Where will they finish, how will they fair?
The opportunity to clinch 2nd in the AJHL is at stake this weekend for the Bonnyville Jr. A Pontiacs.
With tonight’s game against the Whitecourt Wolverines and Saturday’s tilt vs the Drayton Valley Thunder, the Pontiacs are in the 2-seed right now, but are tied with the Lloyd Bobcats at the moment, who play the same opponents.
The Wolverines don’t have anything to play for – they have locked up home ice advantage by clinching 1st overall.
Pauses down the stretch have been significant for the Pontiacs, who have suited up for the past nine days. That was a 2-1 overtime loss to the Camrose Kodiaks on Feb. 21, a game where the same old mistakes got the better of the Pontiacs.
Regardless, after this weekend, the Pontiacs will have two weeks between games, as the AJHL’s play-in will feature a best-of-five series between the bottom six in the league.
Playoff implications AJHL
The Calgary Canucks have two games against the cellar-dwelling Olds Grizzlys and are one point back for 4th at the moment.
Durmheller, who lost both games to the Grande Prairie Storm last weekend, will finish 5th, and wait to see who’ll fall to 4th to confirm their 1st-round playoff matchup.
Meanwhile from 6-8, the races are compelling.
Canmore, Grande Prairie, and Camrose all have 51 points. The Storm, however, have two games, each at home to Fort McMurray.
Canmore and Camrose conclude their regular seasons by going head-to-head on Saturday night.
The 6-seed will play the 11-seed, the 7-seed versus the 10-seed, and 8-seed plays the 9-seed.
Awards
With the announcements on Wednesday, the Pontiacs are well represented among AJHL award finalists.
But perhaps the most compelling race is for the top point scorer. It’s a three horse race: Pontiacs’ Luka Sukovic, Bobcats’ Caden Cabana, and Wolverines’ Colby Browne all have 65 heading to the final weekend, and each with two games to play.
Barring some major goal scoring, Sukovic’s 34 goals should stand up as the most, as the next closest, Ben Aucoin, has 29.
Previous Pontiac major award winners:
MVP
- 93-94 Harry York
- 05-06 Mark Letestu
- 15-16 Bobby McMann
Top Scorer
- 96-97 Kirk Lamb
- 05-06 Mark Letestu
Top Goaltender
- 10-11 Julien Laplante
Outstanding Defenceman
- 09-10 Matt Register
- 11-12 Mark Leask
- 15-16 Brinson Pasichnuk
Top rookie
- 05-06 Justin Fontaine
- 22-23 Nico Beaudoin
Most Dedicated
- 10-11 Kevin Carthy
- 16-17 Ryan Symington
- 22-23 Trey Funk
Coach of the Year
- 10-11 Chad Mercier
- 15-16 Rick Swan
Anti-Bullying Night
Canadian Natural is sponsoring Anti-Bullying Night at the Pontiacs game on Friday.
The local U15-2 Pontiacs also have a major initiative during the game at the C2.
They are attending a “Stick it to Cancer” Tournament and their goal is to raise as much money for the Kids Cancer Care program, which helps families in Alberta fighting childhood cancer.
They will be having a head-shaving and lap-a-thon event.
The head-shaving will be in the C2 hub during the 1st intermission. Those players not shaving their heads will have vibrant coloured hair in support of the cause. Immediately following the head shaving the boys will be going up to the running track to run as many laps as they can for the cause. The boys have been collecting donations for the last month and will be accepting donations the night of in the hub for shaving their heads and running laps.
