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.
Wednesday night's 6-3 win over the Melfort Mustangs means that the Flin Flon Bombers have at least tied their record for least wins in a season. Flin Flon hit double-digits with the victory, their 10th of the season, with two games remaining They stormed out to a 3-0 lead to chase Troy Ciernia from the net by the midpoint of the first period. Dalton Pajak netted his 18th of the season on a power play to open the scoring at 7:02, with Blake McCullough and Tyler Beachell assisting. Richard Dupre gave the Bombers a two goal lead at 7:46 from Clayton Geiger, and Beachell scored his 22nd of the year at 9:21 with Pajak assisting. Nick VanDenBeld finally got the Mustangs on the board at 14:36. Fritz Sauter scored the only goal of the second period at the 9:00 mark, with assists going to Kurt Surine and Mackenzie Groenewegen. Sauter's fourth of the year would stand up to be the eventual game-winner. In the third period, Carter Chomyn scored an unassisted goal just seconds after Blake McCullough left the penalty box. Taylor Watt and VanDenBeld beat Dale Pettit at 8:55 and 17:02 respectively, but Dupre's empty net goal at 18:23 iced the win for Flin Flon. Pettit made 30 saves to earn his third win of the season, and his second in as many games. Aaron Forer made 19 saves in relief of Ciernia. The Mustangs out shot the Bombers 33-29. Flin Flon scored one power play goal on five chances, while holding the Mustangs scoreless on four advantages. Since January, the Mustangs have only won two games, both of them against the Bombers. If Flin Flon could have found a way to win those games, they would be sitting one point out of a playoff spot with two games remaining. Record watch The Bombers still need one more win if they want to avoid putting the 2004-05 season beside the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons in the record book for fewest wins. With 29 points, they have passed their total of 27, which was their lowest point during two seasons in the mid-80s. The Bombers are still 168 penalty minutes behind their lowest total of 2126 set in 1992-93, and the record for fewest goals scored in a single season of 168 is likely to be broken, unless the Bombers can find a way to average 18.5 goals per game this weekend against La Ronge. Keep in mind that this season has been the shortest in SJHL history, with only 55 regular season games on the schedule. In the rookie scoring race, Tyler Beachell remains in front with 53 points, five ahead of La Ronge's Kris Desjarlais with two games remaining for both players. He also leads all rookies with 22 goals. Friday night's game will be the last at the Whitney Forum for the 2004-05 season for the Bombers, when they host the La Ronge Ice Wolves. The season will end on Saturday, when the Bombers visit La Ronge for game number 55.
