Swimming Lessons are now available at the Hudbay Aquatic Centre.

Lessons will start this Saturday November the 7th and run every Saturday til December the 19th.

There is something for every age group including Parent & Tot: Spend quality time with your child while you both have fun, learn and socialize,  through structured in-water interaction between parent and child.

Swimmer 2: These advanced beginners will jump into deeper water, and learn to be comfortable falling sideways into the water wearing a lifejacket. You will be able to support yourself  at the surface without an aid, learn whip kick, swim 10 m on your  front and back, and be introduced to flutter kick interval training.

Swimmer 3: Junior swimmers will dive and do in-water front somersaults and handstands.You will  work on 15 m of front crawl, back crawl, 10 m of whip kick, and increased flutter kick interval training.

Swimmer 4: Intermediate swimmers will swim 5 m underwater and lengths of front, back crawl, whip kick, and breaststroke arms with breathing. 

You can register by going to cityofflinflon.perfectmind.com or call 833-210-6435, extension 641.

The Creighton Kodiak Football team are ready to officially wrap up their season with their Awards Banquet on Wednesday  November the 18th.

It will take place at the Creighton Community Hall starting at 6pm.

You are invited to join them  for an evening dedicated to celebrating the  players, coaches and graduating seniors.

The Football Club want to recognize all the hard work, dedication and memories made throughout the season.

By November 5th, can the players, or someone from their family, reply or message, to let the school  know if you will be attending the dinner and how many people will be coming?

Ticket information will be provided soon.

It was another good weekend for the JV Queens Volleyball team.

This time the Queens made their way to Roblin and they beat the host team, Swan River and Moose Lake in the round robin.

That put Hapnot in the Semi's against Russell with the Queens prevailing in two straight sets 25 to 13 and 25 to 19.

Hapnot would get a shot at the top seed from Dauphin in the finals,   who are ranked number 4 across the Province.

Dauphin beat the Queens in two straight sets but it was still a geat showing by the Queens who ended up winning 8 of their ten sets and finished second overall.

This was a great tune up for the Queens who are off to Zones in OCN this up coming weekend.

The Senior Kings and Queens are off to Brandon for the Big Dig Tournament, which will feature 48 teams from across the Province, making it the biggest High School  Volleyball Tournament in Manitoba.

The Flin Flon Bombers down a lot of bodies,  showed a lot of heart and rolled into Kindersley and took all 4 points this past weekend.

Flin Flon built up a 4 to 1 lead on Friday and were able to hang on for the 4 to 3 victory.

Landon Alexander opened the scoring in the first period when he grabbed a loose puck and beat the Klipper goalie Mattias Radke with a nice back hander for his second of the season.

Dylan Carron made his return to the Bomber lineup and he scored his fourth powerplay goal of the season to put the Bombers up 2 to 0.

Charlie Kay responded with a powerplay goal of his own to get the Klippers on the board at 2 to 1. Kay has had his way with Flin Flon this year, as that was his fourth goal  against the Bombers in the last three games.

Brayden Bruce and Ty Wasyluk then scored to put the Bombers in the driver’s seat at 4 to 1 early in the third.

This is the SJHL, and there aren’t any push over’s in the league and Kindersley started to go at the Bombers physically and it started to pay off.

The Klippers got some life after some big hits and a goal from home town Captain Cobe Perlinger to get them back in the game at 4 to 2.

Austin Bruce scored just a couple minutes later and all of a sudden it was 4 to 3 with over 12 minutes remaining in the game.

The Bombers bared down and killed a late 6 on 4 and were able to hang on for one of their biggest wins of the season with 9 regulars out of the lineup.

Finn Werner was fantastic between the pipes once again and ended up with 31 saves on 34 shots and continues to give Flin Flon a chance to win every game that he plays.

The Bombers fired 44 shots at Klipper netminder Mattias Radke , beating him 4 times. Radke also played well and was solid all night long.

Flin Flon did a good job staying out of the box and only gave up one powerplay goal on 3 opportunities and ended up going 1 for 5 with the extra attacker.

On Saturday, the Bombers got goals from 6 different players and were able to knock off the Klippers 6 to 3 to take both games at the Inter Pipeline Events Centre.

Alex Ostrovskyy scored his first of the season late in the first period and Flin Flon never looked back.

