Burlington Cougars set for OJHL season opener at Central Arena

Midway through the summer, Mark Jooris wasn’t concerned about his team’s blueline.

With six defencemen expected to return, the Burlington Cougars had few holes to fill. Then within a few weeks, the Cougars were down to just one, Jacob Bramwell, who will be back for his third season with Burlington.

That left the Cougars’ general manager with some work to do, but with the Ontario Junior Hockey League season set to start tonight (Friday) at home against the Oakville Blades (7:30 p.m. at Central Arena), Jooris is pleased with the group he has assembled.

Looking to follow up a season in which the Cougars reached the conference final and won the second most games (39) in the team’s history, Jooris added some experience with 20-year-old defenceman Joshua Rumolo. The 6-foot-3 athlete played the past two seasons in the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League and not only provides the Cougars with some size on the back end, but also averaged just under a point per game last season with Espanola.

Jack Seney (North York) and Owen Davies (Caledon), a pair of 18-year-old defencemen going into their second OJHL seasons were also added. Seney had 11 points in 22 games after a mid-season trade to North York.

Jooris also likes the addition of Alexander Stephen, an 18-year-old defenceman who helped the Toronto Jr. Canadiens reach the Telus Cup, the national under-18 championship. After scoring 24 goals in 64 games last year, he had a smooth transition to the junior ranks with two goals and five points in three exhibition games.

“He’s very good offensively, but he’ll have to work on his D,” Jooris said. “He’s ultra talented and has everything you need to get to the next level.”

They will play in front of a pair of familiar faces in the crease. Kyle Metson returns to the Cougars after a season with Powell River of the British Columbia Hockey League. The 19-year-old went 21-5-1 with a .913 save percentage with Burlington during the 2021-22 season, playing in a tandem with Zachary Dietz.

“Both wanted to be a No. 1 the next season, and rightfully so,” Jooris said. “We went with Deitz because he had been with us longer and Kyle went to B.C.”

With Deitz moving on to the University of Ottawa, Jooris was thrilled to bring the 19-year-old back to the Cougars. He’ll be backed up by Ben Hrebik, who posted a 1.21 goals-against average last season with the Burlington Eagles AAA U18s.

Up front, the Cougars, who led the OJHL in goals last season, are counting on the continued growth of returning players Eric Bertelsen, Jax Bellwood and Joseph Nikac along with Jack Natyshak, an Oakville native acquired from Trenton.

Burlington graduated five of its top eight scorers, including the league’s leading goal scorer Jack Richard, who will suit up for Niagara University. That opens up prime minutes and opportunities on the powerplay.

“They all have potential for 20-30 goals, but you never know,” Jooris said. “We never expected Jack to score 50. This is their time.”

Burlington also picked up 20-year-old Justin Legault from the league champion Collingwood Blues and 17-year-old Tommy Karmiris from Cobourg.

Jooris expects the scoring to be spread more throughout the lineup and even if they don’t top the league in goals again, he likes what he’s seen so far.

“I think we’re going to be more difficult to play against,” he said. “I like the makeup of the team. We’ve got gritty guys throughout the lineup and we’re still going to score. We’ve got a lot of guys that want to prove they can play in this league.

"I love the energy and I’m excited to see where they go.”