After an underwhelming start to the season, one filled with narrow losses and bad breaks, the Flin Flon Bombers are establishing themselves as a legitimate threat come playoff time.
But with Sunday marking the SJHL trade deadline, you can bet head coach and general manager Mike Reagan isn’t resting on his laurels.
Heading into tonight’s game against Melfort, the Bombers are fifth in the league both in terms of goals for (129) and goals against (108). Not surprisingly, they also sit fifth in the standings.
While raw stats never tell the whole story, middle-of-the-pack teams often stay stuck on the cusp of greatness. The next couple of days will reveal whether Reagan is able to pull the trigger on maneuvers to (potentially) take his squad over the top.
Without knowing who is available, and at what price, it’s difficult to assess Reagan’s options. The fact that the Bombers are a mid-pack team, albeit one with potential, could make it difficult to decide how much of the future is worth sacrificing on the gamble of a championship run.
The Bombers would certainly benefit from another top-six forward to further complement the line of Alex Smith, Brandon Switzer and Joel Kocur, who together account for exactly half of Flin Flon’s offensive output.
Granted, the Bombers are no slouch in the secondary scoring department, with Jason Lavallee a point-per-game winger and Tyson Empey averaging a respectable 0.7 points per game.
Lavallee’s offensive prowess in particular flies under the radar given that he has only played 17 games, notching five goals and a dozen assists.
But it’s clear the Bombers could afford to take additional pressure off of Smith-Switzer-Kocur. That becomes especially vital if, heaven forbid, one of those stars falls to injury.
The Bombers could also use another veteran blueliner who can score. While Joseph Leonidas and Curtis Roach have combined for 38 points, they have just six goals between them (five for Leonidas).
All Flin Flon defencemen combined have 13 goals.
Offensive output from the back end is not a prerequisite for victory. Fourth-place Nipawin, for example, has just seven goals from D-men, and first-place Battlefords is only slightly ahead of Flin Flon with 17.
But in order to overwhelm the likes of Battlefords and Melfort, the Bombers are going to need every weapon they can stuff into their arsenal. A goal-scoring blueliner would give them one more advantage.
The Bombers have every reason to be confident in net, where Royal Bank Cup winner Zac Robidoux has one of the best GAAs (2.65) and SPs (.922) of any starter in the league.
Robidoux arrived in Flin Flon to much hype, and initially some fans wondered whether he was the real deal. Most now agree that he is.
The Bombers have won eight of their last 10 and are looking like the team the organization has touted since before the puck dropped on the regular season.
If they can acquire one or two missing pieces – and perhaps even if they can’t – they appear set for a promising post-season run.
