BONNYVILLE – “Seventy years ago today, the Pontiacs played their first game on Dec. 16, 1952, against the St. Paul Hornets. The game ended up being an 11-5 loss to St. Paul, but who would have figured that game would still be remembered 70 years into the future?,” Denis Germain said to spectators at the RJ Lalonde Arena on Friday evening.
The Senior Pontiacs’ 70th anniversary game held on Dec. 16, marked decades worth of milestones achieved by generations of Bonnyville hockey players – including a 6-2 Pontiac victory over the Devon Oil Barons earned that evening.
Germain, who emceed Friday’s pre-game ceremony, first volunteered with the Pontiacs team as a stick boy and eventually went on to be the team’s assistant manager in the early 1980s. He has filled nearly every position at one time or another and is now the executive director for the Bonnyville Pontiacs Senior men’s ‘AA’ North Central Hockey League (NCHL) team.
Before calling up the evening’s first honourary guest - the Town of Bonnyville’s Mayor Elisa Brosseau - Germain highlighted her family’s connection to Bonnyville hockey.
“Mayor Brosseau’s family is well known to the Pontiacs’ fans through the years as her great-grandfather (Leon Paul Bougie), her grandfather-in-law (Wilfred Brosseau), several great uncle-in-laws, her father, two uncles, a brother and two cousins wore the Pontiacs jersey,” he listed.
Speaking to the evening’s “momentous and historical occasion,” Brosseau said, “It is an honour to be here celebrating 70 years of the Senior Pontiacs franchise... It is this great connection to our history and to the foundation of our community that makes this franchise so special. A franchise that continues to the tradition of bringing the love of hockey to the Town of Bonnyville.”
The MD of Bonnyville’s Reeve Barry Kalinski’s speech included hockey tales shared by his uncle John Kalinski who played as a Bonnyville Bruin.
“Barry has three sons that recently played for the Pontiacs, and he has always been generous in supporting this organization,” noted Germain.
Other dignitaries speaking at the 70th anniversary celebration included area MLA David Hanson and Trish Rizko from the NCHL organization.
Following a five-minute video commemorating the history of the Bonnyville Pontiacs, Laurier Sylvestre and Cliff ‘Getaway’ Galloway had the honour of dropping the game’s ceremonial puck.
The Pontiac known as ‘Getaway’ Galloway played for the Pontiacs from 1960 to 1967.
“He was a fan favourite throughout his time as a Pontiac and we are very happy he was able to be with us,” said Germain. Galloway travelled from Shellbrook, Sask. to attend the anniversary game – and to watch his grandson, also named Cliff Galloway, take on the Barons.
Sylvestre is one of the original Pontiacs’ team members and played for several seasons, starting while he was still in high school.
“He is a member of a family that has been legendary in Pontiacs history since day one. His father was president of the Pontiacs in the late 1950s - and along with several brothers and nephews, his son Marcel also played for the Pontiacs,” recounted Germain.
Sylvestre’s brother-in-law Walter Lochansky, a partner in Central Motors, also donated the first set of Pontiac jerseys worn in 1952.
Germain added that the Pontiacs community was saddened to hear the news that Mr. Lochansky passed away in November of this year at the age of 91.
In the early days
Between periods of the Pontiacs anniversary game, Sylvestre told Lakeland This Week, while it might not be his most cherished memory, one thing he will never forget is the time the Pontiacs team travelled to Meadow Lake and weren’t able to return home for a week.
“We left on Easter weekend for Meadow Lake and we got caught in a snowstorm and it took us one week to get home,” he said. “Just to get home we had to go through the Battlefords to Lloydminster to Edmonton and back to Bonnyville.”
The snowstorm was so severe and lasted long enough that the hotel parlour ran out of beer and stores were beginning to run out of products, recalled the left-winger, with a smile.
“Talk about memories, that’s a different one,” he said, noting that he thinks he missed his high school’s Easter exams because of the spring storm.
Sylvestre attended the anniversary game with his son Marcel and his family.
The Senior Pontiacs sit in sixth place in the NCHL standings. The Pontiacs’ next home game is against the Lacombe Generals on Jan. 14 at the RJ Lalonde Arena. Puck drop is 7:30 p.m.
