Donald Teuma-Castelletti
FORT COULONGE
Dec. 9, 2018
Just as the warm-up got underway during Saturday night’s Pontiac Senior Comets’ game, a hush went over the crowd.
It wasn’t an on-ice catastrophe that caused the silence, but a power outage as the Fort Coulonge Arena went dark and the game lay in limbo.
Both the Comets and their opponents that evening, the Mont Laurier Montagnards, agreed that if the lights weren’t on at 8:30 p.m., the game would be called off. That deadline rolled around, and the players had accepted the evening’s fate as they packed their gear and hit the road.
As the Montagnards’ bus made its way out of town, street lights began to flicker on and Pontiac Senior Comets owner Danick Boisvert got on the phone.

“It was quite stressful … From 9 to 9:15, I made about 50 phone calls,” said Boisvert. “I recalled the Mont Laurier guys so they could turn their bus around … I called the refs to get them back, my announcer, all my fans were gone, my timekeeper guy was gone and the lady at the door. I had to bring everybody back and then I had to call my players.”
Soon, everyone poured back in, as fans returned to the sidelines, and the locker rooms filled up once again.
The delay proved no hindrance to either team, as they both returned ready to give it their all.
The Comets’ Mitchell Gibson wasted no time, scoring the home team’s first goal less than five minutes into the first period. Though Mont Laurier would manage to sneak one past the Comets’ goalie Justin Bois in short order, Gibson returned the favour, ending the first with the local boys leading 2-1.
The second period saw both teams on the defensive, as the Montagnards managed to tie the game up early. The final period, however, saw the action ramp up again as Gibson buried his third and final goal of the evening, earning first star honours for the game.
“We capitalized on our chances,” said Boisvert. “In two games against Mont Laurier we couldn’t score, but in the last game our highlight was Mitchell Gibson, who [scored] three goals for us.”
The Comets’ Maxime Belley notched their final tally for the evening, but Mont Laurier did manage to keep the home team on their toes, scoring once more in the third.
“We missed a couple of good chances there, too, but for us, the puck was bouncing for us,” said Boisvert.
Up next, the Comets will meet the Maniwaki Forestiers in Fort Coulonge on Sunday for a match at 5:30 p.m.