Bruins headed to playoffs after banner year

Roger Varley

There are 61 Junior C teams in the Provincial Junior Hockey League, and at the finish of the 2025-26 regular season only one team had a better record than the Uxbridge Bruins.

The Bruins ended with 71 points on the strength of 35 wins, six losses and a shoot-out loss. Only the Essex 73s of the West Stobbs Division did better, ending with 75 points.

As the season wound down, the Bruins won eight games in a row and, in the final game, lost to the Georgina Ice in a shoot-out. However, the Bruins set a new club record — and then broke it.

Last Friday, Uxbridge hosted the Little Britain Merchants for their final home game and, with a 3-2 result, posted their 34th win of the season, setting a club record for the number of game victories in a regular season. It was fitting that captain Tanner Ryan scored the winning goal unassisted. At the end of the game, Ryan took the rink announcer's mic and thanked the fans for their support during the season.

The following day, the Bruins descended on the Caledon Golden Hawks and smashed them 9-0, moving the winning record up to 35 games.

On Monday afternoon, the Georgina Ice, the only team to give the Bruins trouble this year, put the damper on Uxbridge's end-of-season victory parade by edging the Bruins 4-3 on the strength of a shoot-out. Of the teams' seven meetings this season, Georgina won four.

In those last three games, 11 players shared in the goal scoring, with defenceman Tyson Lotton and forward Luke Kemp each scoring two and Evan Gilbert scoring three

At the end of the season, goalies Robbie DiMaria and Kevin Halloran combined for nine shutouts and had a combined goals against average of 1.66. The Bruins scored 206 goals, while allowing only 72.

Now the Bruins, who have been playoff-style hockey for the last few weeks, head into the first round of the playoffs against the lowly Golden Hawks, although a date for the start of the series has not yet been set. Given the final regular season standings, it appears more than likely that Uxbridge will eventually face off against Georgina for the Orr Division championship.

To get up-to-the-minute updates on when and where the Bruins’ playoff games are happening, visit uxbridgebruins.pjhlon.hockeytech.com