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Bombers subject of upcoming ESPN documentary

A documentary film crew has been gathering footage to tell the story of the Flin Flon Bombers on North America’s most-watched sports network.

A documentary film crew has been gathering footage to tell the story of the Flin Flon Bombers on North America’s most-watched sports network.

Principal photography and interviews for the as-yet-untitled project took place around Flin Flon this past week ahead of an airing on ESPN and the sports website Bleacher Report, likely later this year.

“The length is to be determined at this point, but it’s about the history of the Bombers, the current team and the relationship with the community here,” said project director Dustin Cohen.

Cohen is overseeing the project along with a crew from Greencard Pictures, a New York-based production company specializing in documentaries, commercials, music videos and other media.

The crew gathered footage at the Friday,
Feb. 10 Bomber game that saw 1,565 fans cheer the club on to an 11-0 victory over the La Ronge Ice Wolves.

They also shot a game of pond hockey with the team, as well as several area sights and sounds.

The concept for the documentary originated last fall when Cohen discovered the Bombers while researching Canadian junior hockey.

A longtime hockey fan, he had never worked on a hockey-related film project, but was eager to get started.

“Hockey is very hard to film in a cinematic way,” Cohen said. “It’s super fast, but it was really fun.”

During production, Greencard worked extensively with the Bombers, interviewing players, coaches, fans and even the team’s stick boys.

Bomber coach and general manager Mike Reagan said the team needed time to get used to having the film crew around.

“At first, it was different, having people follow you around and getting comfortable with the cameras and stuff,” he said. “By the end, you kind of forget about it. Even being mic’d up on the bench, there were times when I’d have to remind myself that I was being recorded.”

Cohen and the Greencard crew noted the close ties between Flin Flon and its team. 

“More than anything, seeing just how much the community supports the team and how much the team supports the community was wonderful to explain and learn about,” he said.

Reagan said the team is excited to see the result.

“I think it’s great for the organization, I think it’s great for the community and the SJHL,” he said. “We’re really looking forward to the end product. It’ll probably be a little weird, seeing yourself on there and seeing your team, but we’re really honoured that they picked us.”

Greencard’s past projects have involved brands such as Google, NBC, Microsoft and Dodge. While the Bomber documentary will likely air later this year, no firm date has been set.

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