Pistons release promotional schedule for 2026/2027 season

The Steinbach Pistons are bringing the Teddy Bear Toss to the Southeast Event Centre.

The game Nov. 20th against the Winnipeg Blues is one of 18 promotional nights the Pistons will be hosting this season.

Everything from superheros and princesses night (Nov. 1) to country night (Oct. 17) is on the schedule.

Jamie Roy, Steinbach’s director of sales and marketing said the team looks to balance cultural, community and fun when putting together their schedule of special events.

SPORTS FLASHBACK 1983: Pacers repeat provincial win

The Steinbach A&W Pacers turned aside challenges from Winkler and Pine Falls to earn the right to represent Manitoba in the national junior men’s fastball championships for the second straight year.

The Steinbach Pacers hosted both the provincial championship in junior men’s fastball and the Manitoba elimination championship for a berth in the junior men’s nationals in Prince Edward Island in August.

Steinbach edged Winkler 3-2 in the opening game of the tournament and were assured of the spot in the nationals, when Pine Falls followed with a 2-1 win over their western rivals. That victory eliminated Winkler and set up a best-of-three between Steinbach and Pine Falls for the provincial junior crown.

Pine Falls is ineligible to play out of the province because they do not have a Level One coach, but were allowed to challenge for the provincial title nevertheless. Back-to-back victories by scores of 3-0 and 11-5 for the Pacers settled the provincial title as well.

Founding Families Classic Golf Tournament announced

As the Tache Community Complex becomes closer to reality for the community of Lorette, the fundraising committee has come up with a plan that will not only raise funds, but honour those who have already done so much for the community.

The Founding Families Classic Golf Tournament will be presented by the RM of Tache along with title sponsor Three Way Builders on Sept. 18.

“Under the theme, ‘Generations of builders, bound by a legacy’, the tournament unites community members, local businesses and golf enthusiasts to celebrate Tache’s rich history while actively investing in its future,” an Aug. 19 press release stated.

“Back in the ’60s, it was the local families and business owners that grouped together to make it happen,” Tache councillor and fundraising committee member Natashia Lapeire said of the construction of the first Lorette arena.

DANKOCHIK’S DRAFTINGS: Way too early MJHL season predictions

Just over 100 days after the Niverville Nighthawks lifted the Centennial Cup in Summerside, P.E.I., the Manitoba Junior Hockey League pre-season will kick off.

The media survey asking for picks went out already, so here are some of my pre-training camp thoughts based on last year’s rosters.

(I do reserve the right to change these opinions after seeing a few weeks of training camp.)

Last season all it took was to look at Niverville’s roster of returning players to realize they were due for a historic season. There likely won’t be a Niverville this season, but I do like what Virden could bring.

COLUMN: Tales from the Gravel Ridge – The laughter of August from a fresh perspective

To my mind there is something slightly melancholic about the month of August when it rolls around in our part of the world. According to The Song My Paddle Sings, the poem written by E. Pauline Johnson, “…August is laughing across the sky”. To my mind the very meaning of laughter doesn’t necessarily negate a sense of melancholy. Indeed we may have valid reasons for sadness, but that doesn’t exclude laughter. And in any event, we know that as we approach the month of September we may well have to cover especially delicate plants that still remain outdoors, but which we want to bring back indoors before freezing temperatures set in. Or quite possibly, there is produce that we still hope to harvest.

Memories of summertime in my childhood invariably include the great outdoors of our subsistence farm in Rosengard. To my mind it could impossibly be otherwise. Gradually the plants in the garden are beginning to look tired, and appear more or less ready to call it a day. The potatoes in the other garden are less vulnerable to frost, but those too will have to be dug up and gathered into the cellar for winter storage.

Our farmyard included a home for our family along with a summer kitchen. In addition to these structures, there were barns for livestock and chickens, and some older structures that still served as overflow for various activities. And in addition to all of these designated areas, there was a fairly large yard where family, friends and neighbours could enter for visits or for business purposes. And most importantly, it was where children could play, and in due time, learn to ride a bicycle.

In addition to a vegetable garden and a potato patch, some parts of our farm property were less cultivated. These untilled and uncultivated areas however had their own rules and means of production and survival. For me personally the woods and meadows of this unpretentious subsistence farm hold a treasure trove of memories from my childhood.

Former Piston Amsbaugh signs pro deal in ECHL

Ian Amsbaugh has turned a late-season stint in the ECHL into a full-time contract.

The 23-year-old forward joined the Tulsa Oilers after the end of his final collegiate season, recording a plus-five victory while scoring his first professional goal with the franchise.

The Oilers picked up Amsbaugh after the end of the Adrian College season, where Amsbaugh finished with 108 career points.

“It is always great for players to get a taste of the pro game at the end of the season,” head coach Rob Murray said in a Tulsa news release.

Stuartburn holds information session on Sundown Ridge, Caliento Bog projects

It was almost a full house at the Vita Hall last Wednesday night as Stuartburn residents and municipal politicians came to hear what drainage solutions engineers had to protect homes and farmland from overland flooding.

“Since this council took office in 2022, water and drainage have been amongst the biggest concerns and challenges facing the RM,” said Reeve Michelle Gawronsky.

“Rather than looking at isolated trouble spots, we wanted to understand the whole system,” she noted.

The engineers from Strategic Solutions Engineering (SSE) shared the results from the drainage survey they conducted earlier this year and recommended retention sites at Sundown Ridge and, if there is funding, Caliento Bog.

Opera and a Pint comes to The Public Brewhouse for a sip of highbrow fun

Whether your taste runs to specialty craft beer or specialty craft music, it’s not necessary to go the big city anymore as the Flip Side Opera and Art Circle Collective is making the rounds of several rural communities this summer to bring “outside-the-box, inspiring musical experiences to Manitobans.”

Selecting the Public Brewhouse and Gallery as its venue for an inclusive and community-based performance, Aug. 21, marked the continuation of the company’s bringing opera to rural communities such as Steinbach and to building an audience with a thirst for something out of the ordinary.

“We have been doing this in Winnipeg; this is our ninth season doing it in Winnipeg at Little Brown Jug. And last year, we took it to Minnedosa for the first time,” said Lisa Rumpel, co-artistic director of Flipside Opera.

“Because we, Judy (Oatway, co-artistic director) and I who run Flipside, are both from rural areas and most of the people on our board are from rural areas as well, we didn’t have exposure to this type of stuff when we were growing up. It’s important to us to go out to those people … and some of the feedback we got in Minnedosa was they said it’s so nice they didn’t have to drive to see this,” said Rumpel.

PHOTO GALLERY: Light up the night, light up someone’s life

MJHL prospects hit the ice in Niverville and Steinbach

The region’s two Manitoba Junior Hockey League teams were hard at work last weekend, hosting their annual prospects camp.

The Niverville Nighthawks combined skates with their main camp as four teams of 18 2011-born players took to the ice alongside four teams of returning veterans and potential rookies for a total of 144 players.

Returning stars like Marlen Edwards played alongside up-and-coming locals like William Mateychuk on a team.

In Steinbach, the Pistons took a different track, putting together two teams of 20 players between the 2010s and 2011s. The scrimmage between the two teams the morning of Aug. 22 had plenty of competitiveness, with players battling both during play and after whistles.