The SJHL dominated the opening day of the  Showcase as they went head to head with the best of the MJHL at the Seven Oaks Arena in Winnipeg.

The 20-U Team coached by Mike Reagan came from behind to win their game 4 to 3.

Eight  Bombers suited up in this game and Jacob Vockler opened up the scoring taking a nice feed from his Bomber team mate Alexi Sylvestre. Mason Bueckert from Laronge, Cole Wyrun from Notre Dame and Travis Bryson from Humboldt rounded out the scoring.

Flin Flon's Harmon Laser Hume got the start and made 19 saves on 22 shots to get the win and he also got an assist on the second goal scored by Mason Bueckert.

In other opening day games, the SJHL U-20 Gold team beat the MJHL Red 5 to 2. Benjamin Motew from the Humboldt Broncos was sharp and made 37 saves on the afternoon.

The final game played last night saw the SJHL U18 Blue squeek by the MJHL U18 White 3 to 2.

Two Bombers suited up in this game including Koen Senft who picked up an assist and Kenny Marquart who got the start between the pipes and was rock solid making 29 saves on 31 shots.

The goals were scored by Anthony McIntosh of Yorkton, Carson Olson of Battleford and Jacob Strizzi of Humboldt.

There are three more games today with the SJHL 20 U Gold on the ice right now against the MJHL U-20 Black.

At 2pm the SJHL U-20 Team White will face off against the MJHL U-20 Team Red and at 5pm the SJHL U-18 Team Blue will face the MJHL U-18 Team White.

You can follow all the action at mjhlhockey.ca or flowtv.

The 46th annual Grub Box Tournament will take place in the Pas and OCN this weekend.

Games will take place at both the Roy H Johnston Arena and GLMC.

Teams will be taking part from the Pas, Thompson, Swan River, Cross Lake, Hudson Bay and two teams from Flin Flon including the U-11 Peads Threads Bombers and U-11 Northland Ford Bombers.

Games start Friday with the Northland Ford Bombers playing the Swan Valley Stampeders at 11:30 at the Roy.

The Peads Threads Bombers will play Hudson Bay in their first game at the GLMC at 3:45 on Friday.

Playoffs will start Saturday at 1:45. The Championship Final is slated for Sunday at 5 at the Roy.

The JV Kings And Quuens basketball teams were both in action this past weekend.

The Kings were in Cranberry and beat both the Pas and Thompson before losing their final round robin game to Cranberry.

That would put them in the third place game where they beat the Pas 54 to 30 to finish third.

The Queens were in Dauphin and they had a good weekend beating Gilbert Plains and Neepawa with their only loss coming to the host team from Dauphin to finish 2-1.

It was a good tune up for both teams who prepare for Zones later in the month.

It was the showdown the whole hockey world was waiting for as the Flin Flon Bombers made their way to   Battleford to face the Stars in a pair of games this past weekend.

This was their first meeting since the league final this past spring and they are the best two teams in the league this season. Flin Flon ranked number one in the country and Battleford who had reeled off ten straight wins are ranked number nine.

Friday was definately the best game I have witnessed all season as both these elite clubs went toe to toe in a back and forth game all night long.

Flin Flon was able to fight back on three separate occasions and took Friday's game 5 to 4 in OT.

Adam McNutt scored the winner when he  took the terrific feed from Carter Anderson,  raced in all alone and flipped a  beautiful backhand over Matthew MacArthur's left shoulder for his biggest goal in a Bomber uniform.

Justin Lies, Alexi Sylvestre , Anthony Bax and Anthony Piccinnino also scored for Flin Flon with Hunter Burgeson, Kian Bell and Ben Portner with a pair replied for the Stars.

Both goalies were great with MacArthur making 46 saves and the Bombers Harmon  Laser Hume ended up with 31 stops on 35 shots. 

On Saturday they would change venues and made their way to the Battleford Arena. The ice dimensions are very simillar to the Whitney Forum and the Bombers looked very comfortable.

Carter Anderson has a superb weekend and after setting up the winning goal on Friday, scored a pair in leading Flin Flon to a 4 to 2 win in the rematch.