Gabriel Kaminski, Hudson Brehaut, Rhett Ewen, Brendan Phelps and Hank Thompson with his first ever SJHL goal all found the back of the net.

Kask Ringdal, Austin Schafer and Jadon Fischer replied for Kindersley.

For the second straight night, the Klippers tried to intimidate the Bombers by running at them all over the ice and trying to instigate a lot of stuff after whistles.

Flin Flon stayed composed and played very smart and were able to capitalize on their opportunities. It didn’t hurt that Finn Werner was good again and stopped 33 of 36 to improve to 9 and 4 on the season.

Werner is getting rewarded for his fine play this season and is one of three Bombers headed to Martensville for the Western All Star Challenge starting on Tuesday.

The other players selected are Defensemen Wade Franks and Dylan Carron. Keaton Lesperance was also selected but won’t be able to play because of an injury.

So with the back to back wins in Kindersley, the Bombers will win the season series 3 to 1 and improve to 10-4-1 on the year. That has them tied with the Melfort Mustangs for first in the UPL Division and tied for second overall.

Kindersley will fall to 5-8-1 and sit 9^th overall.

A great test for the Bombers this weekend, as they will welcome the first place Warman Wolverines to the Whitney Forum for a pair of games Friday and Saturday.

Warman is 11-2 and are the biggest surprise in the league this year after only winning 14 games all last season.

Head Coach Brett Pilkington  was very busy in the off season making a number of changes to the roster and they look like they have paid off.

Warman has scored the second most amount of goals in the league and Flin Flon will have to try to shut down their high powered offense.

Hopefully the Bombers can get a few more bodies back in the lineup as they lost Kyle Marsden, Landon Alexander and Dylan Carron in the second game on the weekend.

A few days rest will help and definitely a gutsy effort for a depleted lineup.

It isn’t easy to win on the road in this league, but the Bombers found a way.

Flin Flon Minor Hockey will once again be presenting Skill Development next Tuesday at the Creightn Sportex starting at 5:15pm.

This is open to all U-11 to U-18 Divisions which includes both players and goalies.

If you are interested in registering you can e-mail technicaldirectorffmh@gmail.com. The deadline to register is Monday November the 2nd at 5pm.

The Flin Flon Creighton Aqua Doves are raising funds to purchase a much needed under water sound system valued at $6,793.80.

The equipment will allow their 31 athletes to hear music under water as they practise their artistic swimming routines.

After 6 years without a local pool, they are excited to rebuild their program and give their athletes the equipment they need to succeed.

They are looking for community sponsors and donations of any size. Every contribution will bring them closer to their goal.

The Aqua Doves want to thank you for your continued support and if you would like to make a donation you can contact aquadoves@gmail.com.

The Flin Flon Ski Club are preparing for a busy Winter and Ski Season.

Some of the events coming up include their Executive Meeting on Monday November the 2nd at 6:30pm at the Chalet.

The Ski Club Open House is  on Sunday November the 22nd from 11am to 3pm, Trail Groomer Orientation Meeting November the 23rd at the Chalet.

The 52nd annual Val and Ivor Hedman Centaloppet will take place on  Sunday March the 7th at 1pm and the Ski Club is excited to be able to host the Cross Country Saskatchewan Provincial Championships March the 13th and 14th.

Fresh Air Experience from Prince Albert will be in town with all the latest gear and outdoor fashions at the Open House.

Once again they are offering all kinds of different programs for people of all ages and there  is an early bird discount if you purchase a membership by November the 30th.

If you are looking for more information and you would like to purchase a membership you can go to flinflonskiclub.com and click on memberships.

Looking to make some money this winter?

Come and train to be an on ice official. FFMHA offers competitive rates for new and experienced officials.

Officiating is a great way to be involved in youth sports, gain extra income, and become a part of a community.

If you are interested in becoming a part of the team this season please contact: secretaryffmh@gmail.com

Congratulations to the four players from the Flin Flon Bombers who have been selected to play in the Western All Star Challenge in Martensville November the 3rd and 4th.

They are Forward Keaton Lesperance, Defensemen Wade Franks and Dylan Carron and Goaltender Finn Werner.

Lesperance has battled injuries and has appeared in 7 games this season registering 5 assists.

Dylan Carron has been a welcome addition to the Bomber Blue-Line and has really been a force on the Power Play and has 8 points in 9 games. He has three goals which have all been scored with the man advantage.

