Woeful weekend for the Uxbridge Bruins

DARRYL KNIGHT The Standard

The Uxbridge Bruins will be looking to bounce back on home ice at the Bear later this week after a pair of losses on the road.

A rare Friday night away game opened a busy weekend for the Bruins on Friday, Nov. 3, when they made the trek to Keswick to tangle with the Georgina Ice. With the Ice riding a five-game winning streak coming into the game, it was going to be a tough test for the Bruins with Georgina nipping at their heels in the Orr Division standings.

The Bruins quickly fell behind with the Ice scoring just 16 seconds into the game. The home side never really looked back from there, as they pushed their advantage to 4-0 in the first period before Uxbridge changed goalies. Quinn Meek would break up the shutout bid with just 19 seconds remaining in the opening period and get the Bruins onto the scoreboard, assisted by Jaxon Koehler and Anthony Lamanna.

The second period saw the Ice push their lead to 6-1 before Ty Roberts netted his tenth goal of season, with Koehler adding his second helper of the night in his Bruins debut. The third period saw the Ice add one more goal to their total as they cruised to a 7-2 victory.

Saturday afternoon saw the Bruins host a PJHL Top Prospects Game at the Bear Den with the top 16 and 17-year-old players from the Eastern Conference squaring off against the Southern Conference. It was a great afternoon of hockey in Uxbridge that saw the East roll to an 8-3 win with the Bruins’ staff behind the bench. Both of the Bruins’ representatives in the game saw their name on the scoresheet with Nolan Winter and Luke El-Ayari both scoring goals.

The whirlwind weekend for the Bruins concluded on Sunday evening on the road in Little Britain. And, once again, the team found themselves chasing the game from the outset as the resurgent Merchants rolled to a 5-1 win. Josh Czalij’s unassisted powerplay goal broke up a shutout bid with less than a minute remaining in regulation.

Loose Pucks:

- In the other Top Prospects Game in Wingham on Saturday afternoon, the host Northern Conference topped the West by a final score of 4-2.

- Uxbridge made a move last week to bolster their blue line by adding 2005-born defenceman Jaxon Koehler. The Whitby native had started the season in the Junior ‘B’ Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League (GOJHL) with the Pelham Panthers.

- The Bruins traveled to Lakefield on Tuesday, Nov. 7 (after The Standard’s press deadline) for a match-up with the Chiefs.

- On Friday, Nov. 10, the Bruins are back in action on home ice at the Bear Den with the North Kawartha Knights visiting Uxbridge for a 7:45 p.m. tilt.