Anderson has hit 29 goals on the season which is only three behind team mate Justin Lies for the league lead.

Lies had a three point game with a goal and two assists and has 62 points in 37 games and is three points behind Kian Bell for the overall scoring lead. 

The other goal was scored by rookie sensation Koen Senft who picked up his 7th after stepping out of the penalty box and finishing up a nice two on one with Lies.

Ben Portner and Alex Izyk scored the two Battleford goals.

Harmon Laser Hume was dialled in and any time his team needs him to play well he makes a statement. He did exactly that with a 36 save performance and continue to be the top netminder in the SJHL.

Logan Cunningham played well in a losing cause and ended up with 29 saves on 33 shots.

The Bombers remain the number one team in the country after their pair of wins on the weekend and improve to a staggering 34-2-2 and are the first team in the league to officially clinch a playoff spot.

Battleford will drop to 29-8-3-1 and are still second overall, 5 points up on the Melfort Mustangs.

There are no games scheduled in the league til Friday as the SJHL/MJHL Showcase will start in Winnipeg tomorrow. The Bombers will have 10 players taking part including Head Coach and GM Mike Reagan.

Congratulations to the Senior Hapnot  Queens on winning the Girls Curling Zone for the second straight year in the Pas.

The Queens went undefeated beating the Pas and Snow Lake in the round robin. Hapnot would go on to face MBCI out Of The Pas for the second time in the final and picked up the 9 to 4 victory  to take the Zone.

The Queens team is made up of Niki Keramydas, Teslyn Beauchamp, Mackenzie Maclean and Brooke Baynton.

They will represent the North at Provincials February 8th to the 10th.

There were two boys teams representing Hapnot and team Red would make it to the final losing to MBCI out of The Pas 9-0. MBCI will represent the North at Provincials coming up in February.

The Flin Flon Curling Club will be holding an open Mixed Bonspiel for men and women on Saturday and Sunday  February the 17th and 18th.

There is no age limit and the entree  fee is $45.00 per person which includes a supper.

Extra meals will also be available for non curlers, you can contact Della at 306-688-6663 if interested.

You can enter as a couple or an individual with teams drawn from a hat.

The deadline to enter is February the 14th and sign up sheet is in the Curling Club lobby on the bulletin board.

The Werbicki Trucking U-15 Bombers which does include some players from the Pas are off to Swan River for the Mike Gray Trucking tournament starting on Friday.

There will be teams from all over including Flin Flon, Russell, Melville, Yorkton, and the host team from Swan River.

Flin Flon will play their first game on Friday against Melville at 1, then they will play Yorkton at 7. The Bombers will play two more round robin games on Saturday against Russell at noon and Swan Valley at 6.

The third place game is Sunday at 11, with the Gold Medal game at 1.

The Men's and ladies Senior Curling Bonspiels took place this past weekend at the Uptown Curling Club.

There were 10 rinks total with 5 on each side.

In the A-Final for the Men for Flin Flon Insurance it was Don Holmes over Menno Giesbrecht and in the B-Event for United Steelworkers it was Al Shirran defeating  Dave Blatherwick.

On the Ladies side in the A-Final Burwash beat McCombie and Rice took the B-Event over Kostachuk.

The next bonspiel will be the Mixed Spiel coming up in the middle of February.

The PBCN Selects travelled down to Winnipeg for the KJHL Showcase this past weekend and went 1-1.

On Friday the Selects pounded the OCN Storm 9 to 1 with Cranberry's Harlan Jacobson picking up three points including two goals. Jacobson now has 20 on the season.

Flin Flon's Paxton Moore  stopped 31 out of 32 shots to improve to 9 and 3 on the year with a sparkling .921 save %.

On Saturday the Selects squared off with the top team in the league and defending champs out of Peguis.

The Juniors  handed the Selects their first loss of 2024 with a 5 to 2 victory.

Owen Angooteaulk and Pavlo Kobikov scored the PBCN goals while Ethan Fechter got the start in goal and allowed 4 goals on 26 shots.

The Selects sit second overall with a very respectable 18 and 7 record and will be in action this wednesday against the Cross Lake Islanders 7:30 at the Whitney Forum.

