The Hawks and Bombers faced off on Saturday in Flin Flon. (Clark Stork/northeastNOW Staff)

By Clark Stork

Manitoba misery

Hawks problems in Flin Flon continue

Nov 3, 2025 | 10:39 AM

The Hawks’ struggles in Flin Flon continued Saturday with a 5-1 loss to the Bombers.

With just two wins in northern Manitoba in the last half decade, Nipawin got down early in their first trip to the Whitney Forum this Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) season and were never really in the game.

The Bombers scored 92 seconds into the game, added the winner two minutes later and cruised to a win, the Hawks regulation loss and fourth in Nipawin’s last six games. Head Coach Tad Kozun said his club wasn’t ready from puck drop.

“We didn’t want to compete tonight,” he said on the postgame show. “We let them do whatever they wanted. We just didn’t have it tonight.”

After falling behind 2-0 early, Nipawin responded with a powerplay goal from Konnor Watson, the 19-year-old from Spiritwood, Sask. has seven goals on the man advantage and 11 overall to lead the team. The Bombers answered back, added another in the first, and two more in the second to cruise to the win, their second over Nipawin in three games this campaign.

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Nipawin hasn’t won at the Whitney Forum in Flin Flon since Sept. 28, 2021. The streak is now 16 straight losses there. Kozun admitted if his team is going to elevate in the standings and be a potential top end SJHL club, getting over the Bombers on home ice needs to be corrected.

“You have to win in every building, it doesn’t matter where it is, you can’t just win at home and in certain spots. You’ve got to prepare yourself in every building and obviously this is a hurdle we have to get over. Derek [Hutton, assistant coach] and I need to sit down and figure out what’s going to get us there. It’s been a long time since we got a win up here,” he added.

Following a start that included seven wins in eight games this season, the Hawks have now dropped five of their last seven games and sit fifth in the SJHL standings. Kozun said finding consistency will be key in getting back to their winning ways.

“You just can’t pick and choose when you want to play,” Kozun said. “You look back at last night’s game [3-2 win over Melville], we played hockey, tonight we just didn’t play hockey. We can’t be this Jekyll and Hyde group that goes up and down, up and down. We’ve got to find a way to be consistent and play the same every night.”

The Hawks are back in action Tuesday in North Battleford against the North Stars.