An interesting sidebar of the Flin Flon Bombers’ 2014-15 season was the game of musical chairs in net.
Just who was Flin Flon’s number one goaltender: Simon Hofley or Adam Beukeboom?
To start the season, there was no question it was Hofley. The Ottawa native had played 26 games the previous season and, more importantly, put up strong numbers in the 2014 playoffs.
But clearly Flin Flon felt he needed some competition.
Two months into 2014-15, Beukeboom transferred from the AJHL, ready to backstop a champion in his final year of junior.
In his first four games, Beukeboom earned three wins, two shutouts and an otherworldly save-percentage of 0.976. Observers across the league had one question: Where did this guy come from?
Beukeboom (who for the record hails from Sundre, Alberta) cooled off in time. He would play about half as many regular-season games as Hofley, posting an outstanding 0.932 SP across 19 games.
Hofley was no slouch himself. In 39 games, he put up a 0.921 SP and went six games above .500 on a team that sometimes lacked consistency.
All of this gave Bombers coach Mike Reagan a happy little dilemma come playoff time.
In Game 1 against Notre Dame, Reagan went with Beukeboom, who saw more rubber than the Michelin Man as his club lost 6-3.
Undeterred, Reagan let Beukeboom start Game 2, but after three goals on six shots, in went Hofley, who helped Flin Flon pull out an unlikely OT victory.
So now Hofley was the man – at least until he allowed three goals on 19 shots in Game 3 and was relieved by Beukeboom. The Bombers lost a close one 3-2.
Beukeboom played Game 4, allowing one measly goal en route to a 4-1 triumph. Reagan hoped for a repeat performance in Game 5, but Beukeboom ended up on the wrong side of a 6-3 tally.
Okay, so back to Hofley for Game 6. Confident in front of their puckstopper, the Bombers made mincemeat of the Hounds in a 7-1 trouncing.
Hofley took the Bombers to OT in Game 7, and absolutely no one blamed him for Carter Hikichi’s series-ending goal.
Of course the two-headed beast that is Beukeboom-Hofley has now been slayed. Beukeboom has aged out of the SJHL while Hofley is eligible for one more year.