It was another good weekend for the Flin Flon Bombers who took both games against the Yorkton Terriers including a 4 to 0 win yesterday afternoon.

The game started slow with no goals in the opening period, but the Bombers found their legs in the second period.

Anthony Piccininno was able to re-direct a Anthony Bax shot from the blue line that beat Adam Kelly five hole and stood up as the game winner.

Justin Lies added his league leading 30th of the year on the powerplay just a few minutes later and the Bombers never looked back.

Anthony Bax, who the Bombers just picked up from the Dauphin Kings of the MJHL. picked up a pair of goals and ended up with three on the weekend.He also scored a goal in the 3 to 2 shoot out win the night before.

Bax had  a three point afternoon  and was selected the first star of the game and has been a nice addition to the blue line in adding some secondary offense for stand out Noah Houle.

Kenny Marquart got the start between the pipes and stopped all 41 shots and picked up his third shutout of the season.

Terrier goaltender Adam Kelly was brilliant once again and ended the day with 51 saves on 55 shots and gave his team every opportunity to stay in the game.

Flin Flon took advantage of 7 powerplays and ended up 2 for 7 on the day while killing all 6 Yorkton man advantages.

The Bombers improve to a league best 32-2-2 and remain the number one team in the country as the CJHL rankings came out earlier today.

Yorkton will fall to 14-22-1-2 and remain just 4 points out of the last playoff spot. The Terriers are playing some better hockey and are 5-4-0-1 in their last 10. 

It is a big weekend coming up as the Bombers make their way to the Battlefords to take on the Stars in their first meeting of the year. This will be the first time they have played since last year's league final when the Stars swept the Bombers 4 straight.

Battleford is second overall at 28-7-2-1 and are just 7 points behind the Bombers for first overall, but Flin Flon has played two fewer games.

It is the matchup the whole hockey world has been waiting for and you will be able to listen in to both games this weekend on 102.9 CFAR and flinflononlinecom with the Great North GM Coach's Show both nights at 7:10.

Both Hapnot Senior Basketball teams had a great showing on home turf this past weekend for the first ever KopperCrown Classic Championship.

The Kings went undefeated by beating Peguis and Norway House in the round robin to win their pool.

They would face MBCI out of the Pas in the final  and ended up winning the tournament by a score of 60 to 53.

The Queens also went undefeated in the round robin with wins over OCN and Norway House.

That would put the Queens up against Dauphin in the final and the Clippers ended up playing spoiler with a 48 to 23 convincing win.

A big thanks to all the volunteers and fans for coming out and showing your support this weekend.

The draws are set for the Senior's Mens and Ladies Curling Bonspiels this weekend. There are 10 rinks total, 5 for the Men and 5 for the Ladies.

The opening draw is set for Saturday at 11am.

In the Men's draw Dave Blatherwick VS Al Shirran and Dave Salahub VS Menno Giesbrecht.

In the Ladies Draw it is Dianne Burwash VS Lorna Rice and Betty Fehr VS Cathy McCombie.

The next draw will happen Saturday  at 1pm. The four finals will go Sunday at noon and the First Event for the Men is sponsored by Flin Flon Insurance and the Second Event for United Steelworkers.

Good luck to the Flin Flon Vipers who are on their way to Swan River for a U- 9 Hockey Tournament starting today.

10 teams will be taking part and the Vipers are in a pool with the Swan Valley Colts, Roblin Foxon, Dauphin Devils and the Pas Huskies.

The Vipers will play the Swan Valley Colts today at 4:30 , Roblin tomorrow at 9, The Pas at 11:30 and Dauphin at 3.

Playoffs start Sunday at 9 with the B-Side Final at 12:30 and the A-Side Final at 2.

It was good to see the Bombers back on the ice after a 10 day break and they looked good picking  up a solid 4 to 1 win over the Nipawin Hawks.

This was Flin Flon's fourth straight win against the Hawks this year and they have hit 30 wins  on the season.

The Bomber captain, Justin Lies led the way with a goal and assist and continues to lead the league in goals with 29 and is now tied with the Stars Kian Bell for points with  55.

