DARRYL KNIGHT, The Standard
UXBRIDGE: The Uxbridge Bruins have dipped back into the trade market as their roster continues to take shape with training camp for the 2023-24 Provincial Junior Hockey League season just a few weeks away.
The team recently announced that it had acquired two players from the Georgina Ice in exchange for Player Development Fees. Joining the Bear Den this season will be goaltender Andrew Claughton and forward Sam Belman.
After graduating from the York Simcoe Express Under-18 'AAA' team, the 18-year-old Claughton appeared in a dozen regular season games for Georgina last year, posting an impressive 7-3-2 record with a 2.84 goals against average and a .919 save percentage.
In his rookie campaign with the Ice, the soon-to-be 19-year-old Belman played in 23 games and a further nine in the playoffs, gaining valuable experince as Georgina knocked off North Kawartha before being swept in the semi-finals by Clarington.
The moves were just the latest in a busy summer for the Bruins as they look to improve on last year's second-place regular season finish in the Orr Division standings. In the playoffs, the Bruins were swept in the Division championship by the eventual Clarence Schmalz Cup runners-up, the Clarington Eagles. The strong season under first-year Head Coach Phil Kestin has given the team reason to be optimistic about this upcoming season.
“This has been the busiest off-season I can remember since I came back to the team six years ago,” Assistant Coach and Assistant GM Trevor Cox told The Standard. “We make a lot of great improvements last year and we're all really excited to take that to the next level this year. We know where we want to go, and we're excited to be adding the pieces to be able to get us there.”
The Bruins open training camp in Stouffville later this month. Additional information on the pre-season schedule is expected to be released by the team in the next week.