Holiday hockey rare but present across the region

While fans will notice a decrease in games between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, there are still some places to get your local hockey fix this year.

The Steinbach Pistons will be hosting a New Year’s Eve game this season, as they take on the Winnipeg Blues. The 6 p.m. start time is perfect