DARRYL KNIGHT The Standard
The future stars of the Provincial Junior Hockey League (PJHL) will be shining in Uxbridge this Saturday, Nov. 4th, at 1 p.m. when the Uxbridge Bruins host the East vs South Top Prospects Game at the Bear Den.
The game will feature the top 16 and 17-year-old players from across the East and South Conferences. A separate game for the North and West Conferences will be played on Saturday in Wingham.
Several players from the Orr Division have been named to the East roster, which will be coached by the staff of the Bruins and also include players from the Tod Division. Forwards Nolan Winter and Luke El-Ayari will be representing Uxbridge, along with Little Britain’s Travis Aitchison, as of press time, there are no players from the Port Perry Lumberjacks listed as being part of the festivities. The South conference team will be made up of players from teams in the Niagara, Hamilton, and Kitchener-Waterloo areas.
These prospect games have become a celebrated annual event for the PJHL which features 63 total teams from across Ontario, with several players from previous events graduating to higher levels of junior hockey. Former Bruin Caleb MacLeish took part in the 2021 and 2022 games before signing with the Junior ‘B’ Pelham Panthers of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League (GOJHL) this past summer.
“Our entire Bruins organization is thrilled to be able to bring this event to Uxbridge. As hosts, we’re looking forward to the opportunity to showcase our organization, as well as our team’s young talent. There is more young talent in the PJHL than it gets credit for, and this prospects game will showcase the calibre of players at this level,” Bruins Assistant GM and Assistant Coach Trevor Cox told The Standard ahead of his duties on the bench this coming weekend.