The schedule for the next SJHL season has been released, including a few dates Flin Flon Bomber fans may want to circle on the calendar.
This year’s 58-game schedule includes 29 designated home and away games each, starting with a home-and-home series with the La Ronge Ice Wolves. Flin Flon will host the Ice Wolves at the Whitney Forum Sept. 13, then head down Highway 106 to La Ronge for another game the following night. They will be the first and second of 10 games between the Bombers and Ice Wolves this upcoming season – the two teams will play each other more than any other team next year.
The Bombers will face the remainder of the league’s northern teams–division rivals Melfort and Nipawin, along with Battlefords and Humboldt – six times each, three games on the road and three at home. Flin Flon will face the league’s six southern clubs four times apiece.
A division rivalry with the Nipawin Hawks will be started anew on Sept. 28, when the Hawks come to Flin Flon for the first of three games between the two teams at the Forum. Another rivalry with divisional foes Melfort will kick off on Oct. 29, with another pair of Mustangs-Bombers games in Flin Flon on Nov. 23 and Jan. 11.
Pleasantries with the Weyburn Red Wings, including former Bomber Dawson McKenzie, will be renewed at the Forum Jan. 31, with a pair of road games in Weyburn set for late 2019. Last season, the Bombers and Red Wings combined for some notable matches, including a last-minute melee that ended with a line brawl and goalie fight on the road. Weyburn also traded star forward Cade Kowalski to the Bombers ahead of the league trade deadline for a package that included McKenzie.
Former Bomber assistant coach Garry Childerhose, now the head coach and general manager of the Kindersley Klippers, will be back in town in October for the Klippers’ only games in Flin Flon this season. The Bombers and Kindersley will play a back-to-back weekend series on Oct. 25 and 26. Later in the season, Flin Flon will have their only home rematch of last year’s league quarterfinals with the Battlefords North Stars Feb. 14 and 15.
The Bombers will also take part in the SJHL’s annual Showcase event in Warman on Sept. 23 and 24, playing Weyburn and Battlefords at the city’s Legends Arena.
Here is this year’s Flin Flon Bombers home schedule:
Sept. 13 – La Ronge
Sept. 20 - Humboldt
Sept. 21 - Humboldt
Sept. 24 - Battlefords (at Warman showcase)
Sept. 28 - Nipawin
Oct. 4-Kindersley
Oct. 5-Kindersley
Oct. 18 - Melville
Oct. 19 - Melville
Oct. 29 - Melfort
Nov.8-Yorkton
Nov.9-Yorkton
Nov. 14-Humboldt
Nov. 15-Notre Dame
Nov. 23-Melfort
Dec. 7-Nipawin
Dec. 21 - La Ronge
Jan. 3-La Ronge
Jan. 11 - Melfort
Jan. 24 - Nipawin
Jan. 29 - Estevan
Jan. 31 - Weyburn
Feb. 1-La Ronge
Feb. 14 - Battlefords
Feb. 15 - Battlefords
Feb. 19 - Weyburn
Feb. 21 - Estevan
Feb. 22 - Notre Dame
Feb. 29 - La Ronge
