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.
Trying for their 20th win of the season, the Flin Flon Bombers lost a snore fest 3-1 against the Nipawin Hawks, Tuesday. Bombers coach-GM, Doug Stokes, felt it was "a players' association game" just as he expected. "In talking with their coach before the game, we both just wanted to get out of here without any injuries," Stokes said. "They got bigger things ahead of them. We've got bigger things ahead of us." The Bombers fell behind early as Hawks captain Ryan Cruse beat Zane Kalemba on a 2-on-1. Kalemba played better than his last outing. Against the Hawks he had no chance on two of the three goals and made 28 saves on 31 shots. The Bombers fired 30 shots at Dan Bauer as they only had a few good scoring chances. Dennis Kubat was the only Bomber to solve Bauer. His goal came with the Bombers trailing 2-0. "I think we were ready for them," said Bombers defenceman, James Pasternak. "We made a few mental mistakes and that's what caused us the loss." Pasternak felt there was motivation to get the 20th win, but as soon as the team trailed, players made more mistakes. "It was a pointless game," Pasternak added. "We couldn't move up. Couldn't move down. It's hard to be consistent when those games don't matter." Stokes' sentiments were similar and the Bombers coach chose not to analyze the game. "We'll be evaluating every shift come Friday so that's what it boils down to," he said. Losing the final regular season game gave the Bombers a record of 19-33-1-2.
