Donald Teuma-Castelletti
SHAWVILLE Jan. 26-28, 2018
The Pontiac Lions played host to Peewee and Atom division teams from Aylmer, West Carleton and beyond as the hockey pros in training contended for top spots across a weekend of fun and games.
The Pontiac Provincial Tournament continued last weekend, with the third annual Atom/Peewee division competition at the Shawville Arena, featuring 14 teams across four divisions.
“We’ve enjoyed and organized 58 games in the last two weekends at our arena,” said Scott Lemay, president of the tournament’s executive committee.
 

Games started on Friday afternoon with an Atom C game, featuring the Cumberland Dukes against the Aylmer Riverains.From the Lions, the Atom C team kicked off the first game for the home teams at 4 p.m., when they played against the Blainville Bastions. The team made sure to put on a good show for their town, winning the game 6 – 1. Goal scorers for this first game included Olivier Maurier, Nicholas Giles, Chase Wittig-Thompson and Dominik Laroche.
Games continued all weekend long, though some accommodations had to be made for a lack of teams in the Atom A division. As a few teams had dropped out, it was decided that some new activities would be included in the mix for Saturday, including a Novice game and an Atom A skills competition.
“We knew for about two weeks ahead of the tournament,” said Lemay, of the teams that couldn’t participate. “We actually had two teams on the eve of the tournament say they wanted to join in, but by then it was too difficult to rearrange the schedule.”
When the other teams had dropped out, organizers gave the Gatineau team two options – they could call off the Atom A division of the tournament or play three games, plus a skills competition. A coach from Gatineau liked the second option and even offered to organize the skills competition, helping offset the load of work for the executives.
The crowd cheered excitedly as the Lions and the Gatineau Draveurs competed in a speed skate, obstacle course and target-oriented activities, as well as additional feats adjusted for the goalies.
By Sunday afternoon after 20 games had been played, parents and coaches cheered (or jeered at refs) and tensions ran high, the kids entered the last of the weekend, with the Lions qualifying for the majority of final games.
Though the Peewee A team did put up a fair fight, their participation in the tournament was cut short, finishing up with a game against the Aylmer Vikings on Sunday morning.
The Atom A division played the first of the final games, up against Gatineau as they had been all weekend long. After losing out to Gatineau on Friday, they made sure to fight back hard on Saturday so that both teams had won a game by the finals. Though the team gave it a good shot, Gatineau overcame them in that last game at noon on Sunday.
The Atom C Lions took the ice after that, meeting again with Blainville just as they did in their first game of the weekend. Though they didn’t emerge victorious, head coach Craig McCormick said they had a great weekend and that all the kids played hard.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t get the results we wanted, but I’m proud of all the kids,” said McCormick. “It’s really impressive to see the growth in these kids, it makes us coaches look good.”
Peewee C players made sure to put on a nail-biting game for everyone watching, as the teams scooted back and forth between ends and provided a solid defence to aggressive offences. The Lions took on the Lachute Stars in this one and made sure to bring home the title.
The game’s progression kept the crowd on the edge of their seat as the young players saw a third period start with the scoreboard still without a tally. Soon after that puck drop, Liam Dowe, with an assist from Brodee Campbell, made a change to that and scored the first goal of the game. The crowd erupted with cheers and both teams hit the ice reignited with determination.
Jacey Rivet followed with another goal for the Lions with two-and-a-half minutes left in the game, with an assist from Kolten Mohr. Immediately after this, a Lachute player snuck one past the Lions, adding to the tension.
The Lions doubled down on their defence at this point and made sure to keep the puck in the opposite end as best they could.
Finally, the period ended and the Peewee C team emerged victorious and proud, skating the banner around their home rink.
“As long as they had fun and enjoyed themselves, they’ll have these memories the rest of their lives,” said McCormick, of all the players involved with the tournament.
The executives wanted to thank everyone who helped the tournament through sponsorship or attending for their support, saying that the committee is made up of regular folks who put their free time into organizing both weekends.
As well, Lemay wanted to thank the referees for their dedication to the tournaments, too.
“As much as we organize and put on 58 games of hockey, the refs are on the ice the whole time,” said Lemay.