Jeff Gard/Today’s Northumberland
The Cobourg Cougars opened the 2026-27 Ontario Junior Hockey League regular season Friday night with a 5-2 win over the host Aurora Tigers.
The victory marked the beginning of a new era for the Cougars, following a significant change in ownership and franchise operations during the offseason.
Jonny Brooks opened the scoring for the Cougars just 2:45 into the first period before Cayden Smith doubled the lead at 9:19 on the power play.
Smith’s goal came against one of his former teams. The 19-year-old forward spent the previous two seasons with the Tigers and enjoyed a productive 2025-26 campaign, recording 20 goals and 32 assists in 49 regular-season games.
Liam Oravsky added another power-play goal for Cobourg in the second period to make it 3-0.
Aurora got on the board 13 minutes into the middle frame when Anrijs Bundzenieks scored, cutting the Cougars’ lead to two heading into the third.
Cobourg restored its three-goal advantage midway through the final period, with Jesse Bruce scoring at 7:30. The Tigers got back within two late as Javian Nei scored with 1:21 remaining before Cobourg’s Briir Long sealed the victory with an empty-net goal with 53 seconds left. Long finished the night with three points, adding two assists to his goal.
Goaltender Carter Nadon turned aside 25 shots to earn the victory in the Cobourg net.
Nadon spent the previous two seasons with the Haliburton County Huskies.
The Cougars’ lineup Friday reflected the organization’s new identity.
As previously reported, the club is not the same Cougars organization that endured a tumultuous 2025-26 campaign. That ownership group subsequently moved to Toronto, while the former Haliburton County Huskies relocated to Cobourg.
The new Cobourg organization is led by president and general manager Ryan Ramsay and head coach Derek Smith. Smith previously coached the Trenton Golden Hawks and Wellington Dukes.
Several former Huskies players were in the Cougars lineup for Friday’s season opener, including Nadon, Chase Del Colombo, Isaac Larmand, Carter Petrie and Oravsky. Larmand was listed as Cobourg’s captain for the opener.
Oravsky returned to Cobourg after being acquired by Haliburton last season in a trade with the Cougars. Daniel Tout, meanwhile, played two games for the Huskies last season.
After opening the season on the road, the new-look Cougars will make their home debut Monday night when the Lindsay Muskies visit the Cobourg Community Centre. Game time is 7 p.m.
