Sports

Calder cup finals

By Tom Venesky tvenesky@timesleader.com
Sports Reporter
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WILKES-BARRE TWP. – Boris Protsenko stickhandled pucks in the corner of the rink at the Ice Box in Jenkins Township while dozens of other players skated around the ice warming up.

It was 1999, and the newly-formed Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins were getting ready for their first practice. The players on the ice ranged from those who already had a spot on the roster to others trying to break into the American Hockey League.

A group of about 50 fans gathered to catch the first glimpse of the Penguins. Many didn’t know anything about the players on their new hometown team, so it was no surprise that no one cheered or even acknowledged when Dennis Bonvie took the ice.

Little did they know that the player who had fought legendary NHL heavyweights Tony Twist, Bob Probert, Stu Grimson and Tie Domi, among others, was about to embark on a journey that would see Wilkes-Barre embrace the Nova Scotia native as one of their own, and vice-versa.

Fast forward to Saturday’s Game 5 of the Calder Cup Finals, nine years after that first practice, and the Wachovia Arena crowd roared and chanted every time Bonvie took the ice.

Yes, Saturday’s game was the last chance for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton fans to cheer for Bonvie at home, but those same cheers and chants occurred during just about every game he played at home.

Today, Bonvie is in Rosemont, Ill., preparing for Game 6. Fans won’t see him play in the Wilkes-Barre area again. He made that clear after Saturday’s game.

“If they offered it to me, I’d probably think about it,” Bonvie said about coming back before pausing for a moment. “But when the body’s done, it’s done. I’m going to retire.”

Bonvie spent five of his 17 professional hockey seasons in Wilkes-Barre. During his career he played with 17 different teams, mostly in the AHL and NHL.

Bonvie said he made friends at almost every stop, but there was only one place where he and his family became engrained in the community. Only in Wilkes-Barre did Bonvie become more than a tough guy hockey player. He became a leader, role model, friend and neighbor.

What was it about Wilkes-Barre that allowed such a special relationship to develop?

Bonvie reflects on his hometown of Antigonish, Nova Scotia, population 4,236, for an answer.

“I came from a small town that would open the door to anybody and invite them in. I found that here,” he said. “To be able to find a home playing professional hockey, where people support me and think so highly of myself and my family, it’s something real special.”

When Saturday’s game ended, Bonvie found himself in a familiar place – the penalty box. He played a pivotal role in the win, but somehow it was only fitting that the AHL’s career penalty minute leader end his final home game in the box.

Physical play is what enabled Bonvie to succeed for so long. He admits that it would be nice to score 50 goals in a season, but “I do the best with what I have.”

What he has is toughness, heart and the support of an entire city.

But there is something that Bonvie admits frightens him. It’s something that’s inevitable: Life after retirement.

“What am I going to do? I don’t know,” he said. “It scares the living daylights out of me. But I do know it’s time to change. It’s over.”

Who knows where Bonvie will venture after the Calder Cup finals. Will he go back to Nova Scotia? Find a scouting job with another organization? Or will Bonvie stay in the town that embraced him like no other?

That’s a decision Bonvie will have to make in the near future.

“You always think about these days, but you don’t really want them to really come,” he said. “When they do they’re real special. It’s been an awesome ride.”

Up next

CALDER CUP FINALS

Game 6

8 p.m. Tuesday

Allstate Arena, Rosemont, Ill.

Radio: WQFM (92.1 and 100.1 FM)