If the Flin Flon Bombers don't know much about the Kindersley Klippers now, they will soon.

These two teams will collide and play each other 4 times in the next week including a pair of game at the Whitney Forum this weekend.

Kindersley comes to town at 4-5-1 and took it on the chin in Nipawin on Wednesday losing 8 to 2. The Bombers dropped their last game this past Tuesday in Melfort 2 to 1 in OT.

Despite a number of injuries the Bombers have started the season well at 7-3-1 and find themselves second in the UPL Division and fourth overall with 15 points.

Both these teams have similar numbers this year with the Bombers scoring 39 goals in 11 games while they have given up 27. Kindersley has scored 30 goals in 10 games while they have given up 34.

Neither team has a player in the top 20 in scoring and need to score by committee. The Klippers are led offensively  by Pryce Theissen who has 10 points and Konnor Watson who they picked up in the off season from Nipawin.

Watson has 9 points including a team leading 6 goals.

The Bombers are led offensively by Hudson Brehaut who is off with an injury right now and still leads the team in goals with 5 and points 9.

The defense has stepped up offensively as Brayden Bruce and new comer Dylan Caron have combined for 17 points. Caron has also been sidelined by an injury and is listed as  day to day. 

No question one of the big reasons for Flin Flon's decent start has been the play of their goaltender Finn Werner. Every time that Werner starts a game they have a chance to win.

Werner almost stole the game in Melfort on Tuesday and if it wasn't for some late penalties the Bombers could of very well left Melfort with the two points.

Werner is 7-3-1 on the season with two shut-outs and a GAA of 2.24 and Save % of .925.

Mattias Radke is the Kindersley starter and he has decent numbers with a 3-5 record and a 3.21 GAA to go along with a save % of .906.

This will be the first meeting between the two teams since last January when all hell broke loose and their were multiple fights and ejections which led to multiple suspensions.

That was the game that then local product Joey Lies suffered a bad high stick  to the face and missed multiple games. It will be interesting to see if this is still fresh on players minds and  boils  over this weekend or the next four games.

Flin Flon has had their way with Kindersley the last few years and took 3 of the 4 games last year and have won 13 of the last 16 matchups. Kindersley is also 0 and 8 at the Whitney Forum over that time.

Saying that it is a new year and the Bombers are pretty banged up heading into the weekend.

Games are set to go at 7:30pm tonight and tomorrow and you can catch tomorrow night's game on 102.9 CFAR and flinflononline.com beginning with the Great North GM Coach's Show at 7:10 and play by play for Creighton Furniture at 7:30pm.

On October 21, 2026, at approximately 8:50 a.m., Leaf Rapids RCMP received a report of an unresponsive male at a residence on Nisku Bay.

Upon arrival, officers discovered a 55-year-old male, who was pronounced deceased on scene.

The matter is being investigated as a homicide.

Police are requesting anyone with information in relation to this homicide to call Leaf Rapids RCMP 204-473-2944, Manitoba Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or submit online at www.manitobacrimestoppers.com.

Manitoba RCMP Major Crime Services along with Forensic Identification Services, continue to investigate.

The Creighton Kodiks 6 man football team will hit the road for the final time this season as they are off to St Brieux to wrap up the season against the Crusaders tomorrow afternoon.

Creighton sits at 1-4 on the season with their lone win coming against St Brieux in the opening week 39 to 36. The Crusaders are still looking for their first win of the season and are sitting at 0-5.

Both teams are banged up but would like nothing better than to wrap up the season with a win.

Head Coach Ryan Karakochuk is looking for a good result after a difficult season." It's been a tough year, we won that first game and our expectations were very high. We then went on to play Carrot River and getting blasted the way we did and losing 4 key players, it was rough. Talking to the coach's before the year,  I thought we could have a successful year if nothing went wrong. In football, something always go's wrong and that was wishful thinking on my part. It is very hard to play football with 10 guys that have the body structure to handle the pounding. We are really looking forward to playing St Brieux again, it was a very close game when we played them last time and we just want to end on a good note."

