Commissioner Saurette reflects on historic MJHL season

The Manitoba Junior Hockey League boasted the best junior A hockey team in the country this season, as the Niverville Nighthawks were crowned Centennial Cup champions after winning the league.

After the traditional celebration with players swarming their goaltender, MJHL commissioner Kevin Saurette was on hand, proud as can be to help present the Nighthawks with their gold medals.

“They’ve conducted themselves on and off the ice very positively and it reflects very well on the MJHL,” Saurette said just before the start of the final game.

“We know we have a very strong league… We’ve sent six different champions to this event, every year they make the playoff rounds. It’s really nice to see Niverville get over that hump.”

SPORTS FLASHBACK 2006: Steinbach fans hang out with Grapes at Stanley Cup final in Carolina

Steinbach friends Mark Reimer and Matt Loewen embarked on a whirlwind cross-continent trip to Raleigh, North Carolina, having landed tickets to the deciding game of the 2006 Stanley Cup finals between the host Carolina Hurricanes and Edmonton Oilers.

Along the way, they hobnobbed with some of the biggest names in hockey, including Don Cherry, Ron MacLean and the NHL commissioner himself, Gary Bettman.

Reimer, 32, and Loewen, 24, are NHL junkies. But unfortunately, there is one big problem. There is no longer an NHL team in Winnipeg, as Reimer lamented in an interview with The Carillon, a few days after returning from their trip to North Carolina where they went for their latest ‘NHL fix’.

Reimer explained how the two hatched this idea to try and get to Game Seven of the Stanley Cup finals.

Steinbach Regional claim provincial rugby crown

The Steinbach Regional Sabres are officially the best girls rugby school in the province.

After years dominating the smaller sevens game, the school dipped their toes into the bigger 15s format this season, winning the provincial championship in their first year of competition.

The Sabres took down the previously undefeated Dauphin Clippers 31-22 in the provincial finals, hosted in Brandon June 6.

Head coach Tahnee Grosskopf said the two teams may be strangers in the 15s format, but have plenty of history playing each other at the Manitoba Games and in high school sevens.

Steinbach soccer park impresses at MHSAA provincials

For the first time in more than two decades, the Daniel McIntyre Maroons will be hanging a provincial banner inside their gym.

The school’s boys soccer team went on an underdog run through the Manitoba High School Athletic Association AAAA soccer championships, hosted in Steinbach, defeating top-seeded West Kildonan 2-1 in the finals June 6.

Head coach Danny Gomes said just getting to provincials was an accomplishment for the group, but they exceeded expectations and won three games against the top programs in Manitoba.

“It means so much to us and our school,” Gomes said, his voice hoarse during a post-game interview.

Eastman Warriors surrender 2026 Manitoba rugby season

The Eastman Warriors will not be playing out the rest of their season.

The team announced on social media June 2 they would be withdrawing from the competitive league season in Manitoba Rugby and forfieting their remaining games, citing a lack of players.

“Not a post we were hoping to make,” their caption reads.

“Us Warriors LOVE rugby, and this deeply saddens us. We will continue practices throughout the summer and in hopes get more men to fill the team and start off strong in the 2027 season.”

Carillon Sports Second Shots: June 4th edition

Featuring photos from a Carillon Sultans MJBL game May 26, Eastman Warriors and U18 AAA Sultans games May 28, the SRSS Rugby 7s tournament May 29 and the Lumberzone vs Premier Buildings charity hockey game at the SEC May 29.

Bottom-finishing MJHL franchises sign new coaches

The Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s two Winnipeg franchises have announced who will be leading their teams into the 2026/2027 season.

The Monarchs, which changed branding from the Freeze last season are moving to Riley Dudar as their head coach and general manager, replacing Zach Franco, who joined the franchise last season.

Dudar played junior across Western Canada junior A leagues, eventually spending five years with the University of Manitoba Bisons, where he immediately signed on as a coach following his playing career. Most recently he was the director of player development for the Brandon Wheat Kings, but his experience includes a stint as the director of player personnel for the Flyers.

