Are the Flin Flon Bombers spending too much time in the sin bin?
Flin Flon is averaging 21.9 minutes of penalties per game so far this season. Heading into Wednesday’s Weyburn-La Ronge game, the Bombers were the third-most penalized team in the league behind Estevan (25.8 minutes per game) and Weyburn (22).
Captain Braden Lacoursiere, a defenceman, leads Flin Flon with 39 penalty minutes in 16 games, an average of 2.4 per matchup. Twenty-two different Bombers have received at least one penalty this season.
The Yorkon Terriers are the least-penalized team in the SJHL with an average of 14.6 penalty minutes per game.
The Bombers return to the ice Friday against Weyburn before taking on Estevan on Saturday. Both games will be at the Whitney Forum.
Smith profiled
He helped lead the Flin Flon Bombers to the SJHL final last spring.
Now Alex Smith is amping up the enthusiasm level among fans of the Michigan Tech Huskies.
Last month, the forward was the focus of an 846-word feature piece in the Daily Mining Gazette, a newspaper in Houghton, Michigan, where Michigan Technological University is located.
“I played two years in the Alberta league with Bonneyville and developed my game to the point where, when I got traded to the Saskatchewan league in Flin Flon, I had two really good years in junior,” Smith told the publication. “That made it possible for me to be here now.”
Smith concluded his two-year stint with the Bombers last spring when the team lost in the league final. His strong play helped earn him Player of the Year honours.
“I got more of an opportunity in Flin Flon and I tried to make the best of it,” he told the Gazette. “I had a couple of good linemates, good coaching staff. The coaches gave me every opportunity to succeed. As a player, that is all you can ask for.”
As of Wednesday, Smith had three points (2G, 1A) in seven games for Michigan Tech. Coincidentally, the Huskies’ head coach, Mel Pearson, shares the name of a former Bomber great.
Coach let go
The La Ronge Ice Wolves have parted ways with head coach and general manager Shawn Martin.
The club announced Wednesday it had relieved Martin of his duties effective last Sunday, Oct. 23.
“We would like to thank Shawn Martin for his passion and dedication in the four years of service to the La Ronge Ice Wolves hockey program and northern communities,” the team said in a brief statement.
The Ice Wolves also announced that associate coach Matt Hehr has resigned from the team. The club is actively looking to fill both positions.
Super-Duperreault
Ben Duperreault is proving that last season was no fluke.
The Notre Dame Hounds centreman is tied for the SJHL lead in points with Humboldt’s Chris Van Os-Shaw.
Duperreault has played in two fewer games than Van Os-Shaw, garnering 25 points (11G, 14A) in 15 games.
Duperreault, 20, was outstanding in his first SJHL season last year, putting up 28 points (12G, 16A) in just 25 games.
The only Bomber in the top 20 for SJHL scoring is forward Nick Shumlanski. His 15 points (6G, 9A) placed him 15th among scorers, excluding Wednesday’s Weyburn-La Ronge game.
Ref retires
After two decades, SJHL referee Keith Mackintosh has called it a career.
Mackintosh officiated his final game Oct. 1, a matchup in Melfort that pitted the Mustangs against the
North Stars.
The Melfort Journal reports that Mackintosh chose to retire due to other commitments and a desire to turn officiating over to a new generation.
“It was enough. I’m pretty busy with work and other stuff, it’s time for some of the younger guys to get their shake in this league,” he told the newspaper. “It was just long enough – 20 years is a long time to be on the highway at 30-below.”
