Junior Tigers unveil 2026-27 roster at liftoff luncheon prior to season opener with Newmarket Hurricanes

September 10, 2026 · 0 Comments

The Aurora Junior A Tigers high-tailed it from the ACC to Wicked Eats on Thursday morning for a luncheon prior to their lid-lifter versus the Newmarket Hurricanes on Friday night at the ACC.

Last September, the Tigers ruined the Hurricanes’ festive season opener in 2025-26 at the Ray Twinney Recreation Complex. Aurora shut out Newmarket 2-0 in front of 1,086 fans who were celebrating the team’s return after a six-year absence.

The upcoming Battle of Yonge Street was very much on the minds of attendees who enjoyed Thursday’s celebration of Tigers team culture.

Tigers’ PA Voice and Digital Media Coordinator Logan Ritchie served as Emcee and kept the event moving as he recognized a series of distinguished guests, staff, and players.

Ritchie, who earned the OJHL’s Volunteer of the Year Award in 2026, called upon Tigers’ owner Jim Thomson to bring greetings from the team’s administration. Thomson expressed his gratitude toward the host of the event.

“I want to thank Robert Stewart, owner of Wicked Eats, for hosting us today. After our games this season, this is where we’ll come. It’s Year 12 for me as owner and I’m excited about this group.”

Thomson looked directly at his revamped roster of players and reminded them that, “When you hit the ice, you guys get to dictate where we go this year.”

The former NHLer thanked Mayor Tom Mrakas and Title Sponsor Stefano Serpa of Serpa Automotive for their attendance at the luncheon and their continued support of the Junior Tigers.

Mayor Mrakas expressed his gratitude for the invitation to the team’s luncheon.

“Thanks for having me here today. I’m looking forward to a very exciting year and the Town is proud of our Tigers. Thanks for being such a big part of our community and for wearing the Tiger proudly on your chests. Let’s win this thing.”

The Mayor, swept up in the moment, directed the team’s attention to the looming Battle of Yonge Street and implored the hometown team to “Make sure you beat Newmarket’s a**.”

After the Mayor amped up the appreciative veteran-laden squad, Stefano Serpa brought greetings from the Tigers’ main sponsor.

“We certainly see the value of supporting a team like the Tigers in our community. It’s important for local businesses to support local teams. They need our help to flourish. Jim does such a great job with the boys in the community. He brings them into the dealership and they help with events with us and around Town. We feel proud and honored to support the Tigers over the last five years and to be part of such an important team in Aurora. You guys need to bring it home.”

Serpa’s words inspired the troops and Thomson created a poignant moment when he announced his Honorary Captain, Jordy Peace, who donned one of the classic gold and purple Tigers jerseys from a bygone era.

Current members of staff were introduced by Ritchie including Equipment Manager Clayton McConnell, Lead Therapist Jenn Valcunas, Assistant Equipment Manager Blake McConnell, long-time Box Office maven Vivienne Bridgeford, Game Day Scoreboard and Sound Specialist Alex Disera as well as long-time team volunteers Steve Wood and Kim Peace.

Wood was one of 19 community volunteers recognized by Sport Aurora in 2025 for his ongoing support of the Tigers.

Following the recognition of key staff members in attendance, Tigers coaches and executives were introduced to the assembly including new Head Coach Ilir Mehmet; long-time Assistant Coach and Goalie Coach Dave Goverde; new General Manager and Assistant Coach Jay Simmonds; new Assistant General Manager and Director of Scouting and Recruitment Sean Melo; and new Scout Nick Gambroudes.

After the coaching staff and administration team was acknowledged by Ritchie, the voice of the Tigers introduced the 2026-27 roster.

The parade of players featured over a dozen new arrivals, but the club also presented a nucleus of returnees who turned in strong performances as first-year Tigers, including Tommy Nitsopoulos, Thomas Leone, Jonathan Scott, Javian Nei, and Sebastian Catalano.

After introducing a core quintet of returnees, Ritchie introduced the team’s three Alternate Captains: returning speedy centre Gianfranco Rosella; returning veteran defenseman and Erie Otter Nick Frasca; and newly-arrived Haliburton Husky and Aurora resident Nic Ferrante.

Immediately after introducing Rosella, Frasca, and Ferrante, Ritchie unveiled the Tigers’ Captain for 2026-27: high-scoring Anrijs Bundzenieks. The energized Emcee described Bundzenieks, who notched 19 goals and dished out 31 assists in 55 games for the Tigers last season, as “a selfless leader who leads by example.”

With one of Aurora’s leading scorers back in the fold and a core of veterans signed for the season, Head Coach Ilir Mehmet offered a glimpse of the Tigers’ potential: “Everyone’s expectation is to win. My expectation is development and winning comes naturally from that. It’s always been a pattern with my teams. We’ve set our goal to make the playoffs this season.”

When asked how the Tigers would achieve that goal, Coach Mehmet offered a concise recipe for success: “Defense wins hockey games. We’ll take care of the puck. We’re going to play a fast style of hockey—making sure we get the puck into the other team’s end within three seconds. Building our transition and tempo will develop us into a winning hockey team.”

Assistant Coach Dave Goverde added that strict adherence to systems in place or ones that will be created will be crucial: “Our job is to put systems in place to create that style of hockey through a series of non-negotiables.”

Coach Mehmet, who led the York Simcoe Express 16U club to a 57-19-3 record in ’25-26, acknowledged that “We have to re-set the culture and make the playoffs. We’ve got the talent.”

Thomson echoed his Head Coach’s remarks about talent and added, “We have the best goalie tandem we’ve had in five years—in the hardest position in sports.”

The press conference circled back to the keys to beat Newmarket on Friday night and Coach Mehmet was clear in terms of his expectations from the revamped Tigers: “We’ll be successful as long as we play hard. The Hurricanes have lost a lot of players. We have a good number of players returning so our experience will be going against their inexperience. We have the talent to surprise a lot of teams this season.”

After the Q-and-A, the assembly settled into one of the Wicked Eats house specialty dishes: Chicken Rigatoni complemented with sweet bell peppers topped with parmesan regianno blush—a dish as delectable as a prospective Opening Night win over rival Newmarket at the venerable ACC.

By Jim Stewart
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter