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 were the busiest team in Western Canada on deadline day Wednesday. A total of seven deals were completed in the SJHL on December 1, when teams had to cut their rosters to 25 carded players, and the Bombers were involved in five of them. Here is how the day unfolded for Flin Flon: The Flin Flon Bombers sent 18-year-old forward Kyle Holmes to the Kindersley Klippers for 18-year-old forwards Ronald Marcoux and Mackenzie Groenewegen. The Flin Flon Bombers traded 19-year-old forward Joey Moggach to the Dauphin Kings for 19-year-old forward Jordy Black and future considerations. The Flin Flon Bombers traded 18-year-old defenceman Mike Natale to the Borderland Thunder for future considerations. The Flin Flon Bombers trade 17-year-old goalie Jordan Kaczmar, 19-year-old forward Scott Vaughan, and 17-year-old defenceman Jordan Pawelec to the Melville Millionaires for 18-year-old defenceman Nate Wilson and the option to claim the CHA playing rights to 18-year-old forward Neil Kodman (Lethbridge WHL) at a later date. The Flin Flon Bombers trade 20-year-old forward Donovan Hall to the Estevan Bruins for 17-year-old goalie Jordan Kaczmar. "We were stonewalled to get anything done for quite a while," said coach and general manager Ryan Hoffman. "We tried to make the Estevan and Melville deals work for everyone as a three-way." When the three teams couldn't work together, Flin Flon broke away and made the deal to acquire Kaczmar from Estevan. "We made the first move to acquire Kaczmar," said Hoffman. "We held all the cards at that point and were able to accomplish what we wanted." While it was a hectic day for the Bomber coaching staff, most other teams around the league stayed quiet. Sending Hall to Estevan worked out for both sides. Hall wanted to play for a contender, and was moved to the first-place team in the Sherwood Conference. The Bombers were able to move Kaczmar and Vaughan to Melville for some help on the blue line and the potential to get one of the best players in the league. "We think Nate will be a fourth or fifth guy for us," said Hoffman of his plans for Wilson. "He's a skilled defenceman. We project him to be a power-play guy for us. He handled himself very well as a 17-year-old in the playoffs last year for Melville. We're very happy to acquire his rights." Should Kodman return from the Western Hockey League, he will have no problem fitting in to the Bomber dressing room. He played a year of midget for Hoffman, and was rookie of the year in the SJHL last season. He is also good friends with Clayton Geiger and has played with other members of the current Bomber team. In 25 games with Lethbridge this season, he has one goal and five assists. While the Bombers are taking a chance that he will be returning to junior hockey, if he comes back he could be one of the top ten players in the league. Rounding out the day of movement was the deal to move Mike Natale to the Borderland Thunder. "Our plan of attack was to be sitting with six imports at the end of the day," explained Hoffman. "There were a lot of factors in the reason that we decided that Mike was the guy. It made sense for us when we take a look at our line up and what we have, and it made sense financially, too." By moving Natale, the Bombers were able to cut down to six imports and seven defencemen. The moves made by the Bombers appear to be a step in the right direction. After all, most of the players they moved weren't going to play in Flin Flon anyway, and they were managing to win games without them. The biggest surprise of the day was the lack of activity around the rest of the league. "I was kind of shocked by the lack of activity," admitted Hoffman. "I assumed that Melfort would make as many if not more moves than we made. It was a very quiet day in the league and across Western Canada." Teams now have until January 10 to finalize their rosters and cut down to 21 carded players. "We are sitting in real good shape," said Hoffman. "We have four empty cards to work with between now and then. There aren't any restrictions on what we can and can't do." The Bombers will put their new lineup to work against the La Ronge Ice Wolves this weekend, as they visit the Whitney Forum for games on Friday and Saturday.
