Local Sports

The St. Paul Canadiens hosted a Bantam boys hockey tournament this weekend, bringing in talent from across Alberta with teams from Kitscoty, Okotoks, Drayton Valley, Slave Lake, and High Prairie.

The Bonnyville Jr. A Pontiacs have added depth to their crease acquiring 18-year-old goaltender Gunnar Neilsen from the Mission City Outlaws. Neilsen, a six-foot, 154-pound netminder from Abbotsford, B.C.

Brinson Pasichnuk's whirlwind season is continuing as the local 18-year-old defenceman has been selected to play in the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL) Prospects Game. “It is a pretty cool honour. It is going to be fun,” said Pasicnhuk.

The home crowd turned out in full force for the Saddle Lake Warriors Saturday’s night game against rivals, the St. Paul Canadiens, with the Warriors having reason to believe it could come out with a win, facing a depleted Canadiens team.

Although the St. Paul Jr. B Canadiens took home two wins from this weekend’s games, the wins weren’t very pretty or easy to achieve, and the team was left shorthanded after Friday’s physical game against Vermilion.

Shootout goals by Derek Brown and Brinson Pasichnuk propelled the Bonnyville Jr. A Pontiacs to a 3-2 victory over the league leading Spruce Grove Saints on Saturday night.

While the sports world seemed to quiet down over the Christmas holiday, minor hockey roared its way into 2016, with teams hitting the ice to play games over the past weekend.

The Bonnyville Pontiacs started off 2016 with a bang, storming past the Drayton Valley Thunder in a pair of weekend road games. The Pontiacs outscored the Thunder 11-1 over the course of a the two-game roadtrip.

A 40-30 victory over the Red Deer Steelers on Nov. 14 saw the Bonnyville Renegades capture their first ever Tier III Provincial Championship. “We came out and did what we had done all year,” said Renegades head coach Kevin Sartain.

The explosive offence of the Bonnyville Bandits was unmatched throughout the season, as the team blew out opponent after opponent en route to a provincial championship.