The Vankleek Hill Cougars got back on the winning track last weekend, with a 7-0 home shutout of the Morrisburg Lions and a 4-1 revenge road win over the St-Isidore Eagles – who had broken the Cougars’ 25-game win streak the previous weekend.
Saturday, January 24 – Vankleek Hill Cougars 7, Morrisburg Lions 0
Xavier Plante had a hat trick, while Mael Gendron stopped all 14 Morrisburg shots fired his way to earn the shutout, as the Cougars (27-0-0-1) dominated the last-place Lions (4-26-0-1) 7-0.
Jacob Crete, Mike Fournier, Cody Horner, and Alexandre Mayer all scored singles for Vankleek Hill. The home squad fired 35 shots at the Morrisburg net.
Saturday’s game was dedicated to longtime Cougars volunteer Kelly Lefebvre, who passed away on September 26, 2025. Kelly was the smiling face that many people knew at the ticket table to Cougars games. She began volunteering with the team in 2014. She is greatly missed by everyone.
Sunday, January 25 – Vankleek Hill Cougars 4, St-Isidore Eagles 1
Just one week after St-Isidore broke Vankleek Hill’s season-long win streak with an overtime win, the Cougars returned the favor, earning a 4-1 win over the Eagles in a Sunday evening game at the St-Isidore Arena.
Cody Horner scored twice and added an assist, while Tristan Paquette stopped 17 of 18 shots he faced. Nolan Macmillan and Zachary Sullivan had Vankleek Hill’s other goals. Tyler Proulx replied for St-Isidore.
Loss to St-Isidore was a wake-up call
Cougars’ Head Coach Hamish Cunning said he was very pleased with his team’s effort last weekend in response to having Vankleek Hill’s 25-game winning streak to start the season ended by a 5-4 overtime road loss to St-Isidore on Sunday, January 18.
“It was a little bit of a wake-up call for us,” Cunning said of the loss to the Eagles. “(St-Isidore is) a very good team, so you have to be at the top of your game in order to beat them.”
“We stayed disciplined and stayed out of the penalty box,” said the Cougars head coach of last Sunday’s 4-1 win over the Eagles. “When we do that – five on five – we’re a hard team to beat.”
Cunning noted that a 25-game winning streak to start the season was not something anyone could predict.
“We knew we had a strong team going in, but to win that many in a row – I didn’t envision that,” Cunning said. “Our goal is to win every game – every team wants to win every game – but, realistically, it doesn’t happen very often.”
“The goal hasn’t changed for us. We want to win the championship, the whole team knows it and they are showing up. Start a new streak – that’s what we’re doing now.”
Upcoming games
Vankleek Hill travels to North Dundas to face the Rockets this Friday (January 30). Game time is scheduled for 8 p.m. at the Chesterville and District Arena.
Next Saturday, January 31, the Cougars are at home to face the Cumberland Castors in a 7:30 p.m. start at the Vankleek Hill Arena.
Vankleek Hill, which has clinched first place in the National Capital Junior Hockey League (NCJHL) standings, will close out the regular season, with a pair of home games the following week. On Tuesday, February 3, the Cougars will face the South Grenville Rangers in a 7 p.m. start at the Vankleek Hill Arena. The Cougars will then host the Westport Rideaus on Saturday, February 7 to close out the regular season. Puck drop is at 7:30 p.m.
