The Flin Flon Bombers and Kindersley Klippers will meet in Prince Albert for an exhibition game in September. (Facebook/Broad Leaf Media)

By Rob Mahon

SJHL Exhibition Game

Kindersley Klippers to face Flin Flon Bombers in exhibition game in Prince Albert

Aug 30, 2021 | 11:01 AM

The Prince Albert Raiders won’t be the only junior hockey team using the Art Hauser Centre in early September. The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League has scheduled an exhibition game between two of their teams for Sept. 12 at the Art Hauser Centre.

The Kindersley Klippers and Flin Flon Bombers will meet for an exhibition game on those days as both teams prepare for what they hope will be a much more complete season than the most recent one. Each team will have played three exhibition games by that point.

“It’s a good opportunity to play against a different team that’s geographically further away,” said Klippers head coach and general manager Ken Plaquin. “We get a chance to see each other and play against different teams. In exhibition, typically Kindersley only plays against two or three teams and same with Flin Flon. It’ll be fun and exciting to play at a neutral site and see if we can get some fans out as well.”

Geography played a large part in selecting which spot the two teams would meet at, as Prince Albert is a nice mid-point for the two teams to meet. The passion of hockey fans in the market and the facility itself also played a part.

“It’s kind of the most middle area for us, and a place where we know we can find good facilities and good volunteers,” Plaquin said. “It’s easy to get refs there as well.”

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Plaquin joined the Klippers for his first season in 2020-21, but the whole SJHL season was cut short, and both the Klippers and Bombers had even shorter seasons than most other teams. While the busiest teams in the league were only able to play six games, the Bombers played just two and the Klippers got into only three.

“It’s going to give us a really good look at how our 19-year-olds, who only played a few games last year, stack up against our 18-year-olds that are actually pretty much on a level playing field in a lot of ways,” Plaquin said. “It’ll be more of an opportunity for younger kids to maybe step in and take those jobs.”

Plaquin added because of how deep into the preseason both teams will be at that time, they’ll have made several cuts by then. As such, he expects his roster to be down to between 25 and 28 players, meaning the roster the Klippers ice in Prince Albert will be very close to the one they’ll open the season with.

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rob.mahon@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @RobMahonPxP