The Shawville Pontiacs will be back on the ice this fall, following an Aug. 11 announcement that the Pontiac Senior Comets hockey team has been sold and will relocate from Fort Coulonge to Shawville.

The Comets have been a senior team in Fort Coulonge on and off since 2018, but on Monday the owners announced the team’s sale to a new ownership group, which includes Shawville native Darcy Findlay.

“The reality of hockey has evolved and the demands have made the operation more complex year after year on a geographical level, to the point of jeopardizing the team’s existence,” reads the release from the Comets ownership group.

“Faced with the difficult choice of either ending operations permanently or selling to investors from another region, the owners decided to sell to a Pontiac resident who will continue the senior hockey adventure,” the statement explains.

Findlay, who coached for the Comets last year and will continue as coach and hockey operations manager for the Pontiacs, said when he heard the team was up for sale it was an opportunity he could not pass up.

“If we didn’t purchase the Comets, the Comets would be gone for God knows how long,” he said.

For Shawville hockey fans, the Pontiacs name carries 29 years worth of weight. Shawville’s Jr. B Pontiacs played for nearly three decades before folding in 2015 in a league-wide cut. Since then no high-level team has laced up in Shawville, until last year when the town hosted several Comets home games while the Fort Coulonge arena awaited repairs.

The games drew hundreds of fans every night, numbers that convinced Findlay a permanent move to Shawville could work.

“We had over 300, 400 people per game, so we’re hoping to see those numbers this year,” said former Comets player-owner Danick Boisvert, who will remain a goalie with the Pontiacs franchise.

Findlay’s connection to the team runs deep – his grandfather was once the Pontiacs’ equipment manager – and he remembers the electric playoff nights that filled the barn. He said bringing that atmosphere back to Shawville ice was too good an opportunity to pass up.

“Those are the stories they remember, the crazy nights in the arena and the long playoff runs [ . . . ] that’s what we’re trying to accomplish with the new franchise.”

Even fans from Fort Coulonge showed out in big numbers during last year’s Shawville stint, and Findlay said he’s counting on that again if the team is to succeed.

“I’m really hoping the new team based out of Shawville is going to get the support of those fans, because you need them,” he said.

Boisvert admits it’s tough to hang up the iconic green-and-gold sweaters, but he’s glad the team is staying close to home.

“It hurts a bit. It’s a bit sad to see the team folding, but in another way we’re lucky to have the same senior team [ . . . ] We need a hockey team in the Pontiac,” he said.

Boisvert said there can be certain challenges running a senior hockey team in a small market, including filling the stands and finding sponsors, but is optimistic that the whole Pontiac coming together can make the difference.

Findlay acknowledged the small-market challenges and commended the Coulonge group for its dedication to the team and the community.

“The pride and hard work the Coulonge group has put into this over the years, it’s crazy. Everybody appreciates what they’ve tried to do over the years and what they’ve provided for the town.”

For Findlay, the move was about keeping high-level hockey alive locally, not just for current fans, but for the next generation.

“We’re doing our best to keep it in our community and provide the opportunities for our young kids to possibly play there down the road.”

The team will remain in the same league, although the league’s name has changed to reflect its increased calibre of play, according to Boisvert. “It’s almost like between senior and semi-pro, so it’s really good hockey,” he said of the Northern Premier Hockey League.

In the next few weeks Findlay and the new ownership group will begin ramping up work preparing the team for play this season. The preseason begins in September.

This article previously stated that former Comets player-owner Danick Boisvert would “remain involved” with the new Pontiacs franchise. In fact, the only capacity in which Boisvert will be involved with the team is as its goalie.