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Kelly Carrington Staff Writer The Flin Flon Bombers hosted their first international hockey team since 1997. The junior team welcomed the Sweden 17 and Under team to the Whitney Forum Wednesday night for an exhibition game. The game attracted the second largest crowd to date, this season, for the Bombers as nearly 1,300 fans were in the stands. Some cheers for Team Sweden could be heard, but were quickly drowned out by the chants for the Maroon and White. Getting underway with an introduction to each player and coach, both the Swedish and Canadian national anthems were played. Erin Mansell, along with father Kelly and sister Sara, dropped the puck between the Bombers and Swedes to get the game going. Expectations of high scores, fast skating and fast puck handling were held up as Team Sweden ended the first period 2-0 over the home-team. From there, the Bombers and European team put up a few goals. In the end, the visitors won 5-4 over the Bombers. "It was a good event," said Flin Flon head coach and GM Mike Reagan. "I'm fairly happy with the way we played, considering we were off the ice for seven to eight days." Coming off the SJHL Christmas Break, Reagan said the team improved as the game went on. "I thought that our guys played better as the game went on and we gave ourselves a chance to win," Reagan said. Knowing the challenge that was ahead of them, after the game, Reagan said a strong effort was "all you could ask for." "That's a very good hockey team over there," said the coach. "They've got players there that will some day be playing in the NHL." With that said, Reagan said he was pleased with the team's effort and the job done. Though he says a win would have been nice, the team wasn't going to get frustrated from the loss. "I'm not trying to put too much into it," he said. "I don't want to be frustrated." Reagan noted that one frustrating part of the game was how the Bombers "shot ourselves in the foot, again." Taking undisciplined penalties let the Swedes earn two power play goals against the Bombers. The game offered a few physical elements Ð which the crowd enjoyed. "...we were trying to be physical," said Reagan. "That's the way you slow speed down is by being physical." Showing their physical side, Reagan said he was "impressed with the way (Sweden) didn't back down." A noticeable difference on the ice were the helmets. The Bombers, the majority of who are over the age of 17, don't wear cages. The Swedes, whose average age is 16, all had cages on. "Our guys got frustrated because sticks were up in our faces all night," said Reagan. See 'Sweden' on pg. 5 Continued from pg. 4 "That's what happens when one team is playing with cages and one team is playing without cages." Expectations Heading into the game, there was plenty of talk not only in the Whitney Forum, but from the community as well. Reagan said he didn't set any expectations for his team, but suspected it would be a high-scoring game. "...just because they're a very offensive team," he said, noting that most European teams are offensively strong. Looking down the bench, which featured honourary assistant coach, John Dougall, Reagan said he could tell the Bombers were hungry. "I think the hunger was there to win," he said. "...we tried not to put too much into this because we've (only) practiced once and then played these guys. "For us, I mean, it's going to prepare us for the next couple of games here, which is a good thing." Though the Bombers didn't win against the Swedish team, Reagan says the Flin Flon team will be able to put this towards their next games. "It's a lot easier going into our game against La Ronge now that we've played a game," he said. La Ronge will have the same advantage, however, as they hosted the Sweden team on Thursday. Past and Future The last time the Whitney Forum saw hockey on the international scale was in 1997. Fourteen years later, the Bombers hope that it won't be another 10 plus years for the next team to enter the Whitney Forum. "I think it's a real positive for the future events," said Reagan. "If it comes about, we can bring something like this in and it will be supported." As for the players themselves, the coach says it will more than likely hit them in years to come. "They'll keep the programs and take a look (in) the future and maybe be watching a guy in the NHL and say 'I played against him.' "That's part of the cool thing (is) looking down the road." Following Wed-nesday's game, the Bombers and Swedes had a meet and greet at the Victoria Inn to get to know one another. Previous to the game, Reagan said he had a brief chance to meet the coaches, but was going to have a better opportunity at the meet and greet. Scoring Scoring for the Bombers was James McNulty as he lit the lantern first for the home team Ð making it 2-1 for Sweden. Next on the list, Jesse Mychan earned a marker on a power play. Bomber captain Ryan Fox scored the last two goals for the team. Team Sweden scored two power play goals, of their five, against the Bombers. The Bombers played both PJ Musico and Randy Graham Ð giving them equal opportunities to play against the international team.
