Burlington Local Sports News: Cougars, Eagles & High School Sports

Jr A Cougars can’t stop scoring, sit third

by Steven McGoey

4 November 2026

BURLINGTON - The Burlington Cougars are on a roll as the OJHL season has kicked into full gear. After a solid September the team had a fantastic October, going 7-2-1-1 through their

game on Oct. 27, their overall record now sits at 13-5-1-2. At the time of writing the Cougars

sat in tie for third place in the West Conference with 28 points.

Since our last update the Cougars made a pair of roster moves, acquiring defenceman

Ethan Tatomir from the Leamington Flyers and signing forward Nolan Keeler from the

Oakville Blades. Both players have made immediate impacts since coming over, Keeler has

nine goals and 16 points in eight games while Tatomir has four goals and 15 points in 11 games.

The team is an offensive juggernaut and sits second in the league in goals for with 97 in 20

games. Ty Daniels has been driving the offensive explosion, he has 14 goals and 30 points in just 14

games as is second in the league in scoring. Colin Ronalds, Max Morin and Reid Forster all have 24 points on the season and are scoring well above a point-per-game pace. Sean Short’s offensive breakout is in full swing, the defenceman has 10 goals and eight assists in 20 games, the second-most goals on the Cougars.

Burlington’s goaltending has been another bright spot, Carter Vicente is 9-3-2 on the year

with one shutout and a .929 SV%. Paddy Landry is 4-2 with a .910 SV% and has looked

strong early in his first OJHL season.

In prospect news, Cougars players Landry, Benjamin Santerre, Calder Anderson, Zaiden Hraiche

and Ben Lamb were selected to play in the 2026 OJHL Zach Hyman Prospect series, an opportunity for the league’s top 16- and 17-year-old players to get additional exposure and

help advance their careers. You can catch them at home at Central Arena on Nov. 6, 13, 20, 24 and 27, puck drop for all home games is 7:30pm.

Nelson remains dominant on the field

by Russell Harness

4 November 2026

BURLINGTON - In last month’s HSSAA update, we did a bit of a fall sports season preview, by taking a look at which of our local Burlington schools will be taking part in each category and division.  Now that the season is well underway, let’s take a peek at how our fellow Burlingtonians are making out.

As we have come to expect, Nelson is once again proving its football dominance. The senior squad

is a perfect 4-0, having outscored opponents 184-41, while Nelson’s junior team is leaving everyone in the dust as well with a 3-0 record and an equally mind-boggling 130-13 point differential. Not all

Burlington schools are having a successful go of it thus far, as Aldershot’s senior boys have yet to

win a game or score a single point and are sitting at a miserable 0-5 with 214 points allowed. The contrast is quite stark, with the Nelson teams averaging 40+ points per game while giving up roughly 10, and Aldershot averaging a 0-43 scoreline.

Volleyball has certainly beenkinder to Burlington as a whole,  with both the junior and senior

M.M. Robinson boys teams sitting at 7-1, Burlington Central’s junior squad undefeated at 7-0,

and Aldershot’s seniors sitting at a respectable 6-3.

Nelson’s junior girls basketball team has started out the fall season 6-0, averaging nearly 60

points per game, with M.M. Robinson’s junior squad holding its own at 5-2.

Nelson is the Burlington team to chase in senior girls field hockey as well, going 3-0-2 in their first

five games, while Aldershot and M.M. Robinson are battling it out near the top of the table in

tier two.

The three cross-country running meets that were mentioned in last month’s fall preview have

already come and gone (the Gryphon Open, the Schnurricane Classic, and the GHAC Championships).

The top finishers will make their way on to OFSAA at the beginning of November in Sudbury.

Speaking of seasons coming and going rather quickly, the golf and tennis seasons have both wrapped up, with the GHAC Golf Championships concluding on October 6th at Piper’s Heath, and Rosedale Tennis Club’s two tournaments already in the rear-view mirror. 

Stay tuned next month to see how the regular season ended for each of our local squads, and how both the favourites (like Nelson’s football teams) and the underdogs make out in the post-season.

