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 The Reunion Game |
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What is the Bomber/Raider Reunion Game?
It was 1997 when my son Brad said next year he would like to play hockey for his High School team. At first I was disappointed, I had coached him for nearly 10 years and now he wanted to leave the EMHA Flint Icelanders and send me into early retirement. I began to reflect back on just how far we had traveled down the old hockey road of skates and sticks, late nights and early mornings, cold rinks, stolen week-ends smelly hockey bags and rink dog dinners. Brad was 6 years old in 1987 when I first took him to the 4 Seasons Ice Arena. There we met Julius Caesar (Gale Cronk) who (before I could say NO, twice) had Brad suited up and skating. I sat down in the stands and watched 100 little kids in what appeared to be a kind of miniature demolition derby. Brad seemed to fit right in. Welcome to the Novice Program! Well, the years flew by and before I knew it Brad was a Midget “AA” Flint Icelander heading for High School hockey and I was a coach going into retirement, sadly enough, I was going to miss it. Well not so fast…… what about going back and starting all over again without Brad? I thought that was a good idea, so I filled out a coaching application. I had long forgotten about the Novice program (demolition derby) where Brad first learned to skate, but Gale hadn’t and I was about to fit into his program. “Would you like to help-out with the Novice Program” was his proposal? I thought about it and said “sure, I’ll give it a try”. So in 1997 I began a journey with a group of 4 and 5 year old boys that is now in its 5th year. The team has slowly changed with players going in all directions but I have not forgotten one player. This game is an opportunity for me, you and the boys to be united once again as a Bomber or a Raider and to play and watch the game we love. This is what the Bombers vs. Raiders Reunion game is all about!
THE BEST - Jonathan Barr, Dalton Bates, Matthieu Bowman, Luke Connor, Will Dawson, Justin Fisher, Carter Foguth, Ivan Gaydayenko, Dane Genord, Austin Giesey, Casey Goward, Dominic Gutierrez, Dalton Hammond, Spencer Hill, Josh Hosking, Garrett Hudson, Alex Jakubic, Danny Jordan, Nikalus Keene, Andrew Lay, Zach Makimaa, Brendan McLeskey, Tyler Merritt, Vaughn Mortimer, Lance Newman, Niles Owen, William Peltier, Alex Reno, Gavin Rustin, Antonio Schippono, Nate Snyder, Spencer Spurlin, Sean Swigert, Ryan Thomas, Jared Trebtoske, Samuel Wilbur, Marcus Wojtkowicz, Zach Yee, Christopher Zikmund.
COACHES
Mike Van Norman, Brad Van Norman, Rob Wishart, Tom Reed, Dominic Micketti, John Wishart, Ken Micketti, Jason Millbauer, Jason Moore, Craig Solgat, Adam Keasler, Ken Micketti Jr., Kenny Groat.
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 | | Bombers and Raiders 2000 |
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1st Annual Bomber vs Raider Reunion Game
 | | Bombers and Raiders 2001 |
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2nd Annual Bomber vs Raider Reunion Game
FLINT (BP) The 2nd Annual Bombers vs. Raiders Reunion game show-cased some of best 7 & 8 year old talent in the area on Sunday at the Flint Iceland arenas. The two teams consist of players who are or were at one time members of the "1992 Flint Icelander Select" team. After spotlight introductions and the National Anthem both teams hit the ice for what proved to be one of the most exciting games of the year. The Bombers struck first at the 13:54 mark of the 1st period on a nice goal by Gavin Rustin with Austin Giesey assisting. The Raiders made it 1 - 1 with 5:59 left in the period when Carter Foguth setup Zach Yee for the score. In the 1st period both teams showed great backchecking skills but Bomber defensive tandems, Dominic Gutierrez/Niles Owen and Dane Genord/Jared Trebtoske stood out holding the Raiders to only 4 shots on net. The Bombers regained the lead at the 4:23 mark when Gavin Rustin scored his 2nd goal of the game on helpers from Tyler Merritt and Niles Owen. This lead however, lasted only 19 seconds with the Raider's tying it 2 - 2 on a Spencer Spurlin shot (Vaughn Mortimer assisting). The Bombers found themselves short-handed after a bench minor call for too many men at the 2:14 mark. Coach Brad Van Norman's penalty kill units played hard keeping the score tied at 2 each. The Raiders "Blue Line" (Will Dawson, Dalton Bates and Sean Swigert) put tremendous pressure on the Bombers in the 1st period but good defensive play prevented any quality scoring chances.
In the 2nd period, Andrew Lay gave the Bombers the lead, scoring on a nice pass from defensemen Jared Trebtoske. The lead went to 2 goals when Gavin Rustin completed his "HAT TRICK" at the 8:57 mark (Zach Makimaa assisting). Twelve seconds later the Raiders closed the gap to 1 goal making it 4 - 3 on a Jon Barr shot assisted by Carter Foguth. The Bombers called for a goalie change with 7:58 left in the period, sending in Marcus Wojtkowicz for Spencer Hill. With 1:02 left in the 2nd period Bomber Andrew Lay scored his 2nd goal of the game on passes from Dominic Gutierrez and Alex Reno. Raider defensemen Justin Fisher, Danny Jordon, Alex Jakubic and Josh Hosking held the Bombers to only 4 shots on net helping to keep the game close. Second period score Bombers 5, Raiders 3.
