More good news for the Flin Flon Bombers off the ice as they have announced another one of their players will be moving on to play hockey in the NCAA.

Congratulations to Jacob Vockler who has committed to Lindenwood University in Missouri. 

Vockler spent three years in Flin Flon suiting up for 145 games and picked up 155 points including 49 goals. Vockler was also instrumental in a lot of the Bombers success in the playoffs where he was able to pick up 44 points in 45 career playoff games.

He had 17 points in 12 playoff games this past spring and helped his team get into the final for the third straight year.

Vockler will get a chance to further his career with Noah Houle who also committed to Lindenwood for next season. Former Bombers Drew Kuzma and Jaeden Mercier are also playing in Lindenwood.

Vockler is the third NCAA commit this past season for Flin Flon joining Noah Houle and Alexi Sylvestre who is off to Bemidji State.

Great news,  if all go's according to plan the Phantom Lake Golf Course should be ready for another season on Friday.

The Pro- Shop is now open and the hours for the rest of the week are 10 to 7.

Congratulations to Amanda Dubinak who is the new Pro- Shop Manager, but not new to the Phantom Lake Golf Club as she has been working at the Pro- Shop and assisting various Pro's throughout the years.

If you are looking for a tee time or any other information you can call the Pro Shop at 306-688-5555. Also watch for updates on facebook and your e-mails.

The Clubhouse will open on Sunday just in time for the popular Mother's Day Brunch between 10 and 1.

Congratulations to long time Flin Flon Bomber bench boss Mike Reagan on being one of 6 finalists for the CJHL Coach Of The Year.

Despite coming up a couple games short for the league championship, this was a very good year for Reagan and the Bombers.

Flin Flon picked up 44 wins in the regular season to match a franchise record  for wins in a season and propelled the Bombers to first overall.

Reagan was selected as the first Bomber coach ever as the SJHL Coach Of The Year , and he also surpassed 500 wins in his career and is the winningest Bomber coach in history.

He also  guided Flin Flon to the league final for the fifth time in seven years and third straight. The Bombers were also ranked the number one team in the CJHL for 16 straight weeks.

Once again congratulations and well deserved.

Congratulations to former Flin Flon Bomber Assistant Coach and former Head Coach of the Cranberry Winterhawks Gardner McDougall.

McDougall was the Head Coach for the U-18 Canadian team at the World Championships in Finland that won Gold on Sunday beating the US 6 to 4 in the final.

McDougall continues to find success no matter what team or program he is leading as he is fresh off leading UNB to their ninth national title and second in a row as his team didn't allow a goal in three games.

Just two years ago, MacDougall took over the Memorial Cup host Saint John Sea Dogs after they were eliminated in the QMJHL playoffs and guided them to a national junior title as interim head coach.

Rumour has it that the QMJHL'S Moncton Wildcats have reached out to McDougall to discuss their vacant head coaching spot.

The Flin Flon Bombers officially called it a season with their year end awards and banquet which took place at the Creighton Community Hall.

Even though it wasn't the ending that they wanted,  it was still a very successful season that included 44 wins to match the all time franchise record.

The year also included Harmon Laser Hume winning SJHL Goalie Of The Year, Noah Houle the top SJHL Defenseman and Mike Reagan selected as SJHL Coach Of The Year.

The team also made the league final for the third straight year and fifth time in the last 7 seasons.

Here is the complete list of winners from Saturday night.

Bomber Captain Justin Lies had an outstanding night and season picking up 5 awards including 1st Star for the Royal Bank 3 Star Award, Geoge Leel Trophy for most points, CFAR Most Valuable Player, Pat Spiller Memorial for top scorer and the MVP of the playoffs.

His brother Joey Lies picked  up two trophies for Most Popular Player and Frank Schieder Memorial for community work.

