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 Flin Flon Bombers can play spoiler this week with two games against the Battlefords' North Stars. The Bombers and Stars will battle tonight in Pelican Narrows to make up the neutral site game that was scheduled originally for November 21, and will return to Flin Flon for their final meeting of the season on Thursday. With two wins, Flin Flon could have a lot to say where Battleford ends up in the final regular season standings. The North Stars are three points behind the Humboldt Broncos for first place in the Dodge Conference, with three games in hand, but are only three points ahead of the Kindersley Klippers for third place, with even games played. Flin Flon will be without heavy weights Kevin Burwell and Daryl Fransoo, who would be assets in the game against the North Stars, who have the biggest defencemen in the league. Offensively, the North Stars are led by rookie Cole Fern, who has 20 goals and 52 points in 53 games. He leads Flin Flon's freshman Joey Moggach by six points for the rookie scoring race. Battlefords' strength lies between the pipes. Goaltender Justin Pesony leads the league with a goals against average of 2.44, as the third best save percentage at 0.919 and has the most wins with 28 in 47 appearances. The 20 year-old netminder was an all-star this season, and was runner-up to the player of the week this past week. If the Bombers want to have a chance against the North Stars, they will need a big effort from the entire team, starting with goaltender Francois Laverdiere, who has kept the team in most games, despite the lopsided shot counts he faces every night. The Bombers will also have to be on their best behavior, as penalties have gotten them into trouble lately. The North Stars don't have a great power play, but the Bombers would be smart not to test it out as Battleford tunes up for a playoff run. Action at the Whitney Forum on Thursday gets underway at 7:30 p.m.
