The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
A game that was declared to be "intense" by Flin Flon's head coach played out for the Bombers Tuesday night. The Nipawin Hawks were in town to face off against the Bombers and take home the two points they came for. But once again, the Maroon and White had a different result in mind. It took some time to get going, but four goals later the Bombers walked away with a 4-1 victory. "This is a team we would be playing in the playoffs, first round," says Bomber head coach and GM Mike Reagan. And with that said, the coach says there was a message to be sent out. "Teams have to feel confident playing teams they could be playing in the playoffs," he says. Looking back to last year, the Bombers took on the Melfort Mustangs in round one of the playoffs and did very well. "We were confident in Melfort...and won," says Reagan. "Going into a series knowing you can beat the team makes it that much easier," he says. And the same thing applied for Tuesday night's game. The Bombers were confident going into the contest and came out on top. They also came out on top in shots, outshooting the Hawks by 32. But Reagan says that doesn't even matter. "The only thing that matters are the numbers on the scoreboard," he says. "You could have 100 shots and still lose. In the end it's the score." But Reagan did go on to say having more shots betters the chance of having the higher score. Matt Weninger stood in net for the Bombers Ð much of the time watching the play at the other end. But his turn came as he knocked away 15 of the Hawks' 16 shots, losing his shutout late in the third period. Nearly 900 fans watched as Matt Lecours found the back of the net Ð with help from Patrick Sitko Ð near the three-minute mark in the first period. Play continued in the first period, but the score remained 1-0 for the Bombers. By the end of the period, the Maroon and White had fired off 13 shots compared to the Hawks' five. Each team served one penalty as Reid MacLeod was sent to the sin bin for elbowing Ð a call Reagan tried to fight Ð while Hawk Shael Hunter was given two minutes for high sticking. Action in the second period kept the fans boisterous as there were a few close calls from the Bombers and some good saves from Weninger. Michael Young made his way to the net to get past Wyatt Wasterchuk for the Bombers' second goal nearing the five-minute mark of the period. The Bombers were up 2-0 and looking to add to the lead as Josh Garneau spotted his chance for a short-handed goal Ð with help from Cole Wilson Ð late in the period. Another 20 minutes came and went and the Bombers continued to hold their lead Ð now 3-0 Ð over the Hawks. The shots on net continued to grow as the Bombers earned 24 while Weninger knocked away another five. Keeping in tune with the first period, only a few penalties were given out as Ben Bitz was given two minutes for interference while the Hawks served two minutes for interference and tripping. The shots kept coming from the Bombers in the third as Dominic Martel was able to get to the back of the net to earn the team's fourth Ð and final Ð goal of the game. As fans cheered on the Maroon and White, the Hawks were able to pick up their sticks and break Weninger's shut out with less than five minutes left in the game Ð giving them their one and only goal. Penalties added up quickly in the third as the Bombers had Reid MacLeod in for instigating, fighting and a 10-minute misconduct. Martel was in for rushing while Tanner Korchinski was given two minutes for interference and Brennan Cox five minutes for fighting. The Hawks served penalties for fighting, roughing and game misconducts. Wednesday night, the Bombers headed to La Ronge for a make-up game.