Other award winners included:

Diane Krokosz Memorial for Most Dedicated- Harmon Laser Hume

Howard Fox Courier- MR Hustle- Anthony Piccininno

Lavalley Artworks Academic Award and Nik Oklobdzija Top Rookie - Koen Senft

Creighton Furniture Best Defensive Player- Cole Tanchuk

Royal Bank 3 stars- Justin Lies, Jacob Vockler, Alexi Sylvestre

Patty Ginnell Most Improved- Pierce Yakimchuk

Darcy Bancroft Best Defenseman- Noah Houle

Chicke Chef Unsung Hero- Adam McNutt

Coach's Award- Matt Egan

A big thanks to Chicken Chef for a delicious meal and once again to the players, coach's, sponsors, billets, board and fans for another great year of Bomber hockey.

The indoor soccer tournament took place at the Sportex this past weekend and it was great to see a lot of spectators out watching this weekend.

Once again there were three teams in 2010-12 division and four teams in the 2013-15 division.

Congrats to team D who beat Team A 3 to 2 to claim the 2013-15 division.

Players on Tean D are Brody Cooper, Preston McKeen, Zayne Kawerski, Quinlan Trbiak, Alexis Entwistle, Kaitlin Rossington, Elizabeth Churchill, Gabe Pawlachuk, Eva Hill, Zander Morrisette and Bella Brushett. Coach's Mike and Ethan Pawlachuk and Blake Shirran.

Team 2 beat Team 1 , 3 to 0 to win the 2010-12 division.

Players from Team 2 are Westyn Hlaydy, Jocelyn Kozar, Maxen Menzies, Gus Hill, Alec McKay, Elizabeth Muldoon, Summer Waslyk, Jacob Kozar, Troy Ducharme and Abigail Dicks. Coach's Kaleb Sapergia and Jack Dubinak.

Thanks to the coach's, sponsors, referees, organizers and all the players for coming out as it was a great way to officially kick off the soccer  season.

Congratulations to a couple members of the Flin Flon Bombers who have been nominated for a couple of national awards.

Harmon Laser Hume is a finalist for the CJHL Goalie Of The Year. Laser is coming off a career season where he was named the top SJHL Goalie finishing second in wins with 28. He ws also among the league leaders in gaa at 2.20 and save % at .930.

Noah Houle is up for the CJHL Defenseman Of The Year after being named the SJHL'S top defenseman. Houle led all SJHL defensemen in points with 68.  Houle who was one of the leagues top play makers was also a very impressive +38 to lead the league in that category. Houle will be off to Lindenwood University to play in the NCAA next season.

The Flin Flon Bombers will officially call it a season after their awards banquet on Saturday.

After two full seasons as the Head Coach and GM of the PBCN Selects of the Keystone Junior B Hockey league, Gatlin Church announced his resignation today.

"I’m extremely proud of a 46-20-4 record an  appearance in the league final, a successful Central Canada Cup Championship and have 2 players commit to D1 ACHA programs. I’m extremely proud of the work I as well as others put into establish the Culture of the PBCN Selects."

"I would like to send a sincere thank you to Chuck Morin for believing in me and allowing me the opportunity to build this program. Also to Chief and Council for the opportunity to represent their communities. I hope I didn’t let you down." 

Church also went on to thank his assistant coach's Drew Morin, Pat McKenzie and the rest of the people who volunteered and sponsored the club. 

Church  will be pusuing other avenues in hockey and the Selects will have a new face behind the bench starting next season.

Flin Flon Minor Hockey will be hosting their AGM on Wednesday May the 15th, 7pm at the Flinty Room at the Victoria Inn.

This will be an opportunity to be part of shaping the future for our beloved sport in the community.

The agenda will include committee reports from the President and Treasurer, a recap from last year and updates on new programs being added for the upcoming season. There will also be elections for new people to join the board.

This is open to players, coach's, fans and anyone in the community who would like to come out and join the meeting.

They played their hearts out but unfortunately the Flin Flon Bombers season came to an end last night, dropping a 4 to 1 decision to the Melfort Mustangs.

The Mustangs win the series 4 games to 2 and win their first championship since 2016. Ironically it was the Bombers they beat that season too, in six games.

