Good luck to the Northern Stars U-17  Girls volleyball team who officially kick off their season this weekend in Winnipeg at the Premier Series Tournament.

The Stars will play the Predators in their first game tonight at 6:30 then square off with the Winman Attack at 8:30.

They will play their final round robin game against Offspeed Saturday morning at 10:15.

Playoffs start Saturday at 11:30 with the final at 5:45.

Once again the team is made up of Lydia Alexander, Teslyn Beauchamp, Taylor Burwash, Evalina Dauk, Sadie Hynes, Jocelyn Kozar, Mackenzie McLean and Blake Shirran from Flin Flon. Keira Leefe is from Snow Lake and Ruby Karokochuk is from Creighton.

The coach's are Ray Shirran and Amy Olenick.

The Norman Northstars will begin February with a pair of games against the 12th place Central Plains Capitals at the C.A. Nesbit Arena in Thomson.

This may be just what the Northstars need as it has been a tough start to 2025 with Norman going 1-6-2 in the month of January.

The Northstars are 10th overall at 12-24-3-1 and remain 12 points out of the final  playoff spot.

Norman has 9 games remaining in the season and will really need to get on a roll if they want to make the playoffs.

Games are this Saturday at 7pm and Sunday at 1:30.

The Flin Flon Creighton Slow Pitch League is hoping to start their season in April.

They are accepting registration now for $30.00 per player. You can sign up as a  team or as an individual and they will find you a team.

The plan is to play once a week, on Wednesday's  6:30pm at Centoba.

If there is enough interest they will play all summer. To register or find out more information you can join the Flin Flon Creighton Slow Pitch League Facebook page or call Connor at 204-271-4254.

After the SJHL controlled most of the play on Tuesday, it was the MJHL who rebounded and dominated the action on day two at the Showcase in Winnipeg.

In the first game MJHL 20U Black beat the SJHL 20U Gold 5 to 1.

The Bombers Anthony Piccininno scored the only goal for the SJHL while Flin Flon netminder Matthew Kieper stopped 29 out of 33 and suffered the loss.

The Portage Terriers Cameron Bullinger scored a pair of goals to lead the MJHL.

In the second game,  the MJHL 20 U Red hung on for a 6 to 4 win over the SJHL 20 U White. 

A trio of Winkler Flyers did most of the damage as Isaiah Peters, Brody Beaucheman and Jayce Legaarden all found the back of the net for the MJHL.

The Humboldt Bronco's Jacob Strizzi scored his third of the event shorthanded for the SJHL, but they couldn't mount the comeback.

Austin Dubinsky of the Niverville Night Hawks stopped 18 out of 22 to pick up the win while the Battleford Stars Justin Maric stopped 22 out of 28 and suffered the loss.

The final game of the day was a nail biter with the MJHL 18-U White knocking off the SJHL 18-U Blue 2 to 1 in a shoot out.

The Nipawin Hawks Ashton Tait and the Northern Manitoba Blizzard's Esteban Sinq Mars were the only players to score in regulation.

Overtime solved nothing, so the game would have to be decided in a shoot-out. Both goalies were outstanding with Brett O'Halloran of the Kindersley Klippers and Taye Timmerman of the Northern Manitoba Blizzard both standing tall.

The shoot-out went 15 rounds before Max Lavoie of the Winkler Flyers finally scored to end it and give the MJHL the victory.

The SJHL finish the event at 2-2-2 with the regular season resuming on Friday.

The Flin Flon Bombers will hit the ice on Saturday as they entertain the Melfort Mustangs at the Whitney Forum  and put their 25 game regulation streak on the line.

Puck drop is 7:30 and will be broadcast on 102.9 CFAR and flinflononline.com.

The Teagan Quinn Memorial U-13 Tournament will take place this weekend with games starting on Friday.

The Kinsmen Bombers will be the host team with other teams travelling in from OCN, The Pas, Thompson, Gillam and Cross Lake.

Games will take place at both the Whitney Forum and Sportex with the Kinsmen Bombers battling the Pas Huskies this Friday at 1:30 to open the tournament at the Whitney Forum.

Round robin to continue through Friday and Saturday and the playoffs will start Sunday morning at 9am. The A-Side will be played at 2.

Full schedule can be seen at flinflonminorhockey.com.

One of the longest running Minor Hockey Tournaments in Northern Manitoba will be taking place this weekend in the Pas which is the Grub Box Cup.

Flin Flon will be represented by two teams, the Ped’s Threads Bombers and Northland Ford Bombers.

The Ped’s Threads Bombers first game is against the Pas Huskies this Friday at 11:15 at the Roy H Johnston Arena.The Northland Ford Bombers will play Swan River at 2:45 also at the Roy.

Round robin continues through Friday and Saturday with the playoffs starting Sunday at 8:30am. The A-Side Final will be played at 4. 

Day one of the MJHL-SJHL Showcase is in the books, and three games were played yesterday.  Game one was between team MJHL 20U Red and team SJHL 20U Gold; the MJHL 20U Red is not only being coached by Coach Eric Labrosse but also features a plethora of Blizz players like Brett Ward, Miguel Bouvier and Keenan McNeill, to name a few. Winkler centerman Brody Beauchemin orchestrated a power play goal to put team Red on the board first. Shortly after, team Gold was able to bang in back-to-back goals to make it a 2-1 game. Late in the second, team Gold scored again and made it a 3-1 game for the SJHL squad. Early in the third, Niklas Gudmundson made the game a bit closer by recording his first goal for Team Red, but not too long after, team Gold bagged another goal to make the score 4-2. Late in the third, team Gold added another one via a power play to make the final score 5-2.

The next game featured team MJHL 20U Black and SJHL 20U White and saw team White put on an offensive clinic.  Eight goals were scored between the two teams in the second period. Two came from Niverville's Matteo Speranza and Portages Decker Mujcin; the rest were scored by team White, with two being short-handed goals. The next goal was scored early in the third by Steeler forward Wyatt Witham, followed by a power play goal by Decker Mujcin. With the score being 6-4 for Team White, the game was most definitely within reach for Team Black; that was the case until Team White chalked up three unanswered goals to make the final score 9-4.

The closest game was yesterday's last contest between team MJHL 18U White and SJHL 18U Blue. Blizz defender Esteban Cinq-Mars gave Team White the lead early in the second by scoring his first goal in the showcase; a few minutes later, Adam Mater of the Winnipeg Blues made it a 2-0 game for Team White. Team Blue was able to score one soon after Matar's goal, and they were able to tie up the game at the halfway point in the third. The game would eventually be decided via shootout after a quiet overtime period and see Selkrik forward Remy Hlady win the game for team White.

Three more games will happen today; this time, team SJHL 20U Gold will do battle against team MJHL 20U Black, then team MJHL 20U Red will go toe to toe with team SJHL 20U White, and lastly, team MJHL 18U White will rematch team SJHL 18U Blue.