Kickoff will be at 4pm Manitoba time tomorrow  before both teams will officially wrap up the season.

Good luck to the U-13 Kinsmen Bombers who are off to Dauphin for their first Minor Hockey  tournament of the year this weekend.

The Bombers will play Dauphin to kick things off on Friday at 10am, then play two games on Saturday including Winkler at 10:45am and Swan River at 4:30pm.

Playoffs and the final will all be played on Sunday.

Games will be split up at the Rotary Rink and Credit Union Place.

Penalties hurt the Flin Flon Bombers who made their way to Melfort to battle the Mustangs last night.

A valliant effort fell short as the Mustangs rallied for a 2 to 1 victory in Over Time.

Flin Flon came out and skated very well and did a very good job on  shutting down the Mustangs powerful first line of Dru Mushamanski, Luke Dekay and Tristan Ziola.

These three players torched the Bombers for a combined 8 points in their convincing 6 to 1 win over the Bombers on Friday.

The Bomber penalty killing unit was busy and had to kill 7 Mustang powerplays including a full two minute 5 on 3 midway through the first period.

Flin Flon managed to kill it and got through the first scoreless.

It looked like it might be the Bomber' s night as they would get rewarded with a powerplay goal of their own,  when their Captain Landon Alexander connected on a Jared Miskiw pass in front of the net to bury his first of the year. 

This was just the third game for Alexander,  but he has been exactly what the team has needed and he brings so much life and energy to this team. I have also been saying a lot lately, I love how this guy gets to the net.

Flin Flon carried the lead into the third period and with the way that Finn Werner was playing, I thought the Bombers might steal it.

The Bombers were leading a charge down the ice, and the puck went off a skate in the neutral zone and the Mustangs went down the ice and tied the game when Nolan Van Waes was able to get to the front of the Bomber net.

It stayed 1 to 1 the rest of the way through regulation and Over Time would be needed.

The Mustangs would finally convert on the man advantage with a double minor for high sticking to go 4 on 3.

With just 16 seconds remaining in the Over Time period, Lincoln Rogers was able to win the game when Luke Dekay fed him the loose puck on a 2 on 1.

Despite the loss it was a gutsy effort for the Maroon and White who were able to get at least one point.

With the win, Melfort will take over top spot in the UPL Division at 8-4, while the Bombers will slip to second at 7-3-1.

Final shots were 34 to 20 in favour of Melfort while the Bombers went 1 for 4 on the man advantage and the Mustangs ended up  1 for 7.

Both goaltenders were outstanding as Finn Werner almost stole this one, while the Mustangs Luke McKechnie was a wall.

Next up for the Bombers will be the much improved Kindersley Klippers coming to town for a pair of games on the weekend, Friday and Saturday night at 7:30pm.

We will broadcast Saturday's game on 102.9 CFAR and flinflononline.com.

The Northern Manitoba Blizzard now have the rest of the week off after beating Winkler last night to wrap up their two-game series.

Yesterday’s contest should serve as a major confidence boost for the Blizz, as Winkler carried a one-goal advantage heading into the final frame.

The third period saw the Blizz stay disciplined and fire in two unanswered goals to secure the 4-3 victory.

Kade Stringer scored the game-tying goal, while Sutten Emelson potted the game-winner.

The Blizz are back in action next weekend for their Impact Tour, with their two games against the Winnipeg Blues taking place in Cross Lake and Norway House.

More information can be found on the Blizz’s website or their official Facebook page.

Some volleyball action took place this past weekend, both locally and abroad.

MBCI, along with UCN, hosted their JV tournament here in town, while the SV boys were in Neepawa for the Tigers Invitational.

The MBCI JV boys would end up coming out on top in the finals against R.D. Parker Collegiate, while the JV girls came up short in their final against Swan Valley.

In round-robin action, the SV varsity boys went 1-2 in the first round, then followed that up with a perfect 3-0 record in round two, earning them a spot in the Silver Pool Championship.