You have to give Flin Flon credit  who rallied from three games down to win the last two and make it a series. There was a lot of optimism from the players, organization and fans that they would be able to get the win and get it back to Flin Flon for game 7.

The night started well and the Bombers had a good first period out shooting the Mustangs 9 to 6 with the better of the scoring opportunities.

A Keefe Gruener break away for Flin Flon was one of the opportunities they didn't capitalize on.

It was scoreless heading into the second period when the Mustangs Tye Evans was able to pluck a puck in off the cross bar. I watched the replay and it never looked like the puck crossed the line, but the referee and goal judge both signalled the goal. 

Flin Flon was able to shake that off and tied the game when Captain Justin Lies buried a shot top shelf  on James Venne for his 14th of the post season. This was a powerplay goal and it really seemed to fire up the Bomber bench.

The Bombers couldn't sustain the momentum and the Mustangs retook the lead a minute later when Aidyn Hutchinson got a rebound past Harmon Laser Hume. This would stand up as the game winner.

Another packed house at the Whitney Forum as the Flin Flon Bombers played their most complete game of the league final,  and beat the Melfort Mustangs 5 to 2 last night.

The Mustangs took the first three, but the Bombers have fought back to win the last two with their backs against the wall.

Riley Niven opened the scoring last night when he scored on a break away short handed , firing a shot low glove side on James Venne. This was Niven's first of the playoffs as he continues to be a real big force away from the puck.

Aidyn Hutchinson would answer when he scored on a partial break away of his own to tie the game late in the first period.

Melfort was able to take the lead briefly in the second when Danton Cox converted a rebound in front of the Bomber net for his third goal of the final.

After killing a penalty the Bombers caught fire and reeled off 4 straight with Anthony Piccininno, Alexi Sylvestre, Carter Anderson and Justin Lies all finding the back of the net.

Lies put his into the empty net as he converted a nice pass from Niven who could of scored himself, but decided to feed the puck to Lies for a totally unselfish act.

Harmon Laser Hume was dialled in and played his best game of the series and finished with 31 saves with a lot of them coming early in the game.

James Venne stopped 37 of 41 with one goal scored into the empty net.

It was a good night for Jacob Vockler who picked up three assists and now has 16 points in 11 playoff games.

The Bomber penalty kill was exceptional and was able to hold off all 5 Melfort man advantages. Flin Flon went 0 for 3.

With the win last night, that means we will have a game 6 in Melfort on Tuesday night. Don't forget if you can't make it to Melfort you will still have the best seat in the house.

We are back on the air with Creighton Furniture Flin Flon Bomber Playoff  Hockey including the Great North GM Coach's Show at 8: 10 MB time.

Drop of the puck at 8:30.

The Phantom Lake Soccer Club will be hosting their indoor tournament this weekend at the Sportex starting on Friday.

There are three teams in the 2010 to 2012 Division. There are four teams in the 2013 to 15 Division.

In the 2013 to 15 Division, the two  games on Friday are :

Team A VS Team C at 5pm.

Team B VS Team D at 7pm.

The 2010 to 12 Division there is one game on Friday with Team 1 VS Team 2 at 6pm.

Rest of the round robin will take place on Saturday with the playoffs starting at 3.

Rosters and full schedule can be seen on the Phantom Lake Soccer Club facebook page.

The 2013 JR Northstars officially wrapped up their season earlier today at a tournament in Brandon.

The Northstars went 1-1 in the round robin with a 6 to 4 loss in their first game against the Wheatland Wild, but rebounded with a 4 to 1 win over the Central Plains Red Wings.

That knocked them down to the B-Pool where they faced off against the Stealth Wolves and Kane Davis scored the winning goal as they beat them 7 to 6.

They played a good game against Yellowhead but lost a tough battle 7 to 4 and finish the tournament in 6th spot.

They end up going 2-2 and really improved over the course of the year and have 5 players from Flin Flon including  forwards Aiden Kemp, Brody Cooper and Luke Kowbell, defenseman Quinn Trubiak and goalie Eli Chrisp.

