Cattoni, Joe Resetarits and Ben Tremble scored for the Lakers, respectively. The Lakers broke the alternating goal streak as Saris scored for Peterborough in the final 70 seconds of the period to give the Lakers a slim 6-5 lead.

Peterborough allowed the first goal of the period 3:30 in but clamped down defensively after that. Nearly halfway through the period, Cattoni got his second of the game to regain the lead for the Lakers. Peterborough sealed the game after scoring twice in the final 61 seconds courtesy of Brad McCulley and Ben Trumble for the 9-6 victory.

The Lakers hit the road Saturday to Collingwood to play the Owen Sound North Stars. They will have some challenges as Peterborough will have a depleted lineup due to several Lakers attending defenceman Jordan Stouros’ wedding.

Hasen projects 13 regulars, including Nick Rose, will be available. The rest of the holes will be filled by callups from Sr. B and Jr. A.

“We’re going to look a little bit different. A few unknowns out there but defensively we're going to be strong,” he said. “The right side is going to be consistent but the left side is going to be a little bit by committee with a couple new guys in there.”

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Photos: Hockey Benders Hit Lansdowne Place For Meet-and-Greet As Part of Canadian Mall Tour

Cole Lequier and Aiden Dale, also known as “The Hockey Benders,” had fun with fans in a meet-and-greet event at Lansdowne Place as part of their Canadian Summer Mall Tour.

Hockey Benders Cole Lequier (left) and Aiden Dale (right) walk through the large queue of fans waiting to get their photos taken and autographs. All photos by David Tuan Bui.

The pair are known for their hockey branding and apparel and social media videos.

Fans could have their photos taken with the duo, purchase their merchandise, have their autographs taken and quickly chat with them.

@ptbo_canada The @HockeyBenders hit up Lansdowne Place in a meet-and-greet as part of their “Canadian Summer Tour.” #ptbocanada #ptbo #peterborough #journalism #journalist #news #fyp #hockeybenders ♬ The Hockey Song - Smithnthompson

Their tour has four Ontario stops including Kingston, Ottawa, Oshawa and Peterborough as the last city of their Eastern leg.

They continue their tour, heading west to Fort McMurray, Edmonton, Calgary, and Medicine Hat.

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Three Peterborough Petes Invited to Hockey Canada Program of Excellence Summer Camps

Peterborough Petes forward Colin Fitzgerald (U18) and 2025 draft picks Kieran Raynor (U17) and Kaden McGregor (U17) were all invited to attend Hockey Canada’s U18 and U17 Program of Excellence Summer Camps, announced on Thursday.

McGregor (left), Fitzgerald (middle) and Raynor (right). Photo courtesy of the Peterborough Petes.

“Congratulations to Colin, Kieran, and Kaden on their recognition by Hockey Canada,” said Michael Oke, general manager and vice president of operations. “This is a great opportunity for them all to compete with some of the best Under 18 talent in Canada. We wish the three of them the best of luck as they hit the ice with the ultimate goal of representing Canada at the Hlinka Gretzky and U17 World Challenge later this year.”

Fitzgerald, an Otonabee native, has been invited to the U18 camp after a rookie season with the Petes, which saw him score 12 goals and add 16 assists for 28 points in 48 games. The Petes initially selected him with the third overall pick in the 2024 OHL Priority Selection from the Peterborough Petes U16s. Fitzgerald has experience playing for Canada, after winning a silver medal with Canada Red at the 2024 U17 World Challenge.

The U18 Selection camp will take place from July 29 to Aug.1 at the Sixteen Mile Sports Complex in Oakville.. Players at the U18 camp will have the opportunity to represent Canada at the 2025 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, which takes place from August 11-16 in Brno (Czechia) and Trenčín (Slovakia).

Petes 2025 draft picks Kieran Raynor and Kaden McGregor were both selected to take part in the Under-17 National Development Camp.

Raynor, a forward from St. Catharines, was originally selected by the Petes in the second round, 27th overall, in the 2025 OHL Priority Selection. He featured in 27 games for the Niagara North Stars U16’s last season, scoring 29 goals and adding 23 assists for 52 points. He then added five goals and eight assists for 13 points in eight playoff games, helping the North Stars to a place in the OMHA Championships and the OHL Cup. Raynor also skated in three games last season for the GOJHL’s St. Catharines Falcons, picking up one assist. 

McGregor, a forward from Braeside, was selected by the Petes with the first overall pick in the 2025 OHL Priority Selection, winning the OHL’s Jack Ferguson Award as the league’s number one pick. Last season, he captained the Ottawa Valley Titans U16 to an HEO Championship, leading the league with 38 goals and 44 assists for 82 points. McGregor added another 24 points in nine playoff games, becoming the first Petes draft pick to win HEO Player of the Year since Mason McTavish in 2019. In the OHL Cup, McGregor scored three goals and added eight assists for 11 points, earning a spot on the tournament all-star team.

The 2025 U17 World Challenge begins on Oct. 31.

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Peterborough Tigers to Host Ontario Baseball Association Championship This August

Peterborough Baseball Association (PBA) and the Peterborough Tigers are hosting the Ontario Baseball Association (OBA) Championship, as the best 8U AAA teams from across the province are coming to town to compete for the title. 

Back: Bill Mercer, Scott Perrin, Andrew Mercer, Joe Curry, Matt Pyke Middle: Louis Curry, Declan Manol, Reed Tivy, Chase Massie, Weston Perrin, Camden Raftis Front: Lucas Nelson, Jackson Pyke, Henry Helleman, Reign Mercer, Easton Condon, Asher Young. Photo courtesy of the Peterborough Baseball Association.

The OBA tournament is held from Aug. 21 to 24 with games at Bowers Park, Kinsmen and East City Bowl.

There are 16 8U AAA teams competing across 31 games, vying for the championship.

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Peterborough Petes Video Coach Named Same Role For Canada White's 2025 U17 World Challenge

Peterborough Petes video coach and assistant to the general manager Alex Darling has officially been named as the video coach for Canada White for the upcoming 2025 U17 World Challenge in Truro, N.S., announced on Tuesday evening.

Photo courtesy of the Peterborough Petes.

“It’s truly an honour to be recognized by Hockey Canada and be named as the video coach for Canada White,” said Darling. “I can’t wait to get out to Truro and get to work.”

Darling joined the Petes as a sales and service intern in 2021 before transitioning to his current role in 2022. He served the same role on the Petes coaching staff during the Petes 2023 OHL Championship run. Darling joins former Petes captain and Sudbury Wolves Coach Scott Barney, who was named Head Coach of Canada White.

The 2025 U17 World Challenge begins on Oct. 31.

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