Welcome Vincent John Burke

The Bomber Hockey Club is proud to announce the arrival of another future Bomber- Vincent John Burke. Bomber netminder Josh Burke and his lovely wife Jen had their baby on Friday March 23rd. Vince was brought home by his family and has already sat down to watch his first Devil game a 5-2 loss to Jen's beloved Penguins. We have been told that what Vince is really looking forward to is seeing his proud papa in net for a Bomber's game.


Early reports that stated Vincent's name was originally to be William Anthony Burke, Junior- turned out to be erroneous.

So we send much love from the Bomber faithful to the Burke family. Enjoy every moment but start getting that kid ready-with his Daddy in net we could always use a backup goaltender.

Bombers Advance

Monday's playoff match between the Bombers and the Vudoo marked the 5th time the clubs had faced each other this season. The Bombers won all 4 previous by a 33-9 score. But the most recent game saw the Vudoo fielding an upgraded lineup that actually held an early 1-0 lead. That coupled with the fact the Vudoo won 3 of their last 5 games meant the Bombers could not take the team lightly-or else face an early ouster in the playoff tournament. "They were better the last time we played them." noted Bomber sniper Jean Eric Hoyer'.

The caution paid off for the Bombers as they scored a relatively easy 6-2 victory to advance them further into the playoffs. 5 different Bombers scored including 2 by Hoyer' and one each from Neil Van Der Horn, Junior, Bill Auld and Dave Smith. Smith's goal was particularly sweet, an end to end rush that finished with a precision strike roofed past the Vudoo tender's glove side. "His best deke on that was getting past me at the blueline" said Bomber foward Neil Van Der Horn.

Soon to be father, Josh Burke, played great in net all the while looking over his shoulder for the potential "we're having a baby" phone call that could come any moment from wife Jenny.

So the playoff and baby watch continue for the Bombers-the next scheduled contest vs either the Storm or Admirals on Thursday at 10:20 in the historic confines of BSA.

State Electric Power Performers of the Game:


First Star: DAVE SMITH 1g



Second Star: JEAN ERIC HOYER' 2g



Third Star: NEIL VAN DER HORN 1g 1a



Honorable Mention: LUPE POLTORAK Addition by subtraction.

Bomber Box Score:

Goals:
Hoyer' (32,33)
B.Auld (26)
Junior (19)
Van Der Horn (5)
Smith (2)

Assists:
B.Auld-2
Van Der Horn
Kostrowski
Junior
Burke

Just kidding Lupe. Come back soon.

Bombers Fall in Overtime Thriller

The Bombers and the Smoke's two regular season contests were both 4-3 shootout wins-with each team claiming a victory. Wednesday's first round playoff matchup was more of the same-the only difference being the score (3-2) and the fact that there is no shootout in the championship double elimination tournament.

Overtime would be needed in a game that started much like a chess match in the early going-each team feeling each other out. The Bomber's Jean Eric Hoyer' scored first, breaking the 0-0 tie at 3:07 of the second but the Smoke's Dan Nolan tied it up with just under 4 minutes in the period.

The third period saw the Bombers again take the lead off the patented R.Auld to B.Auld left side offensive zone faceoff play. A late miscue by the Bombers allowed the Smoke's John Kraly to come in alone on netminder Josh Burke, scoring to tie the contest with more than 6 minutes remaining in regulation.

Josh Burke save the day for the at least a moment a by executing a fancy flying pad save with seconds remaining in the game,keeping the game notted at two. "Josh was the first star of the game for either team. He was on his game." noted Bomber utility man Neil Van Der Horn.

The overtime format of 5 minutes of 4 on 4 followed by 3 on 3 action until a winner was determined was marred by 34 minutes in penalties for both clubs. A big blow was dealt to the storied franchise when Brian Kostrowski recieved his 4th penalty of the game-which comes with it an automatic game misconduct. To add insult to injury both Tony D'anna and Bill Auld were off for much of the overtime-each being assessed separate 10 minute misconduct penalties.

But the Bombers stood tall dominating play with the open ice. But late into the 3 on 3 portion of overtime, John Kraly again found himself in the clear and scored the game winner after who knows how many minutes of extra time.

The loss puts the Bombers in the loser's bracket-a position that vaulted them to the finals in last year's double elimination playoffs.

