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.
Creighton product Matt Hill made an impact in his second game with the Bombers this season, scoring a goal and adding two assists in Flin Flon's 8-3 win over the Melfort Mustangs on Sunday night. Jeff LaPointe had two goals and an assist, and Stewart Sjoberg also had a pair for the Bombers, while Troy Ciernia made 23 saves to earn his third win of the season. Tyler Stinton started the scoring for Flin Flon with a short handed goal at 11:29, assisted by Jeff LaPointe and Ryan Boak. Scott Vaughan scored a power-play goal less than a minute later at 12:23 to tie the game for Melfort, but Jeff LaPointe scored on the power play for Flin Flon at 15:45 to give the Bombers a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes of play. Joey Moggach assisted on the Bomber goal. Flin Flon out shot Melfort 18-9 in the first period, but did most of their damage in the second period, where they out shot the Mustangs 13-11. Derek Blais scored unassisted at 3:56, and Matt Hill scored his first goal at 6:46, also unassisted. Stewart Sjoberg scored Flin Flon's second short handed goal of the game at 9:25 from Derek Blais. Anatoliy Moshkovsky made it 6-1 at 15:33 with Joey Moggach and Andrew Skrabek assisting. Stewart Sjoberg netted Flin Flon's seventh goal from Matt Hill and Derek Blais at 17:32. Melfort added two power-play goals in the third period, one from Chad Richardson at 9:45 and the other from Jeremy Forbes at 18:05. Jeff LaPointe scored Flin Flon's only goal of the period from Matt Hill and Ryan Boak at 11:38. The Bombers out shot the Mustangs 17-6 in the third period and 48-26 in the game. All three of Melfort's goals came on 14 power play opportunities, while the Bombers scored once on eight tries with the man advantage. The win was Flin Flon's third in four games, and their fourth in their last ten games. Needless to say, coach Ryan Hoffman was pleased with his team's play on the weekend. "We played really well on Friday," he said. "We battled really hard. Our penalty kill was good, and Troy (Ciernia) was good. It was huge to get that monkey off our back and get that first road win behind us." Even Saturday night's 5-1 loss to Kindersley could have gone either way, as the Bombers had two goals called back, and had two-thirds of their top line ejected from the game. On Sunday night, all the pieces fell into place. The pucks that wouldn't go in on Saturday night somehow found their way to the back of the net on Sunday, and a couple of call-ups from Midget 'AAA' provided an extra spark for a tired team playing their third game in three nights. "Matt Hill and Jody Minikakis played well for us," said Hoffman. "They brought a little bit of energy that we needed, as we were tired and missing a few regulars from the lineup." Kyle Holmes missed the game with a charlie horse, and Kevin Burwell was out with a mild concussion. The Bombers are now only two points behind the La Ronge Ice Wolves and Nipawin Hawks for the fourth and final playoff spot in the Dodge Conference, with two games in hand over La Ronge. Nipawin has played one less game than Flin Flon. The Bombers will have a chance to catch La Ronge on the weekend, as they will play a home-and-home series with the Ice Wolves. They will be in La Ronge on Friday night, and play their final game of 2003 on Saturday night at the Whitney Forum. Trade The Flin Flon Bombers made a move on Monday, acquiring a 19 year-old defenceman from the Alberta Junior Hockey League. On his way to Flin Flon is Bob Graham, a 6'1, 200 lb. defenceman from the Camrose Kodiaks. Heading west is 20 year-old forward Craig Parks, allowing the Edmonton native to finish his Junior career closer to home. Parks had nine goals and ten assists in 32 games this year for the Bombers, with 89 penalty minutes. The move allows the Bombers to put John Iron back up front. Iron has been playing the point, as the Bombers have been short handed on the back end since losing Conrad Wilgenbusch.
