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. 

Congratulations to Flin Flon's Joey Lies who has been voted the RBC Community Ambassador Award.

A  $25,00.00 donation will be presented to Ruth Betts Community school on behalf of Joey's award.

Lies is a local player from Flin Flon that went through the Flin Flon Minor Hockey system and always dreamed of being a Flin Flon Bomber.

This is Lies's second year with the Bombers and put up 13 points in 36 games last season including 5 goals. This season Joey put up 18 points in 41 games including 5 goals.

This has also been a dream season for Joey who has had a chance to suit up with his older brother Justin,  as they are playing on the same team for the first time since their early minor hockey days.

The Flin Flon local was one of four finalists for this year’s award, alongside Jacob Cossette of the La Ronge Ice Wolves, Leith Olafson of the Melfort Mustangs, and Keagon Little of the Estevan Bruins.

Lies wil be honored by the SJHL during one of the games in the Canterra Seeds Cup Final which will start this Friday between the Flin Flon Bombers and Melfort Mustangs.

The PBCN Selects were able to exact some revenge on the Peguis Juniors who swept them in the KJHL Final a few weeks back.

The Central Canada Cup is underway  in Flin Flon and PBCN picked up a huge win to open the tournament  with a 4 to 2 win over Peguis last night.

The Selects were led by a couple of local players in Moddox Dominey and Nole Pearson who both found the back of the net.

Owen Angooteaulk and Justin Eetuk scored the other Select goals.

Jeremiah Jacques scored both goals for Peguis.

Ethan Fechter was solid between the pipes and ended up stopping 33 out of 35 shots.

The Selects start the tournament at 1-0 and are on the ice as we speak playing the Saskatoon Royals who tied their first game yesterday 6-6 against the Current River Storm.

In the other game played yesterday ST Paul beat Peguis 5 to 2.

Here is today's schedule of games.

9:30  PBCN VS Saskatoon

2:30  Saskatoon VS Peguis

5pm PBCN VS ST Paul

7:30  Peguis VS Current River

THE BRANDON WHEAT KINGS HAVE TAKEN A COMMANDING 2 GAMES TO NONE LEAD OVER THE WINNIPEG WILD IN THE MANITOBA U-18 TRIPLE A BEST-OF-FIVE HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES WITH WINS OF 5-2 AND 4-1.  GAME THREE IS TOMORROW IN BRANDON.  BOTH TEAMS HAVE ALREADY QUALIFIED FOR THE TELUS REGIONALS TO BE HELD IN WINNIPEG IN APRIL.

IN THE KEYSTONE JUNIOR B HOCKEY LEAGUE, THE NCN FLAMES ARE OUT AFTER BEING SWEPT BY THE PBCN SELECTS INCLUDING A 5-1 LOSS SATURDAY AT THE CA NESBITT ARENA.  THE SELECTS NOW WAIT FOR THE WINNER OF THE CROSS LAKE = PEGUIS SERIES WITH THE DECIDING GAME 5 SCHEDULED TOMORROW IN PEGUIS.

THE FLIN FLON BOMBERS OPENED THEIR PLAYOFF SERIES WITH A PAIR OF WINS 4-0 AND 8-0 OVER THE KINDERSELY KLIPPERS AT THE WHITNEY FORUM IN FLIN FLON.  THE SJHL BEST-OF-SEVEN SERIES RESUMES TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY IN KINDERSLEY.

AND IN THE MJHL, THE BLIZZARD ARE QUICKLY DOWN 2 GAMES TO NONE IN THEIR BEST-OF-SEVEN SERIES WITH THE DAUPHIN KINGS.  ON FRIDAY IN THE PAS, THE KINGS SQUEEZED OUT A 2-1 WIN DESPITE BEING OUTSHOT 47-17.  YESTERDAY, ON HOME ICE, DAUPHIN EDGED THE BLIZZARD 5-4 IN OVERTIME.  GAME THREE IS TOMORROW IN THE PAS

The Triple-A U-18 Norman Northstars have announced that Justin Valentino will return as head coach for the upcoming hockey season.

Valentino was recognized as Coach of the Year for the league and lead the Northstars to a 19-win regular season and a 9th place finish in the standings.    Additional coaching staff announcements are pending.