The 3rd period was a real barn-burner with both teams picking up their offense. The Raider's Green line (Spencer Spurlin, Matt Bowman and Vaughn Mortimer)opened up the scoring at 8:52 on a Vaughn Mortimer shot making it a 5 - 4 game. The next goal belonged to the Bomber's Green line (Zach Makimaa, Dalton Hammond and Garrett Hudson. With 7:27 left in the game Niles Owen and Dalton Hammond setup Zach Makimaa to regain the 2 goal lead. Good quality shots were being fired at both ends of the ice. Bombers Andrew Lay and Ivan Gaydayenko had a great 2 on 1 chance to put the game away but the Raider's Nate Snyder came up big on the Gaydayendo blast. The Bombers final goal came at the 6:34 mark when Austin Giesey turned on the red light on a nice play from Gavin Rustin giving the Bombers their biggest lead of the game, 7 - 4. At the 4:20 mark Danny Jordan was called for roughing giving the Bombers still another chance to add to their lead but Rob Wishart's Raider squad held tough. With 53 seconds left in the game the Raider's Zach Yee scored his 2nd goal of the game making the final score Bombers 7 Raiders 5. The Raiders outshot the Bombers 20 - 17 in the game. Raider netminder Nate Snyder turned back 10 of 17 shots and Bomber's Spencer Hill and Marcus Wojtkowicz combined for 15 saves on 20 shots. Most Valuable player awards went to Raiders Josh Hosking (defense) and Zach Yee (forward) and Bombers Jared Trebtoske (defense) and Gavin Rustin (forward). The traditional "Reunion Shoot-out" held at the end of the game ended in a 2 - 2 tie. Goals were scored by Carter Foguth and Jon Barr for the Raiders and Jared Trebtoske and Zach Makimaa for the Bombers. See ya next year.
 | | "The Final Battle" |
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3rd Annual Bomber vs Raider Game - "The Final Battle"
FLINT (IP) It was a very entertaining afternoon on Sunday at the 3rd Annual Bomber vs. Raider Reunion game. The game which was billed as the "Final Battle" was held at the Flint Iceland Arenas in Flint, Michigan. After a 5 minute warm-up, the players returned from the lockerooms for a fog-filled, musical, spotlight introduction followed by the National Anthem. Playing in this year's match-up for the Raiders: Vaughn Mortimer, Jon Barr, Alex Jakubic, Justin Fisher, Sean Swigert, Nik Keene, Carter Foguth, Dalton Bates, Spencer Spurlin, Josh Hosking, Marcus Wojtkowicz, Will Dawson and William Peltier. Playing for the Bombers: Dalton Hammond, Dominic Gutierrez, Gavin Rustin, Dane Genord, Jared Trebtoske, Luke Conner, Alex Reno, Garrett Hudson, Zach Makimaa, Ryan Thomas, Spencer Hill, Ivan Gaydayenko and Christopher Zikmund.
Play Ball.
The Bombers struck first at 13:23 on a blast from Garrett Hudson setup by Zach Makimaa. The lead lasted less then 3 minutes as the Raiders answered back with an unassisted goal by Dalton Bates at 10:53. Raider forward William Peltier scored next on a nice pass from Sean Swigert to make it a 2-1 game. At the 8:49 mark Spencer Spurlin gave the Raiders a 2 goal lead with William Peltier getting the helper. The Raiders continued to dominate on the scoreboard scoring their fourth goal at 6:22 on a Nik Keene shot set up by Will Dawson. There were no penalites in the period but things would soon change. First period score Bombers 1 Raiders 4.
At 12:08 of the second period the Raiders found themselves shorthanded when Spencer Spurlin was called for tripping but Raider defensive tandems Carter Foguth/Justin Fisher and Alex Jakubic/Josh Hosking worked hard keeping the puck out of the defensive end. The Raiders stretched their lead to 4 goals at 9:03 of the second period with Vaughn Mortimer scoring and Josh Hosking getting the helper. The Raiders took a commanding 6-1 lead when Bomber Luke Conner was called for tripping setting up a William Peltier powerplay goal assisted by Alex Jakubic and Josh Hosking. The Bombers went shorthanded again at the 5:13 mark when Zach Makimaa was called for tripping. Goaltender Spencer Hill was tested twice during the powerplay but the Raiders could not convert. With 1:56 left in the period Bomber Christopher Zikmund scored his first of three on blast from the slot setup by Garrett Hudson and Zach Makimaa. Second period score Bombers 2 Raiders 6.
The third period was a real battle as both teams settled into the bump and grind mode. There were six penalties in the period and no scoring. The Raiders were called at 13:50 (Vaughn Mortimer-tripping), 9:03 (Sean Swigert-tripping) and 7:32 (Nik Keene-tripping) giving the Bombers three powerplay opportunities. Alex Jakubic (Raiders) and Ivan Gaydayenko (Bombers) traded roughing calls just 30 seconds into the Nik Keene penalty. With 28 seconds on the clock the Bombers went on their fifth powerplay of the game but could not put it in the net. Third period score Bombers 2 Raiders 6.
The Bombers controlled the fourth period outshooting the Raiders 10 - 5 but strong play by goaltender Marcus Wojtkowicz kept the Raiders on top. With 8:20 left in the game Christopher Zikmund found the Raiders net off an Ivan Gaydayenko pass to cut the lead to three. The Bombers scored again at the 6:08 mark when Christopher Zikmund blasted his third of the game setup by a Zach Makimaa pass. Bomber Luke Conner and Raider Sean Swigert traded roughing/slashing penalties with 5:24 left in the game and the teams remaining at even strength. The Bombers had one final chance at the powerplay when Raider Vaughn Mortimer was called for his second of the game but could not convert. Final score Bombers 4 Raiders 6.
Marcus Wojtkowicz turned back 24 of 28 Bombers shots while Spencer Hill (10 of 12) and Ryan Thomas (10 of 14) combined for 20 of 26. The tradional Bomber vs. Raider shootout ended in a 3-3 tie.
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