After a historic regular season the Bonnyville Jr. A Pontiacs met a tough Sherwood Park Crusaders squad and saw their AJHL Championship hopes dashed in just four games.
Bonnyville (40-11-9) saw their dream season come to an abrupt halt on March 15 at the Sherwood Park Arena after coming out on the wrong side of a 7-1 score. With the loss the Pontiacs dropped the series three games to one and were sent looking for answers as to how it all went wrong.
“We felt in our minds we had a team that could potentially exceed the great things we did last year in the playoffs. It took us a few days to sort things out. I think it was shock,” said Rick Swan, Pontiacs head coach and GM.
Just days after the 2015-16 campaign had come to a close Swan and associate coach Larry Draper were back in the office starting preparations for next season. The two had already started to look at the positives of an early postseason exit, seeing it as an opportunity to have more time to recruit the best available players.
“We have already hit the ground running for next year,” said Swan. “It is tough because you have a sour taste in your mouth for how we ended this year, but there is no time to stew on things. We need to get going and make sure we are ready to put a great product on the ice and look after the organization.”
As Swan and Draper start up their offseason recruiting the two will have the difficult task of trying to replace the skill, grit and determination of the seven outgoing players. Captain Steenn Pasichnuk, AJHL MVP Bobby McMann, AJHL Top Defenseman Brinson Pasichnuk, forward Kyler Hehn, defencemen Ben Mack and Bryan Gerstenfeld and goaltender Olivier Charest are all moving on and taking a large chunk of the Pontiacs offence with them. The group of six players combined to produce 104 of the 245 goals Bonnyville scored this season, about 42 per cent of the teams offence.
While they have a large core of the team graduating, Swan is confident the players sticking around will be able to step into bigger roles and continue to pump out goals.
“We have a great nucleus up front,” said Swan. “I think that the experience those young guys have is going to allow them to take that next step next season.”
Returning forwards Alden Dupuis, Brandon Whistle, Derek Brown and Zack Mills all fell one goal short of milestone seasons each finishing with 19 goals apiece. They will be joined by Josh Borynec, Ryan Piche, Ryan Symington, Chad Hurtubise, Chandler Klein and Charlie Gawlicki and make up a solid, skilled group of returning forwards.
The defense core is also in decent shape, as Gen Bruyshun, Erik Donald, Brad Bigsby and Carter Rhine will be returning to patrol Bonnyville's blue line.
It's the giant six-foot-three, 225-pound hole in the Pontiacs crease that has Swan a little worried, as Bonnyville will once again have to recruit a starting netminder.
“We are worried about goaltending. We need to find a (No. 1) guy,” said Swan. “It could be Gunnar Neilsen, but we are still going to make sure that we pursue and go after the best goalies.”
While a first round exit might be seen as a disappointment, Swan believes the season Bonnyville put together this year, which saw multiple franchise records smashed, will only help when trying to reel in the best recruits.
The Pontiacs set new franchise records in wins (40), least number of losses (11) and points (89). Eight players notched 19 goals or more, which was another franchise record and paced the team to 245 goals, the third best season total in franchise history. They also finished with the third lowest goals against total in history at 163 and posted a best ever winning percentage of .745.
“We think that all of those things have allowed us to get our program to where it is and become an elite program,” said Swan. “We think that the reputation and credibility we have gained as an organization has allowed us to be looked at as an organization of choice. Not it is between Penticton and Bonnyville, or Spruce Grove and Bonnyville or Brooks and Bonnyville.”
Bonnyville coaching staff will be hitting the road and attending a top prospects camp in a few weeks where some of the best 1998-born players will be showcasing their talents. From there they will be preparing for the top prospects camp, which is set for May 27. So far 60 forwards, 45 defenseman and 50 goalies have committed to attending the camp.
While the games may be over, and the players are all done for the year, work never ends for Swan and Draper. The two have just shifted gears and are continue to put in the work that has put the Pontiacs on the map as a respected Jr. A organization.
“We want to be the best recruiting organization in the country and we think we have taken steps within the last two years in order to get ourselves in the position,” said Swan. “We are going after the players that are going to allow us to win a championship. That is where our focus is.”