Jr A Cougars kick off 2026-27 season, led by Forster, Morin and Vicente

by Steven McGoey

5 October 2026

BURLINGTON - The puck has dropped on the 2026-27 season for the Burlington Cougars Junior A

hockey team. Through seven games the Cougars have 7 points and a 3-3-1 record. They currently sit tied for sixth place in the OJHL’s West Conference. At the time of writing Burlington was coming off an impressive 3-0 shutout win against the Caledon Admirals before erupting for eight goals in an 8-5 win over the Lindsay Muskies. Since our last update, the Cougars signed forwards Maxime Morin, Ben Lamb and Ty Daniels, as well as defenceman Joseph Febrillet.

Morin has already been a huge addition and leads the team in scoring with three goals and 10 points in seven games. Daniels joins the team after spending last season with the OHL’s Brampton Steelheads and should provide a significant offensive impact. He picked up an assist in his first game with the club.

Returning forward Colin Ronalds has started hot with nine points in seven games while rookie Zaiden Hraiche has four goals and eight points in seven games.

On the back-end, captain Reid Forster has continued to be the heartbeat of the team, he plays massive minutes and has seven points in seven games to start the campaign.

Returning defenceman Sean Short’s game has gone up a level early in the season, he has been fantastic at both ends and already has four goals in seven games, equaling his total in 56

games last season. Defenceman Lucas Muhn also returned to the lineup on Sept. 18 after

missing the first five games of the year. Veteran returning goaltender Carter Vicente has started five games to begin the season and has a 2-2-1 record with an excellent .924 save percentage. Rookie goaltender Paddy Landry picked up his first career OJHL win on Sept. 22 against

Lindsay, he is 1-1 on the year. 

Head Coach and General Manager Mark Jooris was active on the trade market last season, so don’t be surprised to see some moves in the next couple of weeks as junior hockey leagues across the country begin their seasons and rosters settle. Following the conclusion of OHL Niagara IceDogs’ training camp former Cougars goaltender Connor Haffner signed a contract to

remain with the club. Also, at Ice Dogs camp, it was initially reported that former Burlington forward Ben Trebicky would be reassigned to the Cougars, he instead joined the BCHL’s Vernon Vipers, an unfortunate loss for Burlington.

Burlington has a busy 12-gameslate in October, with five of the games taking place at Central Arena. Catch the Cougars at home at 7:30pm on Oct. 2, 16, 23, 27 and 30.

Busy month ahead for high school sports

by Russell Harness

5 October 2026

BURLINGTON - The time has finally come, as talented high-schoolers from multiple institutions

across the city of Burlington are ready to make their way out onto the pitch, field, court, course,

and track, and show the rest of the Halton region what they are truly made of.

Both the junior and senior girlsbasketball seasons get underway on Monday, September 28th, and

in both age categories Burlington will see representation from Frank Hayden, M.M. Robinson,

and Nelson, while Aldershot and Burlington Central will compete exclusively in the senior girls age

group. After a 0-10 season last fall, the senior girls Aldershot squad is looking to become the league’s most-improved team.

Three cross country running meets will make up this year’s HSSAA fall schedule, including the Gryphon Open at Christie Conservation Area on September 25th, the Schnurricane Classic on

October 1st, the GHAC Championships (with both of these October events taking place at Bronte

Creek Provincial Park).

The HSSAA golf schedule will be made up of two events in late September, at Tyandaga and Hidden Lake, with the Halton Championships scheduled for the first day of October at Hidden Lake.

Tennis will take place on a pair of Tuesdays in October (the 13th and 20th) at the Rosedale Tennis

Club in Hamilton, with the seniors up first, followed by the juniors a week later.

Senior and junior girls field hockey gets underway on the 25th and 28th of September respectively,

with both Burlington Central and M.M. Robinson of the senior category along with Nelson of the

junior category all looking to go another entire regular season undefeated.

Another sport getting up and running on the last Monday of September (the 28th) is volleyball

(junior and senior), where our local Burlington teams will try their best to finish the regular season with at least seven wins (as happened last season multiple Burlington teams in both junior and senior boys volleyball tallied exactly six wins apiece).

Senior boys football gets going rather early (on the 24th of September) while junior boys football

holds off until the first of October to get the season underway. In both categories, Nelson and Frank Hayden are looking to keep last year’s momentum going, while Aldershot (in the senior category) and M.M. Robinson (in the junior category) will be hoping to turn things around after a disappointing campaign last fall. 

Stay tuned for next month’s all-sports recap, where we will take a look at how everyone is doing, and how things are setting up for the post-season.