The Flin Flon Bombers began a league title push on Friday, seeking to bring hope and healing to a fan base hungry for a championship.

The team started the playoffs with two wins against the Estevan Bruins on Friday and Saturday at Flin Flon’s Whitney Forum. The rink has been a fortress for the Bombers, who haven’t lost in regulation at home all season and lost only one game in overtime, propelling them to first place in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL).

The Forum is loud, clearing 110 decibels at big moments. Fans honk horns, bang drums and clatter cowbells, both for fun and in an effort to tip the scales the Bombers’ way. After wins, they throw the team’s talisman — a severed moose leg — onto the ice, as they have for decades.

“The fans here are awesome. They bring it every night. And the energy — I would like to think it scares teams,” said Joey Lies, the team’s leading scorer and a Flin Flon local.

“No one really wants to come up to the Whitney and play in front of all these blue-collar people, hard-working people that enjoy coming out to watch us play.”

The rink has been a refuge. In 2022, the city’s main employer, Hudbay, shut down its 777 mine and other operations. The company once had more than 1,000 local workers, but few still work there. Many workers now commute to a Hudbay mine in Snow Lake, two hours away.

Then came last year’s wildfires. Starting in May, people in Flin Flon and nearby areas were told to evacuate the region. Locals, including head coach and general manager Mike Reagan, didn’t know if the community would survive.

“We were at a point where we weren’t sure if we were going to have a community to come back to. Do we have an arena to play in?” Reagan said.

Hundreds of homes burned in nearby Denare Beach. Cabins and homes elsewhere also burned.

The arena still stands in Flin Flon. Reagan, now the team’s longest-ever tenured coach, wants the team to provide hope.

“I think that we can be an outlet for those people to celebrate hockey and take their mind off of what happened. Whether it’s for two or three hours a night, I think it can be a real positive,” he said.

The Bombers are based in Manitoba but play in Saskatchewan. Teams in the SJHL are closer to Flin Flon than those in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League.

This year’s roster features players from seven different provinces and Yukon. Three of the top players are Flin Flon locals, including Lies, now in his fourth and final season as a Bomber.

“It’s a dream come true. I grew up coming to these games, and it’s a real honour and very special to me and my family that I get to wear that crest every day,” he said.

Charlie Tritt, the league’s goalie of the year, has only been a Bomber since a January trade, but he’s already impressed with the place.

“When people care, everything is more important, and everything is better. The highs are higher, and it’s just so much fun,” he said.

“Here, it’s like people live and die by the Bombers. It’s such a cool opportunity to be able to make a difference for the town by playing the game that you love.”

About 5,000 people call Flin Flon home. During playoffs, more than a third of the community sometimes watches. Some fans recall the team’s last title win in 1993, where the rink was so packed that people shimmied out onto the roof’s supports to watch the games.

Many fans also volunteer. Tanya Benoit is in charge of the team’s game-day 50/50 draws, often the league’s biggest.

“You can’t beat the atmosphere and the people at the Whitney Forum. They’re all my family now, whether they like it or not,” she quipped.

Connor Brading used to open penalty box doors at the rink as a kid. He’s now the Bombers’ official scorer and public address announcer.

“It’s an outlet. It’s a place where people can get away from their everyday [lives] and just unwind and watch hockey,” he said.

The Bombers have made five recent trips to the league final and lost all five. This year seems as good an opportunity as any to end the drought.

“It’s just such a special season for our fans and, and the community rallies around the guys so much,” Reagan said.

Jamie (Poopsie) Webber used to drive the ice resurfacer at the Forum and still shows up to every game.

“I just love the fans. I love being around the rink,” he said.

“Everybody’s behind the boys. They breathe hockey, the Bombers. They bleed maroon and white. This is our year. We’re going to do it.”