It wasn’t supposed to be this way. After assembling all of the pieces for a championship run, the Flin Flon Bombers should have been bracing for the SJHL semi-finals.
Instead, following a dramatic 3-2 overtime loss to the Notre Dame Hounds on Tuesday night, they were left to lament yet another early post-season exit.
“The team feels pretty heartbroken and disappointed,” said coach and GM Mike Reagan. “I feel like we failed to do what we felt we could accomplish as a team. We realize there is a lot of other good teams in this league, but we felt that this was a team built to win an SJHL championship.”
Perhaps not surprisingly, Reagan wasn’t ready to answer the question of how his team can learn from the seven-game quarter-final series.
“I think that as a staff we need to let this one soak in and then analyze where we came up short,” he said. “It’s not something we can just put our finger on right after.”
The tension in the air Tuesday night at Duncan McNeill Arena was so thick that even Flin Flon fans watching the streaming video online some nine hours away could feel it.
Everyone on the ice proceeded with caution, perhaps overly so, with no one wanting to make a single mistake.
Notre Dame struck first on a power play at 11:34 of the first period on a goal by Jared Martin (Austin Lightfoot, Carter Hikichi). Martin potted his seventh goal of the series as Flin Flon blueliner Curtis Roach served a tripping penalty.
Flin Flon was quick to respond, scoring twice before the end of the period to give the Bombers a 2-1 lead.
Brett Boehm (Dean Allison) notched his fourth of the series at 14:59 while Austin Evans (Tyler Bell, Alex Smith) also scored his fourth at 19:11.
The 2-1 lead held until
13:08 of the second period, when Hounds winger Dion Antisin (Cory Anderson, Andrew Cummings) evened things up
at 2-2.
The Bombers had several chances to regain the lead but were unable to solve Notre Dame netminder Alexi Thibaudeau, who at times in the series looked shaky.
In the third period, Flin Flon failed to capitalize on a four-minute power play after a high-stick from Hounds star defenceman Spencer Trapp drew blood on Bombers winger
Kristian St. Onge.
Later, Reagan took a timeout with fewer than 10 minutes left in regulation. While the break gave some tired legs a rest, it failed to spur the late offensive push Flin Flon had hoped for.
In overtime, Thibaudeau made two key saves as Notre Dame came on strong. Then, at 4:42 of the extra frame, Hikichi (Martin, Sam Aulie) buried a rebound behind Flin Flon goalie Simon Hofley to end the series.
That moment is still likely being played on a loop in the minds of the Bombers. Yet Reagan was able to draw some positives from both the decisive game and the series as a whole.
“I was happy with the fact that it was a long series and felt the guys playing in Game 7 gave everything they had in that game,” he said. “It’s easy to look back at Game 3 and 5 and look at those as opportunities that we didn’t capitalize on. Losing [defenceman Brandon] Masson in the series really hurt and [Braden] Lacoursiere getting hurt early in Game 7 really put a lot of pressure on our five remaining D.”
Reagan singled out centre Parker Evans-Campbell and winger Austin Evans for their “tremendous” play in the series, saying both stepped up their game from the regular season.
In the visitors’ net Tuesday, Hofley had another sound contest after winning a game of musical chairs with Adam Beukeboom to earn the start. Hofley stopped 33 of 36 shots. Flin Flon peppered Thibaudeau with 30 shots.
Aging out
While Hofley is eligible to return to the Flin Flon lineup this fall, the same can’t be said of eight other Bombers who are aging out of the SJHL.
In addition to Evans-Campbell, Evans and Beukeboom, the non-returnees are captain and talented centre Dean Allison, leading scorer Chris Rauckman, would-be leading scorer Brett Boehm, and blueline fixtures Tyler Bell and Danys Chartrand.
Between them the departing skaters were responsible for almost half of the Bombers’ league-leading goal output in the regular season. (The percentage would be even higher had powerhouse Boehm played the full season in maroon and white).
After Tuesday’s loss, some fans worried the Bombers had surrendered too much this season in the name of winning it all. Reagan disagrees.
“I don’t think that we sacrificed any of our future,” he said. “We didn’t trade any of our young talent. We’ve got a great list and we have some very good players returning next year.”
That the Flin Flon-Notre Dame series was decided in such dramatic fashion was unsurprising. This was a match-up of two equally talented teams, both eager to put past disappointments behind them and prove to fans, and to the hockey world, that they are the real deal.
Heading into Tuesday’s action, Notre Dame had captured all odd-numbered games in the series: Game 1 (6-3), Game 3 (3-2) and Game 5 (6-3). Flin Flon had been on top in the even-numbered games: Game 2 (6-5 in OT), Game 4 (4-1) and Game 6 (7-1).
The Hounds now meet the Kindersley Klippers in the semi-finals. Game 1 goes tonight in Kindersley.
In the SJHL’s other semi-final series, the Melfort Mustangs square off against the Nipawin Hawks starting tonight in Melfort.
The Reminder will have a recap of the Bombers’ season next week.
