Petes fans toss 1,440 stuffed toys for Salvation Army drive

PETES PIECES

Petes fans tossed 1,440 stuffed toys into the ice during their annual Teddy Bear Toss on Thursday night.

The animals went soaring after Chris Paquette scored 7:12 into the first period. Local minor hockey players and Petes’ gamenight staff collected the toys and Winslow Gerolamy Trucking will haul them to Lansdowne Place where the Miracle Toy Drive bin is located. All toys will go to he Salvation Army Christmas Hamper. The Salvation Army Band performed the national anthem.

OHL Eastern academic honours for Denault

Petes rookie Chad Denault is the OHL East Division Academic Players of the Month for November. The Grade 12 student, who hails from Iroquois Falls, is maintaining an 80 per cent average in English, International Business Fundamentals and Data Management courses at Thomas A. Stewart Secondary School.

“Chad is a conscientious young man in the classroom and on the ice,” said Petes academic advisor Kim Driscoll. “He is a disciplined student who shows good academic insight and is well liked by his teachers and fellow students.”

A 6’1”, 186-pound right winger, Denault was selected in the third round, 49th overall by the Petes in the 2015 OHL Priority Selection.

Team Canada East

Campbellford native Colin Doyle, of the OJHL’s Wellington Dukes, and Petes’ draft pick Colton Kalezic, of the Toronto Patriots, were named to Team Canada East for the upcoming World Junior A Hockey Challenge Dec. 10-16 in Truro, N.S.

Roster notes

Bobby Dow was held out of Thursday’s game but is not far off from returning from an injury suffered a week earlier when he crashed into the boards. He’s considered day-to-day. Nick Robertson will miss all three weekend games with an upper body injury. Nick Isaacson is nearing a return and the Petes are hopeful he could return from an upper body injury next week. Matt McNamara was also scratched.

NOTE: See game coverage on Page C1 and see photographs of the Teddy Bear Toss on Page A6.