It was a breakout third period for the Flin Flon Bombers who pasted Laronge 7-1 Saturday night and eliminated the Ice Wolves from the playoffs for a third straight year.
Laronge came out and played desperate hockey for pretty much the first two periods, but the potent Bomber offense took it up a notch in the third.
Tyson Empey got the Bombers on the board with a pair of goals 10 seconds apart in the second period, before Colby Daniels got the Ice Wolves on the board with a powerplay goal, with less than a minute to go in the middle frame.
The Bombers opened up the flood gates in the third, firing 24 shots at both Kris Joyce and Austin Rediron and scored 5 straight to take the game 7-1. Goals came from: Switzer(11), Kitt(4&5),Evans(9) and Smith(19).
With the Bomber victory and Nipawin losing to Melfort Saturday night, the Bombers and Hawks are tied for fifth overall with 72 points. It will now come down to a 1 game showdown at the Whitney Forum Tuesday night to decide fifth spot. The winner plays Notre Dame and the loser will play Melville in the first round of the playoffs.
Adam Beukeboom was solid again, and made a lot of big saves especially in the first two periods when the game was still close. He was busy stopping 34 out of 35 Laronge shots and was so fundamentally sound. He has recovered from his six week injury well.
It will be interesting to see what lineups Mike Reagan and Doug Johnson decide to go with Tuesday night. I am pretty sure we will see Hofley in net for the Bombers, and I think there is a good chance we could see Nipawin's backup Jesse Fontaine who has not seen a lot of action at all this season.
Game time is 7:30, and let's get a big crowd at the Forum and give the players just a small taste of how loud and crazy it will be for the playoffs.
After the game against Laronge on Saturday, the Bomber organization made their way over to the Legion Hall for the Awards Banquet.
Here are the winners:
Diane Krokosz Memorial Award- Most Dedicated- Tyson Empey
Flin Flon Bomber- Most Popular Player- Michael Knaub
Howard Fox Courier- MR Hustle- Austin Evans
Lavalley Artworks- Academic Award- Danys Chartrand
Creighton Furniture- Defensive Player Of The Year- Robbie Cameron and Dean Allison
Patty Ginnell Memorial- Most Improved- Brayden Lacoursiere
Nick Olobdzija- Rookie Of The Year- Brandon Masson
Darcy Bancroft- Best Defensemen- Tyler Bell
CFAR- Most Valuable Player- Chris Rauckman
Royal Bank 3 Star Award- Chris Rauckman
George Leel Memorial- Most Points- Chris Rauckman
Pat Spiller-Most Goals- Chris Rauckman
Chicken Chef- Unsung Hero- Brandon Switzer
Coach's Award- Dean Allison