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.
Bad blood flowed between the two teams Tuesday night as the Melfort Mustangs visited the Whitney Forum for what would be a very physical game against the Bombers. The Bombers took the Mustangs to town, in more than one way, as they earned a 5-1 win. Dougie MacLeod dropped his gloves for the first fight of the night just 16 seconds into the game. A fight-less second period was made up for in the third. Three consecutive fights late in the final period led to the referees telling Flin Flon head coach and GM Mike Reagan and Mustangs head coach Darrell Mann no more fighting. But the Bombers weren't going to be walked all over in their own barn. "This is our home rink and (they're) not going to come in here and try to run around and do that sort of thing," said Reagan The Maroon and White stuck up for not only themselves, but for their teammates as well. Controversy came from the stands when new Bomber Deven Stillar hit the ice in the third period, following the fights. Recently traded from the Mustangs and sitting with two goals on the night, Stillar was hoping to earn a hat trick against his former team. With the game already rough, putting Stillar on the ice left Reagan with a fan or two breathing down his neck, but the coach defended his decision. "Deven had two goals. He wanted to get the hat trick against his former team and really, ya know, stick it to them," said Reagan following Tuesday's game. "He wanted to be out there." But as Stillar was out on the ice, he was provoked by his former teammates. After two cross checks to the cage, which Stillar wears for medical reasons, he dropped his gloves and took on Carter Berg. Following the call for no more fights, both players were sent off the ice with less than six seconds to play in the game. Reagan said with the referees saying no more fighting, the fight between Stillar and Berg should not have happened. But the coach has said before that he agrees with players fighting if there is a good reason. "...Deven is a hockey player. He's going to stand up for himself. He's no slouch," said Reagan. Reagan says Stillar is "a strong kid and he did very well in that fight." The Game Just over 700 fans were out for the game as they saw the Bombers score four goals before the Mustangs were able to get their lone marker. Stillar lit the lantern for the Bombers less than 45 seconds in, while on a power play, with help from Alex Lamontagne and Mike Rey. Two more goals were on the scoreboard for the Bombers in the first period as Dominic Martel found the back of the net with help from Ben Bitz while Brody Haygarth scored the third marker Ð assisted by Tanner Korchinski. The Bombers not only had control of the scoreboard, but as Reagan said, the game as well. The second period saw a late power play goal from Stillar (Korchinski) to make it 4-0. But seconds later, the Mustangs were able to get their first, and only, goal of the night as Todd Chinova got one past Matt Weninger. Following that goal, Haygarth earned one of his own for the Bombers' final goal of the game. The third period remained goal-less, but not action-less as the fights were continuous. On A High The Bombers earned six out of a possible eight points on their recent road series, which wrapped up in Notre Dame on Saturday. The team started off shaky early in the month with four consecutive losses. But Tuesday's win helped put them back on track, following a four-game winning streak that ended Saturday in Notre Dame. "I was extremely happy with it," said Reagan, commenting on the success of the road series. "...if you were to tell me before the road trip we were going to go 3-1, there is no question that I would be happy with that," he said. With the chance to sweep the series, Reagan said the team was physically and mentally tired. Tuesday's win, however, earned the Bombers their fifth win in six games. "We're starting to get it going here now and we've got an opportunity here," said the coach. With two games left in January, which will be played tonight and tomorrow night against the Terriers, Reagan says the Bombers have a good chance of being above .500 this month. "And that's what you want to do each and every month," he said. "I mean, I've talked about that before and you know, we have an opportunity to go 7-5 this month." Considering how the month started, Reagan says he'll be "very happy with that."
