Growing up in the border town of Flin Flon, Man., brothers Justin and Joey Lies were surrounded by one of the most ardent junior hockey communities in Canada.
Discovering the game on local ponds and rinks, including at the famed Whitney Forum, the pair eventually became the talk of the town when it came to the next wave of local hockey talent.
For Justin, that journey took him to the Western Hockey League where he’d play more than 200 career regular season and playoff games split between the Vancouver Giants and Saskatoon Blades.
During his lone season in Saskatoon in 2022-23, Lies provided the Blades a potent combination of grit and scoring ability that eventually blossomed into the franchise’s first appearance in the Eastern Conference final in close to three decades.
In the off-season as the Blades began trimming down to their overage core, however, Lies was moved to the Victoria Royals in exchange for a conditional third-round pick.
“It’s been a crazy few months,” said Justin. “I was there in ‘Stoon and then I ended up getting moved to Victoria. I had to make up my mind with that decision, either to go out there or stay at home.”
The soon-to-be 20-year-old decided on the latter, returning home to his roots and signing with the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League’s Flin Flon Bombers to finish off his junior career.
Since joining his childhood team, Justin has become one of the SJHL’s top weapons, sitting tied for third in league scoring with 13 goals and 27 points in just 18 games.
“It’s unbelievable to have grandparents, mom, dad, cousins, auntie, all of them at the game,” said Justin. “It’s definitely a special moment going out playing in front of them and playing in front of the whole town.”
Along with being named captain of the Bombers upon his arrival, part of the draw back home for Justin was a unique opportunity to play with his younger brother Joey for the first time.
“We never got to experience that just with the age gap,” said Justin. “It’s pretty cool for my last year of junior to be able to put on the same jersey as him.”
In the midst of his second year with the Bombers, Joey has taken on a larger responsibility at centre this season and has been a key depth distributor of the puck.
Providing a bit of a push to bring Justin back to Flin Flon, it’s been a season of learning so far for Joey with his older brother by his side on the bench.
“I was trying my hardest,” joked Joey. “I guess it paid off for me and the team.”
Longtime Bombers head coach Mike Reagan said he was thrilled to have Justin “fall into his lap” this summer and now boasts one of the deepest forward cores not only in the SJHL, but in all of Canadian Junior ‘A’ hockey.
“A lot of excitement, I’m not going to lie,” said Reagan. “For multiple reasons, I think it’s great for his brother Joey to help him with his development. I think it’s great for our community, I think it’s great for the North.”
It’s not the first time the brothers have pulled the maroon and white jerseys over their heads, however, as the duo sported the Bombers logo throughout minor hockey before moving away from Flin Flon for hockey academy programs.
Reagan added the pair have done an excellent job in handling the pressures of living up to their early hype from those in the hockey-mad community.
“From the time those two boys were young they’ve been the top players in town,” said Reagan. “There’s been a lot of people who have had high expectations for them.”
“Everybody knows Flin Flon is a hockey community, so there’s a lot of pressure that comes with that too. But he’s really embraced it and I think that’s really helped Joey as well. I don’t really have to coach Joey too much on the bench because his big brother is taking care of that for me.”
Even with the weight of expectation from a young age, the Lieses have embraced the support from their home community.
“You can go out for coffee and you’re talking to strangers about the game last night or last week,” said Joey. “There’s even guys watching practice every day, so it’s nice to just talk about hockey all the time.”
Echoing that sentiment, Reagan has seen firsthand the impact the duo have had on younger players in the Flin Flon community as examples of where the game can lead.
“It gives a lot of our young guys in town a lot of hope,” said Reagan. “They look up to these guys, they’ve been working my hockey school for a number of years and the kids absolutely love them.”
“They’re role models, to them they’re like a Connor McDavid in town.”
Dominating their competition over the first few months of the SJHL season, the Bombers sit atop the league standings with a 16-1-1 record which included a pair of blowout victories at the SJHL Showcase this week in Warman.
That has led the Canadian Junior Hockey League to award the team as the top-ranked club across the country for three wins in a row.
Following two years of heartbreak in the SJHL Final to the Estevan Bruins and Battlefords North Stars, the brothers are motivated to finally bring a trophy back to the community that paved the way for their hockey careers.
“It’s now or never,” said Joey. “We got the group, we got the guys and every day in practice we’re always pushing each other on and off the ice.”
Knowing his junior career will be drawing to a close shortly, Justin is ready to make a run as well with family at the forefront of his play on the ice this season.
“It would mean everything,” said Justin. “That’s why I came back and that’s why I’m here. We’re here to win a championship and anything less than that is a failure.”
The SJHL Showcase in Warman will wrap up on Thursday, with games between the Yorkton Terriers and Nipawin Hawks at 10:30 am and the Battlefords North Stars taking on the Weyburn Red Wings at 1:30 pm.
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