The Bonnyville Jr. A Pontiacs 2011-2012 season has come to an end after falling to the Crusaders in the fifth and deciding game of the first-round playoff series Saturday in Sherwood Park.
The only Alberta Junior Hockey League first-round series to require five games was back and forth from the start, with the Pontiacs taking games one and three, while the Crusaders responded with wins in games two and four, before clinching the series with a 5-1 win over the Pontiacs back at the Sherwood Park Arena this past weekend.
The final game of the Pontiacs campaign was reflective of the team's entire season said Bonnyville's head coach and general manager Chad Mercier.
“From our side this was maybe one of the more difficult years we've had, with so many good things, but so many things just not going our way,” said Mercier, following Saturday's loss. “This game was exactly the way our season went, with guys out of the lineup, some guys really coming to play and other guys playing just OK.
“We did not handle adversity really well early on, then we had some moments where we played really well, but just couldn't finish when we needed to.”
The rough, hard fought series between the two rivals had taken its toll on both teams, with the Crusaders dressing two affiliate players in game five, while the Pontiacs were forced to ice four, with key players including the league's top defenceman Blake Leask out of the lineup with injuries.
The Pontiacs head coach said his team just couldn't get things going early on in game five and when they did show some jump in the second and third periods, they weren't able to find the back of the net when they needed to.
Bonnyville found itself in a hole early, going down 2-0 in the first five minutes of game five. The Crusaders added another before the end of the frame.
After a scoreless second period, it was the Pontiacs coming back with a goal of their own just six seconds into the third, when co-captain Kevin Carthy took the puck in shorthanded and ripped it past Crusaders goalie Matt Tompkins to cut the lead to 3-1.
It was all Bonnyville could muster though, as the Crusaders added two more goals, including one into the empty net to take the game and the series.
After losing out to the Pontiacs in the first round of the playoffs the past two seasons, it was finally Sherwood Park's turn to come out on top. The Crusaders will now move on to face the Fort McMurray Oil Barons in the second round starting March 7.
Pontiacs players were devastated by the first-round defeat at the hands of the Crusaders.
Co-captain and three-year veteran Dante Borrelli said following the loss, “It's never a good feeling to go down like this. Some of us have been here for three years and putting in all that time and effort and preparation and then to go out in the first round, it's really disappointing.”
Pontiacs other co-captain and three-year veteran Kevin Carthy said the team battled all year long, but couldn't come through in the end.
“After going through the entire season and having it come down to this, it's obviously a crushing blow,” said Carthy. “It's not the outcome we wanted but it was on us to be better and we just didn't have it in the end.”
One of the hardest things about the loss, said Borrelli, is knowing it was the last game a lot of the Pontiacs would ever play together.
“We battled together all year, some of us for three years. This was such a good group of guys,” said Borrelli. “Those are my best friends and I'm definitely going to stick with them till the end.”
Mercier said, although his team was up and down at times all season, the players showed resolve throughout the year, noting his co-captains in particular.
“For me, it was really nice to see two of our leaders Kevin Carthy and Dante Borrelli play the way they did in this series.”
The Pontiacs will now clean out their lockers before moving on for the spring and summer months, while eight players and one assistant coach will be moving on for good.
Co-captains Carthy and Borrelli, along with Dillon Currie, Ryan Kearns, Chris Lijdsman, Jordon Krankowsky and assistant coach Jake Towriss are all 20-years-old and have wrapped up their playing careers in junior A hockey.
Just prior to winning the league's top defenceman award, 19-year-old Leask received a scholarship from the University of Alaska – Anchorage and has committed to attend the school this fall, forgoing his final year of junior A.
The next event for current and returning players and coaches will be the team's banquet in May.
