The Bonnyville Jr. A Pontiacs are on a roll.
Following back-to-back wins over the weekend, the team is ready for whatever comes their way.
They started their success with an on the road victory over the Spruce Grove Saints, followed by an at home win against their rivals the Sherwood Park Crusaders.
Pontiacs hit the road, come home with a ‘W’
It was a great start to the weekend for Bonnyville as they travelled to Spruce Grove on Friday, Feb. 8, where they would come out on top 2-1.
Joel Ray was the first to find the back of the net midway through the second period.
Spruce Grove tied the game with one of their own in the third.
It was only eight seconds into overtime when Bobby Young sealed the deal for the Pontiacs, claiming their 2-1 victory.
“That was a good team win where we found a way, and it was great,” expressed head coach Rick Swan.
Carrying the momentum
It wasn’t long before the Pontiacs would once again be celebrating success.
They hit the ice at the R.J. Lalonde Arena in a game that would define the rest of the regular season.
On Saturday, Feb. 9, they faced off against the Sherwood Park Crusaders, trampling their opponents 4-1.
“It was really, potentially... a review of what the north final is going to look like. The two top teams going at it, knowing the importance for both teams, because it’s either a tie and an eight-game sprint to the end, or we have a chance to separate ourselves,” Swan stated.
Similar to the night before, it wasn’t until the second frame when the scoring started.
Six minutes into the period, Marc-Antoine Benoit landed the first goal of the night.
Bobby Young added to Bonnyville’s lead less than a minute later.
Sherwood Park found the scoreboard for the only time that night with less than two minutes in the second remaining.
Trey Thomas carries the puck down the ice.
It was followed by a goal from Lucas Reeves no more than 10 seconds later.
The clock was ticking down in the final minutes of the third when Sherwood Park pulled their goalie.
Taking advantage of the empty net, Luke Albert sent the puck sailing across the ice.
“I think that after we scored that goal, the composure was lost a bit. We just had to dial it back in and play the right away for two more minutes,” expressed Swan.
Overall, the head coach was pleased with the team’s effort.
“It was a very emotional and composed game. Both goaltenders played well. I think it was really a complete effort from everyone on the team, which is what we’re going to need in order to be successful,” Swan noted. “They had controlled energy between the lines, just to make sure that we don’t cross that line, because that’s when we start to take undisciplined penalties and we start to get the wrong focus. We talked about it. With 10 games left, we needed to clean some stuff up as a group and we had some goal setting to do that.”
A new addition to the team is Scott McKenzie.
He recently traded in his Calgary jersey for a Pontiacs one, and so far, hasn’t been disappointed.
“There was definitely a huge change. It’s kind of a losing culture to a winning culture, but it’s all been justified so it’s been an easy transition,” he said.
McKenzie agreed with his head coach that “no one was slacking,” in their game against the Crusaders.
“It was a total team win. I’m pretty happy. To be first in the north, it’s a pretty awesome place to be,” McKenzie emphasized.
Lucas Thorne said, “We came out flying... Everybody in the room knew that was a really big game, and you could tell because everyone was loud on the bench and in the room. “
“They’re trying to catch us right now in the standings. That win for us was huge. It’s going to give us a lot more breathing room for the next eight games now, going into playoffs, because that first round buy-in is really big,” he continued.
Thorne gave a shoutout to their goalie Colby Muise.
“He played great tonight and really kept us in the game.”
The Pontiacs are hoping to conitnue to build off of their momentum, taking pointers as they make their way towards the final game of the season.
“Tonight was indicative of how we want to represent ourselves and how we want to make sure we’re playing this way going into the playoffs,” said Swan. “It gives us a little bit of end in sight in terms of what we can accomplish this year.”
