Saturday’s Allan Cup final is being televised, which means he might be getting some face time during the championship.
Normally, a little time in the spotlight would be a good thing for the second-leading scorer in the Canadian senior hockey championship and a guy about to make his acting debut (we’ll get to that in a second). Not sure about right now, though.
“I’ve got a face like the Elephant Man this morning,” Brad Bonello says.
Seems the weeklong event hasn’t been kind to his mug.
In the tournament’s opening game last Saturday, a high stick caught the Dundas Real McCoys forward in the mouth. Hard.
“It pushed one of my front teeth back,” the 40-year-old forward says. “I pulled it back into place myself.”
As unpleasant as that sounds — made worse by the time he had to spend in the dentist chair getting it fixed two days later — what came next was someone’s idea of a bad joke. Because Wednesday he caught another high stick. On the same tooth.
Once again, it was pushed back. Once again he pulled it back into place. Then after the game, texted his dentist for another appointment. Who responded with some sage advice: Let’s wait until after the tournament is done to fix it again.
So for now he has a wobbly chomper, a painful bite, a bruise on his face that’s changing colour by the hour and a busted lip that’s not in good shape.
“On the inside, it’s torn to shreds,” he says. “It’s like a cheese grater was used inside my mouth.”
But he’s focusing the silver lining as opposed to the gold crown.
His McCoys swept this week’s round robin and advanced directly to the final (Saturday at 3 p.m. at the J.L. Grightmire Arena in Dundas, CHCH TV) to play the winner of Friday night’s semifinal between the Stoney Creek Tigers and the Southern Shore Breakers from Newfoundland. Giving the hosts a chance to win back-to-back titles, something that hasn’t happened in almost 30 years.
“It’s worth it,” Bonello says. “It really is.”
In other words, having his chiclets rearranged is a fair tradeoff for a chance to win a trophy that’s been presented since 1909.
He won it last year with the McCoys. Scored the winning goal. After nearly two decades playing minor pro all over the place, he said that one was the biggest of his life. Which says something about the players’ appreciation not just for coming out on top, but for history.
If he does get the opportunity hoist the cup again, his smile may be a little wonky. But the truth is, looking a little battered actually fits him these days.
In November and December, Bonello commuted for a few days at a time to Sudbury to tape the Crave series “Shoresy.” It’s a “Letterkenny” spinoff about a northern Ontario hockey team. He plays the baddest, meanest, dirtiest player in the league.
(Season 3 will be released at the end of May. But you can get a taste of his work if you check out the trailer on YouTube. He’s No. 98.)
He’s never done anything like this before. But now he’s thinking his new look ties in nicely with his character.
“Gotta play the role,” he chuckles.
A bunch of the guys from “Shoresy” are apparently coming to watch Saturday’s final. No doubt, they’ll approve of his appearance.
What they’ll notice however, is that his battle scars aren’t even the worst on the team.
Just a few minutes after he’d absorbed his first mouthful of carbon fibre on Saturday, a puck whistled into the Dundas bench. As coach and general manager Don Robertson was still counting his blessings that it missed him by a whisker, he turned around to see where it ended up.
“It hit our trainer right in the forehead,” he says.
Hit is an understatement. Smashed is more like it. Longtime athletic therapist Jenn Abbiss ended up with 12 stitches, a pair of black eyes, a swollen face and a mild concussion.
Like Bonello though, she says the chase of the prize is worth the price. After getting sutured up, she returned to the bench to finish the game. Where she received plaudits for her toughness (after already getting the same from her 10-year-old son, Boden) and received more than a few quips about wearing a helmet from now on.
That’s not in the plans.
“But I’m going to get a little more heavy-duty makeup for the game (Saturday) because it’s on TV,” she laughs.
To join the conversation set a first and last name in your user profile.
Sign in or register for free to join the Conversation