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.
Kelly Carrington Staff Writer The Flin Flon Bombers moved up in the Bauer Conference, to fourth place, with a convincing 5-0 win over the Battlefords North Stars last Friday night. Swapping places with the North Stars in the conference, the teams switched again Saturday night as the North Stars earned a 5-4 win over the home team to retake fourth place. Friday night, the Bombers dominated the scoreboard, but the North Stars still put up a tough challenge. Flin Flon head coach and GM Mike Reagan said both games had positive contributions from both teams. "I thought that Battleford took it to us here tonight in the first two periods," he said after Saturday's game. "Well, I shouldn't say the first two periods. The first period [for sure], but the second period, we played a much better period towards the end. "The third period, we were a little better." Despite the scores, Reagan says the games themselves weren't all that different. "I mean, it was a 5-0 game last night, but just because we have five goals and they had none, that doesn't mean that we blew them out," he said. "They played well." Reagan says, watching from the bench, that the Bombers and North Stars were in a "good heated affair" for both games. "It took a lot longer for us to get into it tonight," Reagan said of Saturday's game. The Bombers fronted an exciting game for the fans both nights, giving ample opportunity for crowd input, including an anticipated fight between North Star Tony Oak and new Bomber Ashton Bernard. Bernard, who joined the Bombers Saturday, came known for his toughness. Oak, the tougher North Star of the bunch, and Bernard dropped the mitts with just about four minutes left in the first period. With blood on both of their jerseys, as Bernard was cut from the visor of a helmet, the players returned in the second period wearing different jerseys, as the SJHL does not permit a player to wear a jersey with blood on it. "I thought it was a good fight," said Reagan. "They both landed a good shot on each other." With two solid punches each, both Bernard and Oak received five minutes in the penalty box. Fighting aside, there was still plenty for fans to yell about as the Bombers had two disallowed goals, compared to Battlefords' one, as well as a few questionable calls. One penalty that stood out for Reagan came as Devon Stillar was given two minutes for goalie interference. North Stars goalie Kyle Birch was well beyond his crease in the third period as Stillar was called for interfering with the netminder. Stillar was given two minutes in the bin and a 10-minute misconduct. To those chanting "we want a ref" in the stands, it seemed obvious Birch was at fault. "There's no interference," agreed Reagan. "Birch is out of the blue paint. That's fair game. "He was actually interfering with our guy, in my opinion." See 'Stillar...' on pg. 5 Continued from pg. 4 The Bombers were called for interference twice in the third period, with the second offence going to Andrew Johnston. Johnston also received two minutes in the bin, served by David Roper, and a 10-minute misconduct. With Johnston gone for the rest of the game, Reagan said things got frustrating. Back on the ice, Stillar received a "blatant blow to the head" from Oak. With no penalty called, Oak went on to score the game-winning goal for the North Stars Saturday. "It was frustrating with the penalties and the disallowed goal," said the coach. Reagan says there were some situations where the calls made weren't in the best interest of the players. "...a concussion can end a guy's career. The referee didn't do a good job taking care [of the players]," he said. With a few injuries, including Dylan Balaski and James McNulty, the Bombers were in Nipawin Monday night and Battleford last night. Both games were played after The Reminder went to press. The Bombers will play their final game of the regular season against the Nipawin Hawks next Tuesday night at the Whitney Forum. Scoring Scoring for the Bombers this past weekend were Johnston with the game opener in the first period on a power play. The team's second goal came just :28 seconds into the next period from Johnston. The third goal, on a power play, belonged to Tanner Korchinski, with the fourth goalÊÐ another power play marker Ð from captain Ryan Fox. Tanner Clark made his Bomber mark with the team's fifth goal against the North Stars Friday night. Saturday night, Johnston once again started the scoring on a power play just past the 11:20 mark on the clock. Stillar broke the 1-1 tie with a power play goal against the Stars in the second period. Three goals in the second period moved the North Stars up 4-2 before the Bombers scored their third goal, from Johnston. Johnston earned a hat trick with a power play goal in the third period, but it wasn't enough as the North Stars lit the lantern a final time, from Oak, for the win.