Jacob Vockler scored a nice goal on the powerplay to give him 18 on the season, with the other goals coming from Noah Houle and new comer Connor Ryan.

Ryan was able to score in his Bomber debut when he took a pass at the blue line from Kylynn Olafson and fired a shot past a  screened  Damon Cunningham.

Cunningham was fantastik and was the biggest reason it wasn't a 10 to 1 game. He made a lot of highlight reel saves and did everything he could to keep his team in the game.

The Bomber netminder Kenny Marquart was also real good and wound up with 40 saves on the night and was very sharp for his first start since December the 16th.

Flin Flon skated very well and dominated the Hawks for much of the game and played most of the game in Nipawin's end.

All 5 players the Bombers picked up at the deadline were in the lineup and all looked like they will be able to contibute down the stretch drive.

After last nights win the Bombers record stands at 30-2-2 and they will host the Yorkton Terriers in a pair of games this weekend. Flin Flon has already beaten Yorkton 4 times this year and the games will be Saturday at 7:30 and Sunday at 4 at the Whitney Forum.

Saturday's game will be broadcast on 102.9 CFAR and flinflononline.com with the Pre-Game show at 7:10.

It loked like Nipawin was a lock at one time to make the playoffs,  but with only 3 wins in their last 10 they have some work to do.

The Hawks only lead Weyburn by two points for the final playoff spot and Weyburn has three games in hand. It is the biggest game of the year for the Hawks at the Cage on Friday as they will host Melville.

Melville and Nipawin are both tied with 34 points, but the Mills have 5 games in hand. This game may dictate how the Hawks go about finishing the season.

The PBCN Selects picked up their 5th straight win in 2024 with another convincing win over the OCN Storm.

The Selects took a 3 to 1 lead after one and never looked back picking up the 8 to 3 victory. Pavlo Kobikov took over right where he left off after the weekend with another three  goals to give him 15 on the season.

Dion Fontaine also scored a pair with Harland Jacobson, Terence Pilakipsi and Laryn chaboyer rounding out the scoring.

Ethan Fechter was back between the pipes and made 24 saves on 27 shots to pick up his 6th win of the year.

It is a big two points for the Selects who improve to 17-6 on the season and are now second overall, leap frogging the NCN Flames by one point. Both teams have played 23 games.

The Selects will now travel to Winnipeg for the Keystone Junior B Showcase this weekend.

PBCN will face the Storm on Friday, and Peguis on Saturday. The game on Saturday is a big one as Peguis leads the Selects by 2 points for first overall.

Hapnot is hosting the Kopper Crown Classic Basketball tournament this weekend featuring 12 teams from both Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

There will be 6 boys teams and 6 girls teams taking part from Flin Flon, The Pas, OCN ,  Creighton, Norway House, Peguis and Dauphin.

Games start Friday morning with the Hapnot Kings VS Peguis at 9:30. The Queens will play OCN at 11.

Round robin games will continue til 8pm Friday night.

Playoffs start Saturday morning at 9:30 with the girls final at 3:30 followed by the boys final at 5pm.

The rosters for the SJHL/MJHL   Showcase were  revealed  yesterday on the SJHL website and once again the Flin Flon Bombers are going to be well represented.

Flin Flon will have 10 players get the opportunity to showcase their skills and represent their team and community.

They have 8 players on the U-20 Vet team which includes forwards Alexi Sylvestre, Justin Lies, Carter Anderson, Anthony Piccininno and Jacob Vockler.

Defensemen Adam McNutt and Noah Houle as well as goaltender Harmon Laser Hume.

The team will be coached by Bomber bench boss Mike Reagan with Melville's Doug Johnson assisting.

The Bombers will also have two players on the U-18 team including forward Koen Senft and goalie Kenny Marquart.

The SJHL/MJHL Showcase will take place January the 30th and 31st in Winnipeg and all the games will be broadcast on Flo TV.

Offense wasn't a problem once again for the PBCN Selects who took both games against the WayWay Wild this past weekend.

