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The Flin Flon Bombers will head out on the road tomorrow, fresh off a 4-3 win over the defending Royal Bank Cup champion Humboldt Broncos. Quinn McIntosh scored his first two goals of the season, and John Iron and Jeff LaPointe also scored for the Bombers, who have two wins and a tie against Humboldt in three meetings at the Whitney Forum so far this season. "Yesterday's game was a little more emotionally charged than the game on Saturday," said coach Ryan Hoffman of his team's effort. "In games that are really chippy and physical, especially the games where the ref lets you play, we really thrive. We get involved. When we play with our heart on our sleeve, we are pretty effective." The Broncos seem to be the perfect match for the Bombers this season. Both are chippy teams that do a lot of yapping. The goals aren't always pretty, but the games are entertaining and full of energy. If the Bombers could play the Broncos 60 times this season, the rinks would be packed, and win or lose, fans would go home feeling charged up and excited. Last night's win will be a huge confidence boost for the Bombers, who have only been in the win column three times prior to the game. "It was nice to get the win under our belt," said Hoffman. "We've been struggling for a little bit. We've played games that were okay, but not good enough to win. It was nice to be able to grind the victory out last night and kill a couple of penalties in the third period. It was a huge confidence builder for us." Derek Gallagher will return to the lineup when the Bombers start their three-game road trip in Melville on Friday night. The Bombers had only four defencemen in the lineup against Humboldt, forcing Hoffman to do a little juggling, with guys like John Iron and Brennen Giroux seeing time on the point. "It will be nice to have five defencemen in the lineup instead of only four," he said. "It will be a little easier on guys like Jeff (LaPointe) and Simon (McCusker). As well, there will be another defenceman joining us for the road trip." Hoffman has brought in D-man Trevor Olynyk for a three-game trial. The coaching staff will get a better read on the newcomer this weekend in order to find out where he fits into the lineup. The Bombers did make a deal earlier in the week with a team from the Alberta Junior Hockey League, but the player the Bombers were hoping to purchase would not report to Flin Flon. "We did buy a player, but at the end of the day he refused to come," said Hoffman. "We are still looking to spend some of that money that is out there. When we finally found a marriage that would work for both teams, the kid quashed the deal. It's unfortunate, but there will be another deal out there, and we are aggressively looking to make one." Hoffman added that with captain Conrad Wilgenbusch out for an extended period of time, it would be nice to bring in another top defenceman, but there just aren't a lot of guys out there. With Gallagher back and Olynyk on the way, the Bombers will be relieved just to have extra bodies in the lineup. "We will be in a lot better shape in our back end this weekend," said Hoffman. "When you are playing three games in three nights, you need as many horses as you can get back there." Last time Flin Flon played Melville was over a month ago at the Whitney Forum, when the Millionaires embarrassed the Bombers 11-2 on October 18. "If you take away the three soft goals Brett (Koscielny) gave them, and the couple bad ones that (Paul) Reimer let in, it was probably a 6-2 game, not an 11-2 game," said Hoffman. "Just some unfocussed goaltending for about five minutes made that game look way worse than it was. Melville has a very deep club. They are very big and very strong, and we have to do a better job in front of our net. We will have to play more disciplined, because their power play is lethal as well." Melville is one of the tougher teams in the league this year, and this will be Flin Flon's last time seeing them. Melville has won all three previous meetings. On Saturday, Hoffman will make his return to Yorkton, where he coached the Midget 'AAA' Harvest. Last time the Bombers were in Yorkton, Brad Snyder was behind the bench for Flin Flon, and the Bombers lost an 8-7 shoot out. "We left a point or two in Yorkton last time we were there," said Hoffman. "We tied the game late, and handed them a goal right back. We have some unfinished business there, and we are going in there to get our two points back."