Wade Franks was one of the Bombers key signings in the off season and he moves the puck extremely well and looks like he will be able to anchor the Bomber Blue Line for the next three seasons. Franks has 3 assists in 11 games so far this year. 

Finn Werner is having a fabulous season between the pipes  for the Bombers and is 7-4-1 on the season with a 2.32 GAA and a Save % of .918.

The team will be coached by Cody Mapes of the Weyburn Red Wings as the top 18U players in the SJHL will battle the top 18U players in the MJHL.

You can see the complete game schedule at sjhl.ca.

The Norman Northstars U-13 AA Team will be hosting a Northern  Showcase this weekend starting on Friday with all the games in Flin Flon.

Four teams will be taking part including the Norman Northstars, Pembina Valley Hawks East and West and the Brandon Wheat Kings.

The first game is Friday night at 6pm at the Whitney Forum with the Northstars playing Pembina Valley West.

Norman will also play the Wheat Kings on Saturday at 2:45pm and Pembina Valley East on Sunday at 9am.

The full schedule can be seen at flinflonminorhockey.com.

There are 5 players from Flin Flon that play on this team which includes Blaise Brough, Logan Boucher, Jayden Kozar, Jayden Ricard and Waylon Crone.

Good news from Flin Flon Minor Hockey,  they will be bringing back the U-15-18 time slot for tonight.

They are still accepting player registrations for the season and they have reduced the rates with a new schedule.

When registering you can pay in person or check and find the reduced rate for the season.

It all starts tonight at 8:30pm at the Creighton Sportex and you can contact U15coordinatorffmh@gmail.com, if you have any further questions.

The JV Queens Volleyball team  had a great weekend in Creighton at their Senior Volleyball Tournament. 

The Queens finished first in their pool beating Creighton, Carrot River and Norquay.

Then they moved on to the Semi's and beat Norquay before moving on to the final to beat Laronge 25 to 20 and 25 to 10 to finish first.

The Senior Queens were also at this tournament and they finished first in their pool beating The Pas, Cranberry and  Laronge.

The Queens then lost to Laronge in the Semi's and were eliminated.

The JV Queens will travel to Roblin for a tournament this weekend while the Senior Queens are off to Brandon the following weekend.

It was a frustrating season for the Creighton Kodiaks 6 man Football team,  but they found a way to wrap up their season with a win on Friday.

Creighton made their way to St Brieux and came from behind to win an exciting game by a score of 43 to 35.

The Kodiaks actually trailed 14 to 6 at the half, but started to air the ball out  in the second half and it paid off.

Creighton scored with 50 seconds left in the game when Deakon Anaka ran in from the 10 yard line to secure the team's second win of the season.

An exciting way to wrap up the season and despite some tough injuries to key players, the Kodiaks found a way to get it done.

Kodiaks Quarterback Ryan Grunerud threw three touchdown passes in the second half to Deagon Long, Deakon Anaka and Matthew Lavis, and ran in a touchdown himself from the goal line and kicked three converts.

Head Coach Ryan Karakochuk sums up the win and the season. " Our goal was to go down there and get a win and end on a good note and that is what we did. It didn't start easy,  but the guys rallied especially around Matthew Lavis and Deagon Long who are grade 12's who both had a great game. It was really satisfying when they were marching with just seconds left and their receiver caught the ball , one of our guys swept it out of his hands and the ball hit the ground. That is one of the loudest cheers I have heard from our players and bench in a long time and we had a lot of fans come down and help cheer us on. It was great to see all the parents there and a really good way to end the season."

The Kodiaks will end the season at 2-4 with both of their wins coming against St Brieux and Head Coach Ryan Karakochuk wants to thank all his players, coach's , parents and volunteers for their hard work and commitment throughout this season.

Plans are now underway for the year end banquet and a date will be announced soon.

It was another challenging weekend for the Flin Flon Bombers who squared off with the Kindersley Klippers in a pair of games at the Whitney Forum.

The Bombers played Friday’s game without 9 regulars in their  lineup and had a real tough time getting going offensively.

Kindersley is one of the biggest and most physical teams I have seen this season and they played almost a perfect game on Friday night.

The Klippers scored on the powerplay just 49 seconds into the opening period and never looked back in a solid 4 to 1 victory. Kindersley got their goals from Adam Perron, Konnor Watson and Charlie Kay.

