The Bonnyville Sr. Pontiacs will not be defending their Battle River Hockey League title next season, as the BRHL is no more.
The league has decided to merge and become part of the eight-team North Central Hockey League.
Four of the former BRHL teams – the Big Valley Oil Kings, Bonnyville Sr. Pontiacs, Daysland Northstars and Tofield Satellites – will become part of the new 12-team North Central Hockey League, with the fifth team, the Lloydminster Border Kings, deciding to fold.
“This is a really solid organization,” said Dennis Germain, treasurer for the Sr. Pontiacs. “It is a premier league in Alberta. I think it is better for us going into the future.”
Bonnyville and Tofield will be joining the North Division, which includes the Morinville Kings, Westlock Warriors, Whitecourt Wild and Slave Lake Winterhawks.
In the South Division, Daysland and Big Valley will be grouped up with the Devon Barons, Edson Ice, Rocky Mountain House Rams and Drayton Valley Wildcats.
The new league consists of four of the six teams, which made up the field at provincials last year. Daysland hosted the event, Bonnyville was the BRHL champion, Westlock won the NCHL and Devon came in as a wildcard.
“I think we have a good shot at being strong in this league,” said President Floyd Isley. “We did play against (the NCHL's) top two teams at provincials last year. I think we were the best team at provincials, it just didn't work out.
The Sr. Pontiacs knocked off the Devon Barons 5-2 in round robin play before thumping the Westlock Warriors 6-1 to claim provincial bronze.
“We developed a really strong core of players last year,” said Germain. “That is the critical thing in senior hockey. You need that commitment and core. Our commitment level was unquestionable.”
Isley expects 23 of the 25 players who made up last years BRHL Championship Pontiacs squad to be back for the 2015-16 season.
League rules in the NCHL allow teams to have 35 players on their roster, opposed to the 25-man rosters that were allowed in the BRHL.
Even though the Sr. Pontiacs could add ten more players during the regular season they still have to get down to a 25-man playoff roster. It's because of this that Isley expects the team to only carry around 30 players for the upcoming season.
The Sr. Pontiacs will play a 16-game regular season. Their opening weekend will take place on Oct. 24 and 25 when they host Big Valley on Saturday night and Slave Lake on Sunday evening.
A full league schedule will be released in the near future.
