The SJHL Playoffs will kick off on all four fronts tonight,  including the Flin Flon Bombers getting set to host the Kindersley Klippers in game one at the Whitney Forum.

 

Hard to believe with how long these two teams have been in the league, but this will be their first ever post season meeting tonight.

 

Both teams limped into the post season going 4-5-1 in their last ten games. This is very concerning for the Bombers who only lost 9 games in regulation all year, but 5 of those losses came in the last three weeks of the season.

 

Flin Flon is having trouble scoring 5 on 5 right now but the team is happy to wrap up the regular season and feel they are ready for the challenge of the post season. Despite their finish,  this is a team that put together the best record in the league at 44-9-2-1 and were ranked the top team in the country for much of the year.

 

They are struggling offensively but with their potent line-up could break out at any point with the likes of Justin Lies, Jacob Vockler, Alexi Sylvestre, Noah Houle and Carter Anderson all finishing in the top 12 of league scoring.

 

Another big factor may not be so much the Bombers offensive woes of late, but this is still a very good team defensively who gave up a league best 129 goals against which ended up being 77 better then their first round opponent. Harmon Laser Hume was a big reason for that and was just awarded  the SJHL Goalie Of The Year.

 

Laser Hume won 28  games this year to go along with a save % of .930 which were both near the top of the league.

 

Defense has also been a big part of the Bombers success in the playoffs the last few years and has allowed them to get into the league final, 4 of the last 6 years.

 

Head Coach and GM, Mike Reagan who was selected the SJHL Coach Of The Year for the first time in his career feels their depth will be a big difference in this series. 

 

" We do, we really believe in our depth, the trade deadline we wanted to make sure if we had any injuries that we had that depth,  and we would be comfortable with anyone who was in the lineup. It maybe hasn't gones as smooth as we wanted it to, but overall it has been a good year. We know our depth will pay off for us at some point in the playoffs and we have two guys that are injured right now that won't be available for us. Already having that depth has become important for us and it is going to become even more important as the playoffs go on."

 

Kindersley will get back in the post season for the first time in 5 years with Clayton Jardine who was actually the Head Coach the last time they made the playoffs which was an early exit to Melfort that year.

 

The Klippers grabbed the 8th and final seed, but I think this series may be a lot tighter than people think and let's face it all the pressure is on the Bombers. No matter what happen's this should be some very valuable experience for Kindersley who try to re-establish their program and become a top 4 team again.

 

Their top line is as good as anybody's featuring the trio of captain Logan Linklater, Tylin Hilbig and Brock Evans. Cody Jaman is more than capable between the pipes and loked very good against the Bombers late in the season in Kindersley.

 

Jaman finished the year at 13-15-4 and had a decent save %at .903.

 

This will also be a big series for former Bomber Brock Mueller who was traded to Kindersley the January 10th  trade deadline. Mueller wanted to finish his career as a Bomber and had a big impact when he faced his former team a few weeks ago.

 

The season series did go 3-1 in Flin Flon's favour with the Bombers out scoring the Klippers 18 to 9 in those four games, but we know the playoffs is an entirely different season.

 

I agree with Coach Reagan, I think depth will be a big part of this series as we know things always tighten up and it could be tough sledding for the good offensive players on both teams.

 

Both teams are also really good at home with Flin Flon's regular season home record at 24-2-1 and  the Klippers no slouch at 16-8-4. If Kindersley can steal one of the first two at the Forum, we may be in for a long series.

 

No matter what go's down, you will have the best seat in the house as every single Flin Flon Bomber game will be broadcast on 102.9 CFAR nd flinflononline.com including tonight with the Great North GM Coach's Show at 7:10.