In a newsy couple of weeks for Lloydminster goaltenders, Matthew Kondro settled in between the pipes, winning four of his first five games with the junior A Bobcats.
Kondro became a full-time Bobcat in the first week of October, when the WHL’s Red Deer Rebels officially assigned him to the AJHL team. The previous weekend, the Rebels had loaned Kondro to Lloydminster for the Bobcats’ first road trip this season.
“It’s awesome here,” Kondro said after backstopping the Bobcats to a 2-1 victory over the Devon Xtreme on Oct. 8 in Lloydminster. “I like playing here. We’ve had some good games.”
Kondro and the Bobcats had another one of those games on the road Sunday (Oct. 12) as Lloydminster posted its fourth straight victory, a 7-3 decision over the North Division-leading Whitecourt Wolverines.
Read more: Bobcats edge Xtreme in AJHL play
POLHILL OPENS WITH WIN
Lloyd’s other new netminder, Ben Polhill, made his debut Saturday (Oct. 11) as the Bobcats won 4-3 in Devon. Both he and Kondro joined the Bobcats after playing junior A elsewhere last year.
Kondro has rolled with the punches — or pucks — in making a smooth transition back to junior A after an eventful few weeks shuttling between the WHL and the AJHL twice.
The Bobcats had gained his junior A rights in the August trade that sent 19-year-old forward Wyatt Yule to the Drumheller Dragons. Fittingly enough, Kondro’s first game with Lloyd was played in Drumheller, where he helped the Bobcats win 2-1 in a shootout Sept. 26.
He played with the Dragons last season as a 17-year-old rookie in the AJHL. At the time, the St. Albert native was still eligible for U18 hockey, but he welcomed the greater challenge and development that came with his early foray into junior A.
“Yeah, I felt I was ready to take a step from midget to junior,” said Kondro, who turns 18 this December. “I thought it was awesome. It was a fun year last year in Drum, and the development has been awesome.”
In similar fashion, he believes that he can continue to progress in junior A this season with the Bobcats, playing more frequently than he likely would at the major-junior level with Red Deer, which has stuck with incumbent goalies Chase Wutzke and Peyton Shore.
“Yeah, of course,” said Kondro, about six-foot-one and 175 pounds.
“The AJHL is a great developmental league. You need to play to get better. I’m excited to keep getting better and to keep growing.”
Kondro has been a busy boy since joining the Bobcats, posting a 4-1 record while compiling a 2.56 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage, including his 31-save performance in Sunday’s decisive victory at Whitecourt.
“I like to say I’m an athletic goalie,” said the AJHL’s defensive player of the week.
“I move well. Trap the puck well. Pretty dynamic in the net and can make big saves.”
All of those qualities were evident last Wednesday at the Cenovus Energy Hub as Kondro made 36 saves — including one in the dying seconds — to spark Lloydminster in the first of consecutive one-goal wins over Devon.
The same teams meet at the Hub again this Saturday night (Oct. 18).
XTREME PRAISE
“He’s a really good goalie,” said Xtreme rookie defenceman Darius Hordal, who is familiar with Kondro from Edmonton hockey circles. “Phenomenal. Very good saves by him. He played great tonight.”
Hordal, who assisted on the lone Xtreme goal last week in Lloyd, joined the AJHL team after playing multiple seasons in the CSSHL with the Northern Alberta Xtreme prep program, also based in Devon.
“I think we’re playing good so far,” Hordl, 17, said of the AJHL’s Xtreme (2-4-1). “Not a great record, but we’re playing good. We’re going to have a better season than last year. So, very excited.”
Devon didn’t play like a weary road team. The Xtreme tested Kondro from the outset.
“I know a couple of guys off Devon,” he said. “A couple of them are from St. Albert and the Edmonton area. It’s nice to see those guys and play against them.
“I felt I got into the game well. I had a couple of shots early, and then just kept the momentum going. Stayed focused and kept going.”
Kondro has taken the same mindset into his return to junior A, after earning a taste of major junior. On the opening weekend of the WHL regular season, with Wutzke still with the Minnesota Wild in the NHL pre-season, Kondro blocked 39 shots in Red Deer’s loss to his hometown Edmonton Oil Kings.
“My highlight was probably my first game, in Edmonton,” said Kondro, whose solid Rebels showing came in front of 6,945 fans at Rogers Place. “We lost 4-1, but (I faced) lots of shots and it was tons of fun.”
CHEERS FOR PENGUINS
While he has grown up in the Edmonton area, Kondro’s favourite NHL team hasn’t been the Edmonton Oilers.
“Not really,” he said. “I’m a Pittsburgh Penguins fan, so they won (their season-opener) last night and I was excited for that, but I don’t really cheer for the Oilers.”
Since his childhood, he has leaned toward Pittsburgh and NHL legends Sidney Crosby and Marc-Andre Fleury.
“My grandma and I have always liked the Penguins.”
Now, his whole family has another hockey team to cheer for in the Bobcats.
While in Lloydminster, Kondro is billeting with the Pedersens, an active hockey and baseball family.
“They’ve been awesome,” he said. “It’s a great family and a great place to live.”
Befitting an athletic goalie, Kondro has sampled a few other sports.
“Mostly hockey, but I also play a little bit of golf, and in the summer, two weeks we’re in Kelowna, so I wake-surf a bit,” he said.
PRO COACHING TIPS
His summer hockey training includes work with pro goaltending coach Ian Gordon in Edmonton.
“He’s great,” Kondro said. “He knows his stuff. He’s been awesome for me.”
Kondro has given the Bobcats big saves at critical times, helping push them toward the top of the AJHL standings.
“I’d say Matty has definitely won us a couple of games so far, with him being here,” Lloydminster captain Kade Fendelet said after last week’s win over Devon.
“Ben (Polhill) has just been out at practice this week, but he looks awesome, too. He’s happy to be here. So, definitely another good pickup there.”
Polhill, who went on to win in his Bobcats’ debut Saturday night at Devon, has junior A experience from last season with the Estevan Bruins of the SJHL and the Prince George Spruce Kings of the BCHL.
One of Fendelet’s hockey buddies from Lloydminster, 18-year-old Aiden Foster of the WHL’s Prince George Cougars, recommended the Bobcats and Polhill to each other.
“Ben was up in Prince George last year, too, so Aiden Foster knew him a little bit,” Fendelet said of Polhill. “That’s just a little connection we had going in.
“I think that helps Ben out, too, just having those connections. It definitely makes it easier for him to settle in and what not.”
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