The Bombers Jared Miskiw got his team a little closer late in the second period when he was able to get to the top of the slot and beat netminder Ethan Suhr with one of the few good Bomber scoring chances in the game.

Kindersley answered less than two minutes later when Charlie Kay got his second of the night on the powerplay to make it 4 to 1.

There were no goals in the third period.

Finn Werner suffered his fourth loss of the year surrendering 4 goals on 27 shots.

The Kindersley netminder Ethan Suhr gave up just the one goal on 23 shots.

Flin Flon shot themselves in the foot and took way to many penalties and were short handed 6 times, while the Klippers only had to kill two Bomber powerplays.

The Klippers also played a defensive gem and did an outstanding job keeping the speedy Bomber forwards to the outside and from the front of the net.

It was a perfect road game.

The Bombers would get a chance to redeem themselves as these two teams would meet again on Saturday night.

The game plan was simple,  get to the net and stay out of the penalty box.

It looked like it was going to be déjà vu as the game on Saturday looked like a carbon copy from Friday night.

Flin Flon took a couple early  penalties and Austin Bruce scored for Kindersley in the first three minutes to quiet the faithful at the Whitney Forum, and give the visitors the quick 1 to 0 lead.

It didn’t look good at all, as Kindersley really flew out of the gate and were out shooting Flin Flon 11 to 1 midway through the first.

The Bombers were able to withstand the early push by Kindersley and tied the game on just their second shot of the game. Luca Martyniuk picked up his first ever SJHL goal when he received a beautiful pass from Alex Ostrovskyy and raced down the ice to beat Ethan Suhr low blocker side.

This was a huge goal for the Bombers who were out played in the first period but were able to tie the game at 1 after one.

The two teams continued to trade goals in the second with Rhett Ewen, Jared Miskiw and Eli Heroux all finding the back of the net for the Bombers.

Miskiw’s goal was huge as that came on a 5 on 3 powerplay and allowed the Bombers to tie the game after surrendering a lead.

Kindersley got their offense from Charlie Kay, Konnor Watson and Cooper Flath and were  all even at 4 to 4 after two.

The Bombers had a much better second period and started to find their legs and were using their speed to generate good scoring chances and looked like the Bombers of old.

Flin Flon came out and took it to Kindersley in the third period and out shot the Klippers 16 to 4 and got rewarded with a couple of goals late in the game.

Eli Heroux was able to get his second of the night when he found the puck in front of the Klipper net in a mad scramble which would end up standing as the game winner. Heroux was terrific and never stopped skating all night and enjoyed one of his best nights as a Bomber.

Nathan Lalumiere would seal the deal into the empty net with just 12 seconds remaining in regulation to make the final 6 to 4 for the Bombers.

It was also a big night for Bomber rookie goaltender  Noah Martin who got his first career start. Martin had played parts of a couple games this season, but never played a full 60 minutes.

Martin was great especially early in the game when Flin Flon was being heavily outshot in the first period. Martin shut the door and was instrumental in this victory with 32 saves on 36 shots. Flin Flon fired 34 shots at the Kindersley net beating Ethan Suhr 5 times with  an empty netter.

The Bombers also played disciplined after getting a couple penalties early and were able to settle down and stay out of the penalty box. Specialty teams saw the Bombers go 1 for 3 on the PP while Kindersley was 0 for 3.

Head Coach Cole McCaig talked about a much needed bounce back win by his team especially with so many players out of the lineup. “ I wasn’t happy with the first period we gave up 16 shots and a penalty 15 seconds into the game and then a double minor,  and it was déjà vu from last night. I challenged the group here to play smarter and we can’t continue to put ourselves in these situations and then we didn’t take any more penalties. It was tough to figure out a lineup with so many guys out and then losing Beck Bethard and Kyle Marsden on our back end tonight, but I am extremely proud of this group with the way they battled tonight. We are all pretty tired with a lot of line managing with only  11 forwards and  then we had to put Miskiw back on the back end with the injuries and get down to  10 forwards. We had to be on the bench mentally  as Coach’s for sure.”

A big bounce back win for the Bombers who improve to 8-4-1 and have moved to within two points of Melfort for first place in the UPL Division. Flin Flon also sits tied for fourth overall with Melville and Humboldt with 17 points.

