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‘Exciting’ Dondre Watson a goal-scoring machine for Flin Flon Bombers

Flin Flon Bombers newcomer Dondre Watson has wasted no time adjusting to the SJHL. Heading into Tuesday’s games, the forward led the league in goals and was seventh in points with nine points, all goals, in his first eight games.

Flin Flon Bombers newcomer Dondre Watson has wasted no time adjusting to the SJHL.

Heading into Tuesday’s games, the forward led the league in goals and was seventh in points with nine points, all goals, in his first eight games.

“I think buying into what the coaching staff wants from me,” says Watson, 20, when asked to explain his strong start. “It also helps playing with guys who can get you the puck like [linemates Rylee] Zimmer and [Greyson] Reitmeier. As a team we are all on the same page for how early it is in the season.”

Watson kicked his SJHL career off by scoring the winning goal in overtime in the Bombers’ season opener. He also recorded a hat trick, including the OT winner, in a victory over Yorkton last week at the SJHL Showcase.

“He is one of the most exciting players we have had in Flin Flon,” says Bombers head coach and general manager Mike Reagan. “He skates extremely well. He scores a lot of goals on the rush. … He has great hands and a nose for the net.”

Watson has also fit in off the ice. Reagan describes him as a personable young man.

Watson, Zimmer and Reitmeier have quickly developed into a formidable line. Heading into Tuesday, Zimmer was tied for the league lead in assists with eight, while Reitmeier had six points.

“I think our chemistry as a line has been great right from the start,” Reitmeier said. “We seem to find each other out there pretty easily. Our styles of play complement each other well, too. We all have speed, which can make us dangerous off the rush as well.”

The 6-foot, 170-pound Watson came to Flin Flon already knowing defenceman Joseph Leonidas, who is also from Calgary. The two skated together the past couple of summers and competed against each other as 15-year-olds.

Leonidas said Watson has always been a goal scorer and fast skater, but added he has taken off in the last two years.

Watson split his rookie season between the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s Grande Prairie Storm and the Calgary Mustangs, and the Columbia Valley Rockies of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League.

Last season he had 27 goals in 56 games for the Mustangs, Whitecourt Wolverines and Spruce Grove Saints. In 96 junior A games since the start of his 18-year-old season, Watson has lit the lamp 47 times, according to Eliteprospects.com.

Each new team Watson has played on has meant different coaching. Asked about playing for many different coaches, Watson said, “I do believe it has helped me turn into the player I am today and made me a better individual person.”

When Watson learned he had been traded to Flin Flon earlier this year, he was a bit shocked and didn’t know what to think.

After speaking with Reagan, Watson said it sounded like “a great town for me to finish my junior career out, being part of a special community and hopefully a championship.”

Watson has definitely enjoyed the fans in Flin Flon.

“It is something special to be invited into a community and have the support that the fans of the Bombers have given, whether it’s coming to cheer on the team on game nights or just saying hi and talking hockey if they see you out for lunch,” says Watson, who is hoping to earn an NCAA Division I hockey scholarship.

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