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 came down to the wire for the Flin Flon Bombers. Their season was about to be over if they didn't tie the game Wednesday night. La Ronge was leading in the third period 3-2 on home ice when Brennen Cox scored the big goal for the Bombers. He tied the game at 16:43 Ð giving the Bombers a chance to stay alive. With overtime well underway, Matty Lecours put the biggest goal of the series in for the Bombers as they won their first game of the playoffs 4-3. "I didn't see the goal light go on, I didn't see the puck go in Ð I just saw hands go up," said head coach and GM Mike Reagan. "What a feeling. It's just relief because I know these guys have worked hard." Winning Wednesday night gives the Bombers the chance to host the Ice Wolves tonight in Game Five, in the best-of-seven series Flin Flon has had some hard luck in this series, according to Reagan, noting that the team hadn't gotten any breaks in the series. "It's just been that type of series," said the coach, "and we're sitting there on the bench and we're going 'what do we have to do to win a hockey game?'" The Bombers found what they needed with two minutes left in the first period of overtime against La Ronge. During the third intermission, Reagan told Lecours that it was up to him. Lecours, who has won a national championship in the past, accepted the challenge and came through big for the team. "He whacked home a rebound," said Reagan. "We talked about it at the intermission Ð 'if the puck's in there, you just keep whackin', whackin', whackin' until they blow the whistle.'" The Bombers came out slow in the first periods of both games Ð a trend the team has been following this series. "We've had troubles with all the starts of periods," said Reagan. "We've started to play better as the periods go on Ð we just always seem to get out to a slow start and I don't really know why." Scoring late in the first period Wednesday night, Ben Bitz put the Bombers on the scoreboard. Bitz's goal held up for the Bombers as they went into the dressing room in the lead Ð an outcome Reagan and assistant coach Trevor Sack had talked to the team about before the game. The slower start to the second period ended with two goals from the Ice Wolves, making it 2-1. The Bombers opened fire in the third period as Lecours scored the team's second goal just 11 seconds in. But the Ice Wolves quickly put the spotlight on themselves as they scored on Matt Weninger just 37 seconds into the period. From there, with the score 3-2 for La Ronge, the Bombers tried everything they could to get past Adam Bartko. Cox came through for the Bombers as he dumped one in to tie the game and send it into overtime. "I remember at the end of last season, (Cox) goes, 'Reags, I wanna win a championship and that's all I'm here for. If I'm not going to have that chance, then maybe I want to go somewhere where I get that chance.' "I told him, 'Coxy, we're going to have a very good hockey team.'" With that, Cox is still in the Bomber line-up and hoping, just as much as the rest of the team, to win that championship. The Bombers are now one game closer to their goal. Wednesday night's game was intense and left many fans Ð both Flin Flon and La Ronge Ð on the edge of their seats. "We had a breakaway opportunity," said Reagan of the overtime. "We hit a post and we hit a crossbar and we're going, 'is this for real?'" Before the game started, Bomber trainer Jeff Woods (Woody) jokingly told Reagan that the game was going to go into double overtime. Watching the clock dwindle down, Reagan was beginning to think he was right. "I told him, 'I don't think my ticker can handle two overtimes,'" he laughed. "...I looked up at the clock and I go, 'Oh my (gosh), he's serious.'" See 'Celebr...' on pg. Continued from pg. But Lecours' goal saved the Bombers from that dreaded double overtime. A sea of maroon celebrated the goal as the La Ronge left the ice. Tuesday Night Overtime proved common in La Ronge as both games went into extra periods. Tuesday night, the Ice Wolves won 4-3 over the Bombers as they got past Weninger at 8:20 for the win. "I thought we played a heck of a game tonight," said Reagan, following the game. "I thought it was a heck of an effort and our guys did a lot of good things out there tonight and we just (have) to keep our heads up." Believing in themselves was a big part of their game plan, said Reagan. After Wednesday's game, the coach said, "We're believers now." "We've told the guys that if we can win one game, that we're going to win this series. We'll see if that's true," said the coach. "It's taken us a while, but we've just to got to win one game at a time." The Bombers host the Ice Wolves in the fifth game of the series tonight. As long as the Bombers win, they will head back to La Ronge on Sunday. Game seven is pending for Tuesday back in Flin Flon.