Kindersley will drop to 5-6-1 and these two teams will rekindle the rivalry in Kindersley this weekend as they will collide twice at the Inter Pipeline Events Centre Friday and Saturday night.

It will be 4 straight games to wrap up the season series against each other and then they won’t see each other again til a possible playoff showdown.

If the Flin Flon Bombers don't know much about the Kindersley Klippers now, they will soon.

These two teams will collide and play each other 4 times in the next week including a pair of game at the Whitney Forum this weekend.

Kindersley comes to town at 4-5-1 and took it on the chin in Nipawin on Wednesday losing 8 to 2. The Bombers dropped their last game this past Tuesday in Melfort 2 to 1 in OT.

Despite a number of injuries the Bombers have started the season well at 7-3-1 and find themselves second in the UPL Division and fourth overall with 15 points.

Both these teams have similar numbers this year with the Bombers scoring 39 goals in 11 games while they have given up 27. Kindersley has scored 30 goals in 10 games while they have given up 34.

Neither team has a player in the top 20 in scoring and need to score by committee. The Klippers are led offensively  by Pryce Theissen who has 10 points and Konnor Watson who they picked up in the off season from Nipawin.

Watson has 9 points including a team leading 6 goals.

The Bombers are led offensively by Hudson Brehaut who is off with an injury right now and still leads the team in goals with 5 and points 9.

The defense has stepped up offensively as Brayden Bruce and new comer Dylan Caron have combined for 17 points. Caron has also been sidelined by an injury and is listed as  day to day. 

No question one of the big reasons for Flin Flon's decent start has been the play of their goaltender Finn Werner. Every time that Werner starts a game they have a chance to win.

Werner almost stole the game in Melfort on Tuesday and if it wasn't for some late penalties the Bombers could of very well left Melfort with the two points.

Werner is 7-3-1 on the season with two shut-outs and a GAA of 2.24 and Save % of .925.

Mattias Radke is the Kindersley starter and he has decent numbers with a 3-5 record and a 3.21 GAA to go along with a save % of .906.

This will be the first meeting between the two teams since last January when all hell broke loose and their were multiple fights and ejections which led to multiple suspensions.

That was the game that then local product Joey Lies suffered a bad high stick  to the face and missed multiple games. It will be interesting to see if this is still fresh on players minds and  boils  over this weekend or the next four games.

Flin Flon has had their way with Kindersley the last few years and took 3 of the 4 games last year and have won 13 of the last 16 matchups. Kindersley is also 0 and 8 at the Whitney Forum over that time.

Saying that it is a new year and the Bombers are pretty banged up heading into the weekend.

Games are set to go at 7:30pm tonight and tomorrow and you can catch tomorrow night's game on 102.9 CFAR and flinflononline.com beginning with the Great North GM Coach's Show at 7:10 and play by play for Creighton Furniture at 7:30pm.

The Creighton Kodiks 6 man football team will hit the road for the final time this season as they are off to St Brieux to wrap up the season against the Crusaders tomorrow afternoon.

Creighton sits at 1-4 on the season with their lone win coming against St Brieux in the opening week 39 to 36. The Crusaders are still looking for their first win of the season and are sitting at 0-5.

Both teams are banged up but would like nothing better than to wrap up the season with a win.

Head Coach Ryan Karakochuk is looking for a good result after a difficult season." It's been a tough year, we won that first game and our expectations were very high. We then went on to play Carrot River and getting blasted the way we did and losing 4 key players, it was rough. Talking to the coach's before the year,  I thought we could have a successful year if nothing went wrong. In football, something always go's wrong and that was wishful thinking on my part. It is very hard to play football with 10 guys that have the body structure to handle the pounding. We are really looking forward to playing St Brieux again, it was a very close game when we played them last time and we just want to end on a good note."

Kickoff will be at 4pm Manitoba time tomorrow  before both teams will officially wrap up the season.

Good luck to the U-13 Kinsmen Bombers who are off to Dauphin for their first Minor Hockey  tournament of the year this weekend.

The Bombers will play Dauphin to kick things off on Friday at 10am, then play two games on Saturday including Winkler at 10:45am and Swan River at 4:30pm.

Playoffs and the final will all be played on Sunday.

Games will be split up at the Rotary Rink and Credit Union Place.

Penalties hurt the Flin Flon Bombers who made their way to Melfort to battle the Mustangs last night.

