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 Bombers took three of four possible points from the Kindersley Klippers this past weekend with an overtime loss on Friday and a win on Saturday. Though they took away the majority of the points, Flin Flon's head coach and GM Mike Reagan said Saturday's was a "weird" game. "It was weird. There wasn't a lot of flow. "You didn't really get a good feel of what this game was going to turn into," he said. The Bombers took the 3-2 win from the Klippers, but it wasn't easy. Through penalty call after penalty call, the Bombers endured some time in the sin bin Ð as did the Klippers. In the first period, the Bombers lost key player Jesse Mychan after a checking from behind call had him removed from the game. In the second, the Bombers were down another big player as Devon Stiller was also taken out for checking from behind. "It was frustrating," said Reagan. After losing Mychan and Stillar, the coach wondered who was going to score next for the Maroon and White. He gave credit to both Ryan Fox and Jonathan Young as they are both "very capable" of scoring, as well as Eric Millisor. The coaches then turned to the younger players on the team. "...at this time of the year, they can handle it. These guys are getting valuable minutes now," said Reagan. The coach says while the team might be losing a few games here or there, the Bombers will benefit from the younger players in the long run. "It's a blessing in disguise. It's gong to pay off in the end," he said. "Let's say we're healthy all year and then all of a sudden, come playoff time, we get injured." Reagan says the players, who have been able to see ice time early on in the season, will be able to pick up the pace later on. "Would we like to be 12-0? Yeah, but we're growing as a team." Reagan said right now, patience is key for the Bombers. "It's one of those things, when you win, you feel very good about your team. When you lose, all of a sudden, you're questioning everything." Reagan quoted local Bomber Dillan (Pickle) McCombie, who said "it's easy to be critical when you're in the stands." The bench boss agreed that it's also easy to coach from the stands. But Reagan says on the bench, where it counts, he and assistant coach Michael George are finding it tough to use the patience they need to. "Patience is a key word. We're doing our best," he said. Reagan says sometimes the players respond and sometimes they don't. "Tonight, I think we did." With the Bombers outshot 21-4 in the third period of the previous night's game against the Klippers, Saturday saw the Bombers outshooting Kindersley 13-12 in the final period. "That's big," said Reagan. A big factor for the Maroon and White was being able to focus and concentrate, which the coach had said was the game plan after Friday's OT loss. "We were just simplifying things. I think that's the biggest problem Ð we don't simplify when we need to." Though Saturday's game did not require an extra period, the action kept going after the final buzzer as both teams were on with emotions flying. Fights had the referees taking players off the ice one at a time. Flin Flon and Kindersley coaches were on the ice trying to clear their own teams. According to the official scoresheet, both Reagan and Klippers coach Larry Wintoneak were handed a game misconduct. The Bombers have a week to get back on their feet and get a winning streak going. Next up, the Bombers host the Notre Dame Hounds Friday before having another week off.
