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(Ben Tompkins/northeastNOW)
Tough start to the year

Mustangs lose 2026 opener to Bombers

Jan 3, 2026 | 6:21 PM

Not much went right for the Melfort Mustangs in their first game of 2026.

Melfort came off a two-week Christmas break with a trip to Flin Flon to take on the Bombers.

The Mustangs entered the contest with no previous success against Flin Flon, who had yet to lose a game at home.

The Bombers also hadn’t lost a game after leading through two periods, with both of those trends continuing on Friday night.

“Especially when you come up here, we know what it is, it’s a tough place to play. They play a physical style, but it’s not an excuse, and stats don’t mean anything once you get on the ice. You just got to find a way to gut it out up here, but we didn’t, so hopefully we can have a bit of a different conversation on Saturday,” said assistant coach Clarke Huxley.

The Stangs lost the game 5-1, and were at one point down 5-0, as they failed to capitalize on their chances early, before things ultimately got away.

Thankfully, they’ll see Flin Flon once more, this time at home, as they look for revenge.

“We did a few good things, but we know what we need to fix. It was pretty obvious when watching the game, so the boys know what they need to clean up,” Huxley added.

“The messaging is just to stick with it, even when things get tough. We can’t get frustrated because we’ve had success when we’ve stuck to it. Eventually, things will work out; we just have to have the mental toughness.”

Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On X @BenTompkins_8