A valliant effort fell short as the Mustangs rallied for a 2 to 1 victory in Over Time.

Flin Flon came out and skated very well and did a very good job on  shutting down the Mustangs powerful first line of Dru Mushamanski, Luke Dekay and Tristan Ziola.

These three players torched the Bombers for a combined 8 points in their convincing 6 to 1 win over the Bombers on Friday.

The Bomber penalty killing unit was busy and had to kill 7 Mustang powerplays including a full two minute 5 on 3 midway through the first period.

Flin Flon managed to kill it and got through the first scoreless.

It looked like it might be the Bomber' s night as they would get rewarded with a powerplay goal of their own,  when their Captain Landon Alexander connected on a Jared Miskiw pass in front of the net to bury his first of the year. 

This was just the third game for Alexander,  but he has been exactly what the team has needed and he brings so much life and energy to this team. I have also been saying a lot lately, I love how this guy gets to the net.

Flin Flon carried the lead into the third period and with the way that Finn Werner was playing, I thought the Bombers might steal it.

The Bombers were leading a charge down the ice, and the puck went off a skate in the neutral zone and the Mustangs went down the ice and tied the game when Nolan Van Waes was able to get to the front of the Bomber net.

It stayed 1 to 1 the rest of the way through regulation and Over Time would be needed.

The Mustangs would finally convert on the man advantage with a double minor for high sticking to go 4 on 3.

With just 16 seconds remaining in the Over Time period, Lincoln Rogers was able to win the game when Luke Dekay fed him the loose puck on a 2 on 1.

Despite the loss it was a gutsy effort for the Maroon and White who were able to get at least one point.

With the win, Melfort will take over top spot in the UPL Division at 8-4, while the Bombers will slip to second at 7-3-1.

Final shots were 34 to 20 in favour of Melfort while the Bombers went 1 for 4 on the man advantage and the Mustangs ended up  1 for 7.

Both goaltenders were outstanding as Finn Werner almost stole this one, while the Mustangs Luke McKechnie was a wall.

Next up for the Bombers will be the much improved Kindersley Klippers coming to town for a pair of games on the weekend, Friday and Saturday night at 7:30pm.

We will broadcast Saturday's game on 102.9 CFAR and flinflononline.com.

The Phantom Lake Soccer Club will be holding their AGM on Sunday November the 9th at the Victoria Inn starting at 6pm.

The agenda will include club updates and upcoming season plans, Registration and Fee updates, Volunteer Opportunities and Executive and Committee positions.

They are looking for enthusiastic individuals to help support the continued local  growth of the soccer program including a Technical Director and Volunteer Coordinator.

This meeting is open to everyone whether you are a returning soccer family or are getting involved for the first time, the PLSC would love to see you there.

Parents, volunteers, members and community supporters are all encouraged to attend.

The Senior Hapnot Queens Soccer Team made their way down to Winkler for Provincials this past weekend to represent the Norman Region.

Hapnot was thrown right into the fire as they would have to take on the top team in the Province from Morden in their first game on Friday morning.

Not only had Morden not lost a game this year, but hadn't given up a single goal either  and did knock off Hapnot by a score of 8 to 1.

Morden was up 6 to 0 at the half and the Queens were focussed on trying to become the first team to score on Morden this year and they were able to do so in the fourth quarter.

Mia Desjarlais who had a very strong year for the Queens scored the goal as Hapnot would try to use that for momentum going into their second game.

After the loss,  the Queens found themselves on the B-Side where they would face the Dauphin Clippers.

This was an incredible game that was scoreless through 90 minutes of regulation and then into two over-times. The game would have to be decided by penalty kicks and Dauphin ended up taking the game 4 to 3.

Elynn Smith, Maria Keramydas and Olivia McKenzie scored for the Queens in the shoot out.

This will unfortunately end the Queens season which did include their 4th Zone title in the last 5 years. The good news is, most of the team will be back for next year as they only lose three players who are graduating.

That will include Alexa Jobes, Anna Christianson and Olivia McKenzie.

Congratulations to the coach's Teli Keramydas, Darcie Hotel and Lara Smith as well as all the players, parents and volunteers on a wonderful season.

A tough go for the  Flin Flon Bombers who were on the wrong end of a 6 to 1 score against the Melfort Mustangs to open up the weekend Friday night at the Whitney Forum.

