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.
Dropping two games to the La Ronge Ice Wolves was not the way the Flin Flon Bombers expected to open the season. However, that is exactly what happened this weekend, as the Ice Wolves owned the Bombers, both at the Whitney Forum in Flin Flon and the Uniplex in La Ronge. On Friday at home, things were going well for the Bomber power-play, as a pair of extra-man goals by Andrew Skrabek had the Bombers ahead early. Skrabek's backhand over the glove of goaltender Alex Gagnon at 2:59 was assisted by Cole McLean, and at 3:12, Skrabek shoveled a loose puck into the back of the net, with Tyler Beachell and Keith Spencer assisting. The Bombers led 2-0 early on, but at the other end of the ice, the team just couldn't get it together, as four Ice Wolves' goals were enough to bury the Bombers by the end of the period. A missed check in the corner set up Kyle Gladue all alone to score at 9:14, assisted by Jeff Marshall and Kris Desjarlais. Marshall then scored an unassisted, short handed marker as Bob Graham's point-shot was blocked at the other end of the ice. Desjarlais gave the Wolves their first lead of the game on a power play at 16:42, with assists going to Marshall and Dustin Dubas. Goaltender Francois Laverdiere bailed out his defence with 18 seconds to go in the period, breaking up a three-on-one breakout, but with eight seconds remaining, another coverage breakdown gave La Ronge a two-goal lead, as Marshall scored his second goal and fourth point of the game, assisted by Desjarlais and Gladue. The Bombers remained flat in the second period, and two more goals by the visiting team made it a 6-2 hockey game after 40 minutes of play. Donovan Hall scored at 11:21 from Braden Olszewski and Desjarlais. At 13:21, it was Doug Exner beating Laverdiere, with Olszewski and Scott Odelien assisting. La Ronge extended their lead to five goals just 56 seconds into the third period, when Dillon Henningson scored from Garett Roenspies. Andrew Skrabek stopped the bleeding with his third power-play goal of the game at 5:35 of the third period, with assists going to Beachell and Spencer. La Ronge out shot Flin Flon 29-25 in the game, going 1/5 on the power play, while the Bombers scored all three of their goals with the extra attacker, going 3/8. Just under 1,400 people attended the game in Flin Flon on Friday night. Saturday in La Ronge, 929 people came out to watch the Ice Wolves win their second game of the season. Again, Flin Flon's power play was working in the first period, as Stewart Sjoberg scored his first of the season at 13:42, with Kyle Holmes assisting. The Bombers led 1-0 after the opening frame, despite being out shot 18-6. In the second period, Laverdiere could no longer keep the Ice Wolves at bay, as they scored twice to take the lead and never look back. T.J. Schneider notched his first of the season at 1:07 from Bryan Lewis and Donovan Hall, and the same threesome connected at 12:02, with the goal going to Lewis, and assists going to Schneider and Hall. In the third period, Cory Harder scored from Desjarlais at 6:17, and then Desjarlais picked up his sixth point of the weekend with a goal at 19:44, assisted from Dan McIlwain and Jeff Marshall, who racked up five points in two games against Flin Flon. The Ice Wolves out shot the Bombers 48-23, including 19-9 in the third period. La Ronge scored one power-play goal on 11 tries, while the Bombers had one goal on six chances. The Bombers were out scored 11-4 over the two games, with all four goals coming on the power play. Needless to say, Flin Flon will have to be much better during five-on-five play this coming weekend, when they will face three tough southern opponents in Saskatoon at the SJHL Showcase Weekend. Flin Flon will play Weyburn on Friday at 5:45 p.m., Estevan on Saturday at 5:45 p.m., and finish against Melville on Sunday at 3:45 p.m. All games will be played at the Canlan Arenas in Saskatoon, formerly the Jemini Four.
