The better teams won this weekend, as the Bonnyville Jr. A Pontiacs fell flat Friday and Saturday night, losing 4-1 to the Grande Prairie Storm, then dropping a 5-3 contest to the Whitecourt Wolverines the next night.
The better teams won this weekend, as the Bonnyville Jr. A Pontiacs fell flat Friday and Saturday night, losing 4-1 to the Grande Prairie Storm, then dropping a 5-3 contest to the Whitecourt Wolverines the next night.
The losses came on the heels of two huge wins by the Pontiacs the weekend before over the Drumheller Dragons and the league-leading Brooks Bandits.
Pontiacs associate coach Rick Swan said the team has learned valuable lessons over the past two weeks.
"The success from the weekend before might have fooled us a bit," he said. "This is the stretch run and teams are going to come at us harder than ever and we're going to need to continue to elevate our game, and we were unable to do that this weekend."
He explained, "We can't just sit back and let it come to us. We need to elevate our game to beyond where it was when we beat one of the top teams and then we need to work twice as hard to keep it at that next level."
After putting on display some of the best hockey the RJ Lalonde had seen in years earlier in the month, the Pontiacs appeared to be a completely different team on the ice this weekend, as players came out flat, and when they were able to generate momentum, it was only for a short span of time.
Swan said going into this week of practice, preparation will be the focus.
"Players can control three things. Number one, they can control how they prepare day in and day out," he explained. "Number two, they control their mental approach to the game, and how they carry out the game plan. And number three, they can control their work ethic.
"It's up to them to execute."
He said the coaching staff will also be focusing on getting the veterans and the leaders on the team going, because he said, "when they are going, the team goes."
After moving up to second in the AJHL's North Division following the two wins earlier in the month, the Pontiacs have now dropped to fifth in the division after the two losses last weekend.
The Pontiacs sit one point behind Drayton Valley and two behind Whitecourt and Grande Prairie, who are tied for second with 54 points. Spruce Grove leads the north with 60 points.
With just 16 games to go in the regular season, the Pontiacs now set their sights on two more games at home this weekend.
On Friday, the Pontiacs will take on the Sherwood Park Crusaders and on Saturday Bonnyville will take on the Okotoks Oilers. Both games are scheduled to start at 7 p.m.
With the Jan. 10 Canadian junior hockey roster cutdown deadline now passed, all junior teams must have their rosters cut down to 23 players, including two goalies.
The Pontiacs made one addition at the deadline, adding 20-year-old forward Jamie Johnson.
Johnson had one goal and 20 assists in 25 games with Whitecourt this season. He had one assist in two games over the weekend with the Pontiacs.
Swan said Johnson "has great vision, skills and leadership" and "should be a great addition to the team, with his ability to step right into the lineup and understand the system."
