Flin Flon Bomber fans got their first in-game glimpse at the backbone of this year's squad at the annual Maroon and White game August 31. Team White earned a 5-3 win after solid performance from both veterans and prospects.
Austin Pick with Team Maroon got the scoreboard lit with the first goal of the game, picking a corner on Team White goalie JP Mella. Shortly after, Jaxon Martens tied the game up after a Maroon turnover game him a chance in front.
Returnee Donavan Houle-Villeneuve gave White the lead, ripping a well-placed wrister past Maroon goalie Rylan Potkonjak, but Jaedon Mercier tied things up late in the first with a shorthanded bar-down beauty for Maroon.
Zach Purcell made it 3-2 Maroon with an unassisted snipe, but a seeing-eye wrist shot by third-year defender Mason Martin tied the game up. Later in the period, Peter White scored what would prove to be the game-winner for Team White, capitalizing on a scramble in the crease.
The goalies were able to hold down the fort for most of the third period - Jack Rekrutiak for Team White and Hunter Lolacher for the Maroon side. A lively scrap between White's John Kalmakoff and Matt Raymond of Maroon woke the fans up. Late in the third, White's Cole Rafuse iced the win with an empty-netter, coming off a well-timed poke check of a Maroon defender.
The Bombers will have a busy schedule over the next week, playing six games in seven days. The first game will take place Sunday night in Nipawin. After getting Monday off, the team will be in play the rest of the week, heading to OCN to play the Blizzard Sept. 3, coming home to play the Swan Valley Stampeders Sept. 4 and playing an away game against the Stamps Sept. 5. The Bombers will finish the preseason with two home games Sept. 6 and 7 against Nipawin and OCN.
The Bombers' 2019-20 season kicks off with a home game against La Ronge Sept. 13.