The SV boys ended up beating the Springs Christian Eagles in their final contest of the weekend to capture the Silver Pool Championship.

The OCN Storm went 1-1 here at home this past weekend against the Flames of NCN.

Last weekend served as the Storm’s home opener due to the postponement of their late-September matchup against Norway House.  

Saturday’s contest saw the Storm hold a 4-1 advantage by the time the second period wrapped up. By the end of the third, however, NCN had clawed their way back to tie things up at 5-5.

It would be NCN’s Bryce Clemons who scored the overtime winner with just over two minutes left in the extra period.

The following day was a totally different story for the back-to-back champs, as the Storm found the back of the net a whopping 17 times, making the final 17-4.

OCN will now shift its focus to this upcoming weekend’s matchup against the Islanders in Cross Lake.

In other local hockey news, the Northern Manitoba Blizzard fell 5-2 to the Winkler Flyers last night here at home. The Blizz have a chance to even the two-game series tonight, with puck drop once again slated for 7:00 p.m.

The Phantom Lake Soccer Club will be holding their AGM on Sunday November the 9th at the Victoria Inn starting at 6pm.

The agenda will include club updates and upcoming season plans, Registration and Fee updates, Volunteer Opportunities and Executive and Committee positions.

They are looking for enthusiastic individuals to help support the continued local  growth of the soccer program including a Technical Director and Volunteer Coordinator.

This meeting is open to everyone whether you are a returning soccer family or are getting involved for the first time, the PLSC would love to see you there.

A tough go for the  Flin Flon Bombers who were on the wrong end of a 6 to 1 score against the Melfort Mustangs to open up the weekend Friday night at the Whitney Forum.

Melfort opened up the scoring with a powerplay goal by Dru Mushumanski midway through the opening period and the Mustangs  never looked back.

The Mustangs broke the game open with a pair of goals in the last ten seconds of the period which really put the Bombers back on their heels.

Matthew Bertolin scored from his off wing with just ten seconds left in the opening period and it looked like they would take a 2 to 0 lead into the middle frame.

However on the next faceoff, the Mustangs raced down the ice and Luke Dekay was left alone in front of the Bomber net  and he scored with just  two seconds left on the clock,  to absolutely stun everyone in attendance at the Whitney Forum.

I don’t know if I have ever seen a team score two goals in the final ten seconds of a period like that.

Flin Flon left the ice in disbelief and everyone was wondering how the Bombers would respond for the next two periods.

This was the Mustangs night and they kept the pedal to the medal and scored three more times in the second  courtesy of Tristan Ziola, Kelan Simmonds and Matthew Bertolin with his second of the night.

It was Bertolin’s second goal which chased Bomber netminder Finn Werner from the game who finished with 11 saves on 16 shots.

We got to see rookie goalie Noah Martin for just the second time this season and he played well in relief making 12 saves on 13 shots. I thought Martin came in and looked poised and confident and played well in a difficult situation.

Flin Flon would finally get a puck past Mustang goalie Luke McKechnie who stopped 24 of 25.

Bomber defenseman Beck Bethard broke the shutout bid with a powerplay goal with just over a minute remaining in the game. This was Bethard’s first ever SJHL goal and it was a nice release from the top of the slot to allow the Bombers to win the third period and make it a little more respectable at 6 to 1.

It is always tough to lose especially at home,  but the Bombers have nothing to hang their heads about and almost went two calendar years without losing a home game in regulation.

You have to go back to October the 25^th of 2024 which was  the last time the Bombers lost a game at home in regulation. Very impressive indeed.

The Bombers wouldn’t have a lot of time to stew about the loss as they  were back on the ice the next night against the Yorkton Terriers in a rematch from the Canterra Seeds Cup Championship from this past Spring.

This was an interesting game as the Terriers were thumped 8 to 1 in Nipawin the night before.

I think everybody thought that both these teams would be much better on Saturday night after being embarrassed the night before.

