Hockey day in Pontiac!
CHRIS LOWREY
PONTIAC March 30, 2019
The arenas in the Pontiac were full to the rafters on Saturday as the alumni teams for two different organizations took on a collection of local players.
What could be affectionately called Hockey Day in the Pontiac got started in the afternoon at the Fort Coulonge Arena as the Montreal Canadiens Alumni team took on a selection of over-35 players from the area.
The lineup to get in was out the door as the vintage 1976 Zamboni got the ice surface ready.
The event was organized by the Fort Coulonge Carnival Committee with the assistance of the Fort Coulonge Arena committee. The proceeds from the game will go to the arena.
The speed and skill of the Canadiens Alumni team was on full display as they jumped out to an early 4-0 lead. The Fort Coulonge team was able to chip away, but the onslaught continued.
During the first intermission, a novice Fort Coulonge team took to the ice and played an impromptu game of shinny with the stars of yesteryear.
As the game went on, former Canadiens player Jocelyn Lemieux snatched a couple of the youngsters off the ice as they skated by and pulled them onto the Habs bench.
While the game was friendly between the two sides, Lemieux admitted that some opponents can take the chance to play against former NHLers pretty seriously. When that’s the case, the players stamp it out pretty quickly.
“We have to… lay down the law,” he said with a smile.
The Canadiens Alumni team was made up of Gilles Thibodeau, Pierre Dagenais, Stephane Richer, Gilbert Delorme, Richard Sevigny, Frederic St. Denis, Stephane Quintal, Guy Carbonneau, Oleg Petrov, Jocelyn Lemieux and Marc Andre Bergeron.
While it’s unclear if the scoreboard went high enough to record the final score, a good time was had by all.
Just up Hwy. 148 former members of the Ottawa Senators were lacing up their skates to take on an admittedly younger team, the Shawville Flying Elbows.
After a quick introduction and warm up, the two teams kicked off a fast-paced game that saw the locals keep pace with the former pros.
However, by the midway point of the game the Sens Alumni had pulled ahead and came away with the win. The members of the Sens Alumni team were Chris Neil, Rob Murphy, Bryan Richardson, Dan McGillis, Brendan Bell, Brad Smyth, Pascal Leclair, Shawn Rivers, Shaun Van Allen, Larry Skinner, Aaron Robinson and Laurie Boschman.
The Shawville Flying Elbows were made up of Jordan MacDougall, Darcy Findlay, Rocky White, Tim Thompson, Erik Barber, Todd Hearty, Josh Horner, Steve Beck, Danny Hobbs, Dave Hobbs, Matt Hobbs, Jason Campbell, Mike Rusenstrom, Steve Rusenstrom, David Coles and William Armitage.
The game was part of the larger organizing effort of the Flying Elbows hockey tournament, which has taken over the Shawville Arena for the weekend. Proceeds from the tournament go back to the arena.
More than 35 volunteers have been working long hours to make sure that the players – both former pros and beer leaguers – have everything they need.
“We’ve had amazing volunteers that we can always count on at event after event,” said Tara Taylor, one of the tournament’s organizers.
