The Flin Flon Bombers will finally play a home game tonight when they host the Battleford Stars. This will be the 6th and final meeting after the Bombers beat the Stars 4-2 at the Civic Centre last Saturday.
It has been 19 days since the Bombers suited up at the Whitney, and they are in a huge battle with Nipawin and Battleford for second place.
The Hawks beat Estevan 1-0 last night and are tied with the Bombers for second with 58 points. Nipawin has one game in hand.
This is a huge game for Battleford who are 5 points behind Flin Flon and Nipawin. If the Stars can knock off the Bombers tonight they can get it down to 3 points or it could be 7 if the Bombers win.
I like the Bomber schedule down the stretch with 5 of their last 7 games at home. Mike Reagan said they arn't necessarily concerned with the standings but more important to be on a roll heading into the post season.
5 of their last 7 games are against teams under .500. Flin Flon still has to play Melfort 3 times and Laronge twice. It looks like a mismatch on paper, but both these teams are fighting for their playoff lives and will not be easy to play.
Flin Flon continues to be led offensively by Josh Roach who has 52 points and is the reigning SJHL Defenseman of the month. Roach is only 6 points out of the overall scoring lead. Brett Boehm leads the team in goals with 22 and all rookie scorers with 45 points.
Devin Buffalo bounced back with a nice effort against the Stars last Saturday and got a much needed confidence boost - he and rookie Brandon Wildung continue to put up good numbers this season.
Flin Flon leads the season series with Battleford 3-2 and have won both at the Whitney this season by scores of 5-4 and 3-1.
The Bombers will be in Melfort tomorrow with all the action on CFAR 590 and flinflononline.com with the Murray GM Coach's show at 7:15 and play by play at 7:30.
The Bombers have beaten Melfort in all 3 matchups this season and they have not played each other since November the 7th. Melfort holds on to the final playoff spot in the North with 38 points, 1 more than Laronge. The Mustangs have 3 games in hand.
Hope to see you this weekend with the push to the playoffs upon us.
This is definitely the most excxiting time of the year.
Get out and experience it.
Rob Hart
