Challenger Sports will be bringing one of the largest soccer camps in all of North America to the Creighton soccer field,  the week of July the 6th.

The camp will feature different training sessions used by 5 of the most successful soccer countries including Brazil, France, Spain, UK and the US.

The camps will utilize over 30 years of coaching and will focus on developing each player's technical, tactical and physical aspects.

There will be both half day camps and full day camps for all age groups and players will also receive access to soccer virtual training.

You can sign up on the phanton lake soccer web-site and all players will receive a t-shirt, game ball and player evaluation poster.

courtesy Of Philadelphia Flyers Association.

In recent months, Bob Clarke had forged a bond with Kaleb Dahlgren, a forward who played with the Humboldt Broncos. Kaleb was one of 13 players injured when his junior hockey team’s bus collided with a semi-truck on April 6. Sixteen of the 29 on board were killed.

Kaleb has Type 1 diabetes, as does Clarkie. A couple of years ago Kaleb started ‘Dahlgren’s Diabeauties,’ where a child with Type 1 diabetes was featured as a Dahlgren’s Diabeauty at Broncos home games.

While Kaleb was still hospitalized after the horrific bus accident, Bob called him to raise his spirits and had a slew of Flyers swag sent to him. More recently, Bob surprised Kaleb with a personal visit.

This is a great story in a time where sports and life in general need a positive shot in the arm.

It is nice even in the worst of tragedies that something good can emerge from it.

The SJHL Bantam Draft will take place live on Sasktel Max TV on Friday June the 5th, 2pm, Manitoba time.

The Flin Flon Bombers who finished second overall will have the 11th overall selection and will get 5 picks this year.

Head Coach and GM, Mike Reagan said they like who they have for goalies on their list right now so will be looking to pick forwards and a couple of defensemen. Reagan also said this is a deep draft.

" The feeling is this is one of the best draft years, next year  is supposed to be pretty good as well and if you take a look at the Western Hockey League draft that is usually a pretty good indication of the quality of players in Saskatchewan. I think Saskatchewan had the second most amount of players drafted so all indications is there should be a lot of quality players through out the draft and we should be able to pick up some pretty good players."

This will be a unique draft in the fact that coach's will not be in the same room and will be making their selections by conference call due to Covid 19.

We will have a full in depth interview with Head Coach and GM, Mike Reagan next week.

It has been confirmed that their will be a Flin Flon/ Creighton Slow Pitch League this season.

The League has been given permission from both SPN and the City Of Flin Flon.

With Covid 19 there will be some steps that need to be taken before you can get on the field.

Every player will be required to sign a waiver before you step on the field and there will be no exceptions including pick up players. There will also be social distancing rules you will be required to follow which will be posted on facebook.

They hope to be on the field by June the 15th, so the quicker teams get signed up and pay their fees, the quicker the league can start.

A Coach's meeting will be set up soon to get organized for the season and details will continue to be updated on facebook.

Regina is no longer the guaranteed host of the 2020 Grey Cup.

The CFL announced plans for an abbreviated 2020 season in a video conference with season-ticket holders. If the league was able to have a shortened season, the Grey Cup finalist with the best regular-season mark will host the CFL championship game.

The game could still be played in Regina if the Saskatchewan Roughriders were one of the finalists and the team with the better record.

Regina was scheduled to host this year's game on November 22, but has been awarded the 2022 contest instead.

Hamilton will remain as the 2021 Grey Cup host. Commissioner Randy Ambrosie says the earliest the CFL can start the 2020 season is September, and a cancelled 2020 season remains a possibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Head Coach and General Manager Mike Reagan continues to work hard and prepare for the up coming SJHL season despite Covid 19 concerns.

The league will be meeting via conference and zoom for the league meetings and bantam draft the weekend of June 4th to the 6th.

I caught up with Mike earlier today who says they are in good shape replacing some high calibre players who have graduated and have 11 commitments for the up coming season. They are players they are very familliar with that their scouts have seen. They also feel they will have more Saskatchewan kids this year.

Despite losing lots of offensive guys, Reagan feels these recruits will be able to score. " We feel that their are a few guys who will be able to step up and take some of the burden off our returning guys. Cole Duperreault  played a couple of games with us at the end of the year and was second in scoring in  the Saskatchewan Midget Triple A  League. We have another Quebec kid coming in,  Nathan Gagne who we expect will put the puck in the net and a few other guys who we feel will be able to chip in."

