In the final hours before the trade deadline, the Lloydminster Bobcats and Bonnyville Pontiacs dealt each other defeats in a spirited weekend of AJHL action on and off the ice.
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In dramatic fashion, the Pontiacs scored with 11.1 seconds left in regulation time and went on to win 3-2 in a shootout Saturday at the Hub in Lloydminster.
The night before in Bonnyville, the Bobcats set the tone and prevailed 5-1 in the first of three straight games between the rivals within a six-day span. The third contest was scheduled for Wednesday (Jan. 14) in Lloyd, after this issue of the Source went to press.
Fresh faces dotted both lineups as the North Division teams engaged in playoff-style hockey, at least during Saturday’s hard-fought game.
Pontiacs sniper Christophe Lussier scored the lone goal of the three-round shootout and rookie hotshot Gavin Harrison, a 16-year-old forward from Cold Lake, netted both of Bonnyville’s regulation tallies. With 13 goals and 30 points after 31 games, Harrison led all AJHL freshmen.
The Bobcats gained a 2-0 lead in the second period on goals from newcomers Alex Levasseur and Landen Ward, with a power-play marker. Levasseur came from the QMJHL’s Gatineau Olympiques, while Ward is a former WHL forward from Lloydminster who most recently had been playing in the BCHL. The six-foot-three, 215-pound Ward is an imposing presence in front of the net, as evidenced on his first AJHL goal.
In his Bonnyville debut, 20-year-old goaltender Ben Laurette made 30 saves, while fellow overager Ty Matonovich recorded 23 stops in the Lloyd net. The Pontiacs acquired Laurette’s rights last week in a trade with the SJHL’s Melville Millionaires. He had been playing in the BCHL with the Chilliwack Chiefs. Just in time for Friday’s game, Bonnyville also welcomed forward Lucas Knorr and defenceman Brynn MacLean in a trade with the Devon Xtreme.
Lloydminster showcased four new players added last week in forwards Levasseur and Ward and defencemen Ryder Ellis and Oakley McIlwain. All bring size and experience to the Bobcats’ lineup.
It was that kind of a trade period for each of the contending teams in the AJHL, especially in the ever-tight North Division.
Still six points out of a playoff position, after weekend play, the fifth-place Pontiacs (17-14-2) did their part to stay in the race as they came from behind to defeat No. 4 Lloyd (19-10-4).
“Our margin of error is very small,” said Bonnyville coach Chad Mercier. “We know it. We understand it. Obviously, we’d like to be where those other teams are, ahead in the standings and in a playoff spot, but by the same token, we are where we are. We’ve got to be in a bit of a playoff-type mentality early (in games), and if we can do that and sustain it, then it gives us a chance.
“And then, that allows us to have that mentality all the way through.”
That staying power Saturday enabled the Pontiacs to hang around longer than they did on home ice Friday.
“Overall, I’d say the game was harder fought, probably because we brought more energy tonight,” Mercier said after Saturday’s game. “We didn’t put up as much of a fight (Friday). You’ve got to give (the Bobcats) credit, coming into our rink and they gave it to us pretty good at 5-1.
“Tonight, I thought the response certainly tightened up the game and the action. And for us to be able to find a way, obviously we’ll take the two points and get out of here.”
The Bobcats vowed to be sharper Wednesday and not let an imminent victory slip away again.
“It’s good to get a point out of it tonight — it would have been nice to win the game — but we’ll get ’em on Wednesday,” Lloyd veteran forward Gus El-Tahhan said as the Bobcats gathered for a post-game workout.
“It’s obviously a playoff tempo. We’re playing (the Pontiacs) three times in a row. This time of the season, every game matters. We’re just going to try to get as many points as we can throughout this three-game segment against them.
“You look at our division, we’re all a couple of points behind each other. It’s crazy how even all the teams are. Anyone can win in our division. I mean, in the whole league.”
Going into Wednesday’s game, Lloyd sat seven points behind the first-place Whitecourt Wolverines (24-9-1), but just two back of the second-place Fort McMurray Oil Barons (19-12-6) and within one point of the Grande Prairie Storm (21-13-1). On home ice Sunday afternoon, Grande Prairie defeated Fort Mac for the third time in four days to make serious gains in the North.
After playing five consecutive games against North opponents, the Bobcats welcome the South Division’s Camrose Kodiaks (18-13-2) to the Hub this Friday. It marks defenceman Lucas Magowan’s first game in Lloyd since the Bobcats traded him to the Kodiaks in November.
The same teams meet Saturday in Camrose, before the Bobcats and Olds Grizzlys (10-23-3) tangle in Red Deer on Monday (Jan. 19) as part of the AJHL’s three-day showcase.
Seemingly, all teams are showing off new talent since movement was brisk during the trade period, which ended Saturday.
In the Bobcats’ case, they’ve loaded up for a playoff run, notably adding stature with the likes of the six-foot-six Ellis, the six-foot-four McIlwain, the physical Ward and the skilled Levasseur.
“Yeah, it’s good we’ve added a lot of big bodies, which is going to help us for a playoff run, to wear teams down,” El-Tahhan concurred. “They’re big bodies that are going to get pucks in deep for us and create O-zone time and wear the defence down.
“Some of them are local, too, so it makes the team chemistry a little bit better. But, yeah, it’s been great so far.”
McIlwain, 20, and Ward, 19, have Lloydminster roots, and they’re most familiar with local Bobcats’ veterans Kade Fendelet and Jaxan Hopko. Ellis, 19, is from nearby Meadow Lake, Sask., so he isn’t necessarily a stranger.
The Bobcats were already among the top teams in the AJHL, so their latest additions have only earned them more respect from opponents like the Pontiacs.
“They were a hard team to play against before and they’ve just become harder to play against, with their size and their experience,” Mercier said about the Bobcats. “They’re a very well-coached hockey team. They work extremely hard. They’re physical and very structured.
“So, you’ve got to be ready when you play them. And with their additions, obviously that does nothing but strengthen them. But ultimately, we’re focused on ourselves and what we need to do in our game. We were obviously a lot happier with our response tonight.”
Knorr, 18, and MacLean, 20, were added to the Pontiacs’ roster from Devon last Friday in the latest sign that Bonnyville management wants to make its own playoff push. Mercier said it’s a vote of confidence from Pontiacs general manager Chad Nelson and vice-president Neil Langridge.
“For them to make the moves that they did, to bring in Knorr and MacLean, two guys that are going to help our team tremendously, to do that when we’re sitting out of a playoff spot, shows their confidence in the group. Now, us as coaches and players, we’ve got to do our job.”
The Bobcats did the job Friday in Bonnyville, as incumbent players took care of all the Lloyd offence.
Rookie forward Tucker Robertson, with 22 points after 27 games, scored the opening goal and set up two others in the Bobcats’ victory. Fendelet’s short-handed goal early in the second period proved to be the winner.
Dylan Deets, Jadon Iyogun and Ethan Elefante also scored for Lloyd, while Kael Screpnek contributed a pair of assists. It’s always a special game for Deets when the Cold Lake defenceman goes up against familiar local faces skating with Bonnyville. One of those is his former minor hockey teammate Harrison, whose power-play goal accounted for the Pontiacs’ production Friday.
Lloyd’s Matonovich, who was sporting an AJHL-best 2.20 goals-against average, stopped 27 of 28 shots to post his third win in four games. Nathan Salisbury, with 26 saves, tended goal for Bonnyville.
Lloydminster and Bonnyville clash one more time in the regular season when the Bobcats visit the Pontiacs on Friday, March 13, on the final weekend of the 2025-26 schedule.
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