
CHRIS LOWREY
FORT COULONGE July 10, 2018
There will only be one team representing the Pontiac when the Outaouais Senior A Hockey League (OSAHL) inaugural season gets underway this fall.
The Shawville Senior Pontiacs will now be based out of Gatineau, assuming the name Central Gatineau Voyageurs.
League organizer Nik St-Laurent said that a lack of interest and volunteers in Shawville meant that having a team this year wasn’t viable, but he didn’t rule out the town having a franchise for next year.
With the loss of one of the two teams in the area, the Fort Coulonge Comets have changed their name to the Pontiac Senior Comets.
Danick Boisvert is the organizer of the Comets. He says that the loss of the Shawville team will be a gain for them.
He said that the team will now have a bigger talent pool of local players to choose from. Instead of two teams drawing players from the region, it will now be just the Comets.
“It’ll make the best team for the Pontiac,” Boisvert said.
He also said that being the only team in the region will help the squad off the ice as well.
“Fewer teams makes it easier to get sponsors,” Boisvert said. “All the businesses in Fort Coulonge are really excited to get on board.”It appears that one local business has already hopped on board.
The team’s dressing room was recently renovated using materials donated by the Cour à Bois Home Hardware in Fort Coulonge.
There is still work to be done – and funds to be raised – in order to get the facilities at the arena up to expectations for a senior league hockey team.
Boisvert said the team is looking for volunteers and businesses to lend a hand in any way they can.
Boisvert has hockey roots in the region. He played for the Shawville Pontiacs junior team from 2011 until the team’s final year in 2014. he and his coucin Joel also organized the longstanding 3v3 tournament in Fort Coulonge.
Ultimately, he’s hopeful that a hockey hotbed like the Pontiac will get behind the one remaining team in the region.
“People in the Pontiac are excited to get hockey back in the community,” Boisvert said.
The team will be hosting a league showcase tentatively scheduled for Sept. 29 in Fort Coulonge where all eight OSAHL teams will hit the ice.