After a scoreless first period the Bombers caught a break early in the second when Defenseman Braydon Bruce was able to fire a shot off Yorkton Goalie Callum Craig’s back just two minutes into the second period. Bruce was behind the Yorkton net and he flipped the puck off over the net , which ended up hitting Craig and finding it's way in.

Flin Flon got some confidence and found the back of the net two more times with Nathan Lalumiere and Ty Wasyluk both scoring their second of the season, to put the Bombers up 3 to 0 after two.

Yorkton never quit and they were able to come out in the final period and scored a couple of powerplay goals from Peter Godley and Tyson Medernach to make it interesting at 3 to 2.

Flin Flon weathered the storm and were able to get an insurance goal when new comer Gabriel Kaminski scored in a mad scramble in front of the Terriers net to make the final 4 to 2.

Kaminski was acquired from  Humboldt just a few days ago and Head Coach and GM Cole McCaig has been very impressed with his play.

Finn Werner was back between the pipes for the Bombers and he  was steller with 27 saves on 29 shots and was able to shut the door on Yorkton late in the game including a big 6 on 4 advantage.

Callum Craig started for Yorkton and he ended up with 27 saves on 31 shots.  The Terriers were able to go 2 for 7 on the powerplay while the Bombers ended up 0 for 3.

Head Coach and GM of the Bombers Cole McCaig was happy with how his team was able to bounce back against the Terriers on Saturday. “Absolutely, we were a little snake bitten the night before against Melfort as we couldn’t convert on our chances. Tonight we stayed with the process and continued to by  into the game plan and we wanted to get more pucks on net tonight. We knew there would be a lot of loose change around the net and we scored on a few on mad scrambles and found some loose pucks. I told the guys if you go to the net tonight, you will get rewarded and they did.”

After the weekend the Bombers will improve to 7-3 which is good enough for First Place in the UPL Division and third overall. Flin Flon will get another shot at the Mustangs at the Palace on Tuesday night before hosting the much improved Kindersley Klippers in a pair of games this weekend.

The Senior Hapnot Queens Soccer Team made their way down to Winkler for Provincials this past weekend to represent the Norman Region.

Hapnot was thrown right into the fire as they would have to take on the top team in the Province from Morden in their first game on Friday morning.

Not only had Morden not lost a game this year, but hadn't given up a single goal either  and did knock off Hapnot by a score of 8 to 1.

Morden was up 6 to 0 at the half and the Queens were focussed on trying to become the first team to score on Morden this year and they were able to do so in the fourth quarter.

Mia Desjarlais who had a very strong year for the Queens scored the goal as Hapnot would try to use that for momentum going into their second game.

After the loss,  the Queens found themselves on the B-Side where they would face the Dauphin Clippers.

This was an incredible game that was scoreless through 90 minutes of regulation and then into two over-times. The game would have to be decided by penalty kicks and Dauphin ended up taking the game 4 to 3.

Elynn Smith, Maria Keramydas and Olivia McKenzie scored for the Queens in the shoot out.

This will unfortunately end the Queens season which did include their 4th Zone title in the last 5 years. The good news is, most of the team will be back for next year as they only lose three players who are graduating.

That will include Alexa Jobes, Anna Christianson and Olivia McKenzie.

Congratulations to the coach's Teli Keramydas, Darcie Hotel and Lara Smith as well as all the players, parents and volunteers on a wonderful season.

After splitting their weekend series against the Neepawa Titans, the Blizz now have their focus shifted to tonight and tomorrow night’s home matchups against the Winkler Flyers.

The Blizz opened the weekend with a 4-2 loss to the Titans on Friday, but bounced back on Saturday with a 4-3 come-from-behind victory over Neepawa to split the two-game series.

Some notable standouts from Saturday’s win included Shiva Singh, who scored the game-winning goal, and defenceman Odile Grenier, who recorded a three-point night.

Both Winkler and Northern Manitoba will be looking to make it two wins in a row. Much like the Blizz, Winkler is coming off a win, blanking the Dauphin Kings 3-0.

