The Flin Flon Bombers surprised everyone but themselves on their way to an appearance in the SJHL finals this past season.

After finishing in fifth place, the Bombers took down the Battlefords North Stars in the first round of the playoffs, and then dispatched the favoured Humboldt Broncos in five games in the second round.

In the finals, the Bombers pushed the heavily favoured Estevan Bruins to seven games in the league finals, ultimately coming up one game short of winning the title. With the Bruins being the hosts this year, Flin Flon was awarded the SJHL berth.

"I'm proud of our guys and what we were able to accomplish in the post-season, and I feel like we proved to everybody that we belonged there," said head coach Mike Reagan.

The Bombers are led by captain and former Red Deer Rebel Zak Smith, who was a force in the league finals against Estevan. Standout goaltender Cal Schell was also instrumental in getting the Bombers to the league finals.

Flin Flon will be in Group B alongside their provincial counterpart the Dauphin Kings out of Manitoba, along with the Summerside Western Capitals, the Soo Thunderbirds, and the Ottawa Jr. Senators.

"It's about winning the right games at the right time," Reagan said. "I think that sometimes teams can put too much emphasis on pre-scouting their opponents. I'd like to focus in on our team executing-wise and there's no question that we want to know what our opponents are trying to accomplish in certain aspects of their game but other than that we're not going to dive too deep into each team."

The Bombers will open their tournament Thursday afternoon against the Thunderbirds.

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