The Nipawin Hawks will take on the Flin Flon Bombers Tuesday at the Whitney Forum in Flin Flon. (Clark Stork/northeastNOW Staff)

By Clark Stork

Manitoba Bound

Hawks hit the highway to Flin Flon

Feb 15, 2022 | 11:02 AM

The Nipawin Hawks will travel to Flin Flon Tuesday hoping to diffuse the Bombers in Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) action.

The Hawks are coming off their 15^th victory of the SJHL season on Sunday over the Yorkton Terriers on home ice. Last Friday the Hawks pushed the high-powered Humboldt Broncos to the end in a 2-1 loss. Head coach Tad Kozun said his young club has made positive progress over the last couple weeks.

“That’s the key, making sure these guys know they can win hockey games. When they do the right things, they’re going to get rewarded,” he said.

The Hawks are sitting in 11^th place in the SJHL standing, the Bombers are having a strong season sitting in third place overall, 32 points more than Nipawin. Kozun admitted the players need to be ready from opening faceoff.

“You can’t take these teams lightly. If you’re going to take 10 minutes to get into a game, they could pound you pretty quick. You need to make sure you’re ready to go,” he added.

Made in Saskatchewan

Find My Plus One: The Canadian App for Getting Out and Living Your Best Life

Mar 09, 2026

Riderville

Ask Not for Whom the Ed Hervey Tampering Window Opens!

Feb 02, 2026

Seniors Scene

New Year - New Habits

Feb 02, 2026

Nipawin has a win this season in Flin Flon, a 4-1 victory back on Sept. 28, but the Bombers have won the last four games. A large part of Flin Flon’s success comes from the play of their defense group and the offensive attack Cole Vardy, Xavier Lapointe, and Rylan Thiessen bring nightly. Kozun said the Hawks will need to be bothersome on the Bombers defensemen.

“Just frustrate them, make sure we do the little things right and frustrate them. We know they are a higher end team so if you can frustrate them, they will make some mistakes and then we can try and take advantage,” he explained.

Flin Flon’s power play is another focal point for the Hawks in their game plan. The Bombers possess the SJHL’s top man-advantage scoring on over 25 per cent of their power plays. Kozun said the team needs to not go down shorthanded and give the Bombers group a chance to work.

“It all starts with discipline. If we stay out of the penalty box they don’t get an opportunity to even do it,” he said. “If we’re taking a penalty we need to do our best to take someone with us and even it up.”

Harmon Laser-Hume will start in goal and give Chase Hamm the night off. Nipawin product Finley Radloff will play his second game for the Hawks. The 16-year-old is currently playing for the Tisdale Trojans in the Saskatchewan U18 AAA Hockey League.

The game will be broadcast on Saskatchewan’s Beach Radio beginning with the pregame show at 7:15 p.m., face off is 7:30 p.m. from the Whitney Forum.

–

clark.stork@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @ClarkStork