Tommy Purdeller (2nd from right) is seeded in Peterborough. © Peterborough Petes

Big honor for Tommy Purdeller

The Peterborough Petes won the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) title last season. Things aren't going so well for Tommy Purdeller's team this year. On Wednesday, the Pusterer still had reason to be happy: he was given a great honor.

11 January 2024

From: leo

The Peterborough Petes are playing a season with many ups and downs: in mid-November, the reigning champions were still leading the Eastern Conference. Purdeller & Co. have now slipped to 8th place. This is also due to the fact that the Petes have currently initiated a rebuild. High-profile players like Owen Beck left, but the club received high draws in the upcoming drafts. This year's captain Donovan McCoy also left the club.

The club named Jonathan Melee as the new captain on Wednesday. “Jonathan has proven to be a great leader on and off the ice since his signing two years ago,” says sporting director Michael Oke. “He is someone the team looks up to and we are very confident that he will lead the team in the future.” The biggest news from a South Tyrolean perspective, however, concerns the assistants. In the future, Tommy Purdeller will wear the A on his chest together with Cam Gauvreau.

A leader

The 20-year-old from Puster is regularly used in the first two lines this year and has collected 32 points (17 goals) in 7 games. Now he's taking on an even bigger role with the Petes and will try to lead the newly formed team into the playoffs. There are still 30 games missing until the end of the regular season.