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 Kinsmen Bantam 'AA' Bombers travelled to Dauphin February 18, 19 and 20 to play in the Dauphin Kings' Annual Bantam 'AA' Tournament. In the first game held Friday evening, Flin Flon met up with the Brandon Precision Bantam 'AA'. The Flin Flon boys looked very sluggish in the opening period and were down 2-1 after 20 minutes. Scoring for Flin Flon in the first frame was Nick Hamilton assisted by Wesley Gawiak. In the second frame, Brandon would go up 4-1 before Flin Flon replied with an unassisted goal by Owen Woloshyn. Brandon would then jump ahead with their fifth goal before Ryan Fox responded for Flin Flon assisted by Calvin Cairns. The score after two periods, Brandon leading 5-3. In the third period, Flin Flon got an unassisted goal by Tanner Korchinski but Brandon replied, and despite lots of pressure, Flin Flon was only able to score one goal in the last two minutes, by Aaron Bauman assisted by Nick Hamilton and Wes Gawiak. Final score was Brandon 6, Flin Flon 5. The Bombers then spend the night licking their wounds and came out Saturday morning against the Swan River Bantam 'AA' Stampeders. In that game it was all Flin Flon, scoring three goals in the first and three in the third to spank the Stampeders 6-0 with Connor Dayman earning the shutout for Flin Flon. Scoring for Flin Flon were Ryan Fox with two goals and singles going to Landon Rowe, Jordan Crone, Tanner Korchinski and Lyle Leclair. Aaron Bauman had two helpers with Jonathan Young and Calvin Cairns each contributing one assist. The Bombers, because of their standings in the round robin, then had to meet the Brandon Precision 'AA' team that had beat them the night before. Brandon would jump out to a 2-0 lead in the first period and Flin Flon replied with one goal of their own late in the frame by Wes Gawiak assisted by Ryan Fox. In the second period, Flin Flon found their legs, scoring five goals in a row before Brandon responded with two of their own late in the period. The score after 40 minutes of play was Flin Flon 6, Brandon 4. Scoring for Flin Flon in the second period was Ryan Fox assisted by Brad Simon, Aaron Bauman unassisted, Nick Hamilton assisted by Ryan Fox and Brad Simon, Ryan Fox unassisted, Lyle Leclair assisted by Aaron Bauman and Jordan Crone. In the third period, the Bombers' conditioning paid off as they scored four unanswered goals to lay a 10-4 thumping on their Brandon counterparts. Scoring in the third period was Ryan Fox (hat trick) assisted by Wes Gawiak, Aaron Bauman assisted by Jordan Crone and Tanner Korchinski, Landon Rowe assisted by Owen Woloshyn and Jonathan Young, and Lyle Leclair assisted by Aaron Bauman and Calvin Cairns. The win put the Bombers into a semi-final against the Portage 'AA' Bantams, which was held Sunday morning. In that contest the teams were tied 0-0 after the first period with Flin Flon hitting a number of goal posts and crosssbars but unable to connect with any scoring. In the second period Flin Flon continued to have trouble putting the puck in the net until almost halfway through the period when Cory Dupre finally connected on an assist by Tanner Korchinski. Flin Flon got its second goal with only 23 seconds left in the period with captain Ryan Fox scoring assisted by Owen Woloshyn and Wes Gawiak. In the third period, the Bombers would totally dominate their Portage la Prairie rivals with Ryan Fox scoring two more goals for a natural hat trick and assists going to Greg Kritzer and Jonathan Young. Tanner Korchinski would round out the scoring with a tally assisted by Calvin Cairns. The final score was 5-0 for the Bombers with Mike Galay getting the shutout for the Bombers. The win put Flin Flon into the A-side final against the Ste. Rose Royals, which was played at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday. In that game, Flin Flon came out strong and despite dominating the Royals in the first period did not tally until there were only three minutes left in the period on an unassisted goal by Ryan Fox. Flin Flon then went to work and scored two more goals before the end of the period with Wes Gawiak tallying with 1:47 left assisted by Ryan Fox and Nick Hamilton, and Aaron Bauman scoring with 12 seconds left in the frame assisted by Nick Hamilton and Tanner Korchinski. In the second period, Flin Flon would add two more goals on tallies by Owen Woloshyn assisted by Landon Rowe, and Aaron Bauman assisted by Lyle Leclair. Flin Flon would go up 7-0 in the third period on goals by Ryan Fox assisted by Tanner Korchinski and Nick Hamilton, and Owen Woloshyn assisted by Landon Rowe and Cory Dupre. The only goal from the Ste. Rose Royals came with just 6:04 left in the third period when they spoiled Connor Dayman's shutout. The win gave the Bombers the A-side championship and proved once again that their strong work ethic and superior conditioning enabled them to dominate their southern rivals. This was the Bombers' last tournament before the Provincial Playdowns to be held March 4, 5 and 6 in Winkler, Manitoba.