THE WINKLER FLYERS ARE THE 2024 MJHL CHAMPIONS AS THEY SKATED TO A 5-4 OVERTIME WIN FRIDAY NIGHT AND SWEPT THE STEINBACH PISTONS 4 GAMES TO NONE.  THE FLYERS WILL REPRESENT MANITOBA FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 1992 AT THE CENTENNIAL CUP NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP  MAY 9-19 IN OAKVILLE ONTARIO.

THE FLIN FLON BOMBERS EXTENEDED THEIR SEASON AT LEAST ONE MORE GAME WITH A 5-2 HOME ICE WIN OVER THE MELFORT MUSTANGS ON SATURDAY NIGHT.   THE BOMBERS STILL TRAIL THE BEST-OF-SEVEN SJHL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES 3 GAMES TO 2.  GAME SIX IS TOMORROW IN MELFORT.

THE BRANDON WHEAT KINGS OF THE MANITOBA U-18 TRIPLE A HOCKEY LEAGUE CAPTURED SILVER AT THE TELUS CUP NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP.  THE WHEAT KINGS WERE LOOKING FOR THEIR FIRST NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SINCE 2004 BUT LOST TO QUEBEC IN THE FINAL 4-1.      
 

The Winkler Flyers can sweep their way to the MJHL Championship with a win tonight when they host the Steinbach Pistons. The Flyers have won the previous games 2-1, 3-1 and 5-4 in overtime.

The Flin Flon Bombers downed the Melfort Mustangs 4-3 in overtime last night for their first win of the SJHL Final Series. The Bombers still trail the series 3 games to 1 with game 5 tomorrow in Flin Flon.

The Brandon Wheat Kings are 2 and 2 so far at the National U-18 Telus Cup in Nova Scotia. They play their final Round Robin game today and have qualified for the semi-finals tomorrow. The national final will go Sunday.

THE WINKLER FLYERS CAN SWEEP THEIR WAY TO THE MJHL CHAMPIONSHIP WITH A WIN TONIGHT WHEN THEY HOST THE STEINBACH PISTONS.  THE FLYERS HAVE WON THE PREVIOUS GAMES 2-1, 3-1 AND 5-4 IN OVERTIME.

THE FLIN FLON BOMBERS DOWNED THE MELFORT MUSTANGS 4-3 IN OVERTIME LAST NIGHT FOR THEIR FIRST WIN OF THE SJHL FINAL SERIES.  THE BOMBERS STILL TRAIL THE SERIES 3 GAMES TO 1 WITH GAME FIVE TOMORROW IN FLIN FLON.

THE BRANDON WHEAT KINGS ARE 2 AND 2 SO FAR AT THE NATIONAL U-18 TELUS CUP IN NOVA SCOTIA.  THEY PLAY THEIR FINAL ROUND ROBIN GAME TODAY AND HAVE QUALIFIED FOR THE SEMI-FINALS TOMORROW.  THE NATIONAL FINAL WILL GO SUNDAY.
 

The 2013 Junior Northstars spent the past few weekends getting prepped for their final tournament of the spring season which takes place this coming weekend in Brandon, MB where the team will take part in the AAA challenge.

The Northstars begin the tournament Thursday against the Wheatland Wild and finish up round robin play Friday where they will face off with the Central Plains Red Wings.

 Teams will then be seeded for playoffs which begin Saturday. Hockey fans can stay up to date with live scores,stats, and standings by visiting www.aaahockeychallenge.com/home .

There are 5 players from Flin Flon including forwards Aiden Kemp, Brody Cooper and Luke Kowbell, defenseman Quinn Trbiak and goalie Eli Chrisp.

It wasn't the start the Flin Flon Bombers were looking for or expecting to kick off the Canterra Seeds Cup final.

The Melfort Mustangs came into the Whitney Forum and blasted the Bombers by scores of 9 to 2 on Friday and a 4 to 1 win on Saturday,  and are up 2 heading home for games three and four  Wednesday and Thursday.

