The Bombers are going back to the SJHL finals. A 3-1 Game 5 win for Flin Flon sealed the deal and a series with Battlefords for all the marbles.
Flin Flon took an early lead and fended off the Broncos through late pressure to pick up their biggest win of the year.
The Bombers opened the scoring early - within the first two minutes. With the puck cycled out to the point, Reece Richmond fired a seeing-eye shot through traffic, off Jacob Vockler's stick and past Bronco goalie Benjamin Motew. Humboldt would go on the offensive for the rest of the period, outshooting the Bombers, but Flin Flon headed into the intermission up 1-0.
The Broncos would get more chances in the second, but it would be the Bombers getting the next goal. With a player in the box from both sides and 4-on-4 action, Kylynn Olafson would slide the puck to Ethan Mercer, who made no mistake.
Flin Flon would start the third period hot and force the Broncos into taking two quick penalties, making a 5-on-3 for the Bombers. No goals were scored, but much energy was shed by Humboldt's defence killing the penalties off.
Humboldt would find a way back into the game with 8:33 left on the clock. Xavier Roy would rush into the zone, cut to the net and beat Laser-Hume. Flin Flon would almost immediately restore their two-goal lead though, with Alexi Sylvestre going in on a 2-on-1 with Vockler. Sylvestre found Vockler with a pass, then Vockler found the back of the net, making it 3-1 Bombers.
Humboldt tried to fight back late, but the team's lack of discipline when needed most hurt them. A penalty with seven minutes to go sapped the Broncos of momentum. Brent Gulenchyn almost got the puck past Motew in close shortly after the penalty ended, but it never crossed the line.
Sylvestre took a knee-on-knee hit with three minutes to go, but play continued and the Broncos kept pushing. Motew was pulled from the goal with about three minutes left, with Humboldt pulling out all the stops late - with Laser-Hume and the Bomber defence keeping all those attempts at bay.
Bronco fans showed their displeasure in the final moments, throwing objects on the ice including trash cans, garbage can lids and refuse. The assailants were booted from the rink, with a couple of Bomber players waving goodbye to them from the ice.
Anger aside, the result was sealed - and Flin Flon is moving on.
Laser-Hume stopped 36 of 37 shots for the Bombers, getting the decisive win. Motew stopped 28 shots for Humboldt. Laser-Hume gave up just nine goals during the series including a shutout in Game 3, making 180 saves on 189 Bronco shots.
The win marks the third straight season where the Bombers have booted the Broncos from the playoffs, sweeping them in 2020 before COVID-19 hit, then beating them in 2022 in five games. During that time, Humboldt has gone 2-12 in 14 games and has not won once at the Elgar Petersen Arena. The Bombers have not lost to the Broncos in a playoff game in Humboldt since March 29, 2013.
The Humboldt loss signals the end of the junior A careers for seven 2002-born Broncos - forwards Jacob Boucher, Connor Casparie, Lucas Ceccarelli, Ben Kotylak, Samuel Marburg and Alec Saretzky and defenceman Chase Lacombe. Casparie did not play during the series. The six senior players who did suit up combined for one goal, an empty netter by Kotylak in Game 4.
The Bombers have set themselves up with a date with the SJHL's top team, the Battlefords North Stars, in the league finals. The Stars dispatched Weyburn in five games and beat Melfort in a four-game sweep to get to the finals, winning each of their last eight games along the way. Dates for the games in the final series have not yet been announced by the SJHL, but Battlefords will host both Games 1 and 2.
