The Bombers opened their playoff series with Humboldt about as well as they could have hoped - a huge 5-0 Game 1 win on home ice.
Flin Flon went 1-0 up on the Broncos in the series following a rough-and-tumble, spirited opening matchup. Almost a thousand pumped-up Bomber fans were eager for their first home game of this year's playoffs.
The Bombers, each sporting brand-new bleached blonde coifs for the playoff run, were neck and neck with the Broncos early, with both teams coming out full of nervous energy - fast-paced play, the occasional missed pass or check, with each team getting used to playoff pace. Veteran forward Leighton Carruthers, out for two-and-a-half months with an injury, made his return to action, giving the Bombers a big physical presence.
The game stepped up a notch after a big hit by Rhett Ewen on Humboldt captain Landon Stromme at the Broncos' bench. Ewen took Stromme out of the play cleanly, but Stromme's head smacked into the dasher board in front of his team's bench, knocking his helmet off and sending him crashing to the ice. Stromme stayed down for several minutes and was finally able to get to his feet, bleeding from his head and woozy on his skates. No penalty was assessed to Ewen for the hit, but one was given to the Broncos' Liam Rodman for roughing up Ewen following the check.
The Bombers flopped on a couple of early powerplays, but they converted in the middle of the period, courtesy of Ewen and the fourth line - after a big hit in the corner by Landon Alexander freed up the puck, Ewen took it, moved into the slot and beat Humboldt goalie Dazza Mitchell with a quick wrister. Flin Flon was up 1-0 - no one could have known it at the time, but Ewen's goal, 13 minutes in, would stand as the game-winner.
Flin Flon kept pushing late in the frame, hitting paydirt once again. Ryder Ringor, playing his first SJHL playoff game, took a shot in the high slot and went bar-down on Mitchell, sending the Forum into a frenzy. Flin Flon led 2-0 after 20.
The Bombers almost got a shorthanded goal to start the second, with Ringor coming in two-on-one and hitting the crossbar with his shot - the puck then bounced straight up, hit the crossbar a second time and then was swatted out of play by the Humboldt defence. The Bomber bench barked for a penalty, arguing that the defence had knocked the puck cleanly out of play and that it would count as delay of game, but no call came and the band played on.
Humboldt got early chances, outshooting the Bombers in the early stages, but even with a pair of powerplays, the Bombers shut the door. Hacks and whacks came everywhere - it's playoff hockey, baby - but when Humboldt's Rylan Hue went just a bit too far with a roughing call, Flin Flon converted again. With a shot from the point being blocked in front, Ringor found Carruthers, who ripped home his first goal since Jan. 8 and cellied hard. Flin Flon was up 3-0. The Bombers owned possession for most of the second, keeping that lead intact into the third.
Flin Flon took over completely in the final frame, with Ewen finding the twine again, this time corralling a rebound off a missed shot on the end boards and putting it past Mitchell.
Humboldt was getting frustrated and that boiled over not long after the goal, with Ryder Knutson jawing with Ewen, then dropping his gloves and firing punches before Ewen could square up. Knutson got the takedown, but Ewen, who didn't fire a shot and kept one glove on (one fell off in the fracas), was not assessed a penalty. Knutson was kicked from the game for a fight and given a game misconduct, but was also assessed a second game misconduct for a one-man fight - he will be suspended for Game 2 as a result.
Knutson's lack of discipline gave the Bombers a five-minute stretch of straight powerplay, where they'd take advantage. Carruthers got a puck in the slot and burned it past Mitchell, busting up the goalie's waterbottle in the bargain and making it 5-0 Flin Flon. Mitchell got the pity pull after that, heading to the bench after a hard night in the crease - 35 saves on 40 shots, the five that got past him mostly not being his fault.
With little time left, the Broncos got a big morale boost late - Stromme, who had been taken up to Flin Flon General Hospital for treatment in full gear after the hit he took in the first, came back to the rink and returned to the ice. The captain came out for a shift or two in the final moments, but the Bombers had already packed up the W. Some late hacking and whacking aside, this one was done - ending with a 1-0 Bomber series lead.
More tempers flared late, with Humboldt's Marik Mamic taking a few strides toward the Bombers' moose leg following the final whistle after it was tossed on the ice. Playoff games at the Whitney have ended in full-scale brawls for similar moves, but not on Friday - officials warded Mamic off, with some of the Bombers firing off death stares at the forward for trying something that foolish.
Matt Kieper, the recently minted SJHL MVP and goalie of the year, showed why he earned those titles by earning his first Bomber playoff win, a 24-save shutout. Mitchell stopped 35 shots and was stuck with the loss, while backup Brady Holtvogt, who played the final stretch in relief, saved all nine shots he saw.
The Bombers and Broncos will saddle back up for Game 2 Saturday night.
Elsewhere in the SJHL, each of the four higher seeds earned Game 1 wins on the first day of the playoffs. Melfort made quick work of eighth-seed Kindersley in a 5-2 win, while Weyburn fought off a challenge from the Battlefords North Stars to win their game 4-3. Yorkton, making their return to the playoffs as a fourth-seed against arch-rivals Melville, picked up a 4-1 victory to start their series.