Barry Paterson Most Popular Player: Daylin Monias

Terry Murray Most Dedicated Player: Lincoln Richcoon

Neal Stapleton Memorial Volunteer Award: Gage Gogal

Ridgestone Financial Most Sportsmanlike Player: Austin Gibb

Most Improved Player: Malcolm Snooks

Cliff Duchesne Hardest Working Northstar: Isaac Tomchak

USW Local 6166 Top Defensive Forward: Gregory Wiseman

Defensive Player of the Year: Preston Kaludjak

Offensive Player of the Year: Tyler Wamboldt

Paul Lafreniere Memorial Best Defenseman: Isaac Catcheway

Rookie of the Year: Chantyn Michell-Thompson & Tyler Wamboldt

Top Scorer: Chantyn Michell-Thompson

Most Valuable Player Award: Preston Kaludjak

The Norman Northstars wrapped up their regular season with a two-game home stand against the Southwest Cougars this weekend.

Saturday’s game went into overtime and then a shoot-out,  where the Northstars came out with a 4-3 win after a goal from Daylin Monias.

Sunday, the Northstars lost 5-2, leaving them out of playoff contention by just one point.

Congratulations to the players and coaches for such a great season.

The 54th Munn Cup saw Thompson teams at the top of all three divisions.

The Thompson King Miners 1 were tops in the AA division and were rewarded with the Munn Cup  while the Thompson King Miners 2 took home the Crockett Cup as winners of the A1 division. 

The Timmons Cup went to the Carrol Aviation Areos for winning the B division winners while the Twin Motors Vipers were third.

This year has 13 teams from Thompson, The Pas, Flin Flon, Norway House, Cross Lake, Gilliam and Swan River.

The Manitoba Triple A U18 Hockey league announced Justin Valentino as Coach of the Year for 2023-2024.

Valentino is his first year as head coach and has the Northstars in a playoff spot heading into the final week of the season. The league noted that Coach Valentino has been instrumental in redirecting the program and recruiting players from the north.  The Northstars boast the 2nd best power play in the league (21.5%).

The NCN Flames split their weekend home series with the OCN Storm.

On Friday night at the CA Nesbitt Arena the Flames poured in 6 goals in the 2nd period and cruised to a 10-4 victory.  Ethan Portey lead the way with 2 goals and 2 assists.

The action shifted to the Gilbert McDonald Arena on Saturday and Keilan Holland scored his 4 goal in overtime to lift the Storm to a 7-6 win. 

NCN travel to Peguis this Saturday for a game against the league-leading Juniors.

It was another terrific weekend of hockey between the two  SJHL power houses as the Flin Flon Bombers and Battleford Stars split the weekend series at the Whitney Forum.

On Friday, the Bombers pulled out the 5 to 3 win. The Bombers saw a two goal lead disappear as the Stars were able to tie the game mid way through the third.

If it wasn't  for Harmon Laser Hume and an incredible save in a goal line scramble, Flin Flon may not have pulled out Friday's win. The Bombers rode the momentum and got a short handed goal from Alexi Sylvestre which proved to be the game winner.

Jacob Vockler added a goal with less than a minute left for a little extra insurance. The other Bomber goals came from Carter Anderson who scored a pair including his 34th and 35th and the home town captain Justin Lies who netted his 36th.

The Battleford goals came from Jordan Grill, Bradley Blake and Hunter Burgeson. Harmon Laser Hume out duelled Matthew MacArthur and made 38 saves for his league leading 26th win of the year.

Saturday was even more explosive and the Stars wouldn't be denied this night and picked up a wild 8 to 6 win.

The Stars came out to play and scored two quick goals before the game was even 5 minutes old courtesy of Evan Waldie and SJHL leading scorer Kian Bell.

This game had all kinds of ebb and flows and momentum shifts throughout the entire game and was the most exciting game that I have personally witnessed in a long time.

Bomber captain, Justin Lies was able to convert on the powerplay with a pefect shot top corner on Stars netminder Logan Cunningham to cut the deficit to 2-1 after 1.

The Stars kept coming and restored the two goal lead when Jackson Allan scored a powerplay goal of his own.

Flin Flon looked like they might be in business when they scored 4 of the next 5 including two more powerplay goals from Jacob Vockler and Noah Houle. Alexi Sylvestre then  scored a pair which gave Flin Flon a brief lead at 5 to 4.

The lead lasted just over a minute as sharp shooter Ben Portner scored on a wrap around to tie the game at 5 with exactly one minute left in the second period.

It was all Stars in the third as Hunter Burgeson would get his second in as many games and Alex Izyk and Josh Medernach also found the back of the net. Bomber captain scored his second powerplay goal of the game and is back in the league with 38 on the season.

A couple of goal posts on a late Flin Flon powerplay, but they couldn't get any closer and dropped just their fourth of the year in regulation 8 to 6.

