Jason La Rose
Home sweet home.
The Flin Flon Bombers took home-ice advantage to a whole other level this season, and it has helped them to a place at the 2026 Centennial Cup, presented by Tim Hortons.
From start to finish in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL), the Bombers played 36 games at the historic Whitney Forum—and lost twice.
They went through the entire regular season without losing a home game in regulation time, with the lone blemish coming in a 3-2 overtime defeat at the hands of the Melfort Mustangs on Feb. 28.
The finally faced a 60-minute setback in Game 1 of their SJHL semifinal against the Weyburn Red Wings, dropping a 2-0 decision thanks to a 37-save shutout from Weyburn goaltender Joey Rocha.
But that’s it. Thirty-six games, 34 wins. A goal differential of +97 (167 goals for, 70 against).
So it’s little surprise that the Bombers are champions of the SJHL for the first time since 1993.
(Despite ending the 33-year championship drought, it’ll actually be Flin Flon’s third trip to Canada’s National Junior A Championship since that 1993 title; they played host in 2001, reaching the final before falling to the Camrose Kodiaks, and appeared as SJHL representatives in 2022 after losing the league final to the Estevan Bruins, who were the Centennial Cup hosts.)
Flin Flon was at its best in its own end. It allowed a league-low 135 goals in the regular season—25 less than any other team—and netminder Charlie Tritt, acquired from the Humboldt Broncos on Jan. 8, bested all other puck-stoppers in goals-against average (2.12) and save percentage (.934) before turning in a 1.67 GAA and .938 SV% in 14 playoff appearances.
The Bombers head east to Summerside looking to end a run of almost-but-not-quite for the SJHL; teams from the Prairie league have lost the Centennial Cup final in each of the last three years—Battlefords in 2023 and Melfort in 2024 and 2025 .
HOW THEY GOT TO SUMMERSIDE
Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League Quarterfinal: defeated Estevan Bruins 4-0 (5-0, 4-3 2OT, 4-2, 2-0) Semifinal: defeated Weyburn Red Wings 4-3 (0-2, 6-2, 2-1, 2-5, 5-1, 1-5, 1-0) Final: defeated Yorkton Terriers 4-0 (7-3, 3-0, 6-3, 2-0)
REGULAR SEASON
Record (W-L-OTL): 41-11-4 (1st in SJHL) Goals for: 234 (2nd in SJHL) Goals against: 135 (1st in SJHL) Power play: 70 for 283 (24.7% – 1st in SJHL) Penalty killing: 198 of 232 (85.3% – 2nd in SJHL) Longest winning streak: 11 (Dec. 13-Jan. 27)
Top 3 scorers: • Joey Lies (27G 27A 54P – 12th in SJHL) • Reid Arberry (23G 28A 51P – 13th in SJHL) • Connor Miller (21G 21A 42P – 28th in SJHL)
PLAYOFFS
Record: 12-3 Goals for: 50 Goals against: 27 Power play: 11 for 49 (22.4%) Penalty killing: 46 of 52 (88.5%) Top 3 scorers: • Connor Miller (9G 6A 15P) • Reid Arberry (5G 9A 14P) • Rhett Ewen (6G 5A 11P)
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
1993 – Flin Flon Bombers | 5th place | 0-4 | 6GF 19GA 2001 – Flin Flon Bombers | runners-up | 3-3 | 18GF 20GA 2022 – Flin Flon Bombers | 6th place | 3-2 | 13GF 11GA
COLLEGE & UNIVERSITY COMMITMENTS
Reid Arberry – Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (2026-27) Charlie Tritt – Lake Superior State University (2026-27)
CJHL TOP 20 RANKINGS
Sept. 29 – 4th Oct. 6 – 4th Oct. 13 – not ranked Oct. 20 – not ranked Oct. 27 – not ranked Nov. 3 – not ranked Nov. 10 – not ranked Nov. 17 – Honourable Mention Nov. 24 – 19th Dec. 1 – 18th Dec. 8 – 18th Dec. 15 – Honourable Mention Dec. 22 – Honourable Mention Jan. 5 – 13th Jan. 12 – 13th Jan. 19 – 13th Jan. 26 – 11th Feb. 2 – 11th Feb. 9 – 7th Feb. 16 – 8th Feb. 23 – 8th March 2 – 9th March 9 – 9th