The Selects fired 50 shots on WayWay on Saturday night and picked up the 5 to 2 win.  Leo Kaludjak led the way with a pair of goals. Flin Flon's Paxton Moore stopped 30 shots to pick up the win.

Yesterday afternoon, everything the Selects shot went in as they peppered the Wild net with 64 shots and  a convincing 17 to 4 win. Pavlo Kobikov hat the hot hand with a 6 goal performance to give him 12 on the season. 

Dom Suhr chipped in with the hat-trick and now has 11 goals in 12 games. Paxton Moore picked up another win with 25 saves on the afternoon.

The Selects now sit third overall at 16-6 and are just a point behind the NCN Flames for second with a game in hand.

PBCN will have a chance to take over second overall when they head to OCN to face the Storm tomorrow night. Game time is 7:30  at the GLMC.

It was a good start to the new year for the Senior Hapnot Queens who dominated the competition this past weekend at the Border Bash Basketball Tournament in Creighton.

The Queens went 2-0 in the round robin with victories over the Pas and Cranberry. They then beat Creighton 49 to 30 in the Semi's.

Hapnot then took it to Preeceville in the final 59 to 30 to win the tournament and finished undefeated.

The Creighton Kodiak's were 1-1 in the round robin losing to Preeceville and beating Hudson Bay before eventually losing to Hapnot in the semi's.

MBCI out of the Pas beat Hudson Bay 32 to 29 to finish third in the pool.

Hapnot will be hosting the Kopper Crown Classic this weekend which will feature 12 teams from all over Manitoba and Saskatchewan for both boys and girls. Action will start Friday morning.  

The Flin Flon Curling Club will be hosting the Senior Men's and Ladies Bonspiels the weekend of January the 20th and 21st.

This is open to anybody 50 and over and teams will be drawn from a hat.

The entry fee is $45.00 and will include a meal Saturday night..

Sign up sheets are on the bulletin board in curling club lobby. The deadline is Wednesday January the 17th. 

The CJHL trade deadline has come and gone and no question that The Flin Flon Bombers were the busiest team in the country with a number of trades the last few days.

I had a chance to sit down with the Head Coach and GM  Mike Reagan who explaind why they made the number of deals that they did, and why he decided to revamp the lineup with only two regulation losses on the season.

You can hear the coach's thoughts on all the deals that were made as they get ready for Nipawin tomorrow and the push towards the playoffs.

https://flinflononline.com/podcasts/flin-flon-today

The CJHL Trade Deadline has wrapped up and there wasn't anyone busier than the Head Coach and GM of the Flin Flon Bombers.

Mike Reagan made a lot of additions as the number one team in the country looks to keep the momentum going as we push towards the post season.

The Bombers would add a defenseman and a forward to cap a very busy day yesterday.

Flin Flon made another trade with the AJHL yesterday with the signing of former Sherwood Park Crusader Defenseman Conor Ryan.  He is from St  John's Newfoundland and started the season with Sherwood Park picking up 4 assists in 16 games. The Bombers look forward to adding his speed and streingth.

The final deal of the day for the Bombers was the addition of talented forward Tyson Smith from the Selkirk Steelers of the MJHL. Smith suited up for the Steelers for three seasons and is coming off a career year in which he picked up 70 points in 57 games including 13 goals.

He suited up for the Bismarck Bobcats of the NAHL this season and picked up 14 points in 24 games. Smith will give the Bombers a lot of depth on the back end and should make a very good addition to their blue line.

We will have more on these trades with Head Coach and GM, Mike Reagan later today. You can listen in to our sports reports at 12:35,4 and 5pm and a full length interview on this blog.

We are nearing the end of the SJHL trade deadline and the Flin Flon Bombers with only two regulation losses this season have been very busy.

One of their biggest deals went down last night when it was announced that 19 year old forward Ashton Paul had been traded to Dauphin for 20 year old defenseman Anythony Bax.

Bax is a stud and reguarded as one of the best defensemen in the MJHL with 32 points in 30 games including 13 goals. He should be a very nice addition to the back end.

The Bombers also had to give up future considerations.

Flin Flon has traded 19 year old defenseman Cheechoo Lathlin back to the OCN Blizzard, where he started his career for a PDF. Lathlin has 3 points in 24 games this year.

