We are just hours away from the curtain opening on another SJHL regular season.
The Flin Flon Bombers are hoping to ride the wave on one of their most successful seasons in franchise history.
They hit last year's playoffs on a skid and seemed to be headed for an early exit in the opening round of the playoffs against the Battlefords.
Game three changed everything. Down 2 games to none, the fans came out in droves and turned the whole series around and the Bombers went on to win 4 straight.
They followed that with a upset series win against the tough Humboldt Broncos in 5 and eventually took the front running Estevan Bruins to 7 in the league final.
With Estevan hosting the Centennial Cup, the Bombers got a pass for finishing second and made it all the way to the Quarter Finals. They certainly proved that they belonged there with the top teams in the country.
Tonight it all starts over, and 12 players remain from last year's team including the trio of Jaeden Mercier, Jaxon Martens and Cole Duperreault who will all be counted on to score. These are the top three returning scorers from last year.
The Bombers also bring back Lucas Fry, Reece Richmond, Cory King and Cole Tanchuk on the back end. All these players contributed last year and should be better with a year under their belts.
Unfotunately, this is the first time in many years that the Bombers do not have a returning goalie. Cal Schell had one of the best year's in franchise history and set a new franchise record for shut outs in a season with 7.
Big shoes to fill, and Flin Flon is hoping that former Nipawin Hawk Harmon Laser Hume can be their starter and play big minutes in the absence of Schell.
The Bombers are hoping for big things from a couple of rookies as well in Ethan Farrow and Kenneth Marquart who will battle for the back up job.
Other new faces to watch this year will be Defensemen Aiden Chow and Lorenzo Bono out of Quebec. Bono can really fly and the Bombers are hoping he will be able to contibute some offense from the back end after losing Xavier Lapointe, Cole Vardy and Rylan Thiessen from last year.
A couple of forwards to keep your eye on will be Alexi Sylvestre from Quebec, Dawson Karol out of Alberta and local product Joey Lies.
The Bombers will get a good test right off the start as Melfort brings in 16 players from last year's team that finished third overall.
Melfort got upset by Yorkton in the first round of the playoffs last year and are very motivated to compete for a league title this year.
The two teams have a rich historic rivalry and last year they were 4 and 4 in the head to head match ups.
Melfort has taken 13 out of the last 22 meetings in the last 5 years and always play the Bombers tough at the Whitney Forum.
Don't forget to get to the rink early tonight for a special video tribute with lots of highlights from last season at around 7:20.
Make sure you also have a radio or mobile device for the call of tonight's game on 102.9 CFAR and flinflononline.com. We kick things off with the Great North GM Coach's Show at 7:10.