Melfort opened up the scoring with a powerplay goal by Dru Mushumanski midway through the opening period and the Mustangs  never looked back.

The Mustangs broke the game open with a pair of goals in the last ten seconds of the period which really put the Bombers back on their heels.

Matthew Bertolin scored from his off wing with just ten seconds left in the opening period and it looked like they would take a 2 to 0 lead into the middle frame.

However on the next faceoff, the Mustangs raced down the ice and Luke Dekay was left alone in front of the Bomber net  and he scored with just  two seconds left on the clock,  to absolutely stun everyone in attendance at the Whitney Forum.

I don’t know if I have ever seen a team score two goals in the final ten seconds of a period like that.

Flin Flon left the ice in disbelief and everyone was wondering how the Bombers would respond for the next two periods.

This was the Mustangs night and they kept the pedal to the medal and scored three more times in the second  courtesy of Tristan Ziola, Kelan Simmonds and Matthew Bertolin with his second of the night.

It was Bertolin’s second goal which chased Bomber netminder Finn Werner from the game who finished with 11 saves on 16 shots.

We got to see rookie goalie Noah Martin for just the second time this season and he played well in relief making 12 saves on 13 shots. I thought Martin came in and looked poised and confident and played well in a difficult situation.

Flin Flon would finally get a puck past Mustang goalie Luke McKechnie who stopped 24 of 25.

Bomber defenseman Beck Bethard broke the shutout bid with a powerplay goal with just over a minute remaining in the game. This was Bethard’s first ever SJHL goal and it was a nice release from the top of the slot to allow the Bombers to win the third period and make it a little more respectable at 6 to 1.

It is always tough to lose especially at home,  but the Bombers have nothing to hang their heads about and almost went two calendar years without losing a home game in regulation.

You have to go back to October the 25^th of 2024 which was  the last time the Bombers lost a game at home in regulation. Very impressive indeed.

The Bombers wouldn’t have a lot of time to stew about the loss as they  were back on the ice the next night against the Yorkton Terriers in a rematch from the Canterra Seeds Cup Championship from this past Spring.

This was an interesting game as the Terriers were thumped 8 to 1 in Nipawin the night before.

I think everybody thought that both these teams would be much better on Saturday night after being embarrassed the night before.

After a scoreless first period the Bombers caught a break early in the second when Defenseman Braydon Bruce was able to fire a shot off Yorkton Goalie Callum Craig’s back just two minutes into the second period. Bruce was behind the Yorkton net and he flipped the puck off over the net , which ended up hitting Craig and finding it's way in.

Flin Flon got some confidence and found the back of the net two more times with Nathan Lalumiere and Ty Wasyluk both scoring their second of the season, to put the Bombers up 3 to 0 after two.

Yorkton never quit and they were able to come out in the final period and scored a couple of powerplay goals from Peter Godley and Tyson Medernach to make it interesting at 3 to 2.

Flin Flon weathered the storm and were able to get an insurance goal when new comer Gabriel Kaminski scored in a mad scramble in front of the Terriers net to make the final 4 to 2.

Kaminski was acquired from  Humboldt just a few days ago and Head Coach and GM Cole McCaig has been very impressed with his play.

Finn Werner was back between the pipes for the Bombers and he  was steller with 27 saves on 29 shots and was able to shut the door on Yorkton late in the game including a big 6 on 4 advantage.

Callum Craig started for Yorkton and he ended up with 27 saves on 31 shots.  The Terriers were able to go 2 for 7 on the powerplay while the Bombers ended up 0 for 3.

Head Coach and GM of the Bombers Cole McCaig was happy with how his team was able to bounce back against the Terriers on Saturday. “Absolutely, we were a little snake bitten the night before against Melfort as we couldn’t convert on our chances. Tonight we stayed with the process and continued to by  into the game plan and we wanted to get more pucks on net tonight. We knew there would be a lot of loose change around the net and we scored on a few on mad scrambles and found some loose pucks. I told the guys if you go to the net tonight, you will get rewarded and they did.”

After the weekend the Bombers will improve to 7-3 which is good enough for First Place in the UPL Division and third overall. Flin Flon will get another shot at the Mustangs at the Palace on Tuesday night before hosting the much improved Kindersley Klippers in a pair of games this weekend.

