Sr Pontiacs split first two Playoff Games

Bonnyville welcomes Whitecourt on Friday for Game 3 of Best of 5 Series

The Bonnyville Sr Men’s Pontiacs kicked off their North Central Senior Men’s Hockey League (NCSMHL) playoff run with a loss and win over the weekend. Head Coach Chad Milnthrop says the club will be working on being good young lads, after penalties cost the club the first game.

“We ran into a little bit of penalty trouble. Ended up losing 7-4,” Milnthrop says the club was on the road for the first game, where they stacked up 79 minutes in penalties. “The boys got a little bit hot-headed and the game got a little bit out of control. We ended up losing that one.” 7-4 final in favour of the Whitecourt Wild, for Game 1.

The club came home for Game 2 of the series, Milnthrop says the game was more controlled with only 26 minutes in the box for the Pontiacs, “the boys played a lot better and a little more disciplined.” The club fought hard into extra time, “the game went to overtime, which was very exciting for the fans, and at the end we prevailed and came out on top.” Bonnyville took the game 5-4 in overtime.

“Hopefully, we’ll get a nice big hometown crowd on Friday,” game time is 8:30pm at the RJ Lalonde Arena. Leading into Friday’s game, the Sr Pontiacs will be working on break outs and cleaning up their play, says the coach, who adds he anticipates the boys will be able to close out the series with a win over the weekend.