For Flin Flon, it was a wonderful day for an exorcism. The Bombers avenged their loss in the finals last season, beating the Stars, sweeping the series and heading back to their third-straight SJHL final.
The Bombers took down the Battlefords North Stars 5-1 on the road to clinch a spot in the league championship series, reaching it for the fifth time in the last seven times it's been held.
It took the Bombers exactly 33 seconds to get on the board in Game 4. Jackson Allan bobbled a clearing attempt in the Stars' zone and Jacob Vockler picked up the puck, who fed Koen Senft. Senft stepped in and fired it top corner on Logan Cunningham. The first shot of the game was a Bomber goal.
The Bombers' momentum did not stick around for the rest of the first, with the team falling into penalty trouble and the Stars tying the game, with Hunter Burgeson potting his second goal of the series.
The powerplay gives and the powerplay takes though - and while it gave to the Stars, it would give right back to the Bombers again later in the frame. With Alex Izyk in the Battlefords' box after cross-checking Riley Niven, the Bombers' powerplay hummed with speed and quick passes, culminating with a wide open net for Justin Lies, who tapped the puck in past Cunningham and restored Flin Flon's lead.
The North Battleford crowd thought briefly that the Stars had tied the game back up with six minutes left in the period, when a puck took a strange bounce in the Bomber zone and went up, over and behind Harmon Laser-Hume, but the goalie somehow kept the puck out, kicking it out of harm's way with his left foot - Stars players celebrated, but officials waved it off and play continued. With the Bombers down a man on another penalty, Laser-Hume robbed Kian Bell twice and added a big save on Tanner Gold, keeping Flin Flon ahead.
Heading into the second period, the Bombers kept pushing. The Stars got a bolt of bad luck when veteran forward Bradley Blake went down with an injury and needed assistance making it to the team's dressing room - Blake, a 2003-born player, would be playing in his final junior A game if the Stars lost Tuesday. He shook off the pain and returned later in the period.
The Bombers' pressure paid off in the back half of the period, forcing a turnover and having Matt Egan rip one on Cunningham that snuck through the goalie's five-hole and into the net. The Bombers had a 3-1 lead and a death grip on the game with just under a half hour left.
Battlefords battled back later in the frame during a four-on-four stretch, jumping on a misplayed puck by Luke Lepper and almost getting a big goal on Laser-Hume, but the SJHL's goalie of the year showed how he earned that title by stopping the Stars point blank. The Stars would gain an edge in shots, putting almost everything they had at the Bomber net, but Laser-Hume stood tall heading into the third - 3-1, Flin Flon, after 40.
Flin Flon's defence held true through the first half of the third period, while the Stars sought to turn the screws as the game - and potentially, Battlefords' season - wound down. It was the Bombers who would capitalize though, with Lies knocking the puck over to Anthony Piccininno, firing it past Cunningham and into a yawning cage. Cunningham argued he'd been interfered with, but the officials did not agree.
With just over four minutes to go, the Stars pulled Cunningham from the goal. That did not pay off in the end, as Adam McNutt sunk an empty netter from way downtown to make it 5-1, giving a Jagr-esque salute to the Bomber fans who made the trip following the goal.
Three and a half minutes away from the end of their season, the Stars kept up the pressure, returning Cunningham to the net for the final stretch. Evan Waldie ended his junior career with a 10-minute misconduct after falling into Laser-Hume, but otherwise there was no funny business. For fans in maroon and white, the party had started - for fans in Stars black and silver, it was the end of the road.
Laser-Hume earned his eighth consecutive win this playoffs, making 35 saves on the night. Cunningham stopped 32 shots during the game.
The loss will spell the end of eight 2003-born Stars' junior A careers - Kian Bell, Bradley Blake, Hunter Burgeson, Riley Girod (who missed the series with an injury), Tanner Gold, Alex Izyk, Josh Medernach and Evan Waldie.
The Bombers have entered uncharted territory, heading into the finals with a perfect 8-0 record. Over the team's entire near-century-long history, the Bombers have never swept two teams in a row in the playoffs - until now. Flin Flon outscored the Stars 20-8 over the semifinal series - only three Stars players, Bell, Burgeson and Portner, managed to beat Harmon Laser-Hume.
Who the Bombers will face in the SJHL finals is unknown. The winner of the second semifinal series between Melfort and Humboldt is unknown, with the two teams playing Game 3 Tuesday and Humboldt getting a hard-earned 3-2 win in triple overtime. Melfort leads the series 2-1. Both teams will play Game 4 Wednesday night, then a Game 5 Saturday in Melfort. Game 6, if needed, would be played in Humboldt Sunday.
The Bombers have not won an SJHL championship since 1993, despite reaching the league finals four times in recent years. This season will be the Bombers' first berth in the series as the league's top seed, guaranteeing home-ice at crucial moments of the series.
The Bombers finished their season series with both teams tied, winning three and losing three against both squads. No matter who wins the Melfort/Humboldt series, the Bombers will have home-ice advantage, which will help Flin Flon's odds - in six games at the Whitney Forum against the Broncos and Mustangs this season, the Bombers won five and lost a sixth in overtime.
The league will announce dates for the league final series at a later date.