The Bomber powerplay was smokin and wound up 4 for 6 while the Stars could only bury 1 goal on 7 chances.

Kenny Marquart suffered his first regulation loss of the year and gave up 7 goals on 37 shots before making way for Harmon Laser Hume who came in relief and stopped 3 of 3. The Stars added a late empty net goal.

Logan Cunningham picked up the win and ended up with 39 saves on 45 shots.

The weekend lived up to all the hype and if these two teams to meet up in the playoffs it could go down as one of the most historic playoff series of all time. They have already clashed in some memorable playogff matchups, but this looks like it may end up as the most entertaining of them all.

After the weekend split the Bombers sit at 40-4-2 and 82 points. The Stars are now 33-10-3-1 and are 12 points behind Flin Flon for first overall.

The Bombers have exactly 10 games left and only 3  at the Whitney Forum. They hit the road for a big three game road trip starting Thursday in Humboldt and a pair of games in Kindersley on Friday and Saturday.

Hard to believe, but this is Flin Flon's first visit to the Elgar Petersen Arena this year and beat the Broncos in all three meetings earlier this year at the Whitney Forum. This could be another possible playoff meeting and the Bombers better be ready.

Five games kick off the Merchant Media Slo-Pitch season here in Thompson tonight.

There are three games slated for 6:30.     At the Juniper field, The Challengers take on the Brew Jays.  The Bad News Beers take on The Brick at the Red Sangster Diamond.    The Hawks and Willy's Warriors are competing at Rec 2.

Then at 8, at the Red Sangster diamond, it's Mitts and Sticks against Wayne's World and at Rec 2, the Dreamcatchers play I'd Hit That.

For the latest schedule, go to the Merchant Media Slopitch facebook page.

Thompson is hosting the Manitoba Credit Union’s Master Men’s and Women’s Provincial Curling Championship this week.

This is the first time the Hub of the North is hosting this particular tournament, which features curlers ages 60 and older.

Sam Antila, the chair of the tournament’s hosting committee who’s also participating in the competition, shares the details.

“For the men’s side, we have 16 teams from all over the province and they are divided into 2 pools of 8 and they play in pool plays starting on Thursday morning, March 9th, and continuing on until Sunday.  The top 2 from each pool will advance to a play-off format and then the semi final and final is on Monday, March 13th.”

On the women’s side, they will be playing a round-robin before the playoffs instead.

There are 16 men’s teams and five women’s teams competing this year.

Learn more about the tourney this afternoon on Thompson Today.

Munn Cup weekend kicks off at noon today with the Thompson Carroll Aeros taking on the Cross Lake Girls Team at the CA Nesbitt Arena.

Meanwhile the Thompson A King Miners are up against the Norway House Bruins 1 at 1:30 while the Double A King Miners battle with The Pas Huskies.

Teams from across northern Manitoba as well as Rankin Inlet are in town for the annual tournament, which has been around for over 50 years.

The U-15 hockey team that represents northern Manitoba in the Winnipeg Triple-A League will be hosting its home games in Thompson this month.

The Norman Wolves, who typically play their home games in The Pas, will be playing at the CA Nesbitt Arena this weekend against the Winnipeg Wild Green.

The game on Saturday will begin at 6:30 p.m. and the puck drop on Sunday is at noon.

There will also be a pair of home games versus the Brandon Wheat Kings on January 21^st and the 22^nd at the same venue.

The games are free to attend, and Wolves players Simon Richcoon and Joey Hall invite residents to come support the team as many of the players are from Thompson.

Catch Thompson Today at 12:40 and 5:10 to learn more.

The Norman Northstars take on the Interlake Lightning this Saturday and Sunday in their second home stand of December.

The puck drop for Saturday night's game is 7:30 at the C.A. Nesbitt Arena.

On Sunday, the action starts at 1:30 pm.

The RD Parker Collegiate Junior Varsity Boys and Girls Volleyball teams are in Winnipeg this weekend to compete in the 2022 John Taylor Collegiate Piper Classic.

The tournament takes place today and tomorrow.  Check for results on the RDPC Athletics Social Media pages or go to M-H-S-A-A dot CA.

The Norman Northstars split their weekend games against the Parkland Rangers.

The Northstars dominated with a 6-4 victory at Saturday's Vale Night, with an almost packed house cheering them on.

The game on Sunday afternoon had the Rangers come out on top with a 5-4 victory.

The Northstars' next pair of games are this weekend against the Eastman Selects at the TRCC.

Saturday's game can be heard here on 102.9 CHTM.