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Kelly Carrington Staff Writer The Flin Flon Bombers were on a four-game losing streak after the visiting Humboldt Broncos took two points from them last Friday night. According to head coach and GM Mike Reagan, the Bombers didn't have the "urgency" they needed early in the game. "It was pretty frustrating because I thought we played really well in the third period," he said. It wasn't until Bomber Dylan MacNab started a minute-long fight with Bronco Jake Rawlins in the final period that the Maroon and White got going. "MacNab's fight really sparked everybody," said Reagan. "Sometimes, that's what you've got to do. "The frustrating part," he said, "was where was that earlier on in the game?" Too long Coming off two losses Ð one from Melfort and another from Humboldt earlier in the week Ð Reagan said the team took too long to come on strong. "It took us until the third period to play that hard," said the coach. "We're on a three-game losing streak and we don't play with urgency until the third period. "To me, that's very frustrating." While being frustrated with the way parts of the season have been going, Reagan says he, as well as the rest of the coaching staff, tries to point out the positives to the team. "We're trying to be as positive as possible, right now," said Reagan after Friday's game. The Bombers are a younger team this year, and Reagan says they are "pretty fragile" right now. "The young guys...want to contribute so much and they're having a hard time contributing offensively," he said. Acknowledging that the Bombers have a number of young, talented players, Reagan says "sooner or later, we need them to score a goal here or there and it's just not happening." Thinking over Friday's game, Reagan wondered if the Bombers deserved a better outcome. "Yeah, probably," he said in answer to his own question. "But we have to work hard. We're not the type of team that can take periods off." Continued on Page 5 Continued from Page 4 Going back to the basics is going to be important for the Bombers, as Reagan says they need to be "a meat and potatoes" team that "works hard all the time." Frustrating He says the team doesn't always compete at the level they need to, which is frustrating. Not having a consistent level of play had the Bombers on a four-game losing skid prior to yesterday's game against La Ronge. Keeping a positive attitude with the situation, Reagan says it is sometimes tough to pass on that positive vibe. "You try to keep the guys positive...but it's these little mental break downs that are costing us," said the coach. Friday night, a mistake from Conrad Szydlowski left the Bomber net wide open Ð giving the Broncos one of their two open net goals of the night. "Humboldt is always this way with us," said the coach, "and this is the way it was in Humboldt." The Broncos were able to pick up on the Bombers' mistakes. "Every time we made a mistake, it ended up in the back of our net," Reagan said. "And that is what's happening right now. "When we do make a mistake, it's not a small mistake, it's a big mistake. We need to limit those." Reagan says it's one thing for a team to make a small mistake and have the opposing team get a shot on net, "but not an empty net goal." As well as being able to capitalize on the Bombers' mistakes, the Broncos had some "puck luck," as Reagan called it, on their side. "Humboldt always seems to get a lot of puck luck. But, they do deserve it," he said. "They work hard and they skate well. But I thought we were the better team tonight on a whole." Calling his the better team, Reagan clarifies that "if we were the better team, we'd win more hockey games." The Bombers have the potential to be the better team, he says, but they hurt themselves. "...we're shooting ourselves in the foot" and giving up their chances to claim the win," he said. "I don't think that we're getting dominated because other teams are much better than us. Discipline is a big issue with us." 'Stupid penalties' Taking "stupid penalties" has left the Bombers on the penalty kill a number of times this season. But Reagan said he was pleased with Friday's penalty action as the Bombers only gave the Broncos two power plays. "And yet we played pretty physical," he said. "But it's either discipline or turnovers that are costing this team. It can't be that way." After Friday's game, Reagan told his team that while they came flying out of the gates last season and took first place in the conference, they also endured a first-round elimination in the playoffs. "Because (in) the second half of the year, when you have to really earn your wins, our guys weren't," he said. "It was easy at the beginning of the year, (but then) they didn't know how to earn those wins." Reagan says the Bombers are "going through a little bit of a skid here" but adds every team does. Comparing the Bombers to the Broncos, Humboldt lost three of their last four games. Patience Admitting that the Bombers would like to win every game, Reagan says the team needs patience. "Things aren't going well for us right now, but...we get La Ronge on Tuesday," he said, referring to yesterday's game The Bombers planned to redeem themselves with two games against the Ice Wolves this week as well as a game against the Broncos and the Battleford North Stars. The game against the North Stars is going to be important for Flin Flon. As of yesterday morning, the Bombers sat in fourth place in the Bauer Conference, one point ahead of the Stars with two games in hand. "We definitely don't want to be sitting in fifth place," Reagan said. Looking at the standings, Reagan says he wasn't expecting to see the Bombers as low as they are. "I thought we'd be a little closer fighting for the top spots," he said. With that said, the coach believes in the Bombers and says he thinks the team has a fighting chance to make it into those upper slots. "It's going to come with time," he said. "Throughout the summer, we knew we were going to have to be patient with this group. "I guess you can only say that for so long, but the fact of the matter is, we've got a lot of guys that are learning to play Junior A hockey and the commitment that it takes. "At the same time, we've got some veterans that have been around and this is where they've got to shoulder a little bit of the load here." Watching Devin Stillar score a big goal for the Bombers Friday night showed that commitment as the veteran tied the game 2-2. "I know that he's disappointed we lost, but man, it's a great feeling to get that goal and maybe this is going to be his turning point in the season," said the coach.
