Sioux Lookout Bombers

Summarize Timeline Top Qs Fact Check

The Bombers debuted as an expansion franchise in the 2022–23 SIJHL season.^[1] The team finished its inaugural regular season in third place overall. They were eliminated from the playoffs after losing 4:3 to the Wisconsin Lumberjacks in the first round.^[2]

Despite finishing the 2023–24 regular season in second place, the Bombers swept the first place Kam River Fighting Walleye in the final round of the playoffs to win the league championship Bill Salonen Cup.^[3] The Bombers advanced to compete in the 2024 Centennial Cup national championship tournament in Oakville, Ontario.^[2] The Bombers were eliminated after losing four games in the preliminary round.^[4]

The Bombers finished the 2024–25 regular season in fourth place overall and were eliminated from the playoffs after losing 4:3 to the Red Lake Miners in the first round.^[2]

The Sioux Lookout Flyers joined the SIJHL as an expansion franchise in the 2008–09 SIJHL season. The Flyers mark the first major level hockey in the town since the Intermediate leagues of the 1970s.

The Flyers are Ontario Junior hockey's most Northerly club at 50° 06′ North.

On September 19, 2008, the Flyers lost their first ever game to the Schreiber Diesels in Schreiber, Ontario by a score of 10-2. On September 26, the Flyers played their first home game and lost 6-2 to the defending SIJHL champion Dryden Ice Dogs.

On November 12, 2008, sixteen games into a winless season, the ownership of the team pulled the plug on the franchise. Two days later, the town of Sioux Lookout held a town meeting in regards to the team and elected to save the team as a community with the help of a Winnipeg-based investor. The team went on hiatus for three games, but returned to action on November 19.^[5]

The Flyers won their first ever game on January 2, 2009, defeating the Dryden Ice Dogs, on the road, 5-4 in overtime. The victory was Sioux Lookout's 30th league game.

On October 3, 2012, the Flyers dropped out of the 2012–13 SIJHL season after only three games. The Flyers cited being "unable to continue in a competitive and professional manner for the season" as their reason for withdrawal. The Flyers claimed it was only going to be a one-year absence to restructure.^[6] In the spring of 2013, the team's official Facebook page reflected that the team was not returning.