The SJHL/MJHL Showcase is underway at the Seven Oaks Sportsplex  in Winnipeg.

It was a good start for the SJHL 20-U Gold Team  who picked up the 5 to 2 victory over the MJHL 20-U Red.

A number of Flin Flon Bombers were in this game and factored in the scoring.

Anthony Piccininno led the way with a goal and an assist and was chosen the player of the game.

Keefe Gruener also scored with Luke Lepper and Ryder Ringor picking up assists.

The Weyburn Red Wings Angelo Zol went the distance in goal and stopped 27 out of 29 shots.

It was all SJHL in the second game which saw the SJHL 20-U White roll over the MJHL 20-U 9 to 4.

The Humboldt Broncos Jacob Strizzi, Melfort Mustangs Zac Somers and Yorkton Terriers Keenan Ingram all had a pair of goals.

The Mustangs Kristian Coombs stopped 18 out of 22.

One more game tonight will feature the SJHL 18-U Blue face off against the MJHL 18-U White starting at 6:30.

All the results are available at mjhlhockey.ca.

Flin Flon has received some wonderful news as they have been awarded the 2025 U-11A  Rural  Hockey Provincials.

These will take place the weekend of February the 28th to March the 2nd and this is really big news,  as it has been a number of years since Flin Flon has hosted a Provincial hockey event.

The Ped’s Threads Bombers are the host team with teams travelling in from The Pas, Dauphin, Swan Valley, Portage, Virden and Neepawa.

Opening Ceremonies will take place  on Friday night right before the Bombers face Virden.

FFMH is looking for lots of community support and hope people come out to support the kids. They are also looking for sponsorship and volunteers and you can get more information off their facebook page which is 2025 U-11 Rural Provincials Flin Flon.

The Flin Flon Curling Club  is holding a Open Mixed Bonspiel for all ages on February the 22nd and 23rd.

The entry fee is $45.00 per person and includes supper. Extra meals are $25.00 and you can contact Della if you are interested.

Junior Curlers can curl for free but you will  have to pay for your meal.

The cut off date is Thursday February the 20th at noon and you should have one person of the opposite sex on your team but not mandatory. The sign up sheet is on the bulletin board in the curling club lobby by the concession.

You can register as a team or an individual with your name, phone number and the position you will be playing. Singles will then be drawn from a hat to make teams. For more information contact Della at 306-688-6663.

The OCN Storm picked up four much-needed points this past weekend after securing back-to-back wins in Thompson. Saturday's game was against the number one team in the KJHL, the NCN Flames, and it was truly a heavyweight brawl from start to finish.

A minute and thirty seconds into the first period, NCN’s Marcus Moody put the Flames on the board first. Shortly after, KJHL All-Star Cedrick Puffalt tied things up by scoring his eighteenth goal of the season. To cap off the first period, NCN’s Kobe Tanuyak and Cayden Nycheporak scored back-to-back goals, making it a 3-1 game for the Flames.

Early in the second period, Storm forward Laryn Chaboyer recorded a power-play goal to bring the game closer. Maddox Long then notched his league-high thirty-third goal of the season to make it 4-2 for NCN. Drew Peters, Cedrick Puffalt, and Keilan Holland then put on an offensive clinic, scoring three goals to give the Storm a 5-4 lead. However, it was short-lived as Gregory Wiseman was able to tie things up with just under six minutes to go.
Keestin Danielson then scored his first goal of the Storm's 2024-2025 campaign, but Maddox Long responded by adding another goal to his impressive league-high tally. It was anyone's game with the score tied at 6-6 going into the third period.

Kobe Tanuyak scored his second goal of the night near the halfway point of the third, and Cedrick Puffalt not only earned a hat trick but also sent the game into overtime. In the end, it was none other than Keilan Holland, who scored his second goal to break the Storm's six-game losing streak.

Sunday’s game against the North Stars was just as impressive and gritty as Saturday’s win against NCN. It was a back-and-forth battle through the first and second periods. Jacey Melnyk bagged his first goal of the weekend on a power play early in the first, and Gilbert Teneycke then tied things up to make it 1-1 going into the second.
Cedrick Puffalt tallied another goal for the Storm early in the second, but near the end of the period, Norway House standout Lucien Tait-Reaume orchestrated a North Star power-play goal to make it 2-2 going into the third. Cedrick Puffalt, Drew Peters, and Tye Burke scored back-to-back goals to make it 5-2 and secure another win for the Storm. North Stars forward Daine Thomas was able to add one more goal, but it was too little, too late, making the final score 5-3 in favour of the Storm.

The Storm hit the road this weekend for a two-game doubleheader in Peguis to take on the Juniors.

It was a great weekend for both the Senior and JV Queens basketball teams.

The Senior Queens were in Cranberry for the Frontier Collegiate Classic and rolled over the competition with wins over Cross Lake and OCN.

That would put the Queens in the final against the host team from Frontier and the Queens won the game convincingly 60 to 37.

The JV Queens were in Warren Manitoba and they went undefeated beating both the number two and three teams in the entire province. That included an upset win over the number two ranked team,  Warren Wildcats 39 to 34 in the final.

There seems to be no stopping the Flin Flon Bombers,  as they wrapped up their Southern swing on Saturday with a convincing 7 to 1 win over the Notre Dame Hounds.

The Hounds hit the board first,  when Hudson Kerr scored on the powerplay just 5:37 into the opening  period.

Flin Flon answered with a powerplay goal of their own from Captain Cole Tanchuk,  and it was all Flin Flon after that. Seven different Bombers found the back of the net including Carter Cormier (17), Rhett Eewn (5), Ryder Ringor (20), Anthony Piccininno (11), Keefe Gruener (23) and Ryder Mucha (4).

It was a great game for Carter Cormier who also added 3 assists.

Kenny Marquart got his first start in a week and didn't disappoint with 18 saves for his 9th win of the season, while the Hound netminder Spencer Borsos was far busier stopping 45 of 52.

These 4 game in 5 night road trips are always tough, especially when you get to the last game which makes this win even more impressive. Flin Flon was battling both injuries and sickness but they didn't let that affect them.

The Bombers will take 7 out of 8 points with wins in Melville and Estevan and a tough OT loss in Weyburn. Flin Flon had some great chances early in the OT period on Friday  but couldn't convert.

Flin Flon is also trying to chase down history with no regulation losses in their last 25 games,  as they try to match the Prince Albert Raiders who did it it for 30 games in 1981-82.

More importantly the Bombers continue to play sound hockey and are an impressive 28-9-3-1 and sit second overall, now 4 points behind the front running Melfort Mustangs who got upset 4 to 1 in Nipawin on Saturday.

These two teams will collide at the Whitney Forum on Saturday in their first meeting since November the 8th, which was the game that started the streak for Flin Flon.

