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 look to do something they haven't done this season - defeat the Nipawin Hawks. One advantage working for them as they play in Nipawin is that they are guided by a different coach in Doug Stokes. The Bombers defeated the Battlefords' North Stars 4-2 and proved they can beat the best in the league. Now they have to bring the physical game they threw at the North Stars at the Hawks which lacked the last time the teams met in Nipawin on Nov. 29. "I hear they play a physical brand of hockey," said Stokes, "and I've heard that the last time we were there, we were somewhat intimidated. That's going to change, there's no way in the world - one thing I won't stand for is guys playing intimidated." While Stokes isn't familiar with the Nipawin Hawks, he isn't concerned. The reason being is that assistant coach Graham Garrett and trainer Randy Henley have been very helpful filling him in. "Randy's much more than just a trainer and equipment guy," he explained. "He really has a great handle on all the players from Saskatchewan, whether they be in the league, or triple A or double A players." Stokes intends to use the information to his advantage so he isn't going into the game blind. "I'm pretty quick at picking up, once I see every team once," Stokes explained. "I will have a pretty good line on each team so this will give me an opportunity to see what Nipawin's all about." Forward Blake Rolston knows the team has to play more physical, but he also believes the team wasn't ready for that game and got in trouble with penalties. On Nov. 29, the Hawks power-play went 3-for-4 in a 5-2 win. The Bombers had a light practice on Thursday and Stokes worked his players on team structure during Friday's practice. "If we're limited with bodies, then we'll still start to have a walk through process," he said. "An introduction into our defensive zone coverage, maybe some neutral zone play without the puck and obviously our specialty team's is going to be something that's addressed very shortly as well." As of Dec. 8 the Nipawin Hawks are second in the Itech Conference with a record of 19-9-2-2, while being 13-1-1-2 at home. The Hawks are 21 points ahead of the Bombers.
