The Bonnyville Jr. A Pontiacs have played two thirds of their 2010-11 regular season, and in my first year covering the team I am thoroughly impressed thus far, for several good reasons.
First, let me get to the crowds at the game. This town does a very good job supporting its local junior hockey club. It seems that at every home game there are at least enough people in the stands to make the building appear crowded, which is a good thing. Even better is that at Friday or Saturday night games the building is actually crowded.
It sure makes for a better atmosphere when the stands are full, and the players like it too. I have heard many comments from players about the positives of playing in front of a large home crowd and the advantages it brings.
One of the more impressive aspects of this season has been the Pontiacs' balanced scoring and the ability of almost all players to step up in key situations.
The Pontiacs have had nine players this season with point streaks extending six games or longer. Forwards Eric Peterson and Levi Ansell have had nine and 10-game point streaks respectively, while points leader Matt Montesano has had an eight-game streak, followed by a current four-game streak headed into the holiday break.
But it hasn't just been the scorers stepping up this season. It's the hard work on faceoffs, the fore checking and back checking and other less noticeable parts of the game, coming from players like Ryan Kearns, Jake Towriss, Dylan Currie and Kevin Carthy, that has added the depth and all-around game the coaches stress and the team now possesses.
“These are guys that contribute in a lot of ways and are so valuable to the organization,” said head coach Chad Mercier.
The coaching staff has stressed defensive responsibility from the start and it shows. The team is currently tied for second best in the league for goals against, with only 103.
The Pontiacs have a strong defensive core centered around studs Donnie Harris and Michael Westfall. And with defencemen like Jordon Krankowsky, Blake Leask and Nick Scott playing solid defensively, while adding offence as well, the Pontiacs appear set defensively.
That's not to mention the defensive responsibility the forwards have shown all season.
How can you talk about a team's great defence without talking about the goalie that holds it all together?
In my opinion Julien Laplante has been the MVP of the Pontiacs this season. He has picked up 20 wins and five shutouts, while only losing six games in regulation.
Laplante has a save percentage of 0.925, good for third in the league.
The best thing about Laplante and the Pontiacs is that he has been able to win games when the team is not playing in top form, and conversely, the team has been able win when Laplante's play has faltered slightly, as he admits it has over the past few games.
But Mercier has said of his starting goalie, “He's been nothing short of tremendous for us.”
Mercier said it is difficult to exceed expectations, because coming into the season, expectations are so high, but he added, “there are a lot of guys doing great jobs.”
It's nice to see coaches set the bar high for a team, forcing the players to get out of their comfort zone and push that extra bit to be the best players they can be.
It is easy for a team to be satisfied and only give what they feel comfortable giving, but it is refreshing to see Mercier and his staff not allow that to happen, and it has shown in the success the team is having this year.
“Everyone looks for that instant gratification,” said Mercier. “We're trying to adopt a mentality on investing time and effort for that later gratification…ours will come at the end.”
I am looking forward to seeing what happens the rest of the way.
