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 magic number for the Flin Flon Bombers is now three, after picking up only one point against the Yorkton Terriers this past weekend. Three losses by the Flin Flon Bombers, three wins by the Nipawin Hawks, or any combination of the two will officially eliminate the Maroon and White from the SJHL playoff picture. On Friday night, the Bombers got another stellar performance from goaltender Francois Laverdrere, only to lose 3-2 in overtime on a gutsy move by Yorkton coach Don Chesney to pull the goaltender in the extra frame and go for two points. The story of Saturday's 4-2 loss was the exceptional play of Yorkton's goaltender Kevin Dziaduck. The Bombers came out of the dressing room like a team on the brink of elimination, and played hard-nosed hockey for about five minutes of the first period. While a 3-2 overtime game might sound like a close checking, defensive battle, that was not the case at the Whitney forum on Friday. After Trent Cassan was ejected for checking from behind 16 seconds into the game, there was little to no checking from that point on. The only thing that kept this game close in the first two periods was goaltender Laverdrere's hot glove, as Yorkton out shot Flin Flon 28-16 over 40 minutes of play. Yorkton's Lance Herauf scored the only goal of the first period on a giveaway in the neutral zone, walking in untouched to score unassisted at 19:38. Yorkton made it 2-0 with a shorthanded goal at 4:28 of the second period. Flin Flon finally got on the board with a four-on-four goal from Derek Blais at 5:30, assisted by Anatoliy Moshkovsky and Daryl Fransoo. Jeff LaPointe tied the game for the Bombers at 16:02 of the second period, with assists going to Clayton Geiger and John Iron to knot the game at 2-2 after the second period. After leaving their goaltender out to dry for two periods, the Bombers finally tightened up defensively in the third period. Both teams played tentatively in the third period, and shots were 8-6 in favour of the Bombers in the scoreless stanza. In overtime, the Bombers had a couple of chances to end the game early, but missed the net twice and had a shot blocked on another occasion. With a face-off in the Yorkton zone, the Terriers called a time-out. Desperate for two points, the Terriers pulled their goaltender in favour of the extra attacker as the play shifted to the Flin Flon zone. If the Bombers would have scored on the empty net, the Terriers would have forfeited their overtime point. The gamble paid off for Yorkton, as Jason Beatty scored to end the game at 4:24 of overtime. Final shots on net were 48-24 for Yorkton. Neither team was effective on the power-play. Flin Flon was held scoreless on six chances, while Yorkton failed to score on four tries, although the Terriers did manage a short handed goal. On Saturday, Flin Flon looked good during the first period, leading 1-0 after 20 minutes of play. Jimo King scored his first goal as a Flin Flon Bomber at 2:06, with Kyle Holmes assisting. The line of King, Holmes and Clayton Geiger was the most effective line for the Bombers, but Dziaduck neutralized them for the rest of the night. Three unanswered goals by the Terriers in the second period put the Bombers down for the rest of the night. No one picked up Justin Keller, who scored his 40th goal of the season at 2:15 on a pass behind goaltender Laverdrere. After numerous tries, Flin Flon couldn't clear the zone and Josh Cudmore made it 2-1 for Yorkton at 7:15. An unfortunate deflection off of a Bomber skate gave Trent Cassan the game winning goal at 9:25. Joey Moggach stopped the bleeding for Flin Flon by scoring his 17th of the season at 19:39. Moggach shelfed a pass in a tic-tac-toe play from Derek Gallagher and Jeff LaPointe during a five-on-three power play. The Bombers out shot Yorkton 16-8 in the second period, but a couple of defensive lapses proved to be the difference in the game. Barry Sparvier scored an empty net goal in the third period to guarantee Yorkton two points at 19:17. Final shots on net were 37-29 for Flin Flon, who ran into solid goaltending from Dziaduck all weekend. Laverdrere was by far the best Bomber on the ice on both nights. Good job by the team in regards to discipline, as the Bombers only found themselves short handed nine times in two games. Yorkton was held scoreless on five power plays, while the Bombers scored once on nine chances. After 51 games, the Bombers sit with 38 points and a record of 12-25-11-3. They are tied with La Ronge, who has 38 points in 54 games. Both teams trail Nipawin for the final playoff spot, but due to games played, La Ronge can only tie Nipawin, should the Hawks lose all 10 remaining games. The Hawks have 50 points in 50 games. The Bombers will continue their struggle to make the playoffs on Wednesday, as they kick off a four-game road trip with a stop in Melfort. They will be in Notre Dame on Thursday, take a break on Friday, play a game in Weyburn on Saturday and wind up in Estevan on Sunday.
