A new year brings Ben Polhill new hope and one step closer to the net.
Sidelined for the past 10 weeks with a knee injury, the Lloydminster Bobcats’ 19-year-old goaltender from Cochrane, Alta., resumed skating with the AJHL team just last week.
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“It’s been going all right,” Polhill said about his recovery from a Grade 2 MCL sprain.
“It’s tough for a goalie to get that injury. It’s a longer (layoff) than it would be if it was a player.
“It’s been longer than I expected. But I’m back skating, so hopefully I’ll be back (playing) soon.”
Polhill was forced to leave prematurely in the third period of a Nov. 7 game at Bonnyville that saw the Bobcats defeat the Pontiacs 4-1.
“I kind of felt my knee pop out a little bit,” he recalled last weekend. “I knew right away that something wasn’t right, so I got off the ice.
“I went back home for a bit to rehab it and get better.”
Now wearing a knee brace, Polhill was encouraged after he tested his leg on the ice last week in practice.
“Yeah, it felt not bad,” he said Saturday after watching the Pontiacs defeat the Bobcats 3-2 in a shootout, one night after Lloyd won 5-1 at Bonnyville. “I’ve been taking it slow, doing 30 to 45 minutes. Hopefully, I can pick it up this week, so I can be feeling all right for a game.”
Polhill viewed Saturday’s game from the Hub stands along with the Bobcats’ other scratches, including injured defenceman Noah Smith, who was back in Lloydminster for a visit. Otherwise at home in Brooks, Alta., Smith has been recuperating in hopes he can make another comeback soon.
“Noah came up on the weekend to see all the boys,” Polhill said. “It’s good to see him.”
The six-foot-three, 170-pound Polhill was the Bobcats’ No. 1 goalie when he got hurt. Since then, Lloyd has added two 20-year-old netminders in Ty Matonovich and Jaiden Sharma.
Sam Madgett, the man who opened the season as the Bobcats’ starter, recently left Lloyd to join his hometown Halifax Mooseheads of the QMJHL, initially as their backup while one of the regulars recovers from an injury.
Madgett shut the door in relief in the Lloyd win over Bonnyville on the November night when Polhill got hurt.
Polhill credited Madgett, 18, for being a loyal teammate even when he wasn’t dressing for games, with a surplus of goalies in town for an extended stretch.
“Sam did a really good job of coming in cold (to preserve that win over the Pontiacs),” Polhill said.
“He was a great guy, a great teammate to have, an awesome goalie partner. He worked hard, super hard, off the ice and on the ice. So, it’s good to see him move up and see what he can do in the Q.”
While a three-goalie scenario isn’t necessarily ideal for those wanting minutes between the pipes, it can be effective in case of injury and for a team like Lloyd as it positions itself for a potentially long playoff run.
“It’s good to have three goalies,” Polhill said. “It makes you want to work harder in practice and kind of compete. So, it’s good. We’ll have some good compete in practice to kind of earn the starting role.”
Polhill compiled a 4-2 record during his month of action with the Bobcats, posting a 1.85 goals-against average and a .934 save percentage.
His initial days with Lloydminster overlapped the final few weeks of Matthew Kondro’s early-season stint with the Bobcats. Kondro, just 17 at the time, rode a hot start in Lloyd and earned a promotion to the WHL’s Red Deer Rebels.
Last season, Polhill played with the SJHL’s Estevan Bruins and the BCHL’s Prince George Spruce Kings. He returned to Prince George this year but was released early in the season and made his way back home to Alberta.
“Then, I came here,” he said about Lloyd. “It’s been fun since I’ve been here. It’s been good.”
Lloydminster native Aiden Foster, an 18-year-old forward who plays in the WHL with the Prince George Cougars, recommended Polhill to his buddy, Bobcats captain Kade Fendelet, and the rest of the organization.
“Yeah, I had some buddies on the Prince George Cougars, and I hung out with him quite a bit while I was with the Spruce Kings,” Polhill said of Foster. “He’s a good guy.”
High expectations are in store for the Bobcats this season, especially after they beefed up an already strong lineup with four additions last week in advance of Saturday’s trade deadline.
“We got three points this weekend, which is good,” Polhill said. “We’re looking to build on it and have a good week this week.”
Polhill is a graduate of Calgary’s Edge School, a prep program in the Canadian Sport School Hockey League. His teammates at Edge included Prince George Cougars’ star Terik Parascak, a first-round NHL draft choice of the Washington Capitals.
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