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 will play host to the Notre Dame Hounds this weekend, in what could very well be their most important match-up with a Sherwood Conference team. Both the Bombers and Hounds trail the Estevan Bruins for the crossover playoff spot in the Sherwood Conference by five points, and both teams have three games in hand. Two wins this weekend would put the Bombers right behind the Bruins, and place some distance between themselves and the Hounds. In the Dodge Conference standings Flin Flon trails Nipawin by three points, with equal games played. The Bombers have played the Hounds once this season, a 3-0 loss in the house of Notre Dame back in October. "Notre Dame is Notre Dame," said coach Ryan Hoffman. "You see the same thing from them every year. Technically they are very strong. They are very good skaters. Rene (Lemire) is an excellent technician, and they are almost mechanical in the way they play sometimes." Notre Dame's game plan will include trying to clog up the neutral zone on the smaller ice sheet in Flin Flon, and keep the Bombers to the outside. Notre Dame's goaltender Chance Giene is fourth in the league with a goals against average of 2.95, and he will test the Bombers offensive ability. Flin Flon will have to finish on their chances if they want to be successful this weekend. "If we don't get some traffic in front of him and crash the net hard, we're going to be in tough," said Hoffman. Like Flin Flon, Notre Dame is not a highly offensive team. The Hounds' goals against are much better than Flin Flon, and the Bomber will have to concentrate on playing defence before offense as well. The most glaring difference between the two teams on paper is penalty minutes. Flin Flon leads the SJHL with a whopping 1,825 minutes in penalties, while Notre Dame is the league's most disciplined team, serving only 709 minutes in the sin-bin. Home ice advantage will definitely be a factor in the game this weekend, as the Hounds have only won four games on the road this season. The Bombers have won four of their last five games in the Whitney Forum, including three in a row. There may be some added tension in the dressing room of the Bombers this weekend as the January 10 trade deadline approaches. Hoffman has stated that he will not be looking to unload his 20 year-olds, but until the deadline passes, every junior player in Canada has to deal with the possibility of being moved. "The quest to find a scoring forward continues," said Hoffman. "I imagine we'll be working right until the stroke of midnight on the 10th to try and get something done. We have our fingers in a bunch of different pies right now, and hopefully we'll be able to get something done by the end of the day." Earlier this week, the Bombers picked up two players from Quebec that were playing in the Quebec Senior 'AAA' league, a semi-pro league featuring former NHL players and up-and-coming juniors. The two players, a 19 year-old goaltender and a 20 year-old defenceman, arrived in Flin Flon on Thursday night and will be practicing with the team for the first time on Friday, and could see action this weekend. Game time from the Whitney Forum for Friday and Saturday's games is 7:30 p.m.