Reagan also talked about the challenges they will have with Corporate advertising and season tickets in generating funds for the up coming season. They will announce some fund raising ideas in the next few weeks.

You can listen to the entire interview by going to flinflononline.com/home/flinflontoday.

The wait is over and the golf course wintered very well as  the Phantom Lake Golf Club is getting ready to kick off another season starting tomorrow.

The course will officially open at 9 and you must call ahead with tee times at 306-688-5555.

With Covid 19 restrictions in place there will be certain rules and regulations that you will have to follow.

Some of the rules laid out by the Saskatchewan government include 12 minutes between tee times, only one person per cart unless you live in the same household. There will be no retrieving balls out of the hole as the cups have all been raised and can be tapped out.

Golf Pro Kelly Mclaren says he and his staff are ready to kick off another season. " I tell you what,  it is long over due and I think everyone in Flin Flon is looking forward to this and we are very excited. We will be starting tee times at 9 am on Wednesday and again we encourage everybody to call and make a tee time. There are rules and regulations we have to follow and this will make things easier on yourself."

New rules will be posted inside the Pro-Shop and you can also go on the Saskatchewan government web-site to see the different guidelines.

The course is starting to green up with the nice weather and opening day is looking very good.

If you would like to pick up your membership, you can do an e-transfer or you can stop by the Pro- Shop and you can even call it in.

The Golf Club is looking forward to another great season and everyone keeping safe.

Congratulations to the Flin Flon Bombers Reid Robertson who was selected for this years  RBC and SJHL Community Ambassador Award .

Robertson,  has become a mentor to young students in the Flin Flon School Division in addition to helping young players at the local hockey academy.

Robertson has become a very active volunteer in the community and has become an excellent role model to young players and students  right across Flin Flon.

Heather Fleming made the announcement during the Flin Flon School Division meeting this past Tuesday.

Reid will direct his donation from RBC toward Ruth Betts School which they will use for a playground structure.

The 19 year old from Winnipeg just finished his second full season in a Bomber uniform where he picked up 32 points in 51 games.

Earlier today,  I had a chance to sit down with the league President Bill Chow to discuss how the league plans to move forward with the challenges of Covid 19.

We talked about the up coming  Coach's  meetings June the 4th, the SJHL Bantam Draft on June the 5th and the AGM on June the 6th. These will all be done via conference and zoom.

We also discussed what the league might do if they can't start in September and how popular the virtual series have become across the province.

Chow says the  league is discussing various scenarios such as pushing the season back or changing the amount of games that each team plays. " I have some ideas but obviously we have to come to a consensus on how we do it and how it looks like and do we just knock off games at the beginning or do we push the season back to complete a full season. These are some of the scenarios we are talking about right now that we will come up with and move forward."

The league has continued to move forward and has been working very close with the CJHL and Hockey Canada to make sure things are in place for next season.

You can hear the full interview at flinflononline.com. Go to the home page and click on flinflontoday.

2020 SASKATCHEWAN SUMMER GAMES IN LLOYDMINSTER POSTPONED OVER COVID-19 CONCERNS 

Multi-Sport Games Have Been Rescheduled for July 2021

REGINA, SK – The Saskatchewan Games Council, the City of Lloydminster, and the Lloydminster 2020 Host Society have jointly announced the postponement of the 2020 Saskatchewan Summer Games until July 2021 due to health and safety concerns surrounding COVID-19. The Games were originally scheduled to be held from July 26 – August 1 in Lloydminster, Sask.

The Games are now tentatively scheduled to run from July 18–24, 2021, and will feature competition from young athletes in 15 summer sports. All sports that were originally included on the sport calendar in 2020 are committed to participate in 2021.

As the global pandemic continues to develop in Saskatchewan and throughout Canada, ongoing discussions between the three parties indicate it is no longer viable for the Games to proceed as planned in July 2020 while ensuring the health and well-being of all participants, volunteers, spectators, and event staff. The decision was made final following advice from the Saskatchewan Health Authority.