Winkler is currently fifth in the MGEU East Division with nine points, while the Blizz are tied with Dauphin for fourth place, with both teams sitting at 12 points.

Puck drop for both tonight and tomorrow night’s games is set for 7:00 p.m.

In other MJHL news, Steinbach and Virden were the only teams to go 2-0 over the weekend. Niverville, Swan Valley, Selkirk, and the Winnipeg Monarchs each went 1-1.

Lastly, the only teams to drop both of their games were Dauphin, the Winnipeg Blues, and Portage.

The Flin Flon Bombers will put their 6-2 record on the line this weekend as they step back on the ice to face the Melfort Mustangs and Yorkton Terriers at the Whitney Forum.

The Mustangs make their first visit to the Flon tonight  and have been impressive out of the gate. Melfort is 6-3 and look like they will be strong in goal again this year.

New Comer Luke McKechnie looks solid at 4-2 with a GAA of 1.82 and a save % of .932.

Backup Nick Kotai is no slouch either and is 2-1 with a GAA of 3.27.

The Mustangs are very fast and skilled up front and should poise a big challenge for Flin Flon tonight.

Melfort was the only team in the league to come into Flin Flon and beat the Bombers at the Forum in the regular season last year,  and I am sure that is fresh on a lot of the players minds.

It is always a great matchup between these two teams and I am looking forward to puck drop at 7:30pm tonight.

Flin Flon will also get a good test tomorrow night too with the Yorkton Terriers making their first trip to Flin Flon since last year's Canterra Seeds Cup League Final.

These two teams did meet in Yorkton back on October 3rd with Yorkton skating to the 6 to 3 victory. That was the final game for the Bombers on their Southern road swing and I expect the Bombers to have more jump and stronger  legs for tomorrow's game.

Saying that, Yorkton is a good team and you have to give Head Coach Emery Olauson  credit for putting together another solid squad.

They had some big pieces to replace after losing Gabriel Courchesne and William Leonard to the BCHL. Others have stepped up and they have arguably  the league's best defenseman in Thomas Ries who has 8 points in 8 games.

Yorkton is 4-3-1 and have scored 34 goals in 8 games but have also given up 33. The key for the Bombers will be to get off to a good start, it was a rough opening period that hurt them in Yorkton a few weeks back.

Flin Flon heads into the weekend banged up and will not have Brenden Phelps, Keaton Lesperance, Ben Shaw , Wyatt Stinton and Nash Holmes in their lineup.

Captain Landon Alexander continues to skate and the Bombers are hoping that he can make his much awaited season debut this weekend. We will see the new acquisition Gabriel Kaminski who was just acquired from the Humboldt Broncos.

Kaminski had 2 goals in 7 games for the Broncos and should add some depth to the Bomber forward group.

No radio broadcast tonight, but we will have tomorrow night's game against Yorkton with the Great North GM Coach's Show at 7:10pm and drop of the puck at 7:30pm. 

Flin Flon Minor Hockey will be holding Skill Development next Thursday at the Creighton Sportex.

It will start at 5:15pm and is for all registered Flin Flon Minor Hockey players in U-11 to U-18.

This is open to both players and goalies and you can register by e-mailing technicaldirectorffmh@gmail.com.

Deadline to register is Monday October the 19th at 5pm.

FFMH is also in search of Officials and will pay competitive rates for both new and experienced Officials. Officiating is a great way to be involved in youth sports, gain extra income, and become a part of a community.

If you are interested in becoming a part of the team this season please contact: secretaryffmh@gmail.com.

Storm fans, the wait is over! The back-to-back KJHL champs are finally back home this weekend for their home opener against NCN.

Puck drop for tomorrow’s game is set for 7:30 p.m., while Sunday’s contest kicks off at 1:00 p.m. Games are, of course, free to attend and will be broadcast live on the Storm’s official Facebook page.

