After embarking on a record-breaking run to the AJHL northern finals last season, the Bonnyville Jr. A Pontiacs will be looking to go one step further this coming season and secure a first-ever league championship.
Ever since taking over the head coaching and general manager duties of the local organization in the summer of 2013, Rick Swan has been working tirelessly to help promote Bonnyville as one of the top premier junior hockey outfits in the province.
Next weekend, more than 60 talented hockey hopefuls will congregate in Bonnyville in an effort to land a spot on this coming season's Pontiacs squad. Speaking to the Nouvelle last week, Swan said he was “really excited” about the pool of players coming out for training camp this year.
“Our recruiting has been exceptional this year,” Swan said. “We've got a big, big number of players coming in here next week, all of which, realistically, could find themselves a member of the Bonnyville Pontiacs this year – that's how good this pool is.”
Last season's run to the northern finals was done largely off the stellar play of veteran leaders such as Dillan McCombie, Troy Trombley, Ryan Black, Braiden Doucette and Evan Warmington, all of whom have since moved on from the organization. That leaves Swan with some big holes to plug as the 2015/2016 season approaches.
“While the players we lost at the end of last season are going to be big, big misses, their contributions and their performances throughout the playoffs has really helped to put us in a position where our recruiting has gone to a whole other level,” Swan said. “We've got our eye on a number of up and coming kids that we believe can come in and contribute to our team right away.”
He added, “If we can secure ourselves some good goaltending once again this year, I'm absolutely confident that we can be just as good, if not better than we were last year. There's no doubt about that.”
Perhaps the star name Swan is expecting to join the Pontiacs this season is 18-year-old forward Zach Mills. Hailing from Minnesota, Mills was just recently selected with the 8th overall pick in the NAHL Entry Draft by the Aberdeen Wings after starring for his high school hockey team, amassing 107 points in 86 games in four seasons from 2011 to 2015.
Also joining up with the Pontiacs at training camp is highly touted forward Ryan Rothenberger, who last season spent time with the Nipawin Hawks in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, and Josh Creelman, a 19-year-old goaltender from New Jersey.
Parker Foo, younger brother of former Pontiacs Spencer Foo, is also expected to crack the roster this coming season.
“There are a lot of kids coming in here with star potential. The pressure is really going to be on the coaching staff because there's going to be a lot of tough decisions made during camp,” Swan said. “We probably have a group of 20 forwards that could potentially make the team and 10 or 12 defenseman too. That really puts us at a different level that we've ever been at before in terms of depth on the roster.”
The new guys coming in will supplement a returning squad of 12 players, with several younger members of last years team expecting to step up and take on a bigger role with the team next season.
Officially returning is Steenn Pasichnuk, who will take sole ownership of the ‘C' this season, Gen Bryshun, Bobby McMann, Ryan Symington, Chad Hurtubise, Brinson Pasichnuk, Erik Donald, Kyler Hehn, Alden Dupuis, Josh Borynec, Holden Daley and goaltender Joey Desrosier.
“We've got some great kids coming back, all of which are real high end hockey players. Bobby McMann is going to be staying on another year, which is great news for us. Kyler Hehn is a 60-point player in the AJHL and then we have Steen, who is going to be our captain next year,” Swan said. “He's a local boy here in Bonnyville, so he's excited to carry on the tradition (of the team) and excited to take this next step.”
While the team's success last season may well put some unwanted pressure on the organization this coming year, Swan said that's something the players will have to get used to playing for a “high end” hockey club.
“Honestly, the level we're at now, we almost expect to be making the sort of runs we want on last season, and maybe even stepping up and going one step further. That's where our standards lay now,” Swan said. “It's a tough standard we created for ourselves last year, but we know, as an organization, we're not prepared to go backwards. Just being good isn't good enough anymore. We have to be striving for that higher level.”
The Pontiacs will be holding their 2015 summer training camp from August 21 to 23, with their annual ‘Black and White' exhibition game taking place August 24 at 7 p.m. The team will have a flurry of league exhibitions starting August 26 before getting the 2015/2016 season underway on home ice Sept. 11 against the Lloydminster Bobcats.
