Trio finds success in Flin Flon

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This article was published 17/04/2017 (3339 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Flin Flon Bombers and their Westman contingent will be looking to get back on track on Tuesday in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League final.

The Bombers, who have Brandon Masson of Oak Lake, Jordan McCausland of Brandon and Rylee Zimmer of Russell on their roster, lost 5-1 to the Battlefords North Stars on Saturday after falling 3-0 on Friday in the best-of-seven series.

The Bombers finished first in the four-team Sherwood Division with a regular season record of 39-14-2-3. The North Stars, meanwhile, ran away with the Olympic Buildings Division and the league with a 48-9-1-1 record.

While the North Stars swept the Weyburn Red Wings and Estevan Bruins, the Bombers beat the Notre Dame Hounds 4-1 and then won the final three games against the Nipawin Hawks to beat them 4-3 in the semifinals.

Zimmer said before the final started that the key to victory is limiting miscues.

“I think we just have to play our game and do what we’ve been doing against Nipawin,” Zimmer said. “That’s just the little things like getting pucks deep, lots of traffic on net. As long as we play our game with the least amount of mistakes as possible … it’s going to come down to the same thing as with Nipawin. The team that makes the least mistakes is going to come out on top.”

While the three western Manitoba players share a geographic bond, they’ve travelled very different paths to Flin Flon and play diverse roles for the Bombers.

After being drafted by the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’ Swan Valley Stampeders, Masson’s rights were traded to Virden, where he was ging to high school. He played eight games in 2013-14 season with the Oil Capitals.

Deciding that he wanted to play away from home, the six-foot-two, 200-pound defenceman joined the Drumheller Dragons of the Alberta Junior Hockey League, but was sent to Flin Flon in September 2014 as futures in a previous deal. He’s enjoyed every minute of it.

“We always say we have the best fans in the league,” Masson said. “It’s not just when we’re at the rink; it’s throughout the entire community, everybody knows who you are and they’re very supportive of us. No matter where we are, they want to congratulate us on a win or just say hello. I’ve really enjoyed it here.”

The overage defensive defenceman, had 11 assists while finishing second on the team with 125 penalty minutes in 48 games.

He is just happy to be healthy again this season too, except for a broken nose. After a 2015-16 season that saw him sidelined with everything but locusts — he had knee surgery, broke his hand, had pneumonia and bronchitis — he only played 22 regular season games and the entire playoffs that included a six-game loss in the league final to the Melfort Mustangs.

“We have a lot of depth this year,” Masson said. “That’s the main thing. We probably have seven or eight D who could play every night. We have a really skilled team with scoring on all four lines.”

Masson noted that’s the biggest change from a season ago, when the Bombers were primarily a one-line team that featured Brandon Switzer of Brandon, who graduated after the season.

One of their most potent weapons this season is the six-foot-two, 170-pound Zimmer.

The forward said he actually had a really slow start to the season, failing to score in his first 15 games before getting hot from November on. By season’s end, Zimmer had scored 21 goals and added 43 assists in 50 games to finish third in team scoring.

“Personally for me it was good but it’s more about the team’s success,” he said. “Finishing second (in the league) was huge and now this playoff run is even bigger.”

Zimmer played 49 games with the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League over two seasons before being returned to the Waywayseecappo Wolverines of the MJHL. He requested a trade, and was acquired by the Bombers in December 2015 as part of a three-way trade that also included the SJHL’s Kindersley Klippers.

“I love it up here,” said Zimmer, who just turned 20 but still has a year of junior eligibility remaining. “It’s the best decision that I ever made.”

He particularly enjoys the rabid Flin Flon fanbase, which aside from the tradition of throwing a frozen moose leg on the ice after wins, are noisy and like to enjoy themselves at games. He’s also had a chance to ice fish and snowmobile away from the rink.

In 14 playoff games, Zimmer has a goal and 10 helpers. Masson has two assists and 25 penalty minutes in 12 games, with McCausland scoring twice in five games.

The latter was concussed in the Estevan series and is looking forward to making his return on Tuesday.

The five-foot-eight, 165-pound McCausland played a single game with the Winkler Flyers in the 2014-15 season as an affiliate player, but chose to join the Yorkton Terriers for the 2015-16 season. He was dealt in November 2016, early in his second season with Yorkton, to Flin Flon.

While it initially came as a shock, it quickly proved to be a good move for the 19-year-old forward.

“I wasn’t really expecting it but then it just sort of happened,” he said. “But I’m really happy that it did because I got a chance to play in the finals.”

McCausland said he was happy to join the Bombers because he always found Flin Flon a hard team to play against, in part because they finish their checks, and also because they are so good on home ice (22-3-2-2).

He had 29 points in 58 games split between Flin Flon and Yorkton, but 23 of those points came after he headed north.

“I played with more confidence under (head coach) Mike (Reagan) and it’s definitely a deeper team so no matter where I was playing, I was playing with someone good,” he said. “And that helps a lot, with good linemates.”

He spent the most time playing with Daylan Marchi and Brody Madarash. The 19-year-old McCausland’s late-season success has him looking forward to what may come.

“I was disappointed in my first half but happy with my second half, which gives me something to build off going into my 20-year-old year,” McCausland said. “

Next year Masson thinks he’ll probably be studying business in university somewhere.

But that’s next year.

For now, the trip to the championship series in his final season hasn’t gone unappreciated.

“It means everything,” he said. “It’s my last year of junior hockey and I think every single 20-year-old wants to win and wants to be in the finals. Last year, making it all the way to the final and we were up 2-1 and lost three straight to Melfort, it just means that much more.

“Getting back here was a struggle but we’re back to the finals and have another shot at redemption. I think we have some unfinished business.”

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