After the announcement from the Sask Gov't about the changes for team sports due to Covid 19, the SJHL will not be playing any more games until 2021.

The writing was on the wall as Covid cases continue to grip the country including Saskatchewan who had 299 new cases yesterday.

I had a chance to sit down with the league President Bill Chow who was very candid in what this shutdown and Covid could do to the league and it's 12 teams.

You can listen to the interview right here as the SJHL President talks about how the league tries to move forward. https://soundcloud.com/102-9-cfar-podcasts

With the announcement from the Saskatchewan government and Saskatchewan Health that all sports competition must cease operation this Friday, the SJHL will put their season on halt til 2021.

The SJHL released a press release on their website yesterday and said they will wait to  receive direction from both the Sask gov't and Sask Health as to when they can continue their season.

All games will be postponed after this Friday.

Head Coach and GM, of the Flin Flon Bombers, Mike Reagan had this to say about the recent announcement. " We are not really surprised as everybody could see this coming and it is very unfortunate we are at this point. From the Bomber stand point this is something that benefits us as we don't fall behind 10-14 games, but saying that I feel for the other teams as I know how tough it has been for us to go through this the past three weeks.

By know means did we wish this for the rest of the league, but you could see it coming."

The Bombers made an announcement just a day prior that they would have to put their season on hold due to the different sanctions from the MB Gov't and not getting approval to travel.

Due to the current Covid 19 situation and Manitoba in a code red pandemic, the Flin Flon Bombers have seen their season come to a stand still.

The coaching staff and organization have tried to do everything in their power to keep their season going but the obstacles have been just to big to overcome  to keep playing.

The Flin Flon Bombers and the SJHL think it is best to suspend play at this time. The Bombers will pause their season and plan to hopefully pick things up again in 2021.

The team was in the process of moving their players over to Saskatchewan,  and the plan was to practise at the Sportex and play all their games on the road til they could get back in the Whitney Forum.

Head Coach and GM, Mike Reagan mentioned to me that the process was having a negative effect on his players,  and the players decided that they should return home and come back with a fresh perspective in the new year.

The Bombers have not been on the ice since their home opener back on November the 10th and not knowing what their future would look like was starting to weigh in.

We caught up with the Head Coach and GM, for an in depth interview and he explains how and why the organization decided to go in this direction.

You can hear the full interview here: https://soundcloud.com/102-9-cfar-podcasts

The Flin Flon Bombers were hoping to schedule this past weekend's games with North Battleford for this Tuesday and Wednesday.

102.9 CFAR has received word that these games will be postponed til further notice as the Bombers have not received permission to play.

Flin Flon is still waiting word from the Saskatchewan Government on approval to continue their season.

Head Coach and GM, Mike Reagan says that the organization is treating this as top priority and will continue to follow all the rules and protocol in a safe and respectful manner.

The Bombers will release a full statement tomorrow.

Congratulations to former Flin Flon Bomber Alex Smith who has signed with the Florida Everblades  of the ECHL.

Smith spent two seasons with the Bombers after coming over in a trade from the Bonnyville Pontiacs of the AJHL in 2014.

Smith became one of the most exciting and top offensive forwards in the SJHL, where he put up 131 points in 110 games. He also added 27 points in 23 playoff games. 

Among his other accolades in a Bomber uniform included SJHL Player Of The Year in 2015-16, and was one of the big reasons the Bombers got back to the league final and were just two wins shy of a league Championship.

After playing in Flin Flon, Smith picked up a NCAA scholarship to Michigan Tech and played 4 years for the Huskies while being named captain for his final season in 2019-20.

In 4 seasons Smith accumilated 79 points in 155 games.

Memberships are available for the 2020-2021 Flin Flon cross country  ski season.

If you pick up a membership before the end of November you will receive 10% off your membership fees.

Memberships are available for the whole family, adults, juniors, children plus one adult and child at very affordable rates.

The ski club will be following all the rules and protocols  with Covid 19 and have gotten approval from the gov't to open for the year with some sanctions.

