Burlington Cougars Alumni Face Off Against Burlington Oldtimers

Press Release

Mark Saturday, November 17^th at 6:00 p.m. on your calendar and come out for an evening of fun and great hockey.  That night the Burlington Cougars Alumni will face off against a select team representing the Burlington Oldtimers Hockey Organization.  Immediately following this game, the “real” Burlington Cougars will play the first-place Buffalo Jr. Sabres, with puck drop at 8:00 p.m.   Both games are at The Wave Twin Rinks, 1179 Northside Road, Burlington, just off Mainway Drive behind Long and McQuade Music.
Come see your favourite players from the past.
Some of the players suiting up include:
Burlington Cougars

Grant Ziliotto

Rob Allan

Scott Young

Deron Ellsworth

Mike Halstead

Kevin Charbonneau

Perri Hood

Mike Irvine

Mike Smitko

Brad Dimeo

Burlington Oldtimers

Dave Zavitz (G)

Richard Ward ( G)

Paul Greenlee  ( C )

Paul Wisniewski ( C )

Mark Anderson ( C)

Mark Thompson (D)

Matt Paget (D)

Paul Wybrow ( C )

Henry Vandersteen (LW)

Dave Geneau (D)

Paul Pearson ( C )

Larry Code ( C )

Mike Starr ( C )

Rick Decoste ( C )

Brian Blume ( D )

Gerry Nebel ( C )

Peter Austin ( D )

All tickets to the games Saturday will be $7.50 with $2.50 from each ticket going to the Carpenter Hospice. The $7.50 gets you into both games; season ticket fans of the Cougars can use their pre-bought tickets.
The food banks have been a passion of the Cougars this season, as the team participated in the Eagles Food Drive this past month which raised an astounding 237,000 pounds of food. Cougars GM Mark Hetherman stated “We are excited to work with the Burlington Oldtimers Wives Special Emergency Relief (BOWSER) collecting canned food items and cash donations at the event that will be turned over to the Food Bank. We ask that everyone bring a non-perishable food item to help stock the food bank.”

In addition to the two hockey matches, the evening will feature a silent auction with hockey memorabilia, a 50/50 draw, all assisting the fund raising of the evening.  Hetherman said “Postgame the Cougars will be heading to a team dinner at Nines Brick Bar and Grill and we encourage fans, Alumni and Oldtimers to join us for some fun and talk of history of the Burlington Cougars.”

The Cougars and Burlington Oldtimers organizations share a long, proud history of hockey and community involvement in Burlington.  This year marks the 50^th anniversary of the Cougars, which started as a Junior “B” team and now play in the Ontario Junior Hockey League “Junior A” league.  The Burlington Oldtimers, formed in 1975, is one of the largest old-timer hockey leagues in Canada with over 1,200 members.
“Cougars are excited about recent improvements in the game watching experience for our fans. The team recently upgraded the sound system, heated the building and installed cushions on the metal seating at the Cougars end of the rink. COME ON OUT AND EXPERIENCE THE ALUMNI AND CURRENT TEAM OF THE COUGARS, along with a more comfortable viewing environment”, said Hetherman.
The 2012/13 version of the Cougars has had a great start to the season sporting a .614 winning percentage and third place in the competitive West Division.


 (Nathan can be reached at nathanfournier@mainehockeyjournal.com)