Flin Flon Bombers

The Flin Flon Bombers are a Canadian junior ice hockey team in Flin Flon, a city located on the Manitoba–Saskatchewan provincial border. The Bombers are members of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL), which is a member of the Canadian Junior Hockey League, and play home games at the Whitney Forum on the Manitoba side of the city.
History.
The Bombers date back to 1927. Their trademark colours are maroon and white, and their home rinks have been the Flin Flon Community Club Arena (1935–1960) and the Whitney Forum (1960–present).
1939–1948.
The Bombers played in the Senior Saskatchewan Hockey League for the 1939–40 to 1944–45 seasons. No information is available for the 1945–46 to 1947–48 seasons.
Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (1948–1966).
The Flin Flon Bombers were inaugural members of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (1948–1966), which was named the North Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League for the 1948–49 season. 
The Bombers greatest success during this period came in the 1956–57 season. During this season, they lost only five games in the regular season, a record for any team during the 18 season existence of the original SJHL, and won the regular season league title by a 19 point margin. In that season's SJHL playoffs, the Bombers beat the Humboldt Indians four games to none in the semi-finals, then won the final over the Prince Albert Mintos four games to two. As SJHL champions, the Bombers then advanced to the Abbott Cup playdowns to determine the champion for Western Canada. They first defeated the Edmonton Oil Kings, a team of junior-aged players competing in the senior-aged Central Alberta Hockey League, by a margin of four games to two, then swept the Thunder Bay Junior A Hockey League's Fort William Canadiens in four games straight to win the Abbott Cup and advance to the Memorial Cup national championship.
As per Junior A rules, the Bombers were permitted to add three players to their roster for the Memorial Cup, picking up goalie Lynn Davis and defenceman Jean Gauthier from the Fort William Canadiens and centre Orland Kurtenbach from Prince Albert Mintos for the Memorial Cup Finals. There, they faced the Eastern Canadian champion Ottawa-Hull Canadiens, coached by Sam Pollock and assistant Scotty Bowman. The first three games were in Flin Flon, with the remaining games played in Regina. The Bombers won the series four games to three, winning the 1957 Memorial Cup, only losing 11 games over their extended 1956–57 season.
The 1956–57 Flin Flon Bombers were inducted into both the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum and the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame.
Harvey Fleming, Carl Forster, Cliff Lennartz, Barry Beatty, Mike Kardash, Duane Rupp, George Konik, Mel Pearson, Ken Willey, Rod Lee, Wayne Sproxton, Ted Hampson (captain), George Wood, Lynn Davis, Jean Gauthier, Ron Hutchinson, Orland Kurtenbach, Pat Ginnell, Doug Dawson (manager), Bobby Kirk (coach), Hec McCaig (trainer), Jim Wardle (executive), Pinkie Davie (executive), Ken Cunningham (stickboy), Rees Jones (stickboy), Dan McCaig (mascot) were with the team through the SJHL and Abbott Cup championships, and were joined by Lynn Davis, Jean Gauthier and Orland Kurtenbach for the Memorial Cup national championship.
1966–67 season: Manitoba Junior Hockey League.
In 1966, Bill Hunter led the formation of the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League (CMJHL, today's Western Hockey League). This led to the demise of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (1948–1966), as five of the eight teams in the SJHL joined the CMJHL, while the Brandon Wheat Kings and Flin Flon Bombers joined the Manitoba Junior Hockey league (MJHL) for the 1966–67 season.
The Bombers, led by Bobby Clarke and Reggie Leach, dominated the MJHL and cruised to a league championship, capturing the Turnbull Memorial Cup. Clarke set league records for most assists (112), goals (71), and points (183). Besides the scoring title, Clarke was also the MJHL rookie of the year, and first team all-star centre. Other Bombers joining Clarke on the first all-star team were right winger Reggie Leach, goaltender Chris Worthy, and defenceman Gerry Hart, who was the Bombers' captain. Bomber defenceman Jack Criel made the second all-star team.
