Roster deadline looms as Pontiacs return home Saturday

Image: Emma Jonker Photography. Dayton Reschny’s skill has been on display in December and to start January. His injury on Saturday puts a damper on what was blossoming into a terrific rookie season. 

The complexion of the Bonnyville Pontiacs can – and likely will – look different by the time they return to action on Saturday at home. 

Following a disappointing road set where they reliquished a two-goal lead to lose in the shootout 5-4 to Olds, then were outclassed by the Calgary Canucks 6-3 on Saturday, the Yaks are six points of the last playoff spot, but remain with five games in hand on the Fort McMurray Oil Barons. 

That coincides with the roster cutoff date on Friday, Jan. 10, where junior hockey teams have to finalize their player cards,. 

With the Yaks still in the hunt, but already geared toward a younger lineup, how does the organization approach the deadline?

More youth? Use some of the vacant 20-year-old slots? A mix of both? 

These decisions are made the more complicated as the rising star in Dayton Reschny, who was buzzing on a seven game point streak — and soon to take the team lead in points — will be out for the long-term with a shoulder injury. 

Unfriendly shootout

The Pontiacs began Friday night shot out of cannon. 

Slade Firkus scored just 2:35 into the game with slick, outside-inside move and shot post and in to go ahead 1-0. 

Rockston Ror-Chow scored his first of two odd-man rush goals to extend the lead. 

But the Olds Grizzlys worked to hang around. 

With a Grizzlys response goal moments later, defenceman Lynden Hanvold scored on the ensuing shift, ending his long goal drought. 

The game sat at 4-2 for Bonnyville from the early 2nd period to the 3rd. But two breakdowns ended up in the back of their net. Ryan Tamelin couldn’t find the crucial saves, while in the opposition net, Ben Dardis rebounded after a shaky start. 

Despite long stretches of  Pontiacs pressure, the game went into overtime, and then the shootout. The Grizzlys are undefeated past regulation and that trend did not change. 

Bonnyville failed to score, and Aiden Knutson, who scored the equalizer, ripped the puck home to give Olds a come from behind victory. 

Assistant coach Chad Carder in the post-game touched on a trend that plagued the club throughout the first half of the season: the timely mistake coming back to bite them. 

“I thought we played pretty well, just a couple mistakes, and they end up in the back of our net every time,” Carder said. 

“It’s a tough one to swallow….we gotta find a way to come out with two points there.” 

Ringing the (Max) Bell

The Calgary Canucks contest was one-sided, and if it weren’t for Cody Butikis, could’ve been a rout. 

The reigning AJHL champs are gearing up for a Centennial Cup run as the host team, and added 20-year-old Junior A veteran Jayden Joly (formerly of the Blackfalds Bulldogs for 200 games), who delighted for 9 points in 4 games since his arrival. 

It was the Canucks first game since the Christmas layoff and their 8-2 dominating win over the Grande Prairie Storm on Dec. 22.

Boy, did they look sharp. 

Dayton Reschny actually made the game 1-0 Yaks early on Bonnyville’s first shot, but the duration of the period, and game, was spent in the Pontiacs zone. 

At the first intermission, they trailed 2-1 and were outshot 18-2. 

Butikis made acrobatic save after desperation stop. But to no avail. He was spinning like a top in the blue paint, as the relentless pressure and puck play by the Canucks was too much. 

Despite it all, the Pontiacs were only trailing by two in the 3rd period, thanks to opportunistic scoring from Christophe Lussier and Kailus Green. 

An empty-netter ended any comeback attempt and solidified the 6-3 win, as the Canucks pounded 50 shots on goal. 

New youth

Deegan Kinniburgh is the latest player to enter the fold in this wild and varied junior hockey world. 

With some junior A players moving up to play major junior, some in the WHL are looking for more ice time and are dropping down. 

That’s what led Kinniburgh to seek a fresh opportunity. 

Buried with limited ice time on a Moose Jaw Warriors team, the vet of 100 WHL games has found a new home this season with the Bonnyville Pontiacs. 

He looked solid in his debut against Olds, setting up the first Ror-Chow goal. 

“Nobody in the dub [WHL] pulled the trigger, mainly because I didn’t have any leverage from the season. Bonnyville jumped on it right away. They called me the first day,” said Kinniburgh before the game on Saturday. 

“I’m just a guy that works hard every night. I have some skill that I’m looking to get back to, but I’m looking to get my confidence back up and my speed. It will come.” 

Kinniburgh is another 2006 born player and is looking for a fresh start.

He’s had a tough season offensively, two points in 26 games, but the skill is there. 

As a member of the Lethbridge Hurricanes U18AAA team in 2022-23, Kinniburgh was second in all Alberta Elite Hockey League scoring with 56 points in 33 games.  

He is added to a roster that right now, has 15 players that are 18-years-old or younger.

Deadline questions

One of the hardest parts of the deadline too, is that the injuries have not stopped. Just as the team gets healthy, they have another two guys who are unable to suit up.

Cole Balkovec has still played just one game for the team. Myles Gauld, the 21-point in 22 game veteran has missed three straight games. Now Reschny’s unavailable.

Kailus Green would surely wet the appetites of teams. He’s a 20-year-old veteran who has 23 points in 27 games.

Lynden Hanvold could be attractive as well, as teams always eye 20-year-old defencemen.

Kyle Kalamaras, as well as Gauld, are the other 20-year-olds on this team. I could see the team moving two of the four vets.

The big reason why is the team trajectory is young. Plus, the youth has been leading the way anyway.

In the last 7-8 games, it’s been the crop of 2006-08 forwards (Reschny, Byrd-Leitner, Firkus, Lussier, Lajoie, and Gourley) who have been scoring consistently.

Jordan Schanbacher (’05) and Alex Coventry (’06) have been the team’s best defenceman pair all season long.

With all the turnover in the off-season, there was a concerted effort to recruit youth to rebuild.

I don’t expect the front office to veer from that now.

Notes:

• Up ahead on the weekend is the Drayton Valley Thunder at home on Saturday, the first game back at the RJ in 2025.
• But a huge spot game looms on Sunday afternoon. The Pontiacs will hop on the bus early the next morning and face the Fort McMurray Oil Barons for a 2:00PM matinee affair.
• The ramifications of the four-point swing are huge, especially since the Thunder are up at Centerfire Place the night before.
• Shootouts are becoming an issue for the Yaks. They are 1-3 in the shootout, but are 2/20 on the season.
• Dayton Reschny has been the only player to score in the shootout as well.
• Slade Firkus has maintained a six game point streak: He has 2 goals and 5 assists in that stretch.
• Special teams took a big step backward on the week.
• The PK, cresting on such a high before the break, went 4/7, and the PP went 0/5.
• Cody Butikis is sure to get the lionshare of starts down the stretch. If the Yaks don’t make a personnel move, expect most games to be his, especially after a season-high 44 save effort on Saturday.
• Where will the top teams look to add? There’s only so much needle-moving talent available in the AJHL. I’m sure general managers are scouring anywhere and everywhere to try and make the final adjustments to their rosters.

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