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.
PJ Musico gave the Bombers a chance to win Monday night against the OCN Blizzard. Batting pucks out of thin air and making glove saves across the crease, Musico stopped 22 shots in the last half of the second period and the third period. Going into overtime, the Bombers and Blizzard were tied 3-3. A scoreless five minute period left the teams lined up for a shootout. OCN missed their first two opportunities, as the Bombers missed their first, but it was Corey Tyrell who scored the lone goal against Mark Smith in the shootout for the win. "We're happy with the win," said Bomber head coach and GM Mike Reagan. "I didn't think we played very well, but you know, thanks to some unbelievable goaltending, we were able to pull one out. "After that performance, we're pretty excited about having (Musico) here, for sure," said the coach. Reagan said it's not always ideal to rely on a goalie for the win, but sometimes it's necessary. "Sometimes you need to lean on your goaltender and we definitely did that," he said. Following a 2-3 second period, the Bombers opened fire in the third period and tied the game after only 13 seconds of play. Tyrell scored another big goal for the Bombers. "I thought we gained a little bit of momentum. We played well for three or four minutes and then we let them back into (the game)," said Reagan. "Thank God for good goaltending." Heading into the game, the coaching staff was confident in their goaltending selection. They split the game between Musico and Randy Graham, with the netminders each playing a period and a half. "We're confident in our goaltending," Reagan said. "I knew (Musico) would give us a chance to win." The Bombers weren't able to play the game they knew they could, but they brought a physical aspect to the table. "I was happy with the more physical play," said Reagan. "We're definitely more physical than we were last year. We may not be as talented as we were last year, but we're definitely more physical Ð which is what we wanted." The team's physical play was evident in the first period Ð though with only a few penalties to show for it. The Bombers earned their first goal of the game on a power play in the first period Ð giving Andrew Johnston the green light to put one past Smith. The Maroon and White were still down by one as the Blizzard sat 2-1 at the end of the first period. A late second period goal from Johnson, on a power play, left the Bombers still one goal behind OCN as they earned a third earlier in the period. Sitting at 3-2, Tyrell saw the opportunity and scored early in the third period. Following the shootout, the Bombers left the preseason above .500 and on a three-game winning streak. "...so, we're excited about that," said Reagan. "That was our focus Ð to try and get on a winning streak and feel good about ourselves going into the regular season. Like I said earlier, it's not about wins and losses, but you try to take anything positive out of exhibition,"he said The team is taking their three-game winning streak and preparing for the 2010-11 regular season. Leaving the preseason feeling good, Reagan says it had a lot to do with the comebacks, which show character. "At least the guys are going to dig in and not give up," said the coach. Starting his fourth season behind the bench, Reagan says "it's taken a lot of coaching to try and get that out of them Ð just the mental aspect of the game." "But, at least we know we've got it in us." The Bombers hit the road Friday to take on the Melfort Mustangs in their home opener before the Mustangs travel to the Whitney Forum for Flin Flon's home opener. Thinking ahead already, the coach knows there is going to be some much-needed practice going on. "We've got to build off this," he said. "We've got to have four lines that are rolling and working hard shift in and shift out. That's the biggest thing. "Practice is going to be crucial," he said. Reagan says he hopes to see a confident team at the end of the week. "It seems like we're lost out there at times and that can be very frustrating, from our perspective. The things we worked on last week, we didn't see it out there. "Our forecheck was non-existent and our D zone was scrambly," he said. "On the defensive side of the puck, we didn't work hard enough. Offensively, we just love trying to play offense, but you've got to play defense before you can play offense." The Bombers will spend this week practicing and preparing for the big games against Melfort this weekend. As far as numbers go, the Bombers trimmed their numbers following Monday night's game. The team is getting closer to their regular season numbers, though Reagan says "you always carry a couple extras" with injuries in mind.
