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.
If only the Flin Flon Bombers could have had the energy of the Tasmanian Devil to overcome the Battlefords' North Stars. Fatigue kicked in and the Stars disposed of the Bombers in five games after winning 7-0 at the Civic Centre in Battlefords on Friday. Bombers coach-GM, Doug Stokes disagreed when asked if Stars goalie Jonathan Laniel was the difference in the series. "No, I think the biggest difference at the end of this series was fatigue," Stokes answered. "I really strongly feel that. We played seven games against Melfort in 11 days. Then you had five games in seven days. It totals at that point 12 games in 18 days with travel and I really think that our lack of depth in some areas Ð really the tank was on empty." The Bombers had their chances with 27 shots, but Laniel turned them all aside. See 'Bombers' P.# Con't from P.# Not much went the Bombers' way as the Stars scored a goal on a high stick Ð though the game was already decided Ð and Dalton Pajak had a disappointing end to his SJHL career after getting kicked out for a hit from behind at the end of the second. In Stokes' opinion, the other problem the Bombers had was getting extra chances. "Not to discredit Laniel," Stokes explained, "I thought he played extremely well for them. Realistically, goaltending at this level and higher, when you got direct sight lines to pucks and you're only facing the original shot Ð they're going to save 90 per cent of them, 99 per cent of them. I didn't think that we had a lot of opportunity... because I don't think we're big enough up front." Former North Stars centre Dennis Kubat credited his former team. "It's like all series, we didn't really get our bounces and they're just a good team and they deserved to beat us," Kubat said. The Bombers' leading playoff scorer said he could tell that the wheels were falling off. "We just tried to battle hard and give it 100 per cent," he said. "They just had more energy and they deserved it." One of the players who performed well was Bombers defenceman Evan Smith, who also is a former North Star. "I was getting an opportunity to play," Smith stated. "With (Myles) Masse getting kicked out of game four, I just thought I'd try my best and make good on my opportunity." One thing in game five that impressed Smith also became a trademark for this 2005-06 version of the Bombers Ð they never quit. "We played the full third period even when everybody maybe have thought that we were done," Smith said, as he was also impressed with the class the team showed when they didn't try to start anything. "As much as the score might indicate that maybe we didn't put in the effort that's required at this level to be successful, I don't think that's accurate," Stokes said. "It was 3-0 for the longest time. The fourth goal they got late in the second period... should have been disallowed on a high stick. It was just one of those things that a very veteran team that, when we made mistakes, they had the finish on it." In his final game as a Bomber, goalie Zane Kalemba stopped 28 of 35 shots, but as hard as he tried, struggled to show the form his team knows he's capable of. "I thought Zane fought the puck a little bit in this series," captain Blake McCullough said. "I didn't think necessarily the goaltending lost us the series. It probably played a factor, but that wasn't the only reason. You can't fault Zane. All year Zane was arguably our team MVP and held us in for the whole year to make this playoff drive."
