The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) Championship is headed back to Flin Flon for the first time in more than three decades. The Bombers completed a four game sweep of the Yorkton Terriers to win what’s now the Canterra Seeds Cup on Thursday night. Since the last time the Bombers won the trophy in 1993, it’s had five different names. The Bombers have appeared in five of the last eight SJHL championships – falling to the Melfort Mustangs, the Battlefords North Stars, Estevan Bruins, the Battlefords a second time, then the Mustangs a second time. Now, the 33-year drought is history – the team completing a dominant run over the entire SJHL this season, posting a regular season record of 41-11-3-1 to finish first in the league. The Bombers kept the momentum up with a playoff run that started with a sweep of Estevan, then a hard-fought seven game series with the Weyburn Red Wings – the same team that eliminated Flin Flon from the playoffs in last year’s semi finals – before moving into the final for another sweep. During the four game series against Yorkton – the Bombers outscored the Terriers 18-9 and posted two shutouts – including one on the road. Their goalie, Charlie Tritt, had the best goals against average of the playoffs with 1.67. Connor Miller was named the playoff MVP with nine goals and six assists during the team’s run. Now, the Bombers will move on to the Centennial Cup in early May – their first appearance in the tournament since 2022. But the tone will be different this year – entering the tournament as league champions. The Centennial Cup begins in Summerside, Prince Edward Island on May 7. Flin Flon will open the national tournament against the Collège Français de Longueuil out of Quebec on May 8. The Bombers are now tasked with breaking another drought in Junior ‘A’ hockey: becoming the first SJHL team to win the Centennial Cup since the 2014 Yorkton Terriers.