State Electric Power Performer of the Game:

1st Star: Josh Burke

Bomber Box Score:

Goals:
Hoyer' (31)
B.Auld (25)

Assists:
Junior
Rober'

Regular Season Ending Stats

Just so I'm not keeping these stats just for me to look at-here are the Regular Season ending numbers for the Fall/Winter 11-12. Next stop-The Playoffs!

Points:


68 Jean Eric Hoyer' (30g 38a)
55 Bill Auld (24g 31a)
32 Mike Gilbert, Jr (18g 14a)
29 John Zimnoch (8g 21a)
27 Lupe Poltorak (16g 11a)
17 Rober' Auld (3g 14a)
16 Brian Kostrowski (11g 5a)
14 Neil Van Der Horn (4g 10a)
10 Tony D'anna (3g 7a)
5 Dave Smith (1g 4a)
4 Mark Bochner (3g 1a)
4 Bob Calvano (1g 3a)
3 Josh Burke (0g 3a)
2 Adam Lapinski (0g 2a)
1 Dave Bochner (0g 1a)
1 Mike Rosenberg (0g 1a)
1 Bobby Wolfe (0g 1a)

Goals:



30 Hoyer'
24 B. Auld
18 Junior
16 Lupe
11 Kostrowski
8 Zimnoch
4 Van Der Horn
3 Rober'
3 D'anna
3 M. Bochner
1 Smith
1 Calvano

Assists:


38 Hoyer'
31 B.Auld
21 Zimnoch
14 R.Auld
14 Junior
11 Lupe
10 Van Der Horn
7 D'anna
5 Kostrowski
4 Smith
3 Calvano
3 Burke
2 Lapinski
1 Rosenberg
1 Wolfe
1 D.Bochner
1 M.Bochner

Penalty Minutes:


30 Brian Kostrowski
18 Lupe
16 B.Auld
8 Van Der Horn
8 Smith
8 Zimnoch
6 Rober'
2 Calvano
2 D'anna

Bombers Win Ugly

The bad news for the Bomber Hockey Club is they played perhaps their worst two periods of hockey on Wednesday night. The good news is they came out with a 7-6 shootout win over the Red Dogs despite their struggles. And its often said that if you can win on nights you are not playing your best then your team may have something special going for them.

Bomber goalie Josh Burke could only comment "Did we really just win that game?" after allowing 6 goals on the evening, some by his own admission he would like to have back. But Burke battled for the win the entire game and when the Red Dogs had a shorthanded breakaway chance with the scored tied late he came up with the big stop. He also stopped all shooters in the shootout to earn the Bombers their 15 victory of the season.

The Bombers looked lackluster against a Red Dog team that had played the night before and was well below them in the standings. After 2 periods the Bombers were looking up at a 6-3 deficit. The third period started well though with Bill Auld scoring off a Rober' Auld to Tony D'anna play just 32 seconds into the period. Neil Van Der Horn also provided a spark taking a more agressive approach to the blueline philosphy, forcing pucks up and out of the zone with an authority the organazation had missed in the prior two stanzas.

Mike Gilbert, Jr made his presence known scoring the eventual game tieing goal off a nice feed from a returning Jean Eric Hoyer' with 5:35 remaining in the final period. Junior had 2 goals and 2 assists on the evening and his line with Hoyer' and Lupe Poltarak scored 5 of the Bombers six tallies. Hoyer' also was the lone goal scoring in the shootout.

With the win the Bombers finished 3rd in the final regular season standings. The matchup pits them agains the Admirals in the first round of the double elimination playoffs- a team that has given the Bombers fits in the regular season.

4 game packs of tickets are available for this season's playoff run. Contact the BSA box office for details.

State Electric Power Performers of the Game

First Star: Mike Gilbert, Jr 2g 2a


Second Star: Jean Eric Hoyer' 2g 2a


Third Star: Neil Van Der Horn

Bomber Box Score:

Goals:
Hoyer' (29,30)
Junior (17,18)
B.Auld (24)
Poltorak (16)

Assists:
Junior-2
Hoyer'-2
Rober'
D'anna
Smith

Game Notes:

The Bombers were happy to welcome back "Sarge" Dave Smith who had missed 8 of the previous 9 games keeping our streets safe.

