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.
Lined up against a team of veterans, Flin Flon Bomber rookie hopefuls gave it their best shot Monday night in the first preseason game of the year. The Bombers played host to Swan Valley as it was evident the Maroon and White were a little nervous. "A lot of these guys had never played here before and wanted to impress, for sure," said head coach and GM Mike Reagan. "We're up against a veteran squad that has been together as a team seven days longer than we have." As well as already playing a few games together, Swan Valley had the opportunity to practice together. The Bombers, on the other hand, had just finished their Main Camp the day before. "We needed to get the jitters out of the way, but I thought our guys responded real well in the second and third." The Bombers were down 4-0 at the end of the first period. But the team came back with a little more fire as they outscored the Stampeders 1-0 the rest of the game. Though Swan Valley went on to win 4-1, Reagan was pleased with how the rookies came together. "At times, we did a good job of putting some pressure on them," he said. "It was just a lack of veterans in the line up." The coach said if he had have placed his veterans in the line up, he's sure the Bombers would have won. But, the said, the preseason is for the rookies. "It's a chance to see where your young guys are at," he said. Reagan made mention that he was pleased with the effort from Beau Stewart, the lone goal scorer for the Bombers, Cameron Blaire and Dillon McCombie played. As well, the coach was pleased with team's young defense players. "We're excited. The young guys showed us what we were expecting to see and they were able to build off some momentum in the second period," said Reagan. Looking back over the game, Reagan said the majority of Swan Valley's goals "were probably preventable." "There were some mistakes we made in our D zone and it's just because we're not used to playing with each other and don't know the systems," he said. Overall, Reagan was left happy with the team's performance. Noting that they outscored the team after the first period, he said he knew it was going to be a tough game going in. "Which isn't a bad thing," he said, "it's a good measuring stick for us, I think." Reagan said the Stampeders "did what they had to do to win." "It wasn't about winning or losing tonight. It was about assessing where our guys were at," he said. "There's a few guys that we thought were on the bubble of maybe playing for us, and then (there are) a couple of guys we want to see in the line up," he said. "It was a good thing for us." Stressing that the exhibition season isn't about the number of wins or losses, Reagan knew the team was going to have to play better for their game against OCN, in Thompson, on Wednesday. "I think tomorrow," he said after Monday's game, "we're going to have to work on a few things and be a little sharper for Wednesday night." After Monday night's game, the Bombers still had 28 players in the dressing room. By this weekend, Reagan said they would be down to the needed 25 players to start the season. Due to multiple injuries, Reagan said the number may still hover around the 27 mark until preseason is over. "We have to get through exhibition with all the injuries we have. We're going to need bodies here," he said. Wednesday night, the Bombers made their way to Thompson where they hosted the OCN Blizzard. The team from The Pas took the win 5-2 over the Maroon and White.
