The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
In their second rookie game, the Flin Flon Bombers were doubled by the OCN Blizzard by a score of 8-4 on Tuesday night in The Pas. Even though the score was lopsided, it was a vast improvement from last year's game in The Pas, when the Bombers refused to return to the ice after a brawl halted the game before the 10 minute mark of the opening period. Understandably, the Bombers looked nervous on the first shift of Tuesday's game, but it was the Bombers who drew first blood. Derrick Pruden, who is no stranger to the Gordon Lathlin Memorial Centre, scored from Dallas Reid at the 1:52 mark. Shortly after the goal, Simon McCusker took exception to a bad hit on one of the Flin Flon players, and McCusker stood up for his man, going the distance with Nigel Settee. Unfortunately, this put the Bombers down to five defencemen, and they were without one of their four veterans that were allowed to play. During five-on-four play minutes later, OCN took advantage of a defensive laps and scored on an odd-man rush to tie the game. Dan Melnyk scored his first of three on the night, assisted by Curtis Campbell at 4:36. At 8:07, Dallas Reid put the Bombers ahead 2-1 when his centering pass went off the goaltender's skate and in the net. Quinn McIntosh and Derrick Pruden assisted. OCN took over in the last five minutes of the period, and took advantage of a couple defensive mistakes by the Bombers. Matt Summers scored from David Gooch and Dan Melnyk at 16:48, and Melnyk netted his second of the game at 17:14, with assists going to Curtis Campbell and Matt Summers. OCN continued their domination in the second period, scoring three more goals before the Bombers could stop the bleeding to make it 6-2. Goaltender Troy Ciernia did all he could to keep the Blizzard at bay, but without help from his defence, OCN wasn't going to be stopped. Darcy Prince scored at 4:26 and 7:25, and Dan Melnyk potted his third of the game at 9:42. Ryan McMorris assisted on the first Prince goal, while Kyle McCutcheon and Jon Domic assisted on the second. Justin Magnuson and David Victor assisted on the Melnyk goal. Full marks go to Curtis McCombie and Tyler Hennessey in the second period. For the second night in a row, McCombie challenged a guy nearly twice his size, and Hennessey's title fight midway through the period sparked the Bombers' only offence of the period, as Craig Parks scored at 13:10 to put the Bombers back in the game. Jordan Pidskalny assisted on the goal. Kevin Burwell was also ejected in the second period for fighting, although his young contender tied him up pretty good. With McCusker and McCombie both done for the night, the Bombers were down to four defence for the third period. Derrick Pruden notched his second of the night at 4:32 of the third period, with Kurt Matthewson and Spencer Davis assisting. Pruden didn't last much longer, as he was tossed for fighting shortly after, leaving him with three points on the night. OCN took advantage of the tired defence late in the third period. Chris Hammett scored from Curtis Campbell and Dan Melnyk, as he was all alone in front of the net. Phillip Butt scored on a similar play at 15:25, with assists going to Jon Domic and Justin Paul. The Bombers finished the game 0/4 on the power play, while the Blizzard scored one goal on two chances. OCN out shot Flin Flon 46-22 over three periods of play. Troy Ciernia played the entire game for Flin Flon, while Ryan McMorris and Daniel McIntosh split the netminding duties for OCN. "Everyone was talking about the intimidation of going into OCN," said assistant coach Dustin Ernest after practice on Wednesday morning. "It's similar to coming into Flin Flon. We told the kids to focus on the ice, and don't worry about outside the boards. The guys got to see what the was like, but once they settled down, it was a little better." See 'Our' P.# Con't from P.# "Our rookies played like rookies," said Ernest. "They made some mistakes, and that is going to happen. I thought we did okay at times. When we wanted to skate, we could, and when we wanted to dominate, we did. In the end, we gave up too many two-on-ones and made too many mistakes." A healthy number of Flin Flon faithful made the trip to the Gordon Lathlin Memorial Centre to support the Bombers. An 8-4 loss isn't so bad, considering what went down in The Pas last year. The Blizzard have had a history of dominating their opponents in the GLMC for the past seven years. The Bombers only make the trip to The Pas once a year, with rookies who have usually never experienced the pressure-cooker environment that is known as OCN hospitality. After practice on Wednesday morning, four more players were released from camp. It is expected that a similar number will be going home before the weekend. "We're down to a good number," said Ernest. "We'll probably be down a few more after (Wednesday night's) game. We're going to take 26 or 27 kids to Saskatoon." The veterans took to the ice for the first time last night in Flin Flon against the OCN Blizzard vets. Results were not available at press time.