You have to tip your cap to the Mustangs who are taking advantage of all their opportunities and are limiting the Bomber offensive chances in tight.

Nothing against James Venne, but I don't feel the Bombers have tested him much in the first two games. Venne stopped 42 shots on Saturday,  but most of them were dump in's or shots from the outside as the Mustangs didn't give the Bombers much in close.

Harmon Laser Hume on the other hand has been under siege, and has given up 11 goals on 55 shots in the first two games. Laser Hume got pulled on Friday after giving up 7 goals on 30 shots to make way for Kenny Marquart who gave up 2 goals on 10 shots.

I am sure there are some shots that Laser would like to get back, but his team simply has to play a lot better in front of him and he did play better Saturday giving up 3 goals on 24 shots. The Mustangs would add one into the empty net.

Flin Flon who had nothing but momentum in the first two series against Kindersley and Battleford have had next to none in this series.

The Bombers did open up the scoring in both games when Anthony Piccininno scored 7 minutes into the opening period in game one. Melfort's Tye Evans came back just 15 seconds later to tie it and they never looked back.

Bomber Captain Justin Lies scored early in game two when he re-directed a nice pass from Carter Anderson just past the 13 minute mark. This was Lies team leading 11th of the playoffs who also scored a 5 on 3 powerplay goal in game one.

Once again the lead was short lived when stand out defenseman Chase Friedt Mohr would tie the game with a short handed break away.

Melfort rolled from there with Rhett Hamilton and the Cox boys, Danton and Logan both scoring  insurance goals.

It is not like the Bombers didn't have their chances going 0 for 8 on the powerplay which included a 5 minute major and a 4 minute double minor late.

The Mustang penalty kill  was excellent and was one of the big factors in the game and ended up going  0 for 3 with the extra attacker.

The Bombers have dug a hole losing the first two games at home and out scored 13 to 3 in the two games with only Justin Lies and Anthony Piccininno finding the back of the net.

We will see how they battle through this adversity in a must win at the Northern Lights  Palace on Wednesday night. The Bombers need to penetrate that Melfort defense and start getting to the net and some secondary scoring would also be nice.

Don't forget to join us on 102.9 CFAR and flinflononline.com with the Great North GM Coach's Show at 8:10 MB time.

The ST Paul Canadiens are the winners of the Central Canada Cup after a 3 to 1 win yesterday over the Saskatoon Royals at the Whitney Forum.

It was a tight game going into the third period  with ST Paul ahead 1-0 on a powerplay goal from Quinn Szpak.

Mathew McAuley and Jarrett Boulianne  added goals in the third with the lone Saskatoon goal coming from Mathew Ripplinger.

It was a very physical game with a number of penalties and the game actually ended  with a line brawl that even included the goalies going at it. Quite the way to end a tournament.

Once the officials got everything sorted out, ST Paul was able to celebrate their victory.

Head Coach Corey Demoissac had this to say after their win yesterday afternoon. " Our guys came ready to play and we worked hard in every aspect of the game and hats off to Saskatoon, who have a very good team too. No better way to finish than hoisting the trophy."

The PBCN Selects were the host team and ended up going 1-3 over the week and were eliminated  in the Semi's against  St Paul on Saturday 4 to 1.

Paxton Moore was elevated to the number one spot after the injury to Ethan Fechter  and was brilliant in the Semi's  stopping 30 out of 34 and gave his team a chance to win the game.

The Selects want to thank all the teams, officials, volunteers, sponsors and fans for coming out and supporting the event.

After opening the Central Canada Cup with a 4 to 2 win over Peguis on Thursday, the PBCN Selects dropped both games yesterday.

PBCN dropped a hard fought 5 to 3 game to the Saskatoon Royals to open up the  action  at the Whitney Forum yesterday.

Leo Kaludjiak, Theron McGregor and Owen Angooteaulk scored for the Selects.

It was a tough loss for PBCN in more ways than one when their starting goalie Ethan Fechter left the game in the second period with an upper body injury. His staus for the rest of the tournament is unknown.