Looking at the standings, OCN is currently in second place, mainly due to the limited number of games they’ve played compared to their league rivals. Cross Lake, Norway House, and Peguis are all tied for first with six points, while NCN is the only winless team in the entire league.

In other Storm news, the club has made two new additions to bolster its offence. Saskatchewan-born forward Dylon Clarke was signed just a few days ago, while forward Brayden Church was acquired via trade from the Carrot River Outback Thunder.

Storm fans should also be reminded that another Storm Bingo will be happening on October 20th, while their 2026 jersey auction is running from now until Halloween.

More information can be found on the Storm’s official Facebook page.

Fresh off another Soccer Zone title a couple weeks back,  the Hapnot Queens are off to Winkler for Provincials which will start tomorrow morning.

The best High School Soccer  Teams in Manitoba will be in action representing their Regions including Niverville, Dauphin, Stonewall, Morden, Minnedosa, Lorette and Gabrielle Roy

Hapnot's is coached by Teli Keramydas, Darcie Hotel and Lara Smith and their first game is tomorrow morning at 9am.

Regulation games will take place through Friday with the playoffs to start Saturday at 10am. The Championship Final will go at 2pm.

For those here in the community looking to get on the ice for some skating, there will be three free public skates happening this month thanks to The Pas Friendship Centre.

The dates to keep in mind are this Sunday, October 18th, Friday, October 23rd, and Sunday, October 25th.

Both the October 18th and 25th sessions run from 5:00 p.m. to 6:15 p.m., while the public skate on October 23rd starts at 7:00 p.m. and goes till 8:00 p.m.

Everyone who shows up to skate must sign in. Otherwise, these skates are open to everyone in The Pas, OCN, and across the R.M.

For more information, call Nicole or Justin at 204-627-7500.

Flin Flon Recreation is hosting a Monster Mash Splash on Saturday October the 31st at the Hudbay Aquatic Centre between 10am and 1pm.

It will be a Halloween themed swim with spooky pool games, Halloween music, Monster Themed Activities, swimming and splashing with lots of Halloween fun and surprises.

It is absolutely free and open to kids of all ages.

Flin Flon Bomber netminder Finn Werner has been selected as the Sasktel SJHL Goalie Of The Week.

Werner has been incredible for the Bombers since returning from the WHL.

He is 6-2 with two shut outs and leads the league in both GAA of 1.50 and Save % of .945.

Werner was crucial in both victories against Estevan this past weekend, making a lot of big saves early on Friday and he also held the Bombers in the game Saturday especially in a sluggish third period.

Flin Flon will get a big test this weekend with the Melfort Mustangs coming to town on Friday night and the Yorkton Terriers here on Saturday.

The game against Yorkton will be a rematch of the Canterra Seeds Cup Final from this past Spring and will be broadcast on 102.9 CFAR and flinflononline.com.

Once again it begins with the Great North GM Coach's Show at 7:10 and drop of the puck at 7:30 pm for Creighton Furniture.

High school volleyball action took place over the weekend for both SV teams at MBCI and OLC.

Starting with the Wolverines, the two teams were in Snow Lake competing in the Jace Ryan Memorial Tournament at Joseph H. Kerr School. After competing in multiple competitive sets during round-robin play, the bracket was set. Unfortunately, both teams were bounced in their respective quarterfinal matchups against the HBOIERC Huskies, ultimately wrapping up their weekend of play.

The two SV teams of MBCI were competing in two separate tournaments. The SV girls were at Swan Valley Regional Secondary School for the Doug Oberlin Volleyball Tournament, while the SV boys were in Morris for the Red River Invitational.

Much like the two OLC teams, both MBCI squads were involved in multiple back-and-forth games during round-robin play, ultimately setting the stage for bracket play.

The SV boys ended up playing in the A-Side Consolation game against Prairie Mountain and came out on top.

The SV girls, meanwhile, came up short in their quarterfinal game against the eventual tournament runners-up, Swan Valley. The loss moved them to the B-Side bracket, where they went on to win both their second game against Mikisew School and the B-Side final against R.D. Parker Collegiate.

