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.
The Battlefords' Stars proved to be too much for the Flin Flon Bombers to handle on Saturday, as they skated away with a 4-1 victory at the Whitney Forum. Goaltender Matt Mateja made only his third start of the season for the Stars, stopping 21 shots for the win. The game lacked flow in the first period, as both teams failed to generate much offence. The Bombers were handed a five-minute power play early in the first period, but couldn't mount an attack. It was evident that not all of the Bombers were ready to play on Saturday night. One player who was up for the game was Craig Parks, who scored the Bombers' only goal against his former team. He opened the scoring at 2:08 of the second period, with an unassisted, short handed goal. The lead was short lived, as captain Kurt Bensmiller scored his ninth of the year at 5:44, and Jesse Matlock put the Stars ahead by the end of the second period with a goal at 9:42. The Stars out shot the Bombers 11-8 in the second period. Matlock put his second of the game past goaltender Paul Reimer at 4:32 of the third period, scoring a short handed goal. Bensmiller added his second of the game into an empty net at 19:12. Postponing Friday night's game against the Stars in Pelican was a good thing for the Bombers, as they will hopefully be a better team when the game is rescheduled. The Bombers didn't play an entirely bad game against the Stars Ð they just didn't play good enough to win. After all, the Stars are the hottest team in the SJHL right now. Paul Reimer came to the rink ready to play on Saturday night, stopping a number of breakaways when his team coughed the puck up the middle of the ice, or the defence got caught pinching. After a week of practice, the Bombers' power-play should have been a well-oiled machine. Instead, the Bombers were 0-5 with the man advantage, and barely mustered any kind of attack, despite a full five-minute power play early in the first period. When they did break through the Stars' defence, goaltender Mateja was up to the task. Final shots on net were 25-22 in favour of the Stars, who currently occupy second place in the Dodge Conference with 33 points. They are only three points behind Kindersley, with four games in hand. Time is running out for the Bombers, who have won only three games this season. They are only five points out of a playoff spot right now, with games in hand over Nipawin and La Ronge, who are tied for fourth place in the conference. Unfortunately, Nipawin is winning games right now and the Bombers are not. Flin Flon dropped to 3-10-8-2 with the loss, and are 1-7-2 in their last ten games. They will have to regroup in a hurry, as the Humboldt Broncos will be in town for a game on Tuesday night.
