Pontiacs add offence, split Border City weekend with Lloydminster

If you’re looking for a textbook example of why the Bonnyville Pontiacs got ahead of the AJHL trade deadline — this weekend pretty much spelled it out in rink lettering.

Before dropping the puck on a critical stretch against the Lloydminster Bobcats, Bonnyville made a deal with the Devon Xtreme, bringing in forward Lucas Knorr and defenceman Brynn MacLean, while sending Grayson Niehaus and Cash Ganske the other way.

“We felt we needed to add a little more skill to our lineup,” head coach Chad Mercier said. “We’ve been in a lot of one-goal games, and we’ve got to find a way to get that extra one — or defend that extra one.”

The weekend didn’t deliver perfection. But it did deliver points—and proved the Pontiacs are fully leaning into a playoff mindset.

WATCH: Husband Chad interviews Head Coach Chad Mercier ahead of the weekend’s action versus Lloyd

 

Friday: A familiar problem in a tight building

Lloydminster 5, Bonnyville 1
Friday, January 9 — R.J. Lalonde Arena

The opener at home looked and felt like too many nights this season for Bonnyville.

Lloydminster struck once in the first period and then capitalized in the second, turning momentum swings into goals. The Pontiacs generated chances but couldn’t string enough together to flip the game.

Bonnyville’s lone goal came on the power play when Gavin Harrison buried his 11th of the season, finishing a setup from Christophe Lussier and Ben Costantino.

“We’ve lost too many games by a goal,” Mercier said earlier in the week. “That’s not a coincidence. That’s execution — and that’s what we’re trying to address.”

Nathan Salisbury made 26 saves in the loss, while Bonnyville went 1-for-5 with the man advantage.

It wasn’t the start the Pontiacs wanted — but Mercier wasn’t looking at it as a derailment.

“Our margin for error isn’t big,” he said. “But we don’t view that as a bad thing. We view that as a really good thing.”

Saturday: Urgency turns into points

Bonnyville 3, Lloydminster 2 (SO)
Saturday, January 10 — Cenovus Energy Hub

Saturday night in Lloydminster had a different feel — tighter, heavier, and more desperate.

After a scoreless first, the Bobcats jumped out to a 2–0 lead in the second period. The Pontiacs didn’t panic. They waited. Then they pushed.

Midway through the third, Gavin Harrison got Bonnyville on the board on the power play, snapping home his 12th of the year off feeds from Maxwell Pendy and Brynn MacLean — the latter picking up an assist in just his second game with the club.

With the clock winding down and the season’s margin getting thinner, Harrison struck again.

With just 11 seconds left in regulation, he buried the tying goal — his 13th — set up by Christophe Lussier and Deegan Kinniburgh, forcing overtime and sucking the air right out of the building.

“That’s the urgency we’ve been talking about,” Mercier said. “That’s playoff-type hockey.”

Overtime solved nothing, sending the game to a shootout — and that’s where Bonnyville’s new look showed up.

Lucas Knorr stepped into the shootout rotation, and Christophe Lussier provided the lone goal, sealing the win. In net, Ben Laurette was calm and composed, stopping 30 of 32 shots in his Pontiacs debut.

“We wanted experience,” Mercier said of the additions. “Having older guys in key spots helps settle things down — especially when games get tight.”

Why this weekend mattered

The split keeps Bonnyville right in the thick of the North Division race and showed exactly what Mercier has been preaching since the break.

“We’ve got to approach this like playoff hockey,” he said. “Our competitiveness, our urgency — that has to be there every night.”

With multiple four-point games still ahead against teams above them in the standings, Mercier isn’t sugar-coating the challenge — but he’s not shying away from it either.

“We control our own destiny,” he said. “But we’ve got to get the work done.”

 

Up next: Right back into it

The Border City rivalry isn’t finished.

The Pontiacs are back in Lloydminster tomorrow night, closing out the three-game stretch against the Bobcats. Fans can listen to the play-by-play on Lakeland Connect with Michael Menzies, or make the trip and see it live.

Either way, the message from the bench is clear: the margin is thin, the stakes are high — and the Pontiacs are officially in playoff mode.