Yaks special teams a focus in upcoming weekend slate

The start of the new year has been rocky for the Bonnyville Pontiacs, just as they enter the last part of their difficult schedule. 

The Yaks dropped 4-2 and 5-0 losses to the Canmore Eagles and Brooks Bandits, respectively, last weekend while their head coach, Travis Baker, and Jack Budd watched from the sidelines serving suspensions. 

And now, Nicolas Beaudoin is added to that list after a gross misconduct penalty awarded Friday night, where one of the league’s leading scorers was held out against Brooks and could be out for more games, depending on Hockey Alberta’s ruling.   

The effort against Brooks was there early in the game, blocking several shots and whiffing on two open nets to trail 1-0 after the first. 

The wheels fell off in the 2nd period, where the Bandits capitalized after a failed Yaks powerplay, scored a cushion goal, and added two more to take a sizable lead into the intermission. 

Bonnyville played solid in the 3rd period but ultimately could not replicate the performance that saw them win in Brooks in December. 

“I think there were a lot of reasons for us to just quit right from the start. And this one, I thought we started pretty well,” said assistant coach Connor Cadaret in the post-game. 

“I think we honestly generated more in the first period than they did. And in the third period, we didn’t quit; we kept going and finally generated some sustained pressure in their end and almost scored a couple of other times. 

“The power play again just cost us momentum. It’s something we’ll need to work on but for the majority of the game, I mean, there wasn’t much quit.”  

The path in the next five games is critical for the Pontiacs. 

They play the North leading Spruce Grove Saints three times and the Sherwood Park Crusaders, who trail them five points in the standings for third, twice. 

Jack Budd will be able to return to the lineup after serving a two game ban, but coach Mario Pouliot will still be unavailable until Sunday. 

Bonnyville travels to Spruce Grove on Friday night, where they have won both games this season. 

On Sunday afternoon, the Sherwood Park Crusaders come to town for a 2:00 pm matinee. 

You can listen to every game, all season, on lakelandconnect.thedev.ca/pontiacs.