Trenton Golden Hawks sharpen their talons for the Cobourg Cougars

Tweets by the Trenton Golden Hawks

By Joseph Carin

BELLEVILLE – The Trenton Golden Hawks and the Cobourg Cougars start their Ontario Junior Hockey League playoff series Friday at the Duncan McDonald Memorial Arena in Trenton.

The winner of the OJHL North-East Conference final goes to the 2017 Royal Bank Cup, which will be held at the Cobourg Community Centre in May. 

The Golden Hawks enter the conference final after a strong 4-0 series win over the Stouffville Spirit in the quarter finals, while the Cougars eliminated the Wellington Dukes last weekend with a 3-1 series victory. 

“The Golden Hawks are a strong team, but we’re sticking with the style that brought us here,” Cougars general manager Brent Tully said in a phone interview with QNet News Wednesday. 

“We’ve always been a blue-collar team that plays physical and with passion,” Tully said. “This season in particular we have a solid group of lads – a good blend of size and strength.”

But Tully acknowledged that the opening playoff game could be anyone’s.

“Any line could be thrown out there on the ice from either side. It’s going to be close.”

Jerome Dupont, head coach and general manager of the Golden Hawks has been training his team rigorously throughout the week in preparation for Friday’s game.

“We are a veteran team, which I believe is a huge benefit for us,” Dupont told QNet News. “The only obstacle I see is playing strong and consistently throughout the 60 minutes.”

Tickets for the game may be either purchased online at the Cougars’ or Golden Hawks’ websites, or at the door of the Duncan McDonald Memorial Arena.

The puck drops at 7:30 p.m.