You will be able to catch all the action on 102.9 CFAR and flinflononlinecom including the Great North GM Coach's Show at 7:10.

Good luck to all the Bombers including Koen Senft, Keefe Gruener, Anthony Piccininno, Ryder Ringor, Luke Lepper, Liam Hunks and Matthew Kieper who will all be representing the SJHL at the Showcase in Winnipeg starting today. 

The Northern Manitoba Blizzard are coming off a tough weekend against the Winkler Flyers, going 0-2 in both games. In Friday's game, Winkler’s Max Lavoie put the Flyers on the board first. At the ten-minute mark of the second period, Blake Matheson and the Winkler power play unit capitalized, scoring a power play goal. Shortly after, Brody Beauchemin added the third and final goal, securing a 3-0 win for Winkler.

Saturday’s game was a more competitive contest between the Blizz and the Flyers. There was no scoring in the first and second periods, but once the third period began, centerman Brady Craik recorded his seventeenth goal, giving Winkler a 1-0 lead. Late in the third, Nicholas McKee put the finishing touch on Winkler's second consecutive win by scoring his first goal of the weekend, making the final score 2-0 Winkler.

The Blizz only play one game this week. On Saturday, they travel to Dauphin to take on the Kings. Their next home game is against the Selkirk Steelers on Monday, February 3rd.

The Northern Stars U-17 Volleyball team which is made up of girls from Flin Flon and area are looking forward to a busy 2025.

The team coached by Ray Shirran and Amy Olenick will be heading out for a number of tournaments including the Premier in Winnipeg January the 31st and Feb 1st.

They will also compete in tournaments in Regina, Brandon and Nipawin and for the first time in NSVC history they will be heading to Nationals in Edmonton  which is a really big step for volleyball in the North.

The teams is made up of Lydia Alexander, Teslynn Beauchamp, Taylor Burwash, Evalina Dauk, Sadie Hynes, Jocelyn Kozar, Mackenzie Mclean and Blake Shirran from Flin Flon. Keira Leefe is from Snow Lake and Ruby Karakochuk is from Creighton.

Keefe Gruener led the way last night offensively by scoring a pair of goals, his team leading 21st and 22nd as the Flin Flon Bombers went into Estevan and shut out the Bruins 4 to 0.

Ryder Ringor added his 19th on the powerplay and Joey Lies picked up his 4th into the empty net to round out the scoring.

Matthew Kieper stopped all 22 shots fired in his direction and now has back to back shutouts on the road trip.

Kieper is now 15-0-1 and is on some type of a roll with out of this world  numbers including a GAA of 1.73 and a Save % of .942.

Not only is Flin Flon 2-0 on this southern road swing but are now unbeaten in 23 in regulation which includes 21 wins, an OT loss and a loss in a Shootout.

The Bombers are closing in on the league record which is 30 and set by the 1981-82 Prince Albert Raiders.

After last night's win the Bombers are 27-9-2-1 and are now just 5 points behind the front running Melfort Mustangs. Melfort does have 3 games in hand.

This was Estevan's first game with new Head Coach Drew Kocur who will lead this team for the rest of the year after the Bruins parted ways with Jason Tartanic on the weekend.

Estevan falls to 12-19-3-1 and remain in 10th spot and are 11 points out of the final playoff spot.

Flin Flon will enjoy their off day today and get back on the ice against the Weyburn Red Wings on Friday which will be a really good test.

The Wings are 7 points behind the Bombers for second overall and beat them back to back at the Whitney Forum in October. Flin Flon will then close out the trip against Notre Dame on Saturday.

The KJHL's 2025 Showcase is happening this weekend at the C.A. Nesbitt Arena and Gordon Beard Arena in Thompson. The event will kick off on Friday with an All-Star Game, featuring thirty-four of the top players in the KJHL. The OCN Storm players who will be playing this Friday include Justin Eetuk, Brody Burrell, Ozy Atkinson, Keilan Holland, Cedrick Puffalt, and, of course, Drew Peters, who will also serve as one of the two All-Star Captains. The All-Star Game starts at 7:30 p.m. at the C.A. Nesbitt Arena.
In addition to the All-Star Game, the OCN Storm will play two scheduled games against the Norway House North Stars and NCN Flames this weekend in Thompson. Saturday's game against the NCN Flames starts at noon and will be held at the C.A. Nesbitt Arena. Sunday's game against the North Stars is set for 2:15 p.m. at the Gordon Beard Arena.

Admission is free for the entire weekend. The KJHL's website has more information on the Showcase.

Hapnot Collegiate is excited about the opportunity to host Varsity Girls  Provincial Basketball  March the 20th to the 22nd.

Over 160 athletes are expected to be coming in to Flin Flon from all over Manitoba and of course the host Queens will be one of the teams participating.

It has been a number of years since Flin Flon has been able to host a Provincial High School event and look forward to having the entire community's support.

A schedule for all the teams competing will be released  closer to the tournament date. In the mean time you can reach out to mbortis@ffsd.mb.ca or erogalka@ffsd.mb.ca for more information.

Matthew Kieper only had to make 12 saves last night for his first ever  SJHL shutout as the Flin Flon Bombers blanked the Melville Millionaires 3 to 0 and opened up their Southern Road Swing on a positive note.

It was a historic night for Kieper who picked up his first Bomber shut-out in his 100th career junior game. He remains undefeated in regulation and improves to 13-0-0-1.

Ryder Ringor led the way offensively with a pair of goals his 17th and 18th of the season including a short handed goal to give the Bombers 11 on the season which leads the league.

Liam Hunks added the other goal,  his 10th of the year and second as a Bomber when he took a nice pass from Joey Lies and went in and fired a nice snapshot past Melville goalie Ben Laurette. 

Flin Flon has beaten the Mills in all three meetings this year and have only given up one goal in the three games.

The Bombers unbeaten streak in regulation has now reached 22 games and they continue to sit second overall at 26-9-2-1, good for 55 points and have been able to close the gap to 7 points behind the front running Melfort Mustangs.

Flin Flon will now shift their focus to the Estevan Bruins as the Southern Road Swing makes it's way to Affinity Place. The Bruins made some headlines this past weekend as they decided to part ways with Head Coach and GM, Jason Tartanic.

Drew Kocur has taken over on an interim basis and he will make his Bruins coaching debut tonight.

Once again you can hear all the action on 102.9 CFAR and flinflononline.com as Mike Stackhouse will have the call beginning at 6:45 with the Great North GM Coach's Show.V

The Flin Flon Bombers will put their 21 game unbeaten streak in regulation on the line tonight,  as they embark on a very tough 4 game in 5 night road trip starting  in Melville at the Horizon Credit Union Centre.

The Bombers  who have not lost in regulation since October the 30th in Melfort are coming off a weekend sweep of the Kindersley Klippers including a hard fought 3 to 2 win on Saturday. 

