Former stars support Cougars of today

In 1991, the Vankleek Hill Cougars shocked the Eastern Ontario Junior Hockey League as the team hoisted the championship trophy in its inaugural season.

Twenty years later, members of that championship team joined forces with players of more recent Cougars squads on Saturday, December 17, in a fundraising effort to help the Cougars of today.

Current head coach Marc Berniqué, alongside former teammate and current NHL linesman Steve Barton, organized the event. It featured an alumni game and spaghetti supper, as well as the chance to bid on a variety of great items in a silent auction, including an autographed Carey Price jersey and an authentic Patrick Roy goalie stick signed by the entire Colorado Avalanche Stanley Cup-winning team from the 2000-01 season.

The Alumni game took place prior to the regularly schedule Cougars home game and featured two teams. One team was made up of players from the 1991 championship winning team, including Luc Charbonneau,  Marc Berniqué, Claude Berniqué, Jeff Fox, Ryan Cunning,  Mike Horner, Joey Kelly, Steve Barton, Eric Poulin, Pat Laflamme, Todd Giroux and Jason Hall.

The other featured a variety of Cougars alumni from the past 20 seasons, such as Kenny Howes, Brad Westgate, Martin Coté, Luc Pilon, Pierre Chaumont,  Luc Chaumont, Dan Tremblay, Pat Johnson, Mike Cunning, Derek Duval, Pascal Seguin and Brett Chisholm.

The referee for the game was Stephane Jeaurond, who officiated games for the Cougars in the inaugural season, while the scorekeeper was Mike Paquette, who was also keeping score in 1991.

The spaghetti supper was presented by Sonya Rickerd and the staff of the Cougars Den Canteen, who Berniqué said "deserve an extra-special thank you for all of their hard work."

"The event would not have been possible without the help of our great volunteers, especially France Lenoir," added Berniqué. "She was there from beginning to end and was responsible for a variety of duties including the silent auction, greeting guests and collecting donations."

The event was a complete success according to everyone involved, including the current Vankleek Hill Cougars team - which becomes the beneficiary of $2,000 raised by the event and presented to the team from the alumni members.

"The event was a great success, many thanks to everyone involved and all of our sponsors," said Berniqué.

Among the many local sponsors were Harden's Jewellers, Bogue Photo, Intersport, Maitre Charles, Martel & Fils, Levac Furniture, Gauthier Auto Glass, Marche Lacroix, Videotron, Pottery Lane, 352 Squash Fitness, Beau's All Natural Brewing Company and the Cougars Den Canteen.