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.
It was a rough game for the Flin Flon Bombers Saturday night once the second period hit. After giving up two short-handed goals to the visiting Notre Dame Hounds, the Bombers went on to lose 4-3 in overtime with a goal they scored on themselves. Coming off another road win high, the Bombers started the game off well, but lost their momentum in the first period. With two goals answered back in the second period, the Maroon and White struggled to get past Kraymer Barnstable in the third period. With the Hounds' second short-handed goal in the third period, the game was sent into overtime with the score tied at three. Matt Weninger was between the pipes for the Maroon and White but was unable to get back to the net in time as Thomas Williams knocked the puck in over the line at the 2:08 mark. With 35 shots to their name throughout the game, the Bombers came up short of a victory but still earned one point. The game was a little unorthodox for any team, but assistant coach Trevor Sack it's one that the team will be able to look back on at the end of the year. "It's an odd sequence of events," says Sack, "to give up two short-handed goals and score on yourself to lose in overtime." But Sack says the silver lining is the one point the team got. Looking at the past few games, both Sack and head coach and GM Mike Reagan agree their special teams are what need the most work. "Our power play is struggling," says Sack. "Our special teams are hurting us (and we need to) focus on them more in practice and change the way it looks." "There are different ways to (change it)," says Sack, noting that they will be working on puck movement, looks to the opposition and to just focus more in practice. But beyond that, the assistant coach says the effort wasn't there Saturday. With the first five to 10 minutes owned by the Bombers, the team fell short after their first penalty, which had Cole Wilson in for hooking. "We took the penalty and the momentum changed," Sack says. According to Sack, the Hounds are a "fast skating club who makes you pay when you stand around." If the Bombers could have scored one power play goal, Sack says they could have won the game. "We haven't been getting those goals," he says, referring to the power plays. And it wasn't from a lack of chances, as the team just couldn't get the puck in the net when they needed to. Coach Reagan says Saturday's game was "frustrating" and put the team on a different track. See 'Focus' on pg. Continued from pg. The coach also stresses the need to improve their special teams. "If we can fix them, we will have a lot of success," says Reagan. He says the team now needs to focus on working hard. "We've been playing good five-on-five, it's just the specialty teams are hurting us," he says. The following is a summary from Saturday's game between the Bombers and the Notre Dame Hounds: It was a battle as the Bombers had just come home from an 8-6 victory over the La Ronge Ice Wolves the night before. With 748 fans in the Whitney Forum, the Bombers were off to a good start with a goal from Cole Wilson just 41 seconds into the period, with help from Josh Garneau and Reid MacLeod. It was a slower period as the Bombers were given one penalty for hooking while the Hounds were in the bin for goaltender interference. Weninger guarded the mesh for the Bombers and turned away 17 shots while the Maroon and White gave six to the Hounds. The second period was an interesting one as the Bombers scored the first goal as Dominic Martel found the back of the net with help from Alex Lamontagne and Tommy Castonguay. Answering back, the Hounds scored their first short handed goal against the Bombers to make it 2-1. The Hounds bumped it up one more to tie things at two apiece. But that didn't last too long as the David Dykstra scored the Bomber's third goal of the game with help from Devin Mitzner and Dan Lind. It came down to the third period, but the Bombers were unable to get past the Hounds as they stayed with their three goals, but it was another story for the Hounds as they got past Weninger with an unassisted short handed goal from Spencer Hoehn. At the end of the third period, things were tied at three as the team's headed into overtime. It didn't exactly go as the Bombers had planned as they scored on themselves to lose the game 4-3. Next on the docket for the Bombers was last night's game against the Yorkton Terriers. After Saturday's game, Sack said the team was going to have to play a solid game of hockey to beat the Terriers. "We're really looking forward (to getting back on the road)," says Sack, noting that the team has five wins from the last six road games. With Matt Lecours and Harley Garrioch, key players according to Sack, still out on the injury list, the assistant coach says they will be looking much better soon enough. After the Christmas break, Sack says the guys are rested, but they need "to get refocused now." With expectations of a tight scoring game from the Terriers, the Bombers were up for the challenge. "We have to go in with the mindset to keep them off the scoreboard," says Reagan, noting that they don't typically score a lot of goals. "We feel confident going in," says the coach. See Friday's paper for coverage of last night's game as well as tonight's game in Melville.
