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.
Kelly Carrington Staff Writer The Flin Flon Bombers fell short of trade opportunities on the Jan. 10 deadline. The organization made offers during the trade deadline, but the deals weren't in the cards. 'We...were prepared and made offers on players that we (never did) before and it still wasn't good enough,' said head coach and GM Mike Reagan. He said the asking price for some players was 'through the roof.' 'At the end of the day, would we have liked to make it happen? Yes. Did it happen? No.' The Bombers did pick up two new faces during the week as Andy Blanke and Jason Wark have joined the team. Reagan says they like the team 'very much and have a lot of confidence in our boys.' 'I've spent the majority of the days on the phone trying to pull off a deal that would land us an impact player,' he said, noting that the work for the trade deadline started a week ago. 'Unfortunately, there are a lot of teams in all different leagues that are in the hunt for a playoff spot and felt that (being) big buyers or sellers was the way to go.' 'Deeper' team The trades that were made will make the Bombers a 'deeper' team and one to compete against in a seven-game series, said Reagan. The Bomber roster of 24 has Reagan confident. 'I like the squad we have. We have good size, toughness, grit, and (our) goaltending is strong,' he said. The Maroon and White have maintained a top-three defensive record in the SJHL. But the forwards have found themselves slipping at times. '...our forwards, in my opinion, have underachieved at times this season. When I say that, I don't mean it in a negative way, I mean it in a positive manner,' Reagan said. 'I believe they have a lot more in them to be successful. A lot of them just need to catch on fire and (they) will become a real threat.' Leaving the Jan. 10 deadline in the past, the Bombers sat with a 23-14-0- record in 37 games, good for second place in the Bauer Conference. Saturday, after The Reminder went to press, the Bombers hosted the Weyburn Red Wings in their first home game since the Christmas break. 'Our whole goal this season is not to finish first in the North (Bauer). It would be nice, but our goal is to be playing our best hockey and (to) stay healthy going into the playoffs,' Reagan said. Through spring camp, main camp, and two trade deadlines, Reagan says he has faith in his team. 'We believe we have put a fantastic hockey team together and that we have as good a chance as anybody,' he said. But the coach and his players know the task at hand won't be easy. 'Competitive' 'The SJHL is as competitive a league as there is in Canada, and playoff hockey success can be the difference of a bounce here or there,' Reagan said. Reagan says he and the club know 'it's going to be hard, but we like our chances.' 'All we can ask for is that our boys play hard and leave it all out there,' he said. Last week's final trade deadline was quiet as not too many moves were made across the league. 'Not many teams made significant moves, as it was a real hard deadline to accomplish much,' Reagan said. 'We talked to teams all across Canada and the same theme seems to happen everywhere.' Keeping the team as is, the Bombers look to host the Nipawin Hawks tomorrow night.
