Bonnyville – It was a week packed with four home games for the Bonnyville Jr. A Pontiacs, as well as an evening designed to welcome the families of Yak’s players who have relocated to the Town of Bonnyville to play with the hockey team.
A dinner followed by a hypnotist show held at the Beaver River Fish and Game Hall on Friday had families, players, Pontiacs’ staff and billet families bonding and laughing together.
For Pontiacs’ defencemen Quinton Gove the night was extra special. The Michigan native introduced his parents, Michelle and Norman Gove, to the small northern Alberta community he has called home since the start of the 2022-23 season.
Quinton’s parents never imagined their son would one day move to Canada to pursue his dreams of playing elite hockey. And yet, the family from Ann Arbor, MI, travelled nearly 3,000 km last week to watch Quinton play hockey and take part in the family night.
“It's been great having him here, especially this team and this community,” said Norman, Quinton’s father. “It's a very, very high-class organization compared to other places he's been, and that makes a big difference.”
Last year, Quinton played hockey for teams in both Drayton Valley and Lloydminster.
“He is a pretty independent kid, and we trust in him, but emotionally – especially when he got hurt last year – that was very difficult,” acknowledged Quinton’s mother Michelle. “Technology, thank goodness with FaceTime, I think it has made it much easier than it would have been without that.”
However, when Quinton turned 20 earlier this year, all the technology in the world could not erase the distance and sadness of spending the important milestone apart.
"It was the very first birthday that I wasn’t with him. I couldn’t even talk about it for the week leading up to his birthday,” said Michelle.
“The one thing that I would say that made this a lot easier is his billet mom, Carrie [Goldsmith],” she added.
Pontiacs skate through seven victories
The Pontiacs are on a seven-game hot streak and are hoping they can keep up the momentum until the playoffs.
On Wednesday, the Pontiacs beat the Drayton Valley Thunder 6-2 at the RJ Lalonde Arena, after having beat them 8-1 the day before.
The Pontiacs went on to win two more games over the weekend against teams from Olds and Calgary.
On Saturday, the Pontiacs finished their game against the Olds Grizzlys winning 8-2, followed by an 8-5 win against the Calgary Canucks on Sunday afternoon.