A few of the volleyball teams are back in action this weekend. The SV boys will be in Neepawa for their Tigers Invitational, while both JV MBCI teams will play host this weekend for their MBCI & UCN JV Tournament. The JV girls of OLC and a number of other Northern schools will be in attendance.

The Flin Flon Bombers have made another trade with the Humboldt Broncos.

This time they have received 2007 born forward Gabriel Kaminski for a Player Development Fee.

Kaminski suited up for 41 games for the Broncos last year and collected 13 points including 9 goals. So far this year, Gabriel had two goals in 7 games.

Kaminski will help add some depth to the forward group after the departures of Leo Seitz, Ryan Ulmer and Jack Martin.

Head Coach and GM of the Bombers Cole McCaig had this to say about the acquisition on social media. " Gabriel is an intelligent player that competes extremely hard. He’s a 200 foot player that can kill penalties and we believe in a bigger role, he can step in and help produce for us. He provides speed and has a great stick defensively and can break up plays.”

Kaminski is expected to make his Bomber debut this Friday against the Melfort Mustangs.

Congratulations to the Hapnot Queens Senior Varsity Volleyball team on winning the Doug Oberlin Tournament in Swan River this past weekend.

The Queens breezed through the round robin beating Frontier out of Cranberry, Cross Lake and Swan River to finish first in their pool.

The Queens then moved on to the playoff round and they beat Cranberry in the Semi's before knocking off the hosts from Swan River in three sets to win the tournament.

The Senior Kings also took part and they ended up finishing second in their pool after splitting with RD Parker out of Thompson, dropping both sets to Frontier out of Cranberry and then they beat  Swan River in two straight sets.

That would put the Kings in the playoff round where they would once again face Swan River. This time the host Tigers knocked off the Kings in two straight sets to eliminate them from the tournament.

Cross Lake went on to face  RD Parker out of Thompson in the final, and prevailed in  three sets to finish first overall.

It was a very good Thanksgiving weekend for the Flin Flon Bombers.

After a 4 game in 5 night road trip down south to kick off the month, the Bombers finally returned to  the Whitney Forum to play just their second and third home games of the season.

Flin Flon welcomed their southern rivals the Estevan Bruins to town for a pair of games. The Bombers beat the Bruins in their own building just the week before so they were familiar with what the Bruins would throw at them.

Estevan came in with only one win on the season , but Head Coach Cole McCaig was quick to point out that the Bombers would not take the Bruins lightly.

The Bruins came out on Friday and were given some glorious chances with some Bomber defensive miscues, but Estevan couldn’t get a puck past Bomber netminder Finn Werner.

Werner stopped three partial break- aways and Flin Flon would score a goal late in the opening period when new comer Seth Castronuovo got in alone on the Bruins netminder Dylan Adams and scored a highlight reel goal.

Castronuovo was able to take advantage of a nice pass from Jared Bigelow and he raced to the net and scored with a nice shot just under the cross bar.

That stood up as the game winner as The Bombers would get insurance goals from Dylan Carron, Ryder Mucha, Rhett Ewen and Huson Brehaut for the convincing 5 to 0 victory.

Finn Werner was rock solid and ended up stopping all 24 shots fired in his direction. Estevan goaltender Dylan Adams also played well and he ended up with 33  saves on 38 shots.

The Bombers entered the game with the league’s best powerplay and it was good again going 2 for 3 while the Bruins were 0 for 3.

These two teams would meet again the next night,  and this time it was the Bombers who would have the good opening period.

Kai Bridgeman, Kyle Marsden and Jared Bigelow all Defensemen, each scored their first goal of the season to put the Bombers up 3 to 0 after one.

It looked like the Bombers were on their way with Hudson Brehaut scoring a pair of goals to give him 5 on the season and put Flin Flon up 5 to 1 after two.

