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Bomber college alums wrap up seasons early

With the hockey world in stasis due to COVID-19, we now know how a number of former Flin Flon Bombers have fared throughout their college hockey seasons. In the NCAA, the Bombers’ highest scoring alumnus this season was a freshman.
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Former Flin Flon Bomber Greyson Reitmeier, playing for Michigan Tech Huskies. Reitmeier joined the college program in 2017 after wrapping up his junior career in Flin Flon. - FILE PHOTO

With the hockey world in stasis due to COVID-19, we now know how a number of former Flin Flon Bombers have fared throughout their college hockey seasons.

In the NCAA, the Bombers’ highest scoring alumnus this season was a freshman. Forward Caleb Moretz, playing in his first season after junior, put up an impressive 24 points in 36 games for the Rochester Institute of Technology Tigers this year. The Fairbanks, Alaska native finished fifth in team scoring. Moretz played two full seasons with the Bombers, racking up 92 points in 102 games with the team before aging out at the end of last season.

Moretz also attended a Buffalo Sabres prospects camp last summer.

Three Bomber alums played games with the American International College (AIC) Yellow Jackets this season, headlined by forward Joel Kocur. The ex-Bomber standout, now in his senior year, entered the season as a co-captain with the squad and racked up 20 points in 34 games, including nine goals. Kocur hit exactly 100 points in just over a season and a half of time in maroon and white.

Two freshmen with the AIC program, former Bomber captain Nate Hooper and defenceman Calvon Boots, each played one game with the team this year.

Another convoy of Bomber alumni can be found at Michigan Tech. Alex Smith and Greyson Reitmeier, each former Bomber scoring leaders, were big contributors to the Huskies this season. Forward Alex Smith finished third in team scoring with 23 points, while Reitmeier, playing his sophomore year, finished with two goals and seven points in 33 outings. Smith, a senior, also was named a captain this year.

Former two-time SJHL top defenceman winner Eric Sinclair kept up his run of exemplary play with the Univ. of Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves, scoring eight points this season and serving as an assistant captain in his junior year. Defender Cory Thomas, finishing up his own junior year at the Univ. of Vermont, scored one goal in 27 games as a defensive stalwart.

Cade Kowalski found the twine once in his first year with the Ferris State Bulldogs, having joined the club for his freshman season last fall.

 

USports

Seven former Bombers suited up this year in the Canadian USports ranks, led by forward Seamus Maguire at Royal Military College. While the Paladins only finished the year with 19 points in 28 games, Maguire, playing in his fourth year with the program, had his best season, ending with 15 points in 28 games. Maguire played one playoff game and scored a goal.

Chris Rauckman, playing his fourth USports season and his third with the Calgary Dinos, finished the year with six goals and nine points in 24 games. In one season in Flin Flon, the current Canadian inline hockey national team member finished with 64 points and 39 goals in 56 games.

Most of the remaining Bomber alums were defencemen, including two Bombers who were once traded for each other joining forces in Thunder Bay. Troy Williams, who was dealt as future considerations by the Bombers in the trade that acquired them Sinclair, wrapped up his freshman year with the Lakehead Thunderwolves, scoring eight points from the blueline. Tyler Higgins finished up his own freshman year with the York Lions, playing only half the season but notching four points. Joseph Leonidas, a part of the Bombers’ 2016 “Don’t Mess with the Moose Leg” team who was later traded for Williams, played his third year at Lakehead and joined Williams there this season.

Tanner Lishchynsky racked up four assists in his fourth year as a member of the Univ. of Saskatchewan Huskies. The lone remaining forward, Nick Shumlanski, played his second season with the UPEI Panthers, scoring one goal and seven points in 22 games.

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