Fechter stopped 24 of 27 before making way for local product Paxton Moore who played well in relief with 23 saves on 25 shots.

The Selects had a tough go in their second game last night in getting blasted 7 to 0 against the ST.Paul Canadiens. Paxton Moore started and faced a lot of rubber turning back 58 out of 65 shots.

So far it looks like the Canadiens are the team to beat in this tournament.

The good news is the Selects will qualify for the playoff round because Peguis lost to the Current River Storm 6 to 2 and lost all four round robin games and have been eliminated.

Today's action has Saskatoon playing St.Paul at 11, and the Selects will play their final round robin game against Current River at 2.

The two Semi- Final games will go Saturday at 12 and 2.

Enough talk, it is time to get it on as the Flin Flon Bombers will face the Melfort Mustangs for the Canterra Seeds Cup starting tonight.

I guess it is fitting with these being the top two teams from the regular season.

The Bombers finished first overall at 44-9-2-1 and the Mustangs right behind at 38-14-3-1.

This is familliar territory for Flin Flon who find themselves in the league final for the fifth time in 7 years and third straight year.

This is the first time since 2019 that the Mustangs are in the final since losing four straight to the Battleford Stars.

Flin Flon has been sitting around for the last ten days after sweeping the Stars four straight while the Mustangs are coming off that marathon against Humboldt which went all 7 and wrapped up on Tuesday.

The regular  season series was 3-2-1 in the Bombers favour but you can throw that out in the playoffs as we all know it is a totally different season. 

Tonight will be interesting as I am wondering about the Bombers legs after sitting around for the last week and a half. I also wonder how tired and beat up Melfort will be as I know that last series took a lot out of them.

One thing for sure is the Mustangs will be riding a high coming in,  and I am sure will bring a lot of adeniline in to the opener tonight at a jam packed Whitney Forum.

The first ten minutes will tall a lot.

You don't get this far without your best players being your best players and both teams have had that.

The Bomber Captain Justin Lies leads the Bombers in scoring and has 14 points i 8 games including 9 goals. Carter Anderson, Alexi Sylveste, Noah Houle and Jacob Vockler have combined for an additional 45 points and have been good offensively.

Melfort is led by Aidyn Hutchinson who leads the league in playoff scoring with 22 points in 12 games including 10 goals and has been very good on the powerplay.

Ryan Duguay who has been absolutely lethal since coming back from injuries has picked up 17 points in 12 games,  and scored the series clinching  goal in OT against the Broncos on Tuesday.

Both teams are getting some timely secondary scoring and the goaltending has been solid both ways. Harmon Laser Hume the SJHL Goalie Of The Year has carried over his fine play in the post season.

Laser Hume has played every minute of the playoffs so far and brings in a 1.38 GAA and a save % of .955.

Not to be out done , the Stangs are led by the veteran James Venne who was a finalist for the League MVP and has played every minute for Melfort and has a 2.26 GAA and a save % of .917.

He is very capable of winning a lot of big games.

The one big difference may be the Mustangs blue line which is very stingy. Flin Flon has been allowed to skate and dominate the offensive zone in their first two series,  and may have a tough time finding room against a very good Melfort defense.

We will see who can make the adjustments.

Don't forget to listen in to 102.9 CFAR and flinflononline.com for every single minute of the Canterra Seeds Cup Final with Creighton Furniture Flin Flon Bomber Playoff Hockey.

It all starts tonight with the Great North GM Coach's Show at 7:10.

The SIHL finals get underway tonight and tomorrow at the Whitney Forum in Flin Flon. The Bombers have swept their way through the first two series and will play the Melfort Mustangs. The Mustangs outlasted the Humboldt Broncos in a series that saw 4 overtime games in the 7-game series.

In the MJHL, Steinbach pistons host the Winkler flyers in game 1 of their best-of-seven final series. Winkler advanced Monday after downing Virden 4 games to 2 while Steinbach was taken to 7 games by the Blizzard before advancing. Game 2 is Sunday in Winkler.