“My focus is to create a high-performance development environment for players who strive to move on to the next level as quickly as possible,” Dudar said in a Monarchs news release.

American Division 1 colleges considering age limit

The NCAA is considering more changes to eligibility for college athletes who want to compete at the highest level of American post-secondary sports.

The organization announced May 22 their Division 1 Cabinet was considering introducing an age limit, with athletes having five years to compete. Under their proposal, the clock would start when an athlete graduates high school (or when they turn 19, whichever comes first). There is no current limit on age in the NCAA.

The move could have massive impacts for hockey. Most players complete a four-year junior career until their 20-year-old season in either Canadian Junior A hockey leagues like the Manitoba Junior Hockey League or in the United States Hockey League before joining the NCAA ranks.

Top NHL agent Allan Walsh was one of many from across the hockey world to voice their opposition to the proposed new rule, tweeting, “The ‘5 in 5’ rule cannot and will not stand as applied to College Hockey.”

SPORTS FLASHBACK 1996: Irish dairymen hope hurling catches on

The Southeast Hurlers are sporting a perfect two wins-no losses record, after a rematch against Winnipeg opponents at the A.D. Penner Park, showcasing a game never before seen by sports fans in the Southeast.

When talk turns to “hurling”, the names of great baseball pitchers like Nolan Ryan or Randy Johnson usually come to mind, but a pair of Irish dairy farmers, who have settled in the Southeast, are hoping they can change that.

Pat Donnelly and Tom Dooley brought their hurling skills along from “the old country” and are trying to get their Canadian friends interested in what they say is one of the world’s oldest sports.

To the casual observer, the sport of hurling would appear to be a cross between field hockey and lacrosse, with a soccer net and football goal posts thrown in to make it more interesting.

DANKOCHIK’S DRAFTINGS: Nighthawks’ Centennial Cup run caps off Carillon’s hockey season

The end of an extra long hockey season came to an end for The Carillon in memorable fashion, with the Niverville Nighthawks claiming the Centennial Cup in P.E.I. May 17. The season began in Niverville with the Nighthawks home opener Sept. 19.

I track the events I attend in two chunks of the year (labelled hockey and baseball in my spreadsheet), which start with the first Manitoba Junior Hockey League regular season game of the year, and end either with the Turnbull Cup final or the Centennial Cup, if needed.

With the Nighthawks and Steinbach Pistons out in the first round of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League playoffs last year, our hockey season was extended quite a bit compared to 2024/2025. Those playoff runs fuelled an overall increase of MJHL coverage from 22% of events covered to 31%.

The other big impact on the stats came from the Eastman Selects male U18 AAA program move from Beausejour to Steinbach. The male team’s new proximity meant they became a more prominant team for us to get out to.

Carillon Sultans perfect to start the MJBL season

The Carillon Sultans have a chance to do something special this season. After claiming back-to-back Manitoba Junior Baseball League championships, the team is returning most of their players in the quest for a three-peat.

There is one major change, as Don Meilleur has taken over for Rick Penner as head coach.

“We’ve virtually brought back the entire team,” Meilleur said after a 9-4 win over Winnipeg South May 28.

“(We’re) potentially getting Cody Gunderson coming back after his college. Expectations are high but this is a really great group and we’re just happy to get going. We want to get another championship at the end of the year.”

Centennial Cup MVP Vigfusson earns NCAA scholarship

Niverville Nighthawks captain Adam Vigfusson showed what an outstanding showing at the Centennial Cup is worth.

The 2005-born forward from Gimli turned a most valuable player award into a NCAA division 1 commitment, signing up to go to St Cloud State.

Vigfusson had committed to York University to play USports, but after a 12 point performance at the national junior A championships, including a hat trick, American universities were sure to come calling.

“That was the dream result. The pressure didn’t faze us at all. We just went about our business and got the job done,” Vigfusson told the Winnipeg Free Press.