BONNYVILLE – Playing in the middle of the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL), a victory against the top team in the league doesn’t get much sweeter.
On Oct. 18, the Bonnyville Jr. A Pontiacs took on the Brooks Bandits on home ice at the RJ Lalonde Arena.
In a match that had the opportunity to go either way in all three periods, the persistence and grit of the Pontiacs managed to hold off their opponents, resulting in a 3-1 win over the Bandits.
“It always feels great to beat Brooks, honestly. And that we stuck together as a team, it paid off,” said Pontiacs’ assistant captain JR Ashmead. “We came in with a good plan and we executed it well.”
Despite the two-point lead, the win was hard fought as the Pontiacs shut down six penalty kills throughout the game.
“We shouldn't have taken that many penalties, but we executed the penalty kill that we have been practicing the last couple of weeks and made sure everyone was working together and shut them down,” said Ashmead.
Having 13 regular season games under their belt as of Oct. 18, the Pontiacs have found themselves with a mixed bag of results. Before their game against Brooks, the Bonnyville team racked up six wins, five losses and two overtime losses.
Looking forward, Ashmead said, “I feel great about what's to come. I feel like we're finally getting to be a true team now. And we weren't earlier on in the season. We weren't really playing together and that's why we're losing, but we’re on a great roll here and we’ll keep it going.”
For head coach Mario Pouliot, last Wednesday’s success against Brooks was a reflection that preparations for game-day are working.
“We didn't talk a lot about them. We were talking about us and the way we want to play, and we played really good in Spruce [Grove], also. The last couple of games I really liked that we were defending, I really liked the way we're handling the puck and making some plays,” Pouliot said.
Highlighting another success, the head coach pointed to the Pontiacs' ability to keep the shots on their net under 30 despite giving up six power plays.
With just 16 shots on the Bandits’ net, the Pontiacs managed to find the back of the net three times.
While the Pontiacs racked up some unfortunate penalties, like too many men on the ice, Pouliot credits Pontiacs’ veteran goalie Bodee Wiess for his hard work.
“Bodee was our best player during the PK (penalty kill) made some really good saves. He was competing, challenging. He was in control of every rebound,” described Pouliot.
But the victory was a team effort. “Tonight's win is going to be good for our confidence and it’s going to encourage us to keep playing the same way,” he said.
Mixed results continue
Over the weekend, the Pontiacs faced off against two more competitors with mixed results while on the road.
Friday night the Pontiacs had a repeat success while playing the Lloydminster Bobcats. The match finished 3-1 in favour of the Bonnyville Jr. A team.
The Pontiacs then travelled to Drayton Valley the following day to compete against the Thunder. On Saturday night, the Pontiacs fortune swung the other way with a 3-1 loss against the Drayton Valley Thunder.
