Charles Dickson, reporter

Funded by the Local Journalism Initiative

The 2023-2024 high school hockey season was launched almost two weeks ago as Pontiac High School (PHS) hosted teams from Hadley and Philemon Wright in exhibition games at Shawville arena. Teachers Darcy Findlay and Matt Greer are co-organizers of the PHS hockey program, with help from Cody Laurent and Steve Rusenstrom. According to Greer, the hockey program has been running since about 2004, with a short hiatus during the covid pandemic. This year’s lineup features 18 boys and girls on each of the junior and senior teams. Asked whether he calls it co-ed hockey, Findlay replied, “I just call it hockey.” Friday’s games were officiated by volunteer referee Jeff Ireland. The visiting teams, hailing from the Hull sector of Gatineau, both took commanding leads early in the games. Valiant effort on the part of the Pontiac teams closed the gap but, in the end, was not enough to prevail. As Cade Kuehl of the PHS senior team said, “We’re excited about the year ahead and look forward to lots of fun, learning and growing together as a team, and maybe some winning in there too.”