The Flin Flon Bombers will put their 6-2 record on the line this weekend as they step back on the ice to face the Melfort Mustangs and Yorkton Terriers at the Whitney Forum.

The Mustangs make their first visit to the Flon tonight  and have been impressive out of the gate. Melfort is 6-3 and look like they will be strong in goal again this year.

New Comer Luke McKechnie looks solid at 4-2 with a GAA of 1.82 and a save % of .932.

Backup Nick Kotai is no slouch either and is 2-1 with a GAA of 3.27.

The Mustangs are very fast and skilled up front and should poise a big challenge for Flin Flon tonight.

Melfort was the only team in the league to come into Flin Flon and beat the Bombers at the Forum in the regular season last year,  and I am sure that is fresh on a lot of the players minds.

It is always a great matchup between these two teams and I am looking forward to puck drop at 7:30pm tonight.

Flin Flon will also get a good test tomorrow night too with the Yorkton Terriers making their first trip to Flin Flon since last year's Canterra Seeds Cup League Final.

These two teams did meet in Yorkton back on October 3rd with Yorkton skating to the 6 to 3 victory. That was the final game for the Bombers on their Southern road swing and I expect the Bombers to have more jump and stronger  legs for tomorrow's game.

Saying that, Yorkton is a good team and you have to give Head Coach Emery Olauson credit for putting together another solid squad.

They had some big pieces to replace after losing Gabriel Courchesne and William Leonard to the BCHL. Others have stepped up and they have arguably  the league's best defenseman in Thomas Ries who has 8 points in 8 games.

Yorkton is 4-3-1 and have scored 34 goals in 8 games but have also given up 33. The key for the Bombers will be to get off to a good start, it was a rough opening period that hurt them in Yorkton a few weeks back.

Flin Flon heads into the weekend banged up and will not have Brenden Phelps, Keaton Lesperance, Ben Shaw , Wyatt Stinton and Nash Holmes in their lineup.

Captain Landon Alexander continues to skate and the Bombers are hoping that he can make his much awaited season debut this weekend. We will see the new acquisition Gabriel Kaminski who was just acquired from the Humboldt Broncos.

Kaminski had 2 goals in 7 games for the Broncos and should add some depth to the Bomber forward group.

No radio broadcast tonight, but we will have tomorrow night's game against Yorkton with the Great North GM Coach's Show at 7:10pm and drop of the puck at 7:30pm. 

Flin Flon Minor Hockey will be holding Skill Development next Thursday at the Creighton Sportex.

It will start at 5:15pm and is for all registered Flin Flon Minor Hockey players in U-11 to U-18.

This is open to both players and goalies and you can register by e-mailing technicaldirectorffmh@gmail.com.

Deadline to register is Monday October the 19th at 5pm.

FFMH is also in search of Officials and will pay competitive rates for both new and experienced Officials. Officiating is a great way to be involved in youth sports, gain extra income, and become a part of a community.

If you are interested in becoming a part of the team this season please contact: secretaryffmh@gmail.com.

Fresh off another Soccer Zone title a couple weeks back,  the Hapnot Queens are off to Winkler for Provincials which will start tomorrow morning.

The best High School Soccer  Teams in Manitoba will be in action representing their Regions including Niverville, Dauphin, Stonewall, Morden, Minnedosa, Lorette and Gabrielle Roy

Hapnot's is coached by Teli Keramydas, Darcie Hotel and Lara Smith and their first game is tomorrow morning at 9am.

Regulation games will take place through Friday with the playoffs to start Saturday at 10am. The Championship Final will go at 2pm.

Flin Flon Bomber netminder Finn Werner has been selected as the Sasktel SJHL Goalie Of The Week.

Werner has been incredible for the Bombers since returning from the WHL.

He is 6-2 with two shut outs and leads the league in both GAA of 1.50 and Save % of .945.

Werner was crucial in both victories against Estevan this past weekend, making a lot of big saves early on Friday and he also held the Bombers in the game Saturday especially in a sluggish third period.

Flin Flon will get a big test this weekend with the Melfort Mustangs coming to town on Friday night and the Yorkton Terriers here on Saturday.

The game against Yorkton will be a rematch of the Canterra Seeds Cup Final from this past Spring and will be broadcast on 102.9 CFAR and flinflononline.com.

Once again it begins with the Great North GM Coach's Show at 7:10 and drop of the puck at 7:30 pm for Creighton Furniture.