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.
After starting the season with a 2-0-4 record, the Bombers have gone 0-7-3 in their last ten games, and will be looking for their first win since October 3, when the La Ronge Ice Wolves roll into town for a game this Saturday. Flin Flon's last win came over the Melfort Mustangs, who defeated La Ronge in overtime on Wednesday night this week. After getting off to a slow start, the Ice Wolves been on a bit or a roll since letting go of assistant coach Todd Hornung. The Bombers trail the Mustangs and the Ice Wolves by three points for fourth spot in the SJHL's Dodge Conference. "Larry (Wintoneak) has his team going pretty good right now," said Flin Flon head coach Ryan Hoffman. "They lost in overtime on Wednesday, but they strung a few wins together before that. Statistically, their goaltending is a lot better than it was on opening weekend. We've got our work cut out for us, but it will be a good test for us here on Saturday." Fans will expect the Bombers to be well rested and ready for a battle with the Wolves, as Flin Flon hasn't played a game since Sunday, and will have another six days to rest before their next match. The Bombers haven't had any trouble finding the twine this year, as they lead the Dodge Conference with 56 goals scored, although they have lacked that killer-instinct to go for the throat when they have their opponents down by a goal or two. Team defence has been their downfall so far, as the team has allowed 74 goals against, by far the most in the league. The Bombers continue to improve their special teams, and spent a lot of time on this area in practice this week. "We continued to work on special teams in practice this week," said Hoffman. "It's improving, but we want to get those running as well as possible. On our last road trip, our penalty killing was very good, and now we've got to continue that here at home on Saturday." On their last road trip, the Bombers improved their road penalty kill to 84.5%, the best in the league. Their penalty killing woes have all come at home, where they are operating at just 70.9%. On the power play, the team is third overall in the SJHL at 21.7%. La Ronge's power play has been less than impressive at 15.5%. The difference in percentage could mean the difference between a couple of goals per game, and a couple of wins over the course of the year. If the Bombers continue to improve on the power play and penalty kill, they should be able to pull themselves out of their downward spiral in time to make the playoffs. Leading the attack for the Bombers have been Andrew Skrabek and Joey Moggach, with 18 and 16 points each respectively. The two players are just about as opposite as you can get, veteran Skrabek tipping the scales at 6'3, 220 lbs. and rookie Moggach weighing in at 5'8, 160 lbs.. Both will have to stay hot in order to keep the Bombers offence rolling. On defence, Conrad Wilgenbusch leads the way with eight points, while Derek Gallagher has accumulated five power-play goals, second highest in the SJHL. Right behind him on the power play are Skrabek, Moggach and Craig Parks, who have all chipped in with four power-play goals. The Bombers will have to contain La Ronge's Jeff Marshall, who leads the league with six power-play goals. Kyle Gladue has been the setup man for La Ronge with 15 assists and 20 points, while Marshall knocks em down with 10 goals and 16 points. Between the pipes, the Wolves have been going with the hot guy, as both Mike Carozza and Kraig Kuczynski have seen plenty of ice time, although Kuczynski was yanked on Wednesday night after allowing two goals in seven minutes against the Mustangs. See 'Bombers' P.# Con't from P.# With the injury to Brett Koscielny, the Bombers have been splitting the duties between Paul Reimer and Troy Ciernia. There are two schools of thought about carrying three goaltenders this late into the season. On one hand, it allows the coach to get a better look at the netminders in different situations, and having a three man rotation also pressures the goaltenders to be on their best every night, as they are still fighting for a job. On the other hand, the pressure can be too much for some netminders, and doesn't allow for the guys to get comfortable until they know where they stand. In Flin Flon, the situation is receiving mixed reviews, as the guys want a solution to be found as soon as possible, but don't want to lose a spot on the team because of it. Teams don't have to trim their rosters until December 1, which is exactly one month from Saturday. In other team news, trainer Kevin McCallum is now a former trainer. He left the team earlier this week without notice, leaving the organization scrambling to find a replacement. "To be honest, it hasn't affected the guys at all," said Hoffman. "If anything, it has pulled the guys together and everyone has chipped in a little bit more than they usually do. Conrad Wilgenbusch told me that Derek Blais is the best trainer he's ever had. It's disappointing with the way things were handled, but whatever doesn't kill you can only make you stronger. When things are all said and done, we'll get a new trainer in here, ad we'll be better for it." The Bombers will host the Ice Wolves at the Whitney Forum on Saturday. Game time is 7:30 p.m.
