Steinbach Pistons eliminated from MJHL playoffs

The Steinbach Pistons season came to an end April 12, falling 4-3 in game six of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League semi-finals to the Virden Oil Capitals.

The Pistons had battled back to tie the game 2-2 with a Liam Doyle short-handed goal, but the Oil Capitals managed to restore their one-goal lead on that same powerplay.

Nathan Schaefer hammered home a one-timer from the point that eluded a screened Easton Thvedt. A three-on-one tally from Liam Goertzen ended any chances of another come-back from Steinbach, despite a last-minute scramble goal from the Pistons with the net empty.

Connor Paronuzzi had a glorious chance to tie the game after a Virden icing with two seconds left, but his one-timer attempt off the face-off was blocked by a charging Oil Capitals defender

SEC brings back community garage sale

After a year’s hiatus, the community garage sale is back, thanks to the Southeast Event Centre.

Last year’s event was cancelled due to arena construction, and the SEC says it’s back under a new name.

Called the Garage Sale Marketplace at SEC, this year’s event will take place on April 25 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the T.G. Smith Arena.

“This indoor marketplace brings the familiar garage sale experience together under one roof, offering a convenient, weather-protected space for shoppers and vendors alike,” they said in a news release. “With new hosts and a refreshed name Garage Sale Marketplace at SEC promises the same great finds, local sellers and community connection that residents have come to know and love.”

Ste Anne Hospital heliport volunteers named for provincial award

A group of volunteers who monitor Ste Anne Hospital’s heliport have received provincial recognition for their role in saving lives.

Twelve volunteers through the non-profit Ste Anne Hospital Fund that inspect the STARS Air Ambulance landing pad were nominated for the Premier’s Volunteer Service Award in January and will receive the award later this month as part of Volunteer Manitoba’s 42nd Annual Volunteer Awards.

Robert Rivard, who has volunteered since the group was formed in 2023, wasn’t expecting any recognition for the teams’ work.

“It’s great that we could get involved, that we were allowed to do it and that we have enough volunteers to cover all the different days that needs to be done,” he said. “And just for me, it’s a great opportunity. I really enjoy it.”

First ever volunteer seminar and fair announced

For the first time in Steinbach, potential volunteers will have a chance to meet with a wide range of organizations in one place to find out where they can plug in.

On April 18, the Mennonite Heritage Village will host the first ever volunteer seminar and fair.

MHV will host the event which will see 10 additional organizations come to take part.

Robert Goertzen, MHV executive director, said he and program director Jaysa Thiessen heard about the need from other organizations.

SPORTS FLASHBACK 1991: Landmark captures first volleyball championship

The Landmark 96’ers humbled the host Niverville Panthers 15-6, 15-2 in the championship final to win their first ever Provincial ‘A’ High School Boys’ Volleyball Championship on the weekend.

The 96’ers, were the number one ranked team going into the provincials and were considered one of the top volleyball teams in rural Manitoba. The team saved their best volleyball of the weekend for the final against the hometown Panthers, and clearly showed their superiority in the back-to-back lopsided victories.

For the Panthers, who were runners-up for the second consecutive year, it was disappointing to lose the final again, but it was also an accomplishment just reaching the finals.

The rivalry that has been built up between Landmark and Niverville during the past two years was clearly evidenced by the more than 400 boisterous fans who jammed into the Niverville Collegiate gymnasium for the championship final.

AS I SEE IT COLUMN: To be a true sport, curling must get rid of this

There can be no question that curling is an ascendant sport. TV viewership is high, it’s one of the winter Olympics’ most popular sports, there’s a new league with an interesting format starting up; overall it looks like the trend lines in curling are all positive.

But if curling wants to be regarded as a true sport, there is one thing it absolutely has to change. If it wants to be recognized as a real sport – and by ‘real’ I mean sharing a foundational element seen in every other team sport on earth – this one thing has to go.

Without this change, curling will still be super popular in Canada and in pockets of the United States and Europe. But without this change, curling can never really be considered an equal to all team sports that share one basic, common, and universally-adhered-to truism. In a real sport, you can’t quit just because you feel like it.

Curling is the only team sport in the solar system where, if you don’t want to play anymore because you think the game is out of reach, you can simply “take off the gloves and shake hands.”

DANKKOCHIK’S DRAFTINGS: Making sense of what kinds of hockey players I prefer

Watching John Scott go nuclear during the first round of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League playoffs for Niverville has been especially satisfying for me and has caused me to reflect on what kinds of hockey players I consider “Cassidy,” style players.

All year I would compliment Scott to anyone who listened, noting he was the kind of player that could randomly spark a big playoff win with a two goal performance during a critical game.

A hat trick in game one of Niverville’s sweep over Winkler and a final minutes game-winner in game three showed I was right.

