Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek, shown with Deacon, will drop the puck before Thursday night’s OJHL game at the Stouffville Arena. The Spirit is backing Marek’s charity of choice, TEAM Dog Rescue, this month.

All proceeds from 50/50 draws at Stouffville Spirit home games are donated to charity.

Recipients have included the Lions Club of Stouffville, the Terry Fox Run and Royal Canadian Legion, Branch 459, Poppy Fund.

The chosen charity for October is TEAM Dog Rescue, as selected by Sportsnet hockey broadcaster Jeff Marek. The Stouffville resident is longtime friend of the franchise and a supporter of all things canine.

Marek will drop the puck before Thursday’s game against Oakville at the Stouffville Arena. Start time is 7:30 p.m.

Founded in 2012, TEAM Dog Rescue is a foster-based, registered Canadian charity (BN: 815687843RR0001) “dedicated to helping homeless dogs find their forever homes with a focus on rescuing canines from overcrowded and high-kill shelters.” It’s run by volunteers throughout the GTA and surrounding areas.

For information on TEAM Dog Rescue, go to https://teamdogrescue.ca/

THE SKED

After three straight on the road, the Spirit returns home for a pair this week. The second game goes Saturday with Burlington. It’s another 7:30 start.

THE SCORES

The Spirit salvaged a point out of a pair of closely contested games last weekend.

In Georgetown Saturday, the hometown Raiders scored the final three goals, including an empty-netter, to win 6-4.

Zach Benayon, Nathan Twohey, Peter Kioussis and Zack Corte scored.

In Trenton Sunday, Corte scored two more goals in a 4-3 overtime loss. Kioussis had the other goal.

NOTEBOOK

The Spirit (6-5-1-2) is in fifth place in the 10-team North-West Conference of the Ontario Junior Hockey League … the Spirit’s penalty killing percentage (91.49) remains tops in the 21-team league. 

Spirit This Week is sponsored by Farmer Jack’s in Stouffville and Sharon