Scugog Arena marks 50th anniversary with weekend of hockey and memories

DARRYL KNIGHT Local Journalism Initiative Reporter for The Standard

SCUGOG: Fifty years of hockey, skating, friendships, and community memories were celebrated this weekend, as the Scugog Arena marked its golden anniversary.

The two-day celebration brought residents, former athletes, volunteers, arena staff, and generations of local hockey players back through the doors of the Port Perry facility which has been a fixture in the community since opening in 1976.

Saturday’s festivities included a Community Open House, where visitors could look through historic photographs and memorabilia while sharing their own memories of the arena.

The celebration offered plenty of opportunities to look back, but it was also a chance to see the arena continuing to serve the community, with the Port Perry LumberJacks providing a particularly fitting centrepiece to the weekend.

The junior club wore special red-and-white throwback jerseys, during its two anniversary weekend games, paying tribute to the Port Perry Flamingos, the team’s original identity before eventually becoming the LumberJacks.

The throwback uniforms proved to be beneficial.

Port Perry opened the weekend with a 9-4 victory over the Scarborough Knights, giving the home crowd plenty to cheer about.

The LumberJacks returned to the ice, Sunday afternoon, for the first Battle of North Durham of the 2026-27 Provincial Junior Hockey League season, edging the visiting Uxbridge Bruins, 3-2 in overtime, in a dramatic finish.

The weekend also brought a strong contingent of former LumberJacks and Flamingos players back to the arena, enabling alumni from different eras to reconnect with former teammates and members of the organization.

“It was great to see so many alumni on hand for the event,” said, LumberJacks Director of Business and Hockey Operations, Brad Bricknell. “There were a lot of familiar faces and a lot of great stories being shared.”

The presence of the alumni added another layer, to a weekend which was built around the arena’s history, while the current LumberJacks provided a link to its future.

For five decades, the Scugog Arena has been home to far more than junior hockey. Generations of local residents have passed through its doors for minor hockey, figure skating, ringette, broomball, lacrosse, ball hockey, and community events. The anniversary was an opportunity to recognize the many people who have contributed to that history, from athletes and coaches to volunteers, arena employees, and families.

Former arena employee Iain Cooper was among those with a long connection to the facility. Having started working at the arena as a high school student, Mr. Cooper has seen its role in the community from several different perspectives.

“I’ve spent more hours than I can count here, whether it was working, playing, coaching, or just watching from the stands,” Mr. Cooper said.

For others, the anniversary weekend was an opportunity to reconnect with people they had not seen in years.

Old teammates, coaches, volunteers, and friends gathered throughout the weekend, sharing stories of games played, events attended, and time spent at a building which has become part of the community’s collective memory.

The anniversary also comes at an important point in the history of the LumberJacks, whose roots in Port Perry junior hockey stretch back more than five decades. The club began as the Flamingos, in 1972, changing to the MoJacks, in 1978, before eventually adopting the LumberJacks name, in 2022.

The red-and-white jerseys, worn during the anniversary games, offered a visual reminder of that history, while the two wins gave the current generation of players a memorable contribution of its own.

By the time the weekend wrapped up, the Scugog Arena had added a few more memories to a collection which now spans half a century.