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.
Two decent road efforts couldn't earn the Flin Flon Bombers their first victory away from the Whitney Forum on the weekend. After a 4-2 loss in Battleford on Friday night, the Bombers headed to Kindersley where a couple of bad breaks saw them end up on the wrong side of a 5-2 score. Clete Mastad netted his first goal of the season on Friday to give the Bombers an early lead at the 3:10 mark of the first period. The North Stars replied on their first power play opportunity, as Jared Keller beat Francois Laverdiere at 16:08 from Michael George and Derek Keller. Brett Jullion caught the Bombers napping to start the second period, scoring just 16 seconds after the puck drop. Michael George and Sam Webber assisted on the goal. Tyler Beachell tied the game with a power play goal at 4:50, assisted by Andrew Skrabek and Rylan Zakreski. It was his 14th goal of the season. Beachell was named Player of the Month for December, despite the fact that the Bombers failed to win a game the entire month. George scored the eventual game-winner at 8:46, with assists going to Jared Keller and Derek Keller. The Bombers pressed for the tying goal in the third period, but a late penalty accompanied by a Battleford power play goal killed any hopes of a comeback. Brett Jullion scored the goal at 18:55, assisted by Derek Keller and Michael George. It was George's fourth point of the game. The Bombers were out shot 33-21 in the game, including 10-4 in the third period when the game was on the line. Saturday's game followed much the same story line. The Bombers held the Klippers to a 2-2 tie heading into the final 20 minutes of play, where they just couldn't hang on. Kevin Buyan opened the scoring for Kindersley with a power play goal at 2:42, assisted by Gio Flamminio and former Bomber Kyle Holmes. Fritz Sauter found the back of the net for the first time this season at 3:05 to tie the game, with assists going to Cole McLean and Mackenzie Groenewegen. The Klippers got a home-town break at 13:54, when Troy Schwab scored on an apparent missed offside call. The goal was assisted by Flamminio and Kevin Aylward. David Holinaty's first of the season once again tied the game for Flin Flon at 18:37. The power play goal was assisted by Clayton Geiger. The third period belonged to the Klippers, as they would net three more goals to win by a score of 5-2. Brodie Zuk's goal at 5:04 was assisted by Schwab and Chris O'Connor. Zuk pick up the puck just a second after leaving the penalty box to break in and score. Buyan picked up his second of the game at 15:58, from Holmes and Flamminio. Buyan has score the majority of his eight goals this season against the Bombers. Curtis Graham sealed the win with an empty net goal at 18:17, with Jesse Fischer and Brady Larock assisting. The Bombers were out shot 35-23, and were only able to score once on seven power plays, while the Klippers were good on one of three advantages. See 'Deadline' P.# Con't from P.# Flin Flon's leading goal scorer Andrew Skrabek did not play in Saturday's game. With the January 10 trade deadline here, Skrabek has been the subject of trade rumours and Kindersley is one of the teams that has expressed an interest in him. With Bear Trapp moving to Estevan, Skrabek is likely to be the next sought-after forward. Other 20-year-olds on the team include captain Stewart Sjoberg, goalie Francois Laverdiere, tough guy Cole McLean and defensemen Bob Graham and Rylan Zakreski. Sjoberg has 20 points and is third on the team in points. McLean leads the team and is third in the league with 255 penalty minutes. Zakreski leads all Bomber defense with 14 points. It is likely that Skrabek and Sjoberg will be moved by midnight tonight, as both have played their entire junior career in Flin Flon and have yet to make the playoffs. Only one team in the league currently has a goaltending problem, as Weyburn's Russ Monette was recently called up to the Western Hockey League. However, if Laverdiere is traded, the Bombers will need an immediate replacement. Expect a new line-up when the Bombers host the Nipawin Hawks on Tuesday night. Although new players may take a couple days to arrive in Flin Flon, you can bet that there will be some notable faces missing on the Bomber bench.
