STEPHEN RICCIO
FORT COULONGE
Oct. 21, 2020
The Pontiac Senior Comets are still waiting to hit the ice while COVID-19 continues to disrupt planning, but that hasn’t deterred them from joining a newer, bigger hockey league, the Eastern Ontario Super Hockey League (EOSHL).
Owner Danick Boisvert said that the main driver of the decision to switch leagues was that two of the four teams in the Comets’ previous league, the
LHSAAQ, have already . . .
opted out of any potential season for 2020-2021.
“We didn’t want to risk losing too much profit,” he said.
Both the Comets and the Maniwaki Forestiers were looking for a new home, and so after reaching out and hoping to be considered as the eighth addition to the then-seven-team EOSHL, the Comets were ultimately chosen because of their proximity to the Ontario teams.
The EOSHL is also not active right now, but all its teams are on the same page about eventually putting some sort of season together.
“We’re willing to push it back so if something happens with COVID like a vaccine or something like that we can push [until] January,” Boisvert said. “We don’t really have a deadline, we can go as small as a 12-game season, something like that. [But] we only have ice until April here in [Fort] Coulonge.”
Boisvert believes that the league change will be a good business move for the Comets going forward.
“We’ll have some good rivalries because we have eight teams. Ticket sales will be a lot better for us, compared to last [when] we only had four teams. You know, the fans got tired of seeing the same teams all the time.”
He added that the Comets have been able to stay in shape by getting ice time in the city wherever they can, but with restrictions tightening, they may now have to find other methods to stay ready.
The EOSHL’s other teams are from Cornwall, Glengarry, North Frontenac, West Carleton, Deseronto, Maxville and Smiths Falls.