You can register and get more information at flinflonskiclub.ca

If the pandemic is getting you down, there may be an opportunity to get some fresh air and excercise.

The Flin Flon Ski Club is working hard on opening up some trails. With all the fresh snow recently the executive feels that there will be an opportuinty to provide a safe affordable way to relieve some stress and get physical exercise.

The Manitoba Gov't  says cross country ski-ing can take place as long a as participants stay two metres  away from each other.

The chalet would remain closed.

You can get more information from flinflonskiclub.ca or https://web2.gov.mb.ca/laws/orders/_pdf-order.php?ord=2020-11-12

The Flin Flon Bombers have postponed their weekend games with the Kindersley Klippers.

In a week that has  posed all kinds of challenges due to Covid 19, including the Manitoba government's  announcement  that the province is now being placed into code level red.

That means all non-essential services and facilities would have to close and the Bombers would not be able to play out of the Whitney Forum for at least a month.

The two teams had agreed that they would play the two games in Kindersley at the West Central Events Centre this weekend, and Kindersley would then travel back to Flin Flon the weekend of December the 4th and 5th.

That all changed today with a lot of concerns about the team travelling at this time.

We caught up with the Head Coach and GM of the Bombers, Mike Reagan earlier today and this is what he had to say about the situation. " We have decided that we will postpone our games in Kindersley this weekend with the original plan that  they would be returning the favour in December. We were also planning on playing our next 4 weeks on the road.  In saying that our main priority as an organization is to be responsible in the community and to be leaders in the community. For right now until we get more guidence from Manitoba and Saskatchewan health we think it's best we postpone these games."

Reagan said they planned to meet with both Manitoba and Saskatchewan health as well as SJHL President Bill Chow on Monday,  on putting a plan together to resume their season.

courtesy of mjhlhockey.ca

WINNIPEG, MB – The Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) has announced that all hockey activities have been paused effective immediately until the beginning of 2021.

As of 12:01 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 12, the entire province of Manitoba has moved to the Critical level (red) on the #RestartMB Pandemic Response System to halt COVID-19 transmission and protect Manitoba’s citizens.  These Public Health Orders will remain in effect until 11:59 p.m. on December 11, 2020 at minimum.

The tentative date planned for hockey activities to resume is Friday, January 1^st, 2021 which would be dependent upon public health guidance as outlined in the #RestartMB Pandemic COVID-19 Response System.

Thank you for your continued support and understanding as the MJHL along with entire province of Manitoba works through this challenging time.

Please stay tuned for upcoming schedule announcements in the coming weeks.

Stay safe!

For all media inquiries, please email media@mjhlhockey.ca

It was a day the Flin Flon Bombers would like to forget.

After getting the news from the Manitoba Government that they would not be able to play  another game at the Whitney Forum for a minimum of at least a month, they were flat in their home opener against the Melfort Mustangs.

The game was supposed to take place on Saturday but mother nature and her 50 cm of snow changed that.

Fans gathered for what could be the last home game possibly this year hoping for a good effort from the home town team.

Melfort stormed out of the gate and scored four goals in the opening period and never looked back in a 8 to 3 victory.

Ben Tkachuk scored a pair,  including a beautiful short handed goal which came on a 3 on 5 with other Melfort markers from Marco Lopez, Tye Sherger, Coleten Boyarski(2) and Vaclav Prospal(2).

The Bomber offense was supplied by former WHL'er  Zach Huber who banged in his first two goals of the season and was the best Bomber forward on the ice.

The other Flin Flon goal came from Matt Raymond who found the back of the net on a short handed break away early in the third.

It was a tough start for netminder Cal Schell who didn't have a lot of help in front of him giving up 4 goals on 11 shots.

We got our first look at rookie Jared Thompson who came in relief late in the first period and allowed 4 goals on 26 shots. I thought Thompson played good enough to keep his team in the game.

The Melfort power play was also one of the differences going 3 for 6, while the Bombers converted once on 6 opportunities.