Despite only having two players in the top 20 in league scoring,  the Bombers are second in the league in goals for with 143 and get contributions from different players every night.

Keefe Gruener is having a season to remember and after picking up three goals on the weekend has hit 20 on the season. Gruener also leads the league in short handed goals with 4. The Bombers as a team lead the league with 10.

With the addition of Liam Hunks in a trade with Notre Dame at the deadline, the Bombers have two lethal point producers from the back end with Hunks sitting second overall in scoring for defensemen with 28 points in 35 games.

Luke Lepper in in fifth spot and has collected 27 points in 33 games and is garnering lots of interest from NCAA schools.

Melville is on a roll going into the game tonight thanks to back to back wins on the weekend against Weyburn and Estevan. The Mills are fighting for their playoff lives and are 18-18-2-1 and are currently 7th, just two points up on Humboldt.

Flin Flon is 25-9-2-1 and are second overall with 53 points which is 5 points up on Weyburn and 8 points ahead of Yorkton.

The Bombers lead the season series 2-0 with wins in Flin Flon on December the 6th and 7th by scores of 4 to 0 and 3 to 1. Matter of fact if the playoffs were to start today, Melville would be the Bombers first round playoff opponent.

That would only be the second playoff matchup in their history with the other meeting the 1992-93 SJHL Championship which the Bombers won in an epic 7 game showdown.

You can listen to tonight's game from Melville with Mike Stackhouse who is going to have the call from the Horizon Credit Union Centre with the Great North GM Coach's Show at 6:45 and drop of the puck at 7.

The U13 Kinsmen Bombers returned home from Thompson this past weekend with a  silver medal.

The Bombers would go undefeated during the round robin posting a record of 3-0-1 but would be defeated by the host Thompson King Miners in the final 5-3.

The Bombers will now get prepared for their home tournament when they host the U13 Teagan Quinn Memorial tournament January 31st to Feb 2nd at both the Whitney Forum and Sportex.

Full schedule to follow in the coming days.

The Flin Flon Uptown Curling Club hosted the Senior Bonspiel for both the Ladies and Men this past weekend.

With 4 rinks on both sides  they decided to play a round robin with no playoffs.

In The Ladies,  Dianne Burwash finished first at 2-1 followed by Deb McCombie at 2-1, Lorna Rice 1-2 and Sue Chrisp 1-2.

Don Holmes finished first on the Men's side at 2-1, Dave Salahub cam second at 2-1 with Menno Geisbrecht and Dave Blatherwick 1-2.

Next up will be the Mixed Bonspiel happening  the weekend of February the 22nd and 23rd.

Despite the blizzard which hit most of Manitoba late last week, Hapnot Collegiate was still able to host a Senior Basketball Tournament over the weekend.

The Creighton Kodiak Boys dominated the field and went undefeated with a couple of lopsided wins over the Hapnot Kings and Split Lake. The Kings went 1-1 to finish second.

On the Girls side,  the Hapnot Queens had a good weekend going 2-1 with wins over Cranberry and Creighton with their one loss against MBCI out of The Pas who finished first.

The Creighton Girls were 1-2 with a win over Cranberry and two losses to the Pas and the Hapnot Queens.

It wasn't easy, but the Flin Flon Bombers took both games this weekend against a very determined Kindersley Klipper hockey club.

The Bombers picked up the 5 to 1 win on Friday in one of the roughest games I have witnessed all season, with multi scraps and a lot of penalties. Despite  being on the wrong end of the score, Kindersley wanted to show the Bombers they weren't going to back down.

Reid Arberry who is really coming into his own,  scored a pair of goals his 5th and 6th of the season leading the way for the Bomber  victory.

Keefe Gruener also scored short handed for his 18th of the year with Wyatt Stinton (8) and Ryder Ringor (16) also finding the back of the net.

Rylan Wieler had the lone goal for Kindersley his 5th.

Specialty teams were a big part of this game with Kindersley going 0 for 6 on the powerplay and they also gave up 2 short handed goals. Flin Flon now leads the league with 10 on the year.

Matthew Kieper picked up his 13th win of the year making 25 saves. Cody Jaman suffered the loss stopping 32 out of 37.

Kindersley came out hard on Saturday and played a very good game and didn't look out of place , battling to the end dropping the 3 to 2 decision.

Keefe Gruener once again led the way for the Bombers with a pair of goals to hit 20 on the season. Anthony Piccininno scored the winner on a nice feed from Liam Hunks as he scored with just over 11 minutes remaining which turned out to be big.

Former Bomber Dawson Karrol was able to score on a partial break away with just under a minute to go to cut the deficit to 3 to 2, but the Klippers couldn't get the equalizer.

Kenny Marquart celebrated his 20th birthday  making 26 saves on 28 shots and is starting to find the touch he had last year to improve to 7-7.

The Klippers went with Brett O'Hallorin who played very well despite the loss giving up 3 goals on 37 shots.

Flin Flon improves to 25-9-2-1 and are unbeaten in their last 21 in regulation. Last regulation loss for Flin Flon was October the 30th in Melfort.

The Bombers remain second overall, 5 points up on the third place Weyburn Red Wings.

Kindersley will drop to 19-18-1-1 and are currently 5 points behind the Battleford Stars and Yorkton Terriers for fourth.

A big challenge for the Bombers as they hit the road for 4 in 5 starting this Tuesday in Melville before hitting Estevan on Wednesday,  Weyburn Friday , wrapping up in Notre Dame on Saturday.

We will broadcast the first two from Melville on Tuesday and Estevan on Wednesday with our broadcast colleague Mike Stackhouse. Listen to both games here on 102.9 CFAR and flinflononline.com, with the pre game 15 minutes before puck drop.

The Flin Flon Bombers will put their 19 game unbeaten streak in regulation on the line tonight , when they host the Kindersley Klippers in a pair of games at the Whitney Forum.

Flin Flon sits second overall at 23-9-2-1 and lead the third place Weyburn Red Wings by just  3 points and fourth place Yorkton Terriers by 4 points.

The Bombers are fresh off a weekend sweep in Humboldt while the Klippers come to town playing well and are 6-3-1 in their last 10.

Kindersley did drop their last game in Melfort on Wednesday 4 to 1 , so they remain 3 points behind the Battlefords for fifth overall.

The two teams last met back on November the 15th and 16th in Kindersley with the Bombers winning both those games,  and that seems to be the weekend that turned their  whole Bomber season around.

There are lots of reasons for the Bombers success ,  but one big factor continues to be how good they are defensively,  only giving up 92 goals in 35 games which is second best in the league.

They have also scored 135 goals which is also good for second overall. The Klippers rank 7th in goals for with 121 and fifth in goals against with 117.