Poppular 20 year old forward Brock Mueller is on his way to Kindersley for a 2024 third round draft pick and a PDF. Mueller will really help Kindersley and has 16 points in 28 games this year including 5 goals.

The Bombers have also added 19 year old forward Keefe Gruener from FT. Mac of the AJHL in exchange for future considerations. Gruener has 25 points in 40 games including 12 goals and should be a very good depth player.

Apparently the Bombers still arn't done and Head Coach and GM  Mike Reagan is  expected to make a few more late deals.

You will be able to find them here once they are completed and see all the transactions from right across  the SJHL at sjhl.ca.

courtesy of bombers.ca

The Flin Flon Bombers have acquired  ‘04 Forward, Jerome Gilbert, from the Yarmouth Mariners of the MHL in exchange for ’04 Defenceman, Fabrice Bourgeois and future considerations.

Bourgeois joined the Bombers this past summer from the Dynamiques – Cégep De Sainte-Foy of the QCHL, where he played in 26 games, recording 3 goals and 2 assists for 5 points. The St-Augustin-De-Desmaures, Quebec product suited up in 22 games for the Bombers this season, tallying 2 goals and 4 assists. Standing at 6’2 and 200lbs, Bourgeois brought a lot of strength and toughness to the Bombers blue line.

The Bombers thank Fabrice for his hard work and dedication during his time with the Bombers and wish him the best of luck in his hockey career.

Gilbert is a Val-d’Or, Quebec product who started his junior career with the Yarmouth Mariners (MHL) last season, where he played in 52 regular season games, tallying 18 goals and 35 assists for 53 points. The Mariners finished off last season with a 41-9-2-0 record and had a 12-0 playoff run, gaining them the MHL Championship and a spot in the Centennial Cup. During the championship run, Gilbert put up 5 goals and 10 assists for 15 points. In Centennial Cup, the Mariners went 1-4 and Gilbert notched 2 assists in those games.

“We are excited about adding a top 6 forward that has championship experience. Jerome played in the national tournament last year and knows what it takes to win.” – Mike Reagan, Heach Coach/GM of the Flin Flon Bombers

The Bombers welcome Jerome and his family to Flin Flon and the organization. We are excited to see him on the ice this season!

The 14th annual Kit Classic Girls Basketball tournament will take place this weekend in Creighton.

There will be two pools with teams from Flin Flon, Hudson Bay, Preeceville, Cranberry, The Pas and the host Kodiaks.

Games start Friday afternoon with Creighton playing Hudson Bay at 2:30.

The Hapnot Queens will play Cranberry at 4.

Round robin will continue Friday and Saturday morning. Playoffs start Saturday at 12:30 with the Championship game at 5.

There will also be a Friday night shoot out skills competition from 8:30 to 9:30.

The PBCN Selects kicked off the new year in style with a couple of convincing victories against the Norway House Northstars of the Keystone Junior B Hockey league this past weekend.

On Saturday the Selects went into Norway House and doubled the Northstars 6 to 3.

Cranberry's Harlan Jacobson led the way with the hat-trick for his 13th,14th and 15th of the season. Leo Kaludjak, Dion Fontaine and Kobe Tanuyak also found te back of the net.

Ethan Fechter stopped 32 out of 35 shots for his 5th win in a Selects uniform.

On Sunday the Selects took over right where they left off and buried the Northstars 7 to 1.

PBCN built up a 4 nothing lead after one on a pair of goals from Embry Roberts, Dom Suhr and Kobe Tanuyak and never looked back.

Ray Pudlat JR, Dion Fontaine and Leo Kaludjak rounded out the scoring and Flin Flon's  Paxton Moore was impressive stopping 39 out of 40 shots as the Selects picked up the weekend sweep.

After the weekend PBCN will improve to 14-6 and are now just 4 points behind the first place Peguis Juniors for first overall. Both teams have played 20 games.

The Selects will be at home this weekend as they will host the Way Way Wild on Saturday night at 7:30 and Sunday afternoon at 1:30.