The Bruins finally got on the board when Griffin Horne got to the top of the slot to beat Finn Werner, with a nice snap shot low stick side.

I give Estevan a lot of credit, they came out and made a really good push in the third period.

They got rewarded with a couple of goals from Shea Rollason and Jaren Ashbee and were able to cut the deficit to 5 to 3 with over eight minutes remaining in regulation.

The Bruins also got awarded a late powerplay and were able to pull their goalie and had a 6 on 4 advantage. Once again Finn Werner stood tall and was able to keep the Bruins at bay the rest of the way, stopping everything fired in his direction.

Flin Flon scored a goal late into the empty net courtesy of Eli Heroux and that would make the final 6 to 3 for  Flin Flon.

Final shots were 31 to 30 in Estevan’s favour with the Bombers going 1 for 5 on the powerplay and Estevan finished 0 for 5.

A great weekend once again for the Bomber netminder Finn Werner who is now 6-2 on the season with a 1.70 GAA and very impressive Save % of .939.

Head Coach Cole McCaig thought his team was fortunate to get the two points on Saturday night. “ Tonight I thought we got off to a really good start getting out to a 3 to 0 lead early,  but got worse as the night went on. We took advantage of some mistakes early,  but just coasted after that and sat on the lead. For us to have just two shots at the Media Time Out in the third period, I told the guys we usually average 40 shots a night at the Whitney Forum. We got away from playing Bomber Hockey early in the game in my opinion and didn’t play with enough urgency or passion.”

The Bombers did find a way to get it done and now sit 6-2 on the season which is first place in the UPL Division and tied for second overall.

Flin Flon will get a couple of stiff tests this weekend with the Melfort Mustangs coming to town on Friday. Melfort is tied with the Bombers for second overall and were the only team to beat them at the Whitney Forum last year in the regular season.

Saturday, the Bombers will face the Yorkton Terriers in a rematch of this past Spring’s  Canterra Seeds Cup Championship Final.

Game time is 7:30 pm both night’s at the Whitney Forum.

The Northern Manitoba Blizzard are back home after dropping both away games against Selkirk and Neepawa this past weekend.

Friday’s final against the Steelers was 4-2, while Saturday’s game saw the Blizz fall 4-1 to the Titans.

The Blizz now have their sights set on their upcoming six-game homestand, starting with back-to-back games against Neepawa this Friday and Saturday.

Taking a look at the MGEU West Division, Northern Manitoba is now tied with Swan Valley for fourth place.

In other MJHL news, Dauphin and Virden were the only teams to go 2-0 over the weekend, while Neepawa, Steinbach, Winnipeg (Monarchs), and Waywayseecappo each split their weekend series.

The Creighton Kodiaks 6 man Football team made their way to Viscount to battle the Vikings under the lights on Thursday night.

This was a much better effort for Creighton who were right in this one til the end dropping a 50 to 40 decision.

The Kodiaks kept it tight and were able to match the Vikings score for score and trailed 22 to 20 at the half.

Viscount would pull away in the third quarter and the Kodiaks ended up running out of gas to drop to 1-3 on the season.

Creighton got their points from Quarterback Ryan Grunerud who scored two touchdowns on ten and thirty yard runs.

Deakon Anaka also ran in another touchdown from ten yards, with Deegan Long and Matthew Lavis both  hauling in touchdown catches.

Head Coach of the Kodiaks Ryan Karakochuk was happy with his team's effort. " I was really impressed, I told our guys it was going to be a tough game as they are very physical and we fought hard right  til the end. Our best players were our best players yesterday and we had some special efforts from a lot of key guys. We lost the game,  but I was very impressed with our resolve, effort and fight right til the end."

The Kodiaks have now been officially eliminated from the playoffs and have two games remaining in the season including their final home game on Friday October the 16th  against Carrot River.

Don't forget that there will be a special fundraiser going on for the local SPCA where fans are encouraged to bring pet food, pet supplies and cleaning supplies to help out the local shelter.

Kickoff will be 4pm Manitoba time.