This will be the first time that former Bomber Dawson Karol steps on the ice at the Whitney Forum,  as he was traded to the Klippers in the off season and is having a career year with 18 goals which is tied for fifth overall in the league.

Flin Flon is scoring by committee and only have two players in the top 20 in league scoring , Ryder Ringor who is 8th with 40 points in 35 games and Keefe Gruner who sits 18th overall with 32 points in 26 games.

Not bad when you consider they are one of the top offensive teams in the league and usually dominate the top 20 in league scoring.

Matthew Kieper has been incredible since arriving from the WHL and deserves a lot of credit for the Bombers success and has yet  to lose in regulation and is 12-0-0-1 with a league best save % at .936.

Brett O'Hallorin is no slouch in net for the Klippers and is 14-10-1 with a decent save % at .916.

Puck drop both nights is at 7:30 and we will have the broadcast of Saturday's game on 102.9 CFAR and flinflononline.com including the Great North GM Coach's Show at 7:10.

The draws have been announced for this weekend's Senior Curling Bonspiel at the Uptown Curling Club.

There are 8 teams total with 4 rinks each for both the Men and Ladies.

The opening draw is at 11am on Saturday.

In the Ladies it is Sue Chrisp VS Lorna Rice and Deb McCombie VS Dianne Burwash

For the Men, Dave Salahub takes on Menno Giesbrecht and Don Holmes is up against Dave Blatherwick.

Action will continue through the weekend with the finals on Sunday at 11. The Banquet is Saturday at 5pm.

In local hockey news, tonight's Blizz game has been postponed due to weather conditions and will be played later in the season. The OCN Storm will play two back-to-back games at the GLMC tomorrow and Sunday against the Cross Lake Islanders. Puck drop tomorrow is at 7:30 p.m., while Sunday's game will begin at 1:30 p.m. This is a friendly reminder that all regular season games for your OCN Storm are free to attend.
The U18 AAA Norman Northstars will embark on a three-game road trip. Both tonight's and tomorrow's games will be against the Thistles in Kenora. They will then cap off their road trip against Pembina Valley at the Access Event Centre in Morden.

The U15 AAA Northstars will also play three road games this weekend in Winnipeg. They will go head to head against the Winnipeg Bruins, Eastman Selects, and Winnipeg Wild.

Lastly, the U15 AAA Norman Wild will play one road game against the Westman Wildcats in Deloraine tonight at 7:00 p.m. They will then play two home games against the Pembina Valley Hawks at the Roy H. Johnston Arena tomorrow night and Sunday.

The rosters were announced earlier today for the 2025 MJHL/SJHL Showcase which will take place in Winnipeg January the 27th to the 29th.

There will be 60 players representing each league which will be broken up on to three different teams including 18U, and two different 20U teams.

Once again the Flin Flon Bombers are well represented with 8 players being chosen to play in the head to head matchup with the best players playing in Manitoba.

Koen Senft was the only Bomber chosen for the 18U team while 7 Flin Flon players are on the 20U team including forwards Leighton Carruthers, Keefe Gruener, Anthony Piccininno and Ryder Ringor, defensemen Luke Lepper, Liam Hunks and goaltender Matthew Kieper.

The complete coaching staffs were named as well including: 

20U White Head Coach Trevor Blevins (Melfort Mustangs); Asst Brayden Klimosko (Humboldt Broncos)

20U Gold Head Coach Cody Mapes (Weyburn Red Wings); Asst Doug Johnson (Melville Millionaires)

18U Blue Head Coach Emery Olauson (Yorkton Terriers); Asst Coach Marty Smith (Battlefords North Stars).

Complete rosters can be seen at sjhl.ca.

Flin Flon will be hosting a Senior Basketball Tournament this weekend at both Hapnot and McIsaac schools.

Both the Girls and Boys will be represented.

Girls teams will be competing from Flin Flon, Creighton, OCN, Ebb and Flow, Swan River and Norway House.

In the Boys bracket there will be teams from Flin Flon, Creighton, Ebb and Flow, Peguis, Split Lake and Norway House.

Games start Friday at McIssac with the Hapnot Queens taking on OCN at 4:30 , then  the Kodiak Girls will play Cranberry at 6.

Over at Hapnot,  the Creighton  Kodiak Boys will kick off the tournament at 4:30 against Split Lake. The Hapnot Kings will take on Ebb and Flow at 6pm.

Playoffs start Saturday at 8am with the Boys Final at 5 and the Girls Final at 6:30.

The U-13 Kinsmen Bombers are back on the road this weekend as they head to Thompson for the Prince Berschied Tournament.

Flin Flon's first game is against  the Thompson  King Miners  on Friday at 5:30, then they play The Pas Huskies on  Saturday at 8am before playing Thompson again at 4:15. Flin Flon will wrap up the round robin against The Pas on Sunday at 10 am.

The top two teams from the round robin will advance to the finals which will be played Sunday at 3:45.

Creighton school hosted the inaugural Caleb Janzen Memorial basketball tournament this past weekend.

Both the Kodiak Boys and Girls played well and got good results.

The Kodiak Girls went 2-1 in the round robin beating Cranberry and Birch Hills, with their one loss coming to MBCI out of The Pas.

The Kodiaks would meet the Pas in the final once again and dropped a nail biter 23 to 21.

It was a perfect weekend for the Kodiak Boys who went 4-0. They beat Cumberland House, Laronge and Hapnot in the round robin. Creighton and Hapnot would square off once again in the final with Creighton winning 72 to 52.

A big thanks to all the spectators who came out and to all the sponsors who made gererous donations.

Next up will be the Kopper Crown Classic at Hapnot this weekend.

For the second time this season,  Flin Flon Bomber netminder Matthew Kieper is the Sasktel Goalie Of The Week.

Kieper was between the pipes for both Flin Flon wins in Humboldt this past weekend and ended up stopping 56 out of 59 shots to improve to 12-0-1 on the season and has yet to lose in regulation.

Kieper continues to be amongst the league's best netminders with a GAA of 2.05 and a Save % of .936 and was also chosen the Goalie Of The Month for November.

Flin Flon has now gone 19 games without losing in regulation and Kieper is a big reason why.

The OCN Storm are coming off a tough weekend after going 0-2 against number one-ranked NCN. In Saturday's game, Cedrick Puffalt put OCN on the board first and was the lone goal scorer for the Storm. After Puffalt’s goal, NCN took over and scored five unanswered goals to make it a 5-1 Flames win. Ben Tulugak and Russell Matoo had a pair of goals for NCN, while Cash Long recorded a hat trick.