The Bombers finished the regular season as the league's highest scoring team with 127 goals.

Bombers Discipline the "Kids"

The Bombers pounded the Comeback Kids with 9 goals en route to a 9-6 victory on Thursday night in front of a capacity crowd. Bill Auld led all scorers with 4 goals and 2 assists. "I needed another 10 pts to catch up with Jean Eric." a joking Auld commented referring to the fact the Eric Hoyer' was not in the lineup for the first time in the last 100 games.

The Bombers built an early 4-1 lead and took the pedal off the gas which allowed the Kids to score 6. But the game was never in doubt with the Bombers holding at least a two goal lead for the remainder of the game. Neil Van Der Horn and Brian Kostrowski provided the muscle forcing the Kids to go to the corner when it was apparent they needed a "time out".

Rober' Auld forged ahead after 4 major collisions in the game- 3 with the opponents and one with JZ to register 3 assists. Two of those assists were directly off the faceoff to Brian Kostrowski who scored twice on the evening. Junior jumped in with a goal and 3 assists and Little Lupe Poltorak and Neil Van Der Horn rounded out the goal scoring.

John Zimnoch played another yet another full game on defense taking but one rest at the end of the third with the game well in hand.

Next up for the Bombers a matchup with the Red Dogs where a victory would lift them from sixth place to third place to finish the regular season.

State Electric Power Performers of the Game:
as voted by the night's attending media



First Star: Bill Auld 4g 2a



Second Star: Rober' Auld 3a 4 collisions 1 nicely bruised hip (you'll see)



Third Star: Brian Kostrowski 2g 1a 6pims

Bomber Box Score:

Goals:
B.Auld (20,21,22,23)
Kostrowski (10,11)
Junior (16)
Lupe (15)
Van Der Horn (4)

Assists:

R.Auld-3
Junior-3
Zimnoch-2
Poltorak-2
B.Auld-2
Van Der Horn
Kostrowski

Game Notes:

John Zimnoch and Mike Gilbert, Jr both sustained foot injuries during the game which leave their status questionable for the matchup with the Red Dogs.


Rober's Bruise

Hoyer' Iron Man Streak Ends at 100

Jean Eric Hoyer played his first game with "the" organization on March 21, 2010. A undrafted free agent with a pedigree known more for winter sports battled on snow rather than ice, Hoyer blasted onto the scene with a 3 goal performance that helped the Bombers defeat the rival Metro Fire by a 6-5 score. More importantly it gave Bomber fans a sneak peak into the future. Hoyer' missed his first game since that night- a remarkable 100 game stretch, when he was unable to take the ice versus the Comeback Kids on Thursday.



During that time Hoyer' has dazzled the Bomber faithful with high flying offensive numbers and Lady Byng like sportsmanship. During the Fall/Winter 2010-11 season Hoyer etched his name in the Bomber record books by scoring the most points in a season-57 and the most goals in a season-37. "That season is when we changed his name to 'Jean' Eric and added the accent mark to Hoyer'. We felt he had to have a little French Canadien blood him him with all that scoring." noted Bomber Capt Bill Auld. Remarkably Jean Eric has already eclipsed his point record this season and added the assist record to his mantle as well. During the 100 game streak the anti-goon Hoyer' has miniscule 4 minutes in penalties.

"His presence in the locker room has proven why he is a true Bomber and we hope that he will start a new streak when he skates again on Wednesday vs the Red Dogs" said a confident Bomber GM.

So here's to you Jean Eric Hoyer'-sniper, sportsman and Bomber IRON MAN.

Pimps Spoil Rosenberg's Return

Mike Rosenberg managed an assist in his return to action after a long layoff but the Bombers could not hold off the 1st place Puck Pimps, losing 4-2. "That was a good team we played" noted Rosenberg, adding "We worked for our opportunites. Lots of fun. I was a little puck clumsy but the legs felt ok."

Hopefully we will see those legs skating more in the upcoming season. The loss evened the season series between the two squads at 2 games apiece.

Next up for the Bombers a clash with the purplely Comeback kids.

Bomber Box Score:

Goals:
Gilbert, Jr (15)
Kostrowski (9)

Assists:
Rosenberg
D'anna
Hoyer