The Flin Flon Bombers organization will do what it takes to overcome setbacks on and off the ice.
That was the central theme of the club’s annual general meeting Wednesday evening.
“I think that a lot of people probably underestimate us for next year,” coach and GM Mike Reagan told about 30 guests at the Community Hall Green Room.
Reagan said his team’s opening-round loss to the Notre Dame Hounds still stings but also fuels his motivation to end Flin Flon’s championship drought this coming season.
That goal may be pragmatic with a returning top line of Joel Kocur, Alex Smith and Brandon Switzer, a trio Reagan expects to be as good as any in the SJHL.
Reagan said the team continues to hope for a breakout year from forward Tyson Empey, who is penciled in for the second line.
Also returning is Nick Shumlanski, who impressed Reagan so much in a handful of games last season that he believes the forward could contend for the league’s Rookie of the Year title.
Simon Hofley will be back between the pipes. Reagan said Hofley’s best games last season were the final two matchups of the playoffs, so “that’s real positive.”
Netminder Connor Slipp, who played well in five games last season, will also return to Flin Flon to challenge Hofley for the starter’s job.
Reagan said three players eligible to return have been told they won’t be back, and not all of those decisions were mutual. He later named 37-point man Austin Calladine as one of the players but did not disclose the other two.
Reagan did not discuss his reasons for removing the players from the roster but said he will be able to swap them for players who will improve the team.
He said the club’s goals for next season include improving discipline and overtime and shootout performance, avoiding overtime late in games and being more proactive in the neutral zone.
Finances
On the financial front, the Bombers saw revenues fall $97,000 in 2014-15, according to an unaudited financial statement presented by team secretary-treasurer David Brooks.
“So almost $100,000 – that’s a lot of money,” said Brooks, who mentioned declining attendance, 50/50 raffle sales and beer sales as factors.
But by slashing expenses to the tune of $98,500, the Bombers turned a profit of about $20,000, Brooks told the meeting.
The team is still $114,200 in debt, however, including $25,000 on a loan from Community Futures Greenstone and $50,000 on another loan used to purchase the team bus.
Brooks said he expects the team to eliminate two-thirds of that debt in the next three years, bringing another $75,000 in profits.
“Although it’s not there yet, it is a hell of a lot better than it was 10 years ago when we were a quarter of a million dollars in debt and we didn’t have any idea what we were going to do,” Brooks said.
Unsuccessful
During his turn at the podium, club president Hank Kosar said the 2014-15 campaign was not a success because the team did not reach its goal of a championship.
Financially, Kosar said the bank recently froze the team’s accounts for a few days because it was overdrawn.
He also said Reagan paid his own way to Alberta on a recruiting trip because the team did not have the cash to send him.
But Kosar emphasized that the franchise will carry on despite the challenges.
“People in Flin Flon will not allow this organization to fail,” Kosar said.
Back on the ice, Reagan said the Bombers will this year have their largest spring camp in the eight years he has been with the team, with some 120 players expected to attend.
Given that he has just one year left on his contract, Reagan acknowledged that this could be his final season with the Bombers.
Measures
Dan Reagan, who represents the Bombers on the SJHL board of governors, gave an overview of proposed measures to save teams money.
The proposals include cutting the opening Survivor Series in the playoffs from a best-of-five to a best-of-three and scheduling best-of-seven series in such a way that both participating teams make one less trip.
The close of the meeting saw Kosar re-elected as president, Brooks returned as secretary-treasurer, and Stewart Robinson, Emily Robinson and Lisa Tower joining the team board of directors.
They join incumbent vice-president Paul Garrett, directors David Hayne, Tanya Benoit and Gary Westhaver, Hudbay representative Cal Huntley and City of Flin Flon representative Tim Babcock.
The club still has two vacancies for directors. Anyone interested in filling those positions may contact the Bombers.
