Having dominated the Battle River Hockey League (BRHL) for much of the regular season, the Bonnyville Sr. Pontiacs are finally able to call themselves champions after wrapping up a convincing 4-1 championship series demolition of the Tofield Satellites last weekend.
Following comfortable victories in games one, two and four, the Pontiacs came into game five at the RJ Lalonde Arena on Saturday in determined fashion, netting two early goals and never looking back en route to a comprehensive 6-2 victory.
Speaking to the Nouvelle following the win, Pontiacs coaches Chad Mercier and Shaun Hebert said they were incredibly proud of everything the team was able to accomplish in what was it's fledgling BRHL campaign.
“This has been a long time coming for Bonnyville, to have a championship-winning team, for myself as a player and now coach, we battled a lot of years to get a championship,” Hebert said. “This is absolutely huge for us as an organization, and huge for us as a community. I'm so proud of the guys for having the ability and commitment (to pull this off).”
Mercier added, “I've coached the game of hockey for 15 years at a pretty high level and this group of guys is one that played to win and played for each other as much as any other group I've ever been a part of. They really took pride in this team and came out each and every game with a passion and commitment to win. This (championship victory) is something they've really worked for and is something they deserve.”
Playing in front of a crowd of 422 rowdy locals, it didn't take the Pontiacs long to exert their dominance on a struggling Tofield outfit. Forward Dallas Ansell slammed home his fourth goal of the playoffs 12 minutes in, slotting home a rebound from a powerful Derek Jeannotte effort.
Line mate Niko Bourget doubled the Pontiacs' advantage less than two minutes later, tipping a Tyler Kress shot five hole past Satellites goaltender Tanner Schalin.
The Pontiacs picked up the pace heading into the second period, putting up three further tallies courtesy of Lucas Isley, Kress and Garett Pulak. At the other end, Josh Paul was in inspired form, making several highlight reel saves to keep the Satellites off the board.
With the game, and with it the BRHL championship, now long gone, the Satellites looked to employ a more physical approach with the minutes ticking down, but it had no effect on the Pontiacs ability to score. Trevor Makaruk added a sixth for the hometown team early in the third period.
With the game done and dusted, the Pontiacs took their foot off the gas towards the end of the game, a move the Satellites took full advantage of with Clinton Alexander tickling the twine at the mid-point of the period to break Paul's shutout and Barron Smith adding a second with four minutes left on the clock.
That wasn't enough though to stop the Pontiacs, and captain Logan Isley was presented with the illustrious BRHL championship trophy following the victory. Forward Ty Carey was named MVP of the playoff series.
After joining the organization midway through the season, Mercier said he was blown away by the effort and commitment of the team, stating it was that desire that led the Pontiacs to a first-ever league trophy.
“For me this has been an absolute pleasure to be a part of this journey, the commitment level of this team blew me away when I first got here, that's what has made this so much fun,” Mercier said. “This is as committed a group as I've ever been involved with.”
Mercier too reserved special praise for those members of the Sr. Pontiacs who don't lace up the skates on game day, stating without all the committed volunteers behind the scenes, the team would not be in a position to win championships.
“The drive and commitment of this team really starts from the top down with people like Floyd and Ernie Isley and Dennis Germain. Those guys are the ones who did all the work to get us into the position we are today, so they deserve a heck of a lot of credit,” Mercier said. “Then there are people like Shaun Hebert and Scott Ross who worked really hard to put this team together….the unselfishness in this group is incredible.”
With the win, the Pontiacs have qualified for the senior provincial championships, which will take place in Camrose and Daysland this coming weekend. Speaking to Hebert, he believes this group of guys has what it takes to go all the way and claim an unprecedented provincial crown.
“We're just going to have to focus and do the same things we've been doing all season – really stick to our systems,” Hebert said. “It's going to be a big weekend, but I really believe we're the team to beat. We've accomplished something really big here tonight, but there's so much more this team can do and I really think we're capable of walking out with a provincial championship next weekend.”
The Pontiacs will take on the winner of the Nanton Palomino's/Kainai Braves Ranchland Hockey League series at 5 p.m. Friday in Daysland before taking on the Devon Barons of the North Central Senior Hockey League in Camrose at 10 a.m. on Saturday