I just love players like Scott. I think back to guys like Landon Roberts with the Pistons during my first year covering the team or Bryce Warkentine, my all-time favourite Nighthawk. There’s no player archatype I love more than the middle six, bruising forward who can drag their team into the fight, even if no one else is willing to.

Penner pulls out of PC nomination race

One of the two current candidates for the PC nomination in Steinbach has left the race.

Susan Penner, a city councillor issued a statement on Monday explaining the departure had to do with family issues.

“This is not a decision I make lightly, however, unexpected health challenges within my family now require my time and availability close to home,” she said in the statement.

She also included an endorsement for the only other candidate in the race, Michael Zwaagstra, a fellow city councillor.

1946 to 2026 Watching Steinbach grow: Teaching a part time job at early Steinbach schools

Early Carillon News subscribers learned a lot about the history of education in Steinbach when the weekly newspaper published its very first “Progress Issue” in December of 1947.

A three-page feature article tracked the attention given to education from the time when early village settlers volunteered their time as teachers and their homes as schoolhouses, to a time when 19 teachers in three schools taught a school population that had grown to over 600.

Education in Steinbach has no little red schoolhouse in its background, but its beginnings were more humble than that.

When the village was founded in 1874, there was little enough time to prepare houses for shelter without anyone taking time to work on a school building. However, the community realized some instruction should be provided and Rev. Jacob Barkman and Klaas Reimer offered their services for free.

PHOTO GALLERY: A hunting we will go!

More than 60,000 chocolate eggs and A&W lollipops were thrown to about 100 kids who attended the annual Easter Egg event at Mennonite Heritage Village..

Providence announces athletics year end award winners

With the Manitoba College Athletic Conference season at an end, the Providence Pilots recognized their top athletes of the season.

Cole Doell and Faith Larocque were named the male and female athletes of the year respectively.

Larocque is from Niverville, but played AAAA high school basketball with Dakota in Winnipeg. She was named the MCAC women’s basketball player of the year, thriving even as she gets less minutes than other top players thanks to Providence’s system basketball more evenly distributing playing time across the team.

“Faith has demonstrated above average academic success, consistently improving her grades and her game over the past three years,” head women’s basketball coach Kendall Perpall said.

COLUMN: Carillon Flashback October 28, 1992 – ‘No boundary for Anishinabe’ – Natives make a point during demonstration

Red flags flying from antennas and side mirrors identified vehicles of more than 200 First Nation protestors moving towards the American border on Highway 75 at a snail’s pace, where they continued to demonstrate their disdain for the “white man’s boundary.”

Native leader Terry Nelson, who organized the peaceful demonstration to spotlight what he termed “an invasion of sovereignty” during a recent RCMP raid on the Roseau Reserve, said the Roseau River Anishinabe were not afraid anymore.

“We are subject to economic apartheid and economic blackmail. We are taxed without representation. We will not be meek in defending our fundamental human rights and our right to peaceful coexistence.”

Highway tractors fell in line behind the convoy of Roseau River Reserve residents and drivers had to wait patiently until RCMP officers cleared a lane to allow traffic into the United States at Emerson.

Niverville Nighthawks advance to MJHL final in style

The Waywayseecappo Wolverines put up a great fight against the Niverville Nighthawks for four games, but the dam finally broke, as the Manitoba Junior Hockey League's top regular season finisher will play for the Turnbull Cup.

The Nighthawks finally looked like a team that finished 40 points ahead in the standings, crushing the Wolverines in a 7-0 game five victory in Niverville to win the MJHL semi-final series 4-1. Neither franchise had won a playoff series before 2026.

Calyb Moore, who had yet to score in the playoffs for the Nighthawks, nabbed his first of the post-season 30 seconds into the opening period to give his side a 1-0 lead and all but ended the game 15 seconds into the second period with his second of the game to make it 4-0.

Austin Dubinsky stopped all 18 shots he faced, posting shutouts in consecutive games after a 3-0 win in Waywayseecappo in game four.

St Pierre Jolys Sugaring Off Festival brings sweet treats to the Southeast

Southeastern francophone culture will be on full display this month along with a chance to roll snowy-sticky treats.

The St-Pierre-Jolys Museum’s 2026 Sugaring Off Festival, located at 432 Joubert St., is happening on April 11 to 12. The festival will mark its 35th anniversary of celebrating francophone culture and the arrival of spring.

Roland Gagne, president of the St-Pierre-Jolys Museum, said the festival is the museum’s main fundraising event to cover operations. But throughout the years, he’s seen it grow to showcase the Southeast’s French history.

“We brag about how the history of our area of De Salaberry, St Pierre, Rat River area, and how it was established by our ancestors, and then, after all the new immigrants from Quebec, northern United States and France and Belgium, these French speaking immigrants during that period of time,” he said.