The Saskatchewan Games are one of the largest amateur sporting events in Saskatchewan, seeing participation from over 2,000 athletes, coaches and officials from every corner of the province. The biennial Games, which alternate between summer and winter, provide an opportunity for the province’s developing athletes, coaches and officials to experience an exciting multi-sport event in preparation for higher levels of competition, including the Canada Games, Western Canada Summer Games, North American Indigenous Games, and the Olympic and Paralympic Games. 

For more information, please contact:

Karen Lawson 
Games Services and Communications Lead 
Saskatchewan Games Council 
klawson@saskgames.ca 
306-529-3120 

Eric Healey 
Chair, Media Relations 
2020 Saskatchewan Summer Games Host Society 
ehealey@lloydminster.ca 
306-307-8483   

The Flin Flon Bombers virtual season came to an end last night, with a 5 to 3 loss to the Melfort Mustangs.

Flin Flon got goals from Cole Rafuse, Mason Martin and Jaeden Mercier.

Austin Nault led the way for the Mustangs with a pair of goals and Shawn Parkinson was his usual self making 44 saves.

This was the first game in the seies where the home team won on home ice.

Melfort takes the virtual series 4 games to 2 and now await the winner of Yorkton and Battleford which will play game 7 tonight.

This will be the Mustangs fourth trip to the Canalta Cup final in 6 years.

Home ice has meant nothing so far in the virtual best of 7 between the Flin Flon Bombers and Melfort Mustangs.

The Mustangs won their third game at the Whitney Forum last night, coming from two goals down to beat the Bombers 5 to 4 in OT.

Austin Nault scored the winner at 14:59 of the extra period.

The Flin Flon goals came from Zac Bannister who had two, Alec Malo and Billy Klymchuk.

Melfort will have a chance to close it out with a victory on home ice tomorrow and move on to the virtual Canalta Cup final.

Neither team has won at home in the series.

Check out all the action at twitch.com/ sjhlhockey

Golfing is going to be a little different when the Phantom Lake Golf Club opens up for another season in a couple weeks time.

The Saskatchewan government is putting some precautionary measures into place due to Covid 19.

One change will be raising the cups so balls don't have to be retrieved. This will not affect handicaps.

Other changes include no rakes, benches, no ball washers and only one person per cart unless they are from the same residence. Tee times will also be 20 minutes apart.

Golf Pro, Kelly McLaren says they are excited about getting the season going. " We are ready to bide by all the rules and we are just waiting for mother nature to smarten up so we can get going. There is still a lot of water on the course and we need some nice warm days. We are prepared to do everything the government is asking and make sure everybody bides by the rules."

If you would like to pick up your membership at the PLGC, you can do so by e-transfer or you can wait til mid may to pay at the Pro- Shop.

E-mails were sent out to the members on how to send the e-transfers and the process has been working very well.

Tournaments will be on hold when the season starts and I had a chance to catch up with Golf Pro, Kelly McLaren yesterday and you can hear the complete interview on CFAR'S web-site at flinflononline.com. Click on home and then flinflontoday.

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Kevin Ginnell, the son of legendary Bomber Coach and player Paddy Ginnell.

Kevin passed away this past weekend in Vancouver at the age of 58 after battling health issues the past year.

Kevin was raised in a world of hockey and has a strong legacy in the SJHL including Coaching stints in Estevan, Minot, Yorkton, the Saskatoon Titans and was the very first coach of the Kindersley Klippers.

He played 4 seasons in the WHL with Lethbridge, Medicine Hat and the Calgary Wranglers. He had a 168 points in 220 career games and was a 5th round selection of the Chicago Blackhawks in 1980.

Kevin is survived by his mother Wanda who lives in Denare Beach and his two younger brothers Dan and Erin who still work in hockey.

Erin scouts with the Vegas Golden Knights and Dan scouts with ST. Louis.

The Flin Flon Bombers continue to move players on to the next level as high flying forward Alec Malo has committed to play for the U of M Bisons for the up coming season.

Malo,  racked up the points finishing second in overall scoring,  tied with team mate Cole Rafuse with 88 points in 54 games. Malo also led the league in assists with 66. 

In 4 playoff games he was able to add 5 points, all assists.

Malo is the 5th Bomber to commit to college hockey so far this season.

Head Coach and GM Mike Reagan is very happy that Alec is getting a chance to play hockey at the next level. "We are extremely happy for Alec. He is a very skilled player that sees the ice like very few players can. He is a big reason why we had one of the best power plays the league has seen in years."