Donald Teuma-Castelletti
FORT COULONGE Feb. 8-11, 2018
Those coming out to check out the annual three on three hockey tournament in Fort Coulonge last weekend were in for a treat with a whole new event included on Saturday afternoon.
The newly renamed Pontiac Cup didn’t decide to reinvent itself with just a name change this year, but added in a whole afternoon of snowmobile drag races across a wide variety of categories, hoping to draw a larger crowd in support of the Draveurs Leisure Centre.
“This was the first year for the races, we wanted to make it the biggest weekend yet,” said Danick Boisvert, the event organizer.
Boisvert has been organizing the tournament for eight years now, which started as a school project for graduation funding and the weekend has only grown bigger each year.

This year, Boisvert said he was expecting close to 1,000 people to come check out the weekend’s events with the inclusion of the snowmobile races and the evening’s entertainment.
Pierre Laporte, who organized the snowmobile races, said that the idea to include the event came when he and Boisvert got talking at a board meeting for the arena.
Taking place right next door to the rec centre, hundreds of people lined the side of the racetrack to watch the sleds duke it out in drag races all afternoon long.
“The track is awesome, they can race on this till midnight tonight,” said Laporte, adding that the Pingouin Club had brought their grooming gear for their trails and took care of maintaining the racetrack.
There were 27 classes competitors could compete in, with over 100 machines entered in the races.
One racer that really impressed, blowing away the competition while competing in a few divisions, was Krystle Vermilyea.
While she often sat at the starting line, shaking her head back and forth as if she were constantly saying ‘no,’ there was absolutely no hesitation every time the light turned green as she practically flew down the track.
“I’m watching my rpm’s and I’m watching the light,” said Vermilyea, of her thoughts as she’s waiting for a race to start.
Racing since she was 13, Vermilyea has been no stranger to the Pontiac, having made the trip from her home in Belleville to the Jim’s Lake competition just a few weeks prior. It was at that race that she made a big splash when one of her machines, the Monster, ripped out from under her, leaving her sprawled on the ground as it drove off.
Uninjured and unperturbed, Vermilyea gets a kick out of the sport for being a standout – not only for being a woman out on the track, but for beating out most of the competition, too.
“I like being the girl in a guy’s world, especially when I’m beating them,” she said.
By the end of the day, Vermilyea would have a few more wins under her belt, winning across seven categories and placing runner-up in one more, too.
Back in the rink, 27 teams competed in three divisions, all fighting to make their way into the finals for a chance at some sweet cash prizes.
With the intimacy of three on three games, fierce rivalries break out quick on the ice with less players to focus on. Games moved quick, with the clock running through most whistles and penalties in order to keep the flow of the day, and the attention of the audience, focused and on-time.
By Sunday, there were only a handful of teams left competing on the ice, as the finals ran till six in the evening. The B division title went to the Perks, winning $350, the A title went to the Canadian Shield, bringing home a sweet $500 and the winners of the open division, Mickey Creek, took home $700 for their efforts.
For those looking to keep the party going into the night, the tournament organized for nightly entertainment.
Starting on Thursday night, beers only cost a toonie at the rec centre, while Friday night saw DJ Kevin D keep the party going. Saturday night was the most exciting, said Boisvert, as Daniel Desnoyers, known professionally as D NOY, was the night’s entertainment. D NOY is a Montreal-born DJ who’s played all over the world with a few hits across the club scene in Canada and Europe.
Boisvert admitted that as much as he organizes the weekend, he always wants to have fun and enjoy the hard work that goes into organizing everything, meaning he sacrifices sleep to keep up with everything.
On Friday night he was busy at the rec centre till the early hours of the next morning, before being back to work at 8 a.m. on Saturday morning.
Despite knowing how to enjoy the fruits of his own labour, Boisvert said that he knew the weekend wouldn’t be successful without the support of his nearly 30 sponsors, both locally and from further away, with his biggest sponsor being Desjardins in town.
Boisvert said that in total, the weekend has brought in $50,000 for the recreation centre across the previous seven years, and that this year’s fundraising would help with the purchase of new equipment and maintenance to the arena.