Pistons take their game outdoors

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 04/02/2021 (1946 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As the waiting game continues as to whether the Manitoba Junior Hockey League will be able to resume their season, in any way shape or form, players from the 12-team league, including the Steinbach Pistons, are doing whatever they can to try and stay in shape for a possible resumption in the season.

Here in Steinbach, half a dozen players from the Pistons, players that come from afar from both Canada and the U.S., who returned to Steinbach in early January to complete their 14-day isolation period, are partially filling their time by their daily workouts on the outdoor rink at the T.G. Smith Centre.

Of course all indoor arenas are closed, so the outdoor rinks at least provide a venue that they can stay in some semblance of hockey shape.

Fortunately for this six, one of them is a goaltender, Simon Harkness, who perhaps is getting the best workout of them all, as he is being peppered with shots.

Harkness hails from Calgary. The others in the group include forwards Quinton Pepper (London, Ont.), Dominic Murano (Milwaukee, Wisconsin), Caden Triggs (Moorhead, Minnesota), Joey Dosan (Bloomington, Minnesota) and defenceman Edward Wruck (Vancouver).

Needless to say, it has been a trying season for those involved in the MJHL due to COVID and the ensuing health restrictions. The truncated campaign got underway last fall, but was suspended in early November after about a month. The Pistons had played just seven games of their planned 40-game schedule, already reduced from 60 games from past years.

How many games will be played through the remainder of the season, if any, remains to be seen. But optimism reigns supreme that there will be hockey in the coming weeks and this group of six Pistons will be ready to go when the time comes.

These out of town players returned to Steinbach in early January in anticipation of restrictions being lifted. It was hoped that code red restrictions were going be eased on Jan. 8, but with COVID numbers still high, the restrictions were extended until Jan. 22. And then they were extended again, this time for three weeks, up until at least Feb. 12.

For Quinton Pepper, he spent an unscheduled month of December at home with his family in London, but he tried to make the best of it skating when he could and working out in their home gym.

It was a little easier for the American players, because there were generally fewer restrictions when they returned. At Milwaukee, Dominic Murano, the skilled forward who had an early impact in his first few games with the Pistons in the fall, it was easier for him as “gyms and arenas were still open.” Murano also spent time skating with his old high school team.

Murano, like Caden Triggs from Moorhead, are both dual American-Canadian citizens, and as such, it made their border crossings a little easier.

Dosan perseveres

Not so for the big forward from Bloomington, Joey Dosan. His story of hard luck and misfortune is quite something, as is his perseverance to remain a part of this Pistons team.

Dosan, at 6’5” and 206 lbs, played 32 games for the Pistons last season, and come hell or high water, was intent on playing another season in Steinbach this year.

But he had to overcome tremendous obstacles to make that happen this year, not the least of which of were the Canadian border agents.

Last Aug. 31 he boarded a plane in Minneapolis, arriving in Winnipeg just a short one-hour flight later, eager to get back to Steinbach. Upon arrival, he made it through all the Canadian checkpoints, until he made up to the final agent, and he was subsequently denied entry to the country.

“I could see my billet (Jamie Penner) through the window waiting outside in his car to pick me up, but I never got there.” He had to fly back home to Minneapolis that day.

A few days later he tried again, this time he drove up to the border at Emerson, this time also armed with a study permit as he was enrolled to take some classes at Providence University College.

“We did everything we were asked to do to get across the border, but we were denied again.”

Now he had been flagged, making the border crossing even more difficult. Several other last-minute conditions were also mandated, including having $10,000 in a bank account (this is where parents come in) and additional documentation from Providence. It was already late afternoon and he needed to get all of this by 5:00 p.m.

It was frantic emails to Providence, a quick trip to a bank in Grand Forks, and meanwhile Pistons’ GM Paul Dyck was making a few well-placed phone calls, and Dosan returned to the border to try and cross again, this time at Tolstoi.

He had been red-flagged, meaning if he tried crossing into Canada again, he would be denied into Canada for a year, which would end his time with the Pistons.

That well-placed phone call was successful in removing the red flag, and after a couple of hours at the border, Dosan was finally allowed to enter into Canada.

“I prayed a lot when I drove up to the border at Tolstoi, after waiting all day at Lancaster, I said God if you can find a way, Steinbach is really where I want to be.”

Finally back in Steinbach, arriving late with training camp already underway, he was not ready for the first game of the season. And then, when he returned to the line-up in game three on Oct. 17, he was injured in that game, as he broke his finger, requiring surgery and so has played only one game this season.

So when the season was suspended in November and all the Pistons dispersed and went home by the end of the month, Dosan stayed right here in Steinbach, not risking going home to Minnesota and then possibly not being allowed back into Canada.

He stayed here through Christmas, where he is billeted at the home of brothers Jeff Penner and Jamie Penner, and their families.

“My billets have been great, but it was hard not being at home with my family at Christmas. I made a lot of sacrifices to get here, I didn’t want to jeopardize that.”

Dyck says, “Joey has shown just tremendous perseverance and resilience through this whole ordeal and I believe this will help as he continues to develop in his hockey career.”

“He has used this time to better himself, he has offensive skill, is growing into his body, he plays hard and will become a very difficult player to play against.”

And in the meantime, these guys continue to skate outdoors, “we were even out here when it was -30,” one of them quipped. Well, they’ll have a chance to prove their mettle again this weekend on the outdoor rink, as the mercury is again scheduled to plummet to -30 and beyond.