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.
Going into their Tuesday night game against the Nipawin Hawks, the Flin Flon Bombers sat with two wins in a row under their belt. But that momentum wasnÕt enough to bring home a third straight victory as the visiting Hawks brought the Bombers down 5-4 in a shootout. A few mistakes cost the Maroon and White their extra point as both teams walked away with one point. As head coach and GM Mike Reagan says, the turnovers are what killed the team. ÒWe let Nipawin hang around and we didnÕt choke them out when we needed to,Ó says Reagan. ÒWe had the power plays but didnÕt capitalize on them.Ó The Bombers outshot the Hawks 50-28, and Reagan says Òwith 50 shots in a hockey game, you should win the hockey game.Ó As for the turnovers, he says Òthey ended up in the back of the net Ð which is extremely frustrating.Ó Reagan gave ample credit to the Nipawin netminder. ÒWe had a good offense,Ó he says. ÒBut their goalie stole them an extra point tonight.Ó In the past few games, the BombersÕ score has been getting closer to the teams they are playing. There arenÕt too many blowouts this time of the year, something Reagan attributes to it being mid-season. ÒTeams get better as the year goes on...and there are competitive teams in the league,Ó he says. Some of those improvements come with roster changes, which the Bombers have done quite a bit of lately. As of midnight on December 1, all teams in the SJHL were required to cut down to 25 cards. The Maroon and White made a few changes to gain experience. As they said goodbye to Cole Gibson, who had 15 points in 23 games, they said hello to Josh Garneau, Dan Lind and Kevin Carpenter. Reagan says it shouldnÕt take too long to get the guys into Bomber mode. Neither Garneau or Lind have played hockey in the last two weeks, so they need to get into game shape again. And although the coach isnÕt making excuses for the new players, he says it will just take some time to get going. Carpenter arrived just in time for TuesdayÕs game after an 11-hour drive to get to Flin Flon. ÒThere is some conditioning we need to do,Ó says the coach. ÒOther than that, I think we will be okay.Ó As for letting Gibson go, Reagan says he was looking for someone with a bit more experience. ÒWe score enough goals to win, but we need better defense,Ó he says. ÒGarneau has a lot of experience with two SJHL...and a national championship.Ó See 'Tough' on pg. Continued from pg. Looking at the schedule, Reagan says December is going to be a tough month, but these new faces should help them along. ÒWith this many games in this many nights, itÕs going to be demanding on the guys,Ó he says, noting that with the mandatory cuts, they are down in numbers. And to help those nights go by a little smoother, the new players are going to have some work ahead of them. ÒWe have to teach them the systems and make sure they are aware of what we are trying to do here,Ó he says, noting that it ÒshouldnÕt take long.Ó The following is a summary of TuesdayÕs game between the Bombers and the Hawks: The Bombers scored the first goal of the game as David Dykstra accepted a pass from Mitch Dougall. But the glory didnÕt last long as the Hawks returned the favour a little more than a minute later as Mike Rey got past Ryan Kerpan to tie things up. With the score 1-1, both teams kept the puck coming but were unable to get past either goalie. In the first period, the Bombers fired off only nine shots while the Hawks came at Kerpan 13 times. The second period was similar to the first in the sense that as the Bombers scored, the Hawks were right on their tails. Devin Mitzner made his way to a fairly open net after getting the puck from Doug McLeod to break the tie. The Maroon and White held their lead a little longer this period, but the Hawks still found their way to the back of the net Ð evening the score up at two. The Bombers kept the pucks coming in the second period with 18 shots on net, while Kerpan only saw the puck three times. Once again, the score was tied going into a new period. And once again, the Bombers scored the tie breaking goal with a shot from Dougall, with help from Dykstra and McLeod The score sat at 3-2 for two minutes before the Hawks found their spot and got one past Kerpan. Breaking the streak, the Hawks scored the teamÕs fourth goal a few minutes later. But the Bombers came back and were able to tie things up at four with a goal from Dominic Martel, with a helper going to Mitzner. Going into overtime, the Bombers were able to keep the puck in the Hawks zone for the majority of the overtime with a few shots on net, but it was Nipawin that was able to get by Kerpan for the win. The Hawks went on to win 5-4 in overtime, which left both teams with one point each. After the game, the Bombers sat in third place in the Itech Conference, one point behind the Melfort Mustangs.