Sunday's game was another dominant win for the Flames. NCN forward Gregory Wiseman scored the only goal in the first period. Early in the second, Israel Maktar and Cash Long added two more to the tally, making it 3-0. Storm captain Drew Peters and Justin Eetuk each scored to make the game closer, but shortly after, Maddex Long bagged back-to-back goals, making it 5-2 going into the third period. Cedrick Puffalt scored his second and final goal of the weekend four minutes into the third. After that, NCN scored five unanswered goals, making the final score 10-3. Gregory Wiseman earned a hat trick by scoring two more goals, while the rest were scored by Bradley Prince, Sage Ouskan, and Seth Zahayko.

Fortunately, the OCN Storm will be back at home this upcoming weekend for a two-game doubleheader against the Cross Lake Islanders.

The Flin Flon Bombers played two solid road games on the weekend and took four points in Humboldt at the Elgar Petersen Arena.

Most of the damage was done in the first period yesterday afternoon as the Bombers built up a 3 to 0 lead scoring goals in three different ways.

Luke Lepper opened the scoring on the powerplay for his fourth of the season firing a shot from the blue line to beat a screened Dazza Mitchell.

Carter Cormier then scored his 14th even strength when he took a beautiful pass from Ryder Mucha. Keefe Gruener followed that up with a short handed goal for his team leading 17th of the season.

Newly acquired Cade Kennedy who was brought in from Estevan scored for the Bronco's in his debut to cut the lead to 3 to 1 early in the second.

Reid Arberry would answer late in the second period taking advantage of some tired Bronco bodies on the ice to restore the three goal lead for his fourth marker of the year.

That score would hold up til the last minute of the game when Tyce Penrod took advantage of a Bomber turn over to score his first of the year, but it was to little to late as the Bombers took yesterday’s contest 4 to 2.

Matthew Kieper was great once again turning away 30 of 32 shots to pick up his 12th win of the season and has yet to lose in regulation since arriving from the WHL. 

Dazza Mitchell who was the big story on Saturday night with an amazing 42 saves  stopped 38 of 42  yesterday afternoon and suffered the loss.

Flin Flon was able to ride the momentum from a hard fought 2 to 1 win on Saturday on goals from new comer Liam Hunks and Ryder Mucha,  and are now unbeaten in 19 straight regulation games.

There are different guys stepping up each night and no question this team has very good chemistry and are playing with a lot of confidence.

The Bombers will take three of four from the Bronco’s this year and improve to an overall mark of 23-9-2-1, good for 49 points which is 4 up on Yorkton and 5 on Weyburn for second overall.

Humboldt will fall to 15-17-2 and hold on to the 8th and final playoff spot with 32 points.

Next up for the Bombers will be the red hot Kindersley Klippers who are 7-2-1 in their last ten games. The Klippers are coming off a dominating weekend against the Nipawin Hawks and sit 6th overall at 19-15-1-1.

Kindersley is just 3 points behind Battleford for fifth and 4 points back of Weyburn for fourth.

Both games will take place at the Whitney Forum on Friday and Saturday night at 7:30 and will mark the return of former Bomber Dawson Karol who is having a career season.

Karol has 18 goals in 35 games which has him ranked fifth overall in the league. You will be able to hear Saturday's game on 102.9 CFAR and flinflononline.com including the Great North GM Coach's Show at 7:10.

The U13 Kinsmen Bombers returned home from the Rural A tournament of champions held in Minnedosa this past weekend with a 2-2 record.

The team would drop their two round robin games to Russell (8-1) and McCreary (7-5) placing them in the Consolation bracket.

The Bombers would go on to win their final two games against the Rivers Jets (6-3) and the Riverton Hawks (15-2) to win the Consolation bracket.

It was not the outcome the Bombers were looking for but overall it was a good weekend. The Russell Rams would be the eventual winners going undefeated.

The Bombers next action will be this coming weekend in Thompson for the Prince Berschied U13 tournament. The Bombers will face off against their  northern rivals from The Pas and Thompson in a double round robin with the top two teams advancing to the finals.

We will release the schedule later this week.

The SV Boys' basketball team at MBCI brought home some hardware after a successful weekend at the MacGregor Basketball Invitational. The Spartans went 3-0 in tournament play, beating Prairie Mountain 87-44, Minnedosa Collegiate 73-49, and Gimli High School 78-58 in the championship game.

In other basketball news, the SV Girls at Oscar Lathlin Collegiate placed third at the St. Boniface Centurion Classic. The R.D. Parker Collegiate Trojans ended up winning the tournament, defeating the Niverville Panthers 69-38 in the finals.

Lastly, the SV Girls at MBCI placed first in the inaugural Caleb Janzen Basketball Tournament, which took place in Creighton this past weekend.

The Northern Manitoba Blizzard are a perfect 2-0 in 2025 after defeating the Winnipeg Blues 4-3 this past weekend. Tyler Bernier got things rolling by notching his second goal of the season late in the first period. Past the halfway point in the second, Tyler Dhams secured his fourth goal of the year, making it 2-0 going into the third.

A mere six seconds into the third period, Keenan McNeill scored the Blizzard's thirty-fifth power-play goal with the help of Quincy Supprien. Shortly after, Blizzard newcomer Jayden Ward recorded his first goal as a member of the squad, making it 4-0 with a little more than ten minutes left.

The Blues then started to pour it on, pushing for a comeback. Matthew Sawchyn put the Blues on the board first near the 13-minute mark. With a minute and twenty seconds left, Carson White and the Blues' power-play unit made things a little closer with another goal. With under forty seconds left, Renat Nhanieiev chalked up the Blues' third and final goal, making the final score 4-3.
The Blizzard will now get ready to welcome the Selkirk Steelers to town this upcoming weekend.

It is a very busy CJHL Trade Deadline day with a lot of deals happening across the SJHL. 

Head Coach and GM of the Bombers Mike Reagan who is normally busy,  has made a big splash once again.

The Flin Flon Bombers have traded 2006 born forward Evan Bossell, 2006 born defenseman Wylie Smith and the rights to 2007 born forward Brennen Brown plus a PDF for 2004 born defenseman Liam Hunks from the Notre Dame Hounds.

Hunks is the Hound Captain and is having an incredible season with 25 points in 31 games and leads all defensemen in the league with 8 goals.

Mike Reagan made these comments after the trade was completed. " I think anytime you can add one of the top 5 d-men in the league you have to strongly consider it. It takes good assets to go the other way to make something like this work. We love our team and feel we are one defenseman short and felt this was a deal we couldn't pass up on." 

Bossel and Smith are both great prospects and will be very good players in this league in the not to far distant future. Bossel has 5 points in 21 games including 4 goals and Smith has one assist in 13 games.

For a complete list of all the trades made in the SJHL today you can go to sjhl.ca.

The Norman Northstar U-18 AAA team will hit the ice again this weekend in search of their first win of 2025, after a couple of OT losses last weekend.

Norman sits 11th overall at 10-20-3-1 and are 11 points behind  the Interlake Lightning for the 8th and final playoff spot.

Southwest sits fourth overall at 19-8-5 and have 43 points.

