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.
The Flin Flon Midget 'AA' Bombers were expecting a tournament in Watson, Saskatchewan last weekend. Instead, they got four exhibition games after every team but two dropped out. Flin Flon played three exhibition games against their host from Watson, and Lumsten also made the trek up to Watson for an exhibition game against the Bombers. Flin Flon was missing four key players, and were forced to cut down to three lines and four defense, two of them being converted forwards. They played their first game on Friday night against Watson and lost by a score of 6-1. They saw Lumsten in the early game on Saturday, losing 8-4. On Saturday night they suffered a close 3-2 loss to Watson, and they finished up with a 7-4 loss on Sunday against the host. Despite losing all four games, coach Greg Phair was impressed with the efforts of the boys, playing competitive hockey despite missing four key players. He said that the efforts in their final game were amazing. Down 5-1 after two periods, Flin Flon bounced back to win the third period 3-2. "It was a good experience for those boys," said Phair. "They learned a lot about themselves this weekend. I couldn't have asked for anything more from them. We were missing four key players who had to stay home with exams If those guys were there, we would have won at least three and maybe all four games. If we would have played provincials this weekend, no team in Manitoba would have come within four goals of us." After the tournament, Phair said he got a lot of comments on how well the boys played, and about how well disciplined they were. "Those teams pounded each other for three games, but they left it on the ice," he said. "When it was done, they shook hands and took a group picture. I had a lot of positive compliments about our boys." Next up for the Midget Bombers is the Tournament of Champions in Brandon, February 10-13. Flin Flon is also trying to host a tournament of their own. If there is enough interest, the tournament will run on February 25-27. Teams are already starting to sign up. Provincials will be in Swan River March 11-13.
