Bombers ready for Centennial Cup

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This article was published 16/05/2022 (1419 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Flin Flon Bombers may be missing a certain accessory when the Centennial Cup starts Thursday in Estevan, Sask., but Brandon’s Rylan Thiessen has a pretty good sense of how his team can handle it.

The Bombers, which also include Mason Kaspick of Brandon, Reece Richmond of Forrest, captain Zak Smith of Austin and Cory King of Souris, fell to the Estevan Bruins in seven games in a hard-fought Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League final. Flin Flon heads to the national event as the SJHL representative because Estevan is the host and will be the only club at the tournament without a championship.

“We’re the only team going there without a ring but obviously there’s a ring on the table for whoever wants it,” Thiessen said. “We want it to be the Bombers. We know we’re right there in the mix and have a chance.”

In an unusual new format that includes nine Junior A champions from across the country, the two SJHL teams will be joined by the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s Dauphin Kings, the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s Brooks Bandits, the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League’s Soo Thunderbirds, the Superior International Junior Hockey League’s Kam River Fighting Walleye, the Central Canada Hockey League’s Ottawa Jr. Senators, the Ontario Junior Hockey League’s Pickering Panthers, the Ligue de Hockey Junior AAA du Québec’s Collège Français de Longueuil and the Maritime Hockey League’s Summerside Western Capitals.

The British Columbia Hockey League withdrew from the Canadian Junior Hockey League in 2021 and is no longer eligible to compete in the Centennial Cup.

Cole McCaig of Brandon is an assistant coach and assistant general manager with the Bombers.

“I would imagine Brooks is probably the heavy favourite to win and Estevan probably isn’t too far behind them so for us to be neck and neck with Estevan, it definitely gives our guys a lot of confidence,” McCaig said.

It will be the first action for Flin Flon since the Bruins topped the Bombers 2-0 in Game 7 on May 6 in a tough final series. The players were given four days off, reporting back to Flin Flon mid-week to begin preparations for the final grind.

“It’s hard to forget what happened,” Smith admitted. “You work basically your whole life for these big moments and it’s something you dream about so it definitely stings. As a leadership group, we have to come to the rink with a smile on our faces and encourage guys to pick themselves back up and chase another ring at nationals.

“We had a little break there so guys got to go home and regroup and refresh and I think a lot of guys came back with a good attitude and having that will to win again.”

Kaspick agreed.

“It’s definitely weird,” he said. “Usually when you lose a Game 7 like that, you have to pack your bags up and you’re going home. We’re fortunate enough to get the second life here and we just want to make the most of it.”

The team arrived in Estevan today.

Flin Flon, which plays all of its round-robin games at 5 p.m. (Manitoba time), faces the Soo on Thursday, Ottawa on Saturday, Summerside on Monday and Dauphin on Tuesday.

It will be the first time since March 10 they’ll be facing someone other than the Battlefords North Stars, Humboldt Broncos or Estevan, their three playoff opponents.

“It’s not so familiar faces all the time,” Richmond said. “It’s a different opponent each day so we’ll take it day by day and opponent by opponent. It will be nice not playing the same team seven times in a row.”

The quarterfinals take place on May 27, the semifinals on May 28 and the final on May 29.

McCaig said it’s key for his club to get off to a good start.

“It’s extremely important,” McCaig said. “Obviously when you lose Game 7 in a league championship, it’s easier said than done to move on. It’s going to be in the back of a lot of players’ minds, including myself too. If we can get off to a good start against the Soo Thunderbirds, then we’ve gained some momentum and some confidence.

“At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if we’re the underdog or if people outside the room don’t believe we have a chance. All that matters is that every single player and staff member believes.”

The Centennial Cup poses the same problem to Junior A clubs that the Memorial Cup does to major junior teams. After weeks of grinding and clawing their way through best-of-seven series in the playoffs, the 10 squads suddenly find themselves in tournament play where every game potentially has major implications.

“In these tournaments when it’s just one game, you have to really limit the mistakes,” King said. “One small mistake could cost you the game and you just never get a chance to redeem yourself. Everything matters at this tournament so we’re going to have to bear down and limit our turnovers.”

McCaig noted every team at the tournament has a lot of character and heart or else they wouldn’t have won their league. That magnifies how important it is to avoid bad stretches.

“With it being a tournament format, every game is so crucial,” McCaig said. “For us to make it to the playoff round, you’re going to have to win at least two out of four games, and if you want a shot at winning your pool and finishing first, you need to have at least three wins or you might have to go undefeated.

“There has to be that extra sense of urgency from the gas and not even take a shift off or a period off.”

While McCaig was able to do pre-scouts via Hockey TV on the other clubs, he thinks he’ll get a better sense of the competition when he sees them live on the big ice surface in Estevan.

In the SJHL final, all seven games were won by the home team and Flin Flon hasn’t had much regular season luck there recently either, so it will be looking for its first victory there since Nov. 29, 2019. The Bombers certainly have one thing none of the other visiting clubs have, which is extensive experience on the ice in Estevan.

“We’re a step ahead of the other teams knowing what the rink is like,” Richmond said. “We’re familiar with it because we played four games in that rink in the last series. I think we’ll use that to our advantage.”

They may also have another thing going for them.

McCaig said the adversity his team experienced late in the season and throughout the playoffs has infused his players with mental toughness. They went 3-9-0-0 late in the season and lost the first two games of their quarterfinal series with Battlefords, but responded each time.

They also skated in a Game 7 in the league final.

“We’re used to high-pressure situations and being put in some uncomfortable spots,” McCaig said. “Guys seem to always respond so I think for us to go through that adversity and high-pressure situations, we’ll be even more ready for a tournament like this.”

However, they are battling some injuries. Kaspick hurt his hip during the final series and is unsure if he’ll be recovered in time to skate in Estevan.

“It’s going to be close,” he admitted. “I don’t know.”

That could potentially cost him one last chance to beat the Bruins.

The two SJHL teams are in different pools, but it’s possible Flin Flon hasn’t seen the last of Estevan. Richmond chuckled when asked how great it would be to meet them in the final.

“It would be nice,” Richmond said. “A little redemption.

That’s an angle all five players mentioned. They’re the non-champion hoping they can prove to nine champions they’re good enough to earn a national title.

“We’re excited for sure,” King said. “We’re lucky to be the only team in Canada to get a second chance at it. We’re hoping we can go there and do what we do and get the job done.”

“I’m really confident,” Thiessen added. “Estevan has been preparing for this for three years and we took them to Game 7. We know they’re one of the top teams at the tournament and for us to do what we did, we can beat anyone at the Junior A level.

“I’m excited to see what happens.”

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