Flin Flon Minor Hockey held their first tournament of 2024 this past weekend with the return of the Jason Morran Memorial Tournament.

7 teams took part from Flin Flon, The Pas, Thompson and Cross Lake.

Organizers did a great job and it was great to see both the Whitney Forum and Sportex packed with lots of spectators through out the weekend.

Here are the results:

The Peds Threads Bombers won the tournament beating Thompson 6 to 1 in the AA Final yesterday afternoon.

Aiden Kemp, Wyatt Nagy, Quinn Trubiak, Reagan McPherson, Brody Cooper and Jayden Ricard scored the goals for the Bombers.

In the Eddies Cup Final in the A Division, Thompson beat the Pas Huskies team 2, 5 to 3.

The Pas Huskies Team 1 beat Cross Lake 9 to 2 to win the Consolation.

The Flin Flon Bombers have two games in the books to start the new year and after a 4 to 2 win against Nipawin on Friday, the Bombers found them selves on the wrong end of a 3 to 0 game on Saturday.

The Bombers powerplay was sizzling on Friday  going 4 for 7 with Carter Anderson picking up his fourth hat-trick of the year with his 25th,26th and 27th of the year. Justin Lies scored the other goal,  his league leading 28th.

Anderson is one of the most devastating players I have ever seen with the extra attacker and leads all players in the SJHL with 18 powerplay goals. It is really impressive when you consider we are just into January.

Flin Flon looked a little sluggish on Friday after the 19 day break,  but picked things up against the Hawks as the game went on,  and they beat Nipawin for the third straight time this year in front of a very good crowd at the Whitney Forum.

Saturday the boys jumped on the bus and headed up the road to Melfort to face the Mustangs at the Northern Lights Palace for the very first time this season. The two teams have squared off at the Whitney Forum three times this year with the Bombers going 2-0-1 in the three games.

The game started slow on Saturday and it looked like the Bombers would get on the board first with another powerplay goal from Justin Lies. Lies was able to get a rebound on James Venne and beat him five hole but the goal was waved off and Lies was handed a penalty for goaltender interference.

It was definately one of the strangest calls I have witnessed this year and Lies was stunned that the call was made and the Bombers wern't able to get anything going  offensively after that.

Melfort played a solid game and scored all  of their goals in the third period enroute to the 3 to 0 victory. The game winner was scored by Kaleb Binner when he streaked down the ice and fooled Harmon Laser Hume with a nice shot over his left shoulder.

Aidyn Hutchinson scored a pair with a nice shot off the post and in on the powerplay and he also added an empty netter to give him 18 on the season.

Harmon Laser Hume suffered just his second loss of the year making 24 saves on 26 shots. James Venne stopped all 26 shots fired in his direction but wasn't really tested.

This is just the third regulation loss all year for the Flin Flon Bombers who see their record fall to 29-2-2. The Mustangs continue to play well and have moved to within 9 points of Flin Flon for first overall with a record of 24-9-3.

Both teams expect to be busy with the January 10th trade deadline just a couple days away. Bomber Head Coach and GM  Mike Reagan says he may have some deals to report as early as tomorrow and if anything does happen we will report on it asap.

Flin Flon won't be back on the ice til next Friday when they will once again host the Nipawin Hawks. Melfort is also in action next Friday when they play Humboldt.

It has been 19 days since the Flin Flon Bombers were on the ice and they will see their first action of the new year tonight.

The number one team in Canada will face off against the Nipawin Hawks who hit the ice for the first time in the new year on Wednesday when they beat Kindersley 7 to 3.

Flin Flon enters the second half of the season with a league best record of  28-1-2 and Nipawin is just under.500 at 15-16-0-2.

Tonight's game at the Whitney Forum will be the third meeting of the year between the two teams with Flin Flon winning both games which were played in Nipawin on October the 24th 3 to 2 and opening night back on September the 22nd 5 to 2.

The Bombers bolster the top offensive group in the league with 5 of their players in the top ten in scoring including overall leader  Justin Lies who has 51 points in 30 games.

Right behind him is Alexi Sylvestre with 49 points, Jacob Vockler with 45, Noah Houle with 42 and Carter Anderson with 37. Anderson also leads the league with a staggering 15 powerplay goals.

