Todd Hornung has mixed feelings about his final game in a Flin Flon Bombers uniform.
The Bombers were hosting the 2001 Royal Bank Cup, Canada’s national Junior A championship. They made it all of the way to the championship game but fell 5-0 to the Camrose Kodiaks.
Hornung recalls how much success that team had the ice that season.
“Coming within a win of a national championship was really special, but at the same time is hard to take every time you think back on it,” said Hornung, who grew up in Vanguard. “I know we all wish we could have given the community the championship they deserve. Hopefully [current head coach] Mike [Reagan] and his boys can bring one back there real soon.”
Hornung currently lives in Swift Current, but returns to the Flin Flon area frequently as his in-laws, John and Arlene Jacobson, live at Birch Lake.
He is an analytical chemistry technician at Agriculture and Agri-food Canada.
Hornung and his wife, Jolene, who works for the local school division and Great Plains College, have two children: Ryland, 15, and Hayden, 11. Both are active in various sports.
Although he only played one season Flin Flon, Hornung has great memories and relationships from the experience.
“There were many things about that year that I enjoyed. I remember how close we were as a team and how many good times outside of the rink we all had together … I made a lot of really good friendships which have lasted till today. I am still pretty close with many of my teammates as well as a lot of the people in both Flin Flon and Creighton.”
Hornung joined the Bombers after four Western Hockey League seasons split up between the Portland Winter Hawks, Lethbridge Hurricanes, and Swift Current Broncos. His fondest memories were of the 1998 season with the Winter Hawks.
“We were fortunate enough to win both the WHL and Memorial Cup championships that year,” Hornung said. “It was also the year that I was drafted by Washington (in the third round), which was special for me and my family.
“Junior hockey is a place where you have to grow up quick and you learn so much on and off the ice, but it is the best years of your life and wouldn’t trade for anything.”
After playing for the Bombers, Hornung suited up for the University of Saskatchewan. Since then he has done some coaching with the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League’s La Ronge Ice Wolves, the Swift Current Legionnaires midget AAA team, and some of his son’s minor hockey squads. He also has played some senior hockey over the years.
