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.
