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.
A completely different Flin Flon team showed up at the Whitney Forum this past weekend, as the Bombers competed hard to earn a split with the Kindersley Klippers. On Friday night, the Bombers fell behind early but never looked back, edging the Klippers 4-3. Saturday night, Flin Flon nearly erased a three goal deficit, but fell short as an empty net goal gave Kindersley a 5-3 victory. Derek Dorsett scored just 39 seconds after the opening face-off on Friday night to give Kindersley a 1-0 lead, but the Bombers would answer back with two of their own to take the lead. Clayton Geiger batted in a loose puck from Tyler Beachell and Joey Moggach at 1:48, and then Andrew Skrabek picked up his seventh goal of the season at 5:07 with assists going to Blake Rolston and Rylan Zakreski. After killing off a five-on-three penalty, the Bombers allowed a power-play goal just five seconds into their next penalty, as Cody Vaughan scored his first goal of the season at 19:45 to tie the game for Kindersley heading into the dressing room after 20 minutes of play. A power-play goal by Stewart Sjoberg at 7:30 of the second period regained the lead for Flin Flon. The goal, assisted by Moggach and Carter Chomyn, chased starting goaltender Jon Meyer from the Klipper's net. It didn't matter, as Andrew Skrabek popped in his second goal of the game at 10:34, with Zakreski and Rolston also picking up their second points of the night. Dorsett's second goal of the game at 14:48, a power-play marker, brought the Klippers within one, but that was as close as they would get as Francois Laverdiere was perfect in the third period. He had to be sensational, because the Flin Flon skaters couldn't get the puck out of their end for the entire third period. They spend 20 minutes icing the puck, but key face-off wins by Andrew Skrabek, Clayton Geiger and Richard Dupre allowed the Bombers to get the puck out of the zone on most occasions. Shots on net in the final frame were 14-2 for Kindersley. Laverdiere made 36 saves to pick up the win, as Flin Flon was out shot 39-24. Meyer stopped 13 shots for the Klippers, while Steve Houghton made seven saves in his relief. Both teams scored two power-play goals on eight chances. Just under 850 fans attended the game. On Saturday, an extra 100 fans made their way to the Whitney Forum, and were treated to an exciting game. While the Bombers looked a little unsure of themselves in the first period, they played well in the second half of the game. Brady Larock opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 5:24, after Bomber captain Clayton Geiger was ejected for checking-from-behind. He was handed a five-minute major, and the Bombers did a good job to hold the top power-play squad in the ITECH Conference to just one goal. Cody Nunweiler made it 2-0 for the Klippers at 13:58, but a strong effort by the line of Mike McKinna, Stewart Sjoberg and Richard Dupre brought the Bombers to within one goal at 17:19. It was McKinna's second goal of the season, with his linemates adding the assists. However, it took the Klippers just 14 seconds to get that one back, as Jade Boklaschuk beat Francois Laverdiere cleanly at 17:33 to make it a 3-1 game after the first period. The Bombers started the second period flat, and Kevin Aylward was able to make it 4-1 just 1:55 into the frame. That goal served as a wake-up call for Flin Flon, who played with renewed energy for the remainder of the game. The hard work paid off, as Richard Dupre was able to score a power-play goal at 12:37 of the second period. Mike McKinna netted his second of the game at 2:17 of the third period to bring the Bombers back to within one goal, with Sjoberg and Dupre assisting, giving Dupre a three-point night. The Bombers had two excellent scoring opportunities in the third period but got snake-bitten on both occasions, as a Flin Flon Bomber forward found himself behind the goaltender with an empty net but failed to convert on both attempts. Troy Schwab scored into the empty net with 26 seconds remaining to make it a 5-3 final in favour of the Klippers. Bomber players and fans alike are hoping that a split with the top team in the league will be the turning point of the season for Flin Flon, but one can't help but ask the question: where have the real Flin Flon Bombers been hiding for the first 15 games of the season? One thing that the Bombers will have to improve on this week is their break-out plays. For the entire third period of Friday's game and most of Saturday's game, the Bombers had a tough time getting the puck out of their own end. See 'Improvements' P.# Con't from P.# If they weren't firing the puck up the middle of the ice, creating turn-overs (and often goals), their passes off the glass or to the wingers were weak and often picked off by the streaking Kindersley forwards. Even on the power play the Bombers had trouble getting the puck out of their end for the first period and a half of Saturday's game. On one occasion, a breakout pass from behind the net barely had enough heat on it to get to the forward waiting at the blue line. Overall, fans should be pleased with the improvements the Bombers have made over the past week. The Bombers got a good game on Friday night from their veterans, and the line of Dupre, McKinna and Sjoberg really stepped up on Saturday night. If the Bombers could have gotten contributions from a second line, they would have won both games instead of picking up the split. Newcomers Andrew Leslie and Mike Natale looked better and better as the games progressed, and after a full week of practice should be right up to speed. As it was, Natale was one of the few Bombers not afraid to mix it up with the Klippers on Saturday, throwing some big checks and staring down Curtis Graham. Carter Chomyn also answered the call, stepping up and going toe-to-toe with Derek Dorsett, the league leader in penalty minutes. Next up for the Bombers is a pair of games against the Battlefords North Stars at the Whitney Forum this Friday and Saturday. These are must-win games for Flin Flon, as they trail Battleford by nine points for the final play-off spot in the ITECH Conference. With two wins, the Bombers would only be five points back.