Games are Saturday at 7 pm and Sunday at 1:30 at the C.A. Nesbit  Arena in Thompson.

Come out and cheer for lots of  athletes from all over the North as the inaugural Caleb Janzen Memorial Basketball Tournament is taking place at Creighton School starting this afternoon.

There are 5 girls teams including Creighton, Cranberry, MBCI out of The Pas and Birch Hills.

There are 4 boys teams including Creighton, The Hapnot Kings, Laronge and Cumberland House.

The first game in the boys has Hapnot battling Creighton at 5 followed by the Creighton Kodiak girls taking on Cranberry at 6:30.

Round robin will continue through Friday and Saturday with a shootout skills competition.

Playoffs are Saturday with the Boys Final at 5:30 and Girls Final at 7pm.

It was a night that local product Wyatt Stinton soon won't forget,  as he picked up his first ever SJHL hat-trick and led his hometown Flin Flon Bombers to a convincing 9 to 2 thumping of the Nipawin Hawks.

Stinton now has 7 goals on the season and also added an assist as he and his linemate's Ryder Mucha and Landon Alexander were flying all night. Alexander also had a big night and scored his first two ever  SJHL goals including a nice redirection for his second on the night early in the third period.

Anthony Piccininno continues to produce and picked up 5 points including a pair of goals with his 8th and 9th of the season.

The other Bomber goals came from Leighton Carruthers (9) and Koen Senft who picked up  his 10th.

Nipawin got their goals from Konnor Watson (6) and Will Whitter (10).

A relatively easy night for Bomber netminder Kenny Marquart who only had to make 12 saves for his 7th win of the season. A much different story at the other end of the ice  as both Hawk goalies were under a constant barage of Bomber shots.

Nathan Claydon started and was pulled after giving up 6 goals on 26 shots. Gage Roberts came in relief and stopped 30 of 33.

With the win Flin Flon has sole possession of second overall with a record of 21-9-2-1 and are now unbeaten in their last 17 games in regulation. Weyburn did the Bombers a favour and beat Yorkton last night, so Flin Flon is now two points up on the Terriers.

It may have been a costly win for Flin Flon as they lost veteran forward Leighton Carruthers with a upper body injury in the second period last night. His current status is unknown and we should have an update later today.

Head Coach and GM Mike Reagan has indicated that he is looking to  make a move with the Jan 10th deadline now just a day away and hopes to have something finalized by later tonight.

So the lineup may look a little different as the Bombers head to Humboldt for a pair of games this Saturday and Sunday.

Game times are 7pm on Saturday and 4pm on Sunday from the Elgar Peterson Arena and both games will be broadcast on 102.9 CFAR and flinflononline.com.

The U13 Kinsmen Bombers are ready for a busy January as they head off to Minnedosa this weekend for their first of three tournaments this month.

The Bombers will square off with the Russell Rams and McCreary Mustangs during round robin play and then all teams will be seeded accordingly prior to playoffs.

Flin Flon will take on Russell on Friday at 1:45 and then play McCreary Saturday morning at 9. Playoffs start Saturday at 2:15 with the Championship Final on Sunday at 5:45.

The winner of the tournament will qualify for the U13 tournament of champions which will be held in Brandon in February. 

The first curling bonspiel of the new year will take place the weekend of January the 18th and 19th at the Uptown Curling Club.

It will be the Senior's Bonspiel with a draw for both Women and Men.

The entry fee is $45.00 and is open to anyone 50 and over. Entry fee includes a supper.

There is a sign up sheet located on the bulletin board downstairs in the curling rink. Deadline to sign up is January the 16th at noon.

The Northern Manitoba Blizzard continued their winning ways after picking up their first win of 2025 against Waywayseecappo. Blizzard newcomer Jack Linton, formerly of the Winnipeg Blues, put the Blizzard on the board first. Shortly after, Quincy Supprien notched his sixteenth goal, and Brett Ward scored his third power-play goal of the season, making it a 3-0 game going into the second period.

Wolverine forward Aiden Herring was the lone goal scorer in the second period. Supprien then scored his second goal of the night late in the third. Waywayseecappo defenseman Ryley Cyca managed to score his first goal of the year shortly after, but it was too little, too late.
Much like the past six wins, a lot of credit goes to goaltender Taye Timmerman, who has been amazing during this win streak. The Blizzard defeated Waywayseecappo 4-2, extending their win streak to six games. They will now prepare to welcome the Winnipeg Blues to town this upcoming Saturday.

Flin Flon Minor Hockey will host another tournament this weekend, the Lil Prospects Cup for Hockey D.

All the games will take place at the Whitney Forum and feature teams from Flin Flon, The Pas, OCN, Thompson and Snow Lake.

Games will start Saturday at 9am with Flin Flon White  playing The Pas Red.

Action will continue throughout the day with awards presented after the 3pm and 4:15 games.

Full schedule can be seen on the Flin Flon Minor Hockey facebook page.

The Flin Flon Bombers continue to roll along and are now unbeaten in their last 16 games in regulation after a 3 point weekend against Laronge to kick off the new year.

Flin Flon continues to get different players stepping up each night and both Luke Lepper and Leighton Carruthers have been rewarded for their fine play on the weekend.

Carruthers had a weekend to remember especially on Saturday,  as he picked up 6 points in the 10 to 4 win in Laronge to kick off the second half of the season. He has been chosen Borgault Forward Of The Week by the SJHL.

Carruthers now has 18 points in 17 games and is really getting accustomed to the SJHL since arriving from Quebec.

Luke Lepper is having a season to remember and was chosen the Super U SJHL Defenseman Of The Week for the second time this season. Lepper picked up 4 points in the two games on the weekend.

Lepper has 24 points in 28 games and is tied for third in league scoring for defensemen.

It is a busy week for the Bombers as they get set to host the Nipawin Hawks tomorrow then head off to Humboldt to face the Bronco's this weekend.

Games are at 7pm on Saturday and 4pm on Sunday and will both be broadcast on 102.9 CFAR and flinflononline.com.

A tough start for the Norman Northstars U-18 team, as they went winless in a three game road trip to open up 2025 this past weekend.

The Northstars dropped a couple of heart breakers in OT to Interlake 5 to 4 on Friday then a 5 to 4 ot loss to the Eastman Selects on Saturday before falling 6 to 0 to Eastman yesterday.

Norman will fall to 10-20-3-1 and remain in 11th spot overall and sit  11 points behind the Interlake Lightning for the final playoff spot.

The Northstars return toi Thompson to face the Southwest Cougars in a pair of games this weekend Saturday at 7pm and Sunday at 1:30 at the C.A. Nesbit Arena.

The Flin Flon Bombers came out flying to kick off the new year as they went into Laronge on Saturday and buried the Ice Wolves 10 to 4.

