Sophie Kuijper Dickson, reporter

Funded by the Local Journalism Initiative

Young Pontiac hockey players will soon be
able to get ice time, and a coach, without joining
the minor league.
After a two-year hiatus caused by the covid-19
pandemic, the MRC Pontiac’s recreational
hockey program is back.
“It’s open to anybody that
can put on a pair of skates,”
said Darcy Findlay, who will
be running this year’s program
and also teaches physical
education at Pontiac High
School.
“The initial goal was to
open it up to those who can’t
afford the financial or time
commitment,” Findlay said.
“Some people might not play
minor league hockey because
of the cost alone.”
Findlay said the focus of the program will
be working on individual skill development,
including skating and stickhandling.
Shawville resident Amy Taylor was one of the
first to enroll her six-year-old son in the program.
He’s in his second year of minor league hockey,
and is craving more ice time.
Taylor broke her leg a few years back, and
since then hasn’t been able to skate with her son.
“I physically am not able to teach him myself
and I wanted to give him more exposure,” she
said, adding that the recreational program offers
a completely different learning environment
than the minor league hockey team.
Findlay agrees with this. He himself grew up
playing minor league hockey in Shawville.
He said he still sees great value in the
competitive league option, but that the
recreational program offers a less structured,
more fun atmosphere and an opportunity for
kids to play with others not in their age or
gender category.

‘A born teacher’

An added selling point, for Taylor, was the
coach behind the program.
“As soon as I found out Darcy was running
it, I signed up [my son] right
away,” she said. “He’s a born
teacher with huge hockey
experience. I wanted that for
my son.”
Findlay’s qualifications for
the job are many. His early
hockey days include stints
with the the Canadian Junior
Hockey League and the
Quebec Junior AAA Hockey
League; before receiving
his bachelor of education in
health and physical education
from Bemidji State University
in Minnesota, where he played in the North
American Hockey League.
He has also coached at the professional level,
most recently with the Ontario Hockey League
as an associate in Flint, Michigan in 2018-19 and
was the captain of the Pontiac Senior Cometsin
Fort Coulonge.
The recreational hockey program has always
been organized by MRC Pontiac, but run by an
organization or member of the community.
Les Maisons des jeunes du Pontiac ran the the
last program, which was shut down by covid-19
in the winter of 2020.
This year the program will run from the
beginning of November until the beginning
of February, and will include four sessions in
Shawville and four in Fort-Coulonge.
The cost is $85 for four sessions or $155 for
eight.