Puck proud Bombers dominate Ten players from Flin Flon‘s top-ranked squad take part in hockey showcase By: Mike Sawatzky Posted: 7:01 PM CST Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024

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This article was published 30/01/2024 (936 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Flin Flon Bombers have been so good in 2023-24 that their record looks like a misprint: they are 34-2-2-0, which is good for 70 points and they hold an eight-point lead on the second best team in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League.

What’s more, the Bombers have outscored their opponents 179-75 in 38 games and, although it’s not yet February, they have already qualified for the post-season.

No surprise really then that they have spent 12 consecutive weeks as the Canadian Junior Hockey’s League’s No. 1 team and are the best represented club at the MJHL-SJHL Showcase, an all-star event underway this week at the Seven Oaks Arena bringing together 60 of the best players from each league.

“We’ve got 10 players, myself and our trainer and our bus driver — so 13 of us,” said a smiling Bombers head coach Mike Reagan before stepping behind the bench for SJHL White’s Tuesday matchup with MJHL Black. “We just took the team bus. It’s a lot easier than trying to use two or three vehicles.”

Among the 10 players making the eight-hour trek to Winnipeg were two homegrown players — centre Justin Lies and right-winger Carter Anderson.

Lies, a 20-year-old centre from Flin Flon, and Anderson, a 19-year-old left-winger from Thompson, are terrorizing the SJHL with the aid of right-winger Anthony Piccininno, a 19-year-old from Toronto.

Lies, who returned to his hometown to play for the Bombers after four seasons as a power forward in the WHL, is second in SJHL scoring with 32 goals and 62 points in 37 games while Anderson, who arrived from the WHL on Oct. 14 after starting his fourth WHL season and being released by the Prince Albert Raiders, has a whopping 29 goals and 49 points in 29 games with the Bombers.

Lies admits it doesn’t hurt that Anderson was his linemate in minor hockey six seasons ago.

“Carter’s a great player, he’s a great skater, he’s got a great shot, he’s smart and he’s a really hard worker,” said Lies. “He’s motivated out there and when you’ve got a guy like that, that competes like he does, you can build chemistry pretty easily.”

Lies and Anderson have also been instrumental on Flin Flon’s top-rated power play, which is working at a 25.1 per cent success rate.

“We found some chemistry there and I’ve been clicking on the power play with 18 power-play goals so far,” said Anderson. “It’s good to see success on the power play for our group and that’s needed on a championship team. I think we’ve got the skill to go all the way.”

Reagan said the explanation for the duo’s success is pretty simple.

“What happens a lot of times is these guys come into your program at this level and they really start enjoying the game again, because they’re playing it the way they grew up playing it,” said Reagan. “(Anderson) was always an offensive guy growing up and then he goes to the Western League and he’s got to kind of find a role as a depth guy and he wasn’t being able to use his talents.”

The Bombers are not shy about stating their ambitions, which go beyond winning the franchise’s first league title since 1992-93 season.

They have their eyes on a Centennial Cup national championship prize as well.

“I think we’ve gotta think about it,” said Lies. “You got to prepare for things like that: winning a national championship doesn’t just happen. It’s got to be a conversation you have and a goal that is in our minds and clear in our minds.”

Reagan makes no apologies for this approach.

“We’ve talked about that a lot,” said Reagan, in his 17th season as head coach and general manager. “I’m a big believer that you’ve got to dream big and you have to have goals and obviously, we know that we still have a lot of work to do. Winning an SJHL championship is not going to be easy, as as I know from (losing the final) in four of the last six years.

“A lot of people say you’re putting the cart before the horse with that sort of thing but we realize that we still have a job to do. Nobody’s going to hand us a championship or allow us to get out of the first round because there’s other good teams in the league. You run into a hot goalie, you run into a team that believes and lots can happen. We’ve been that team that’s done that. We were a sixth seed that went to league final (in 2015-16) just on character and goaltending.”

With seven Manitobans on the roster, including trade deadline acquisitions Tyson Smith and Keefe Gruener, a pair of forwards from Winnipeg, the Bombers enjoy a big home-ice advantage playing in the crowded confines of the historic Whitney Forum.

“It’s a wide ice surface and a small neutral zone but I love playing there,” said Anderson. “The atmosphere there is crazy and I can’t wait for playoff time especially. It gets electric in there.”

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca