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.
SASKATOON-It was a different Flin Flon Bomber team that took on and handily defeated the Estevan Bruins 5-2 at Harold Latrace Arena on Sunday afternoon. Captain Blake Rolston scored the winning goal when rookie Tommy Castonguay made a beautiful cross crease pass before running out of room as Rolston just had to tap it in. That goal was scored with 15 seconds left in the second period. In the final frame Bradey Fidierchuk's power-play goal from the point on a wrister beat Joel Graham on his glove side to seal the Bombers second win and give them 1-1 record at the Showcase. "Masse had the puck there and I was open and I kind of figured he would pass it so I called for the pass and I just shot it on net and it happened to go in," Fidierchuk said. From the drop of the puck, it was go-go for the Bombers who outshot the Bruins 36-30. Before the game, Bombers coach-GM Doug Stokes figured his team had their hands full against the 5-1 Bruins. It turned out to be the other way around. "I thought our team speed was the best I've seen it all year," said Stokes. "I thought we really had our legs going today and we played with a great amount of passion." That passion included playing physical with Mike McKinna leading the way as he sent a few bodies flying. "The biggest thing is we managed the game today," Stokes said. "We didn't give up any odd man rushes. I don't think I seen one 3-on-2 or 2-on-1 and that's a big part of being successful and it's something we've been harping on and I thought I seen some pretty good signs on a lot of things today." "We played well as a team today and we played well in our end and our power play (4-11) was clicking today," Fidierchuk said. In a search for offence, Stokes change up some of the lines except for the Kubat unit, and got production from Tommy Castonguay, Braden Olszewski, and Blake Rolston. That trio had five points. See 'Bombers' P.# Con't from P.# Once again the line of Dennis Kubat, Pierre-Luc Boucher, and Reid MacLeod did some damage as they combined for a goal and four assists. Despite scoring five goals, Stokes felt his team missed some opportunities. "I really thought it could have been a blow out," he said. "I thought the opportunity was there for 10. We hit two pipes and we missed some wide open nets and luckily enough we were able to capitalize on enough today." Calvin Bartel made his debut in the Showcase and made 28 saves on 30 shots. The first goal the Bruins scored came with a second to go in the second period. Stokes tried to convince the officials that it shouldn't count, but went into the dressing room with an unpleasant look on his face. "I thought Calvin was real solid today and when they did have some opportunities, he was square to the puck all the time and his rebound control was outstanding," Stokes said. "They never really got the second and third opportunity which was huge." The Bombers returned home Sunday night cheering with the assistance of Stokes encouraging them to get louder. The only bad news for the team was losing Richard Dupre, who suffered a dislocated shoulder in the offensive zone in the third. He was led off the ice with the help of trainer Jeff Woods and a teammate. He's expected to miss the next four to six weeks. The Bombers next home game is this Friday against the Melville Millionaires when they hope to improve their record to 3-5.