1968–1978: Western Canada Hockey League.
After one season in the MJHL, the Bombers joined the Western Canada Junior Hockey League (WCJHL) for the 1967–68 season.
The Bobby Clarke-led Bombers continued to dominate, finishing in first place for the 1967–68 regular season before losing in the President's Cup playoff finals. The league dropped the "Junior" from its name, becoming the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL), with the Bombers finishing in first place for the 1968–69 WCHL season, then winning that season's playoffs to become President's Cup champions. As 1969 WCHL champion, the Bombers won a national championship in 1969 by defeating the St. Thomas Barons of the Western Ontario Junior A Hockey League in an unsanctioned best-of-seven series aimed at rivaling the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association–sanctioned Memorial Cup. Clarke led the league in scoring both years, and was named Most Valuable Player in 1969.
The growing financial demands of major junior hockey meant that the Bombers' outgrew their small home arena, and the franchise departed Flin Flon after the 1977–78 WCHL seasonthe last season before the league was renamed the Western Hockey League (WHL). The franchise then played three and a half dismal WHL seasons after leaving Flin Flon with iterations as the Edmonton Oil Kings (Alberta, Canada) for the 1979 season, Great Falls Americans (Montana, USA) in 1980, and the Spokane Flyers (Washington, USA) for the 1981 and part of the 1982 season before folding on December 2, 1981.
1978–1984: NorMan Junior Hockey League.
In 1977, the WCHL Bombers had formed a Junior B team as a feeder system. The Jr. B Bombers would win the 1977–78 Baldy Northcott Trophy as Manitoba Provincial Junior B Champions. In the summer of 1978, the Bombers' ownership sold the WCHL franchise to Edmonton while retaining the Junior B Bombers. The Flin Flon ownership, along with the owners of the Thompson King Miners, banded together with people from The Pas, Manitoba and Snow Lake, Manitoba to create the NorMan Junior Hockey League (NJHL), a rival Jr. B league to the Manitoba Jr. B League.
After one season, the Manitoba Amateur Hockey Association granted the NJHL Tier II Junior A status and the right to compete against the Manitoba Junior Hockey League champions for the Turnbull Cup, whose winner would compete for the Manitoba–Saskatchewan Anavet Cup, that winner competing for the Western Canada Abbott Cup, whose winner would compete for the Centennial Cup Junior A national title.
Flin Flon won NJHL titles in 1979, 1982, and 1984. While no NJHL team ever won the Turnbull Cup, the Bombers had the distinction of being the only NJHL team to ever beat a MJHL team in a playoff game, a feat they accomplished in the 1984 Turnbull Cup.
1984–present: Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League.
For the 1984–85 season, the Bombers were granted expansion into the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL)a league which had formed in 1968, following the 1966 demise of the original SJHL.
While Flin Flon straddles the Manitoba/Saskatchewan border with parts of the city within both provinces, SJHL rules at the time required teams to be located in Saskatchewan, prompting the Bombers to identify as the Creighton Bombers. This caused the team to technically "relocate" to Creighton, Saskatchewan, roughly from Flin Flon. The Creighton Bombers still played in the Flin Flon Whitney Forum arena and were referred to as the Flin Flon Bombers in all non-official context for the 1984–85 and 1985–86 SJHL seasons. In 1986, the SJHL granted the team permission to revert to their Flin Flon Bombers name, officially acknowledging that the franchise was located in Manitoba.
Season-by-season standings.
1 Playoffs cancelled mid-first round due to COVID-19 pandemic&lt;br&gt;
2 Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
Playoffs.
SSHL (Saskatchewan Senior Hockey League), 1939–1944
NSJHL (North Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League), 1949–50
SJHL (Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League), 1951–1966
MJHL (Manitoba Junior Hockey League), 1967
WCJHL (Western Canada Junior Hockey League), 1968
WCHL (Western Canada Hockey League), 1969–1978
NJHL (NorMan Junior Hockey League), 1979–1984
SJHL (Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, 1985–Present