Sr. Pontiacs will mark 70th anniversary of senior hockey in Bonnyville

Brinson Pasichnuk highlights group that hopes to improve from recent seasons.

As the Bonnyville Sr. Pontiacs prepare for their home opener on Sunday, this season marks an important history for the Sr. Pontiacs franchise.

The first game of senior hockey played in Bonnyville dates December 16, 1952, and the Sr. Pontiacs will commemorate that anniversary with a game vs the Devon Barons on December 16, while also hosting an alumni get-together at the RJ Lalonde afterward.

While not active for all 70 of those years, the Pontiacs were so named because the local Pontiac dealership agreed to buy them a new set of sweaters, which sprung the idea to change the name from the Bruins.

Throughout the late 50s and stretches in late 70s and early 80s, the Sr. Pontiacs were one of the strongest teams in the province.

“We’re going to be able to represent the franchise and will have the 70th version or edition of Senior Pontiacs for that game on a Friday night, right before Christmas,” coach Corey Wandler told Lakeland Connect. 

The roster looks to build upon some of the successes last season, including making a big name acquisition.

Brinson Pasichnuk, who most recently played parts of two seasons with the San Jose Barracuda of the American Hockey League, and four games with the NHL’s San Jose Sharks, has returned home and will be a major piece of the team’s back-end.

Along with returning faces in captain Lucas Isley and offensive threat Denis Cadrin, the Sr. Pontiacs are building.

“He’s been skating with us the last couple of practices, and we are going to see him play for the Sr. Pontiacs this season. So obviously, that is a huge addition, it’s gonna revive our program and definitely help us out and hopefully, he’s gonna bring some wins to the team this season,” said Wandler. 

“We’ve really built a team around them two guys [Isley, Cadrin]…We’re gonna have another young kid Thomas Rosenberger play defense for us who’s coming out of the Wetaskiwin Icemen program in the Capital Junior Hockey League.” 

Junior B players who’ve aged out are also filling some vital roles. Dawson Boucher returns after being the teams’ top rookie. Colton and Tristan Buchta, Marc Ouelette, Devon McCormack, Janson Pashniak, Scott Thackeray, Justin Bill, Brayden Goulet, Brayden Burak, and Ryan Piche — who all played Junior B or Junior A hockey in the area — are expected to round out the Sr. Pontiacs lineup.

The NCHL season is already underway, but Bonnyville’s season will begin Sunday afternoon at 2:30pm vs the Red Deer Rustlers.

“There’s been a lot of energy. Everyone’s pretty eager to get going. It’s an extremely tough league. There’s a lot of ex-professional players in the league. I know Red Deer added a couple, Camrose added a couple of guys, so from what I’ve heard, they’re even better than they ever were. And they’re already tough to begin with. There’s going to be no easy game for us.”