Laronge started well and took a quick 2 to 0 lead on goals from Connor Frost and Tyson Matthews. Ryder Ringor would get Flin Flon on the board with a powerplay goal just a few minutes later,  and the Bombers never looked back.

Ringor would add another goal later in the game for his 14th of the season. Keefe Gruener , Carter Cormier and Leighton Carruthers all  scored a pair and it was a career night for Carruthers who wound up with 6 points and was explosive every time he was on the ice.

Joey Lies(3) and  Nathan Schaefer(2) also found the back of the net.

Specialty teams was the big story in this game with the Bombers scoring three short handed goals while going 1 for 5 on the pp. Laronge was 1 for 4 while surrendering the three shorties.

Matthew Kieper was back between the pipes and picked up his 10th win while giving  up 4 goals on 44 shots while Logan Falk started for Laronge and gave up 5 goals on 41 shots before making way for Graham Brown who gave up 5 on 27 shots.

Last night was a totally different game with Laronge desperate for points and a win came into the Whitney Forum and played a very effective road game.

Flin Flon opened the scoring when Luke Lepper snuck  a shot through a lot of traffic in front of the Laronge net for his third of the season.

Laronge got their powerplay going and tied the game when Taite Donkin took a nice pass from Mason Bueckert and found the back of the net for his 9th of the year.

The Wolves kept pressing and built up a 4 to 1 lead on goals from Vinny Du lulio (1), Brett Boucher (5) and Jacob Cossette  who scored his 7th.

You have to give the Bombers credit, they didn't seem to have their legs last night  but still managed to fight back to tie it on goals from Keefe Gruner his team leading 16th, Anthony Piccininno (7) and Ryder Ringor (15).

Flin Flon kept pressing late in the third but couldn't solve Graham Brown and the game made it to over time. The Wolves who played a very good game despite blowing a three goal lead came out and dominated the OT, and if it wasn't for the  Bomber netminder Matthew Kieper the game would of been over very quickly.

Kieper made a number of big saves and got Flin Flon to the shoot out.

Ryder Ringor, Carter Cormier and Leighton Carruthers all came up empty and Hudson Cameron who was the third shooter for Laronge beat Kieper five hole to send the Wolves to the victory with the 5 to 4 shoot out win.

A massive two points for Laronge who move to within one point of Humboldt for the final playff spot.

The Bombers get a point and are once again tied with Yorkton for second overall with 43 points. Both teams have played 32 games.

Flin Flon is disappointed with last night's result but are still on an incredible tear with points in 16 straight games. The Bombers have not lost in regulation since October the 3oth in Melfort.

The Bombers get ready for a busy week as they will host the Nipawin Hawks on Wednesday before heading to Humboldt for a pair of games on the weekend.

Games are Saturday at 7pm and Sunday at 4 and both will be broadcast on 102.9 CFAR and flinflononline.com. 

The Jason Morran Memorial U-11 Hockey Tournament wrapped up earlier today at the Whitney Forum and Sportex.

Congratulations to the Peds Threads Bombers who ended up winning the Jason Morran trophy with a hard fought 4 to 3 win over the Thompson King Miners in the A Final. Reagan McPherson scored the game winner on a break  away.

Chase Andres stopped 19 out of 22 shots to pick up the win in goal.

In the A1 Division it was Thompson knocking off the Northland Ford Bombers 5 to 4 in OT. The Bombers were able to fight back after falling behind 3 to 0 after the first period.

Mason Olson scored two goals for Flin Flon with Isaiah Hildebrand making 20 saves on 25 shots.

In the B-Side Final it was Swan Valley blanking the Thompson Aeros 2 to 0.

A big thanks to all the officials, volunteers, spectators, sponsors  and all the teams that travelled in for a great tournament to kick off the new year.

The U-11 Jason Morran Hockey Tournament is underway at both the Sportex and Whitney Forum.

Flin Flon is represented by two teams, including the U-11 Northland Ford Bombers and U-11 Ped's Threads Bombers.

Teams are also competing from The Pas, Swan River and Thompson. Round robin will continue through today and tomorrow with the playoffs starting Sunday morning at 9.

The A-Side Final will go Sunday at 11am at the Whitney Forum.

Full schedule can be seen at flinflonminorhockey.com.

The Flin Flon Bombers have made a player signing one day before they are to step on the ice for the first time in 2025.

The Bombers are excited to sign 2007 born forward Eric Han who currently plays with the Tisdale Trojans of the Sask Midget Triple A League.

Han is having a break out season in his third year with the team and is better than a point per game with 33 points in 25 games and is 11th in overall league scoring.

Flin Flon selected Han in the 4th round of the 2023 SJHL Draft. Han already knows what it is like to suit up for the Maroon and White,  as he made his Bomber debut on October the 3th against the Melfort Mustangs.

The Bombers prepare for their first game of the new year as they will travel to Laronge tomorrow night to face off against the Ice Wolves. Flin Flon was one of the hottest teams in Junior hockey heading into the break with 27 out of a possible 28 points in November and December.

After 30 games the Bombers are third overall at 19-9-2 with 40 points, which is one less than Yorkton for second and 12 points behind the front running Melfort Mustangs.

Laronge sits 9th overall and are two points behind the Humboldt Broncos for the final playoff spot with Humboldt having a game in hand.

The January 10th trade deadline is just one week away and it will be interesting to see what these two teams end up doing. Bomber Coach and GM, Mike Reagan is usually busy but has indicated he really likes his team and doesn't expect to make many moves.

The Wolves are desperate to make the playoffs and I have a feeling that Ice Wolf Head Coach and GM Kevin Kaminski may be looking to make a couple of moves. With how tight the standings are it may be difficult to make a move within the league.

One thing for sure , it will be interesting.

You can listen to tomorrow's game from Laronge which will start with the Great North GM Coach's Show at 7:10 and drop of the puck for Creighton Furniture at 7:30.

The rematch will take place at the Whitney Forum on Sunday with a 6pm faceoff and no broadcast on radio. After the game you can bring your helmets and skates and Skate With The Bombers and there will also be an autograph session.

After a lengthy Christmas break, the Norman Northstars begin the new year this weekend on the road.

Norman currently sits 11th overall in the Manitoba  U-18 AAA league and are currently 9 points out of the final playoff spot.

Defense continues to be a problem  as the Northstars have given up way to many goals,  including 143 in 30 games which is the third most in the league. They haven't been too  bad offensively, scoring 103 goals which has them ranked 6th overall.

The Northstars begin their three game road trip tomorrow against the Interlake Lightning at the Teulon Rockwood Arena at 7pm. They will then face the 7th place Eastman Selects in a pair of games on Saturday and Sunday.

Home town product, Tyler Wamboldt leads Norman in scoring with 46 points in 29 games including 22 goals.

Jake Brown is the lone player from Flin Flon on the team this year and the first year defenseman has 4 points in 29 games.