Things got interesting in the third period when Zach Huber collided with Mustang goaltender Steven Bacovsky and a huge melee occured with multiple fights and a number of players being ejected.

Bacovsky was involved and removed his gloves and was firing punches in the scrum but somehow was allowed to stay in the game,  and ended up stopping 39 out of 42 shots and was sharp when he had to be.

I thought the fights might spark the Bombers but it seemed to be the Mustangs who grabbed the momentum after the mini line brawl.

With the loss the Bombers will drop to 0-2 on the season while the Mustangs will go to 2-0. This is the first time I can ever remember a Mike Reagan team starting the year at 0-2.

So where do the Bombers go from here? After the announcement from the Manitoba Government about all facilities deemed non-essential required to close tomorrow meaning  they will not have a home rink to play in.

I thought the Creighton Sportex may be an option but it looks like the Bombers may have to go play all their games on the road until things get back to normal in Manitoba.

The Bombers are expected to make an announcement later this week.

Even though Covid 19 has shut down University sports for the rest of the year, the Lee brothers,  Carson and Hunter continue to get recognized for what they do in Wrestling.

Hunter and Carson were recognized by the province today and have been awarded The Sportstars Of The Week.

Both Lee brothers are attending the U of S and are considered to be two of the top wrestlers in the country.

Hunter,  is in his fourth year and twice has been nominated for Male Athlete Of The Year while Carson was named Rookie Of The Year for Canada West and U-Sports.

Both brothers also won Gold at Nationals and have competed in events all over the world.

The Lee boys are both now pursuing their dream of cometing in the Olympics in 2024.

The Norman Northstars hosted the Yellowhead Chiefs in a pair of games at the C.A.Nesbitt Arena in Thompson.

The two teams battled Saturday and Sunday with the Chiefs winning 5 to 2 and 6 to 0.

Flin Flon's Magnus Pearson scored his first goal of the year on Saturday with Nolan Rideout picking up an assist.

Odin Chuch came in to the game in the third period and stopped 13 out of 15.

Norman will fall to 0-7 and will hit the road for the first time this year as they will take on the Parkland Rangers three times.

They will play in Swan River on Friday and Dauphin,  Saturday and Sunday.

The Flin Flon Bombers travelled to the Northern Lights Palace on Friday night to battle the Melfort Mustangs  as the SJHL regular season finally got under way.

It was supposed to be the first part of a home and home,  but due to the weather the Bomber home opener was moved to Tuesday.

The Mustangs on a strong goaltending performance from Prince Albert's Joel Favreau beat the Bombers 3 to 1.

Favreau played very well in stopping 31 out of 32 Bomber shots and rarely gave out a rebound and looked very technically sound.

Flin Flon's lone goal came from Brad Ginnell who fired a nice wrist shot past Favreau late in the second period. Ginnell was recently picked up from the Moose Jaw Warriors of the WHL.

Ginnell was one of the top Bomber forwards through out the night and had a number of good scoring chances.

The Melfort goals came from Cameron Rimstad, Colton Schell and Ethan Regnier.

Cal Schell started for the Bombers and took the loss with 3 goals on 28 shots.

Due to the horrible weather this past weekend, the re-match has been moved to the Whitney Forum for tomorrow at 7:30 and will be broadcast on 102.9 CFAR and flinflononline.com.

It all begins with the Great North GM Coach's Show at 7:15.

The Flin Flon Bombers continue to name their assistant captains as the regular season is now just one day away.

Veteran forward,  Reid Robertson has been named an assistant as he has become very popular with his team mates in the dressing room. He is also developing into one of the top power  forwards in the league.

Robertson put up 32 points in 52 games last season and was a finalist for the RBC and SJHL Community Ambassador Award.

Congratulations to the Bombers Ryder Richmond and Zach Huber on being selected assistant captains for the up coming season.

Ryder Richmond is the only Bomber 20 year old defenseman and will be suiting up for his third season in the Maroon and White.

Richmond has put up 25 points in 93 career games.

Zach Huber will entering his first season with the Bombers after three years in the WHL with the Calgary Hitmen and Saskatoon Blades.

Huber is coming off his best year in the WHL where he picked up 23 points in 61 games including 15 goals.

Congratulations to the following Bantam Players for making this years Werbicki Bombers

Andres, Trey

Brown, Jake

Charles, Evan

Dominey, Maddox

Donaghy, Jordan

Durette, Owen

Grenier, Logan

Hlady, Rogan

Joa-Hall, Aidan

Johnson, Devin

Krieger, Tyson

Madarash, Brendan

Mccallum, Kyson

Merasty, Steven Jr

Pelletier, Payton

Rae, Marcel

Steuart, Jordyn

Stinton, Wyatt

The SJHL will begin the regular season this weekend with reduced capacity due to Covid 19.

The league stated on their website yesterday that only 150 fans would be allowed in attendance which would affect the Flin Flon Bombers greatly.

The Bombers have sold around 350 season tickets which means  200 of those would not be able to attend games.

Mike Reagan, Head Coach and GM, made a big announcement on 102.9 CFAR earlier today that since they are based in Manitoba, they would not have to be permitted to 150.

"We got some good news as we fall under the Manitoba Health Region and their bylaws and rules and regulations and we will be allowed to have 25% capacity right now which is around 400 people. I think that is great news for our fans and all the supporters of the hockey club."

More information on how the process for fans will work will be explained today with a full in-depth interview with the Coach and GM at 3:30.

The SJHL regular season will start this Friday with the Flin Flon Bombers kicking things off with a home and home against the Melfort Mustangs.

With Covid, 102.9 CFAR will try to broadcast as many games as possible with the limitation of fans that will be allowed to attend games.

We will do a broadcast schedule month by month as we continue to update the Covid situation.

Here is our broadcast schedule for October.

It was another tough weekend for the Norman Northstars who got shutout in both games against the Southwest Cougars.

The Cougars won 8 to 0 on Saturday and followed that up with an 11-0 victory yesterday.

Flin Flon's Odin Church came in to the game for relief of starting goalie Kieran Stewart and stopped 25 out of 30 shots.

Norman will fall to 0-5 on the year and will host Yellowhead in a pair of games this weekend.

The Flin Flon Bombers wrapped up the pre season with a solid 6 to 2 win over Laronge at the Whitney Forum on Saturday.

The game was delayed til 8 pm due to the fact the Wolves had a tough time on the cut across from Laronge with about 25 cm of snow which fell the night before.

Flin Flon pounced on the the Wolves  and scored 5 quick goals in the opening 12 minutes to put the game out of reach early.

Ashton Ferster opened up the scoring, when he received a nice pass from linemate Mackenzie Carson, 5 minutes into the game.

The Bombers never looked back and reeled off 4 more from Brad Ginnell on a break away, Nate Gagne, Easton Haygarth and Rylan Thiessen.

Thiessen and Ginnell made their Bomber debuts after being re-assigned from their WHL clubs.

Aaron Greyeyes and Garret Hunter scored the goals for Laronge.

Easton Haygarth would score his second goal of the night on the power play early in the third to put the game out of reach and give the Bombers a nice confidence builder for the regular season.

Flin Flon chased starting goalie Liam McGarva who gave up 4 goals on 8 shots. Rookie and home town product, Alex Bell came in relief and stopped 33 out of 35.

Cal Schell went the distance for Flin Flon and stopped 35 out of 37.

The two teams split the four pre season games with each team winning both their games on home ice.

The regular season will start this weekend with a home and home against the Melfort Mustangs,  opening up at the Palace on Friday and back at the Whitney Forum on Saturday.

The league announced that a maximum of 150 fans will be allowed to attend the games this weekend due to Covid numbers continuing to climb in the province.

102.9 CFAR and flinflononline.com will broadcast both games this weekend with the Great North GM Coach's Show to kick things off at 7:15 both nights.