Thanks to a special donation from the family of a past star, the Freeburg-Waterloo Raging Bulldogs are sporting a new look as they maintain their hold on first place in the Mississippi Valley Club Hockey Association standings.

Last Monday, the Raging Bulldogs debuted new alternate jerseys.

These new uniforms were donated by Kacie Maxwell. Her late brother, Jason Luhr, starred for the Waterloo Bulldogs hockey team in the early 2000s. Luhr’s jersey number was also retired as part of the donation.

“Kacie wanted to surprise her father with the donation of the jerseys and the retiring of Jason’s No. 89,” Freeburg-Waterloo head coach Scott Roberts said. “This number will never be worn again by a Waterloo hockey player. The Raging Bulldogs players, coaches and families would like to send a big thank you to Kacie.”

Luhr died in February 2012 at the age of 30.

Although the Raging Bulldogs dropped their first game of the season to Belleville while sporting the new jerseys, the team wore them again the next night.

Last Tuesday, Freeburg-Waterloo (11-2) bounced back to blast Bethalto, 13-1. Jacob Dinkelman recorded a hat trick in the win.

The Luhr jersey may be more than a third wardrobe option for the Raging Bulldogs, who have taken a liking to the new look.

Roberts said the team will wear them “as often as possible,” adding that “everyone loves them.”

Freeburg-Waterloo sought revenge against Belleville on Tuesday, but lost its cool in a 7-2 defeat. Leading scorer Nick Mumford was ejected, as was Roberts, and Belleville capitalized on several power play opportunities.

On Thursday, first place will be on the line once again as rivals Freeburg-Waterloo and Columbia battle it out at the McKendree Rec Plex in O’Fallon. The puck drops at 7:30 p.m.

Mumford will have to sit out Thursday’s game due to being ejected on Tuesday.

The Ice Eagles enter the game in second place with a 10-1 record.

Columbia posted a 2-1 win over O’Fallon on Thursday night. Joshua O’Leary and Jordan Smugala scored for Columbia and Londyn Little held strong in net. 

Last Tuesday, Columbia downed Alton, 5-2. The Ice Eagles broke open a tie game with three goals in the final period. O’Leary, Jack Augustin, Collin Schmidt, Joe Soetaert and Nick Wolff all scored in the win.

Elijah DeFosset leads Columbia in scoring with 11 goals and four assists.

In net, Londyn Little is 3-1 with a .937 save percentage and Tim Barbee is 5-0 with a .921 save percentage.

While Columbia has only scored 55 goals on the season compared to Freeburg-Waterloo’s 91, the Ice Eagles have only allowed 16 goals to the Raging Bulldogs’ 26.