Flin Flon also has the top two goalies in the league with Harmon Laser Hume, the former Hawk coming into tonight with a league best save percentage of .935. Kenny Marquart right behind him at .922. Laser Hume also leads the league in wins with 19.

Nipawin has made a few changes since the Bombers saw them last in October. The Hawks have added stud defenseman Liam McInnis from Laronge and the veteran d-man hasn't disappointed picking up 11 points in 6 games since the trade.

The Hawks have also added the OCN Blizzard's top sniper from last year in Alex Bernauer. Bernauer picked up the hat-trick in the win over Kindersley on Wednesday and has picked up 22 points in 20 games so far this year.

Nipawin is definately deeper since the last time they faced the Bombers.

I am looking forward to the game tonight featuring two explosive offensive teams that have the two deepest forward groups in the league. This will be fun to watch tonight and you have a feeling these two teams could be on a collision course to meet in the playoffs.

No broadcast on radio tonight but we make our 2024 debut tomorrow night when the Bombers travel to Melfort. It all begins with the Great North GM Coach's Show at 7:10 and drop of the puck from the Northern Lights Palace at 7:30.

Congratulations to Flin Flon's Brad Fox who has been selected as one of the officials for the up coming Telus Cup in Winnipeg.

Fox is one of 24 officials who were selected by  Hockey Manitoba for the event which will take place April the 4th to the 7th.

Fox has been refereeing and linesing for many years and has officiated every level of minor hockey as well as officiating games in the KJHL, MJHL and SJHL and is regarded as one of the top officials from Northern Manitoba.

Congratulations Brad and well deserved.

With some fresh new snow there will be a chance to start the new year with lots of programs and events coming up at the Flin Flon Ski Club.

Memberships are available for all ages by clicking on the tab on the ski club website.

Equipment is also available whether you are new to the sport or picking it up again after many years or visiting and would like to try out the trails. They have you covered and skis can be rented by going to the website.

A couple big events to look forward to in 2024 include the very popular Val and Ivor Hedmen Centaloppet. This will be the 49th annual and is open to anybody  who would like to ski an easy 3.4 km route.

This will take place on Sunday March the 3rd and will begin with registration at 1 followed by the mass start at 2 on the Beaver Pond.

Sask Cup races are being planned for the next weekend March the 9th and 10th with skiers expected to be coming in from all over Saskatchewan.

More details on these events will be available  as we get closer to the start dates.

You can find out more about everything the Flin Flon Ski Club offers by going to the website at flinflonskiclub.com.

The Flin Flon Bombers won't return to the ice til this weekend when they host the Nipawin Hawks on Friday and make their way to Melfort on Saturday.

The Bombers head into the second half as the top team in the country at 28-1-2 and two of their top players from the first half of the season were recognized for their fine play in December.

Carter Anderson was selected the SGEU MVP Of The Month for scoring 10 goals in 6 games in December. He also added 4 assists and has 37 points in 22 games. Anderson also leads the league with a staggering 14 powerplay goals.

His team- mate Noah Houle was selected the SuperU Defenseman Of The Month for the second time this year. Houle collected 10 points in 5 games including 3 goals and leads all SJHL Defensemen with 42 points in 29 games.

Houle accepted a scholarship to Lindenwood University earlier in the year joining former Bombers Jaeden Mercier and Drew Kuzma.

The first Flin Flon Minor Hockey Tournament of 2024 will take place this weekend at both the Sportex and Whitney Forum.

It is the Jason Morran Memorial U-11 Tournament with teams competing from Flin Flon, The Pas, Thompson and Cross Lake.

Games will start Friday at 2pm with the Peds Threads Bombers taking on the Pas Huskies team 1 at the Whitney Forum.

The first game at the Sportex will be the Northland Ford Bombers squaring off with the Pas Huskies team 2 also at 2pm.

Round robin continues through Friday and Saturday with the playoffs starting Sunday at 9am. The final will go at 2pm at the Whitney Forum.

The full schedule can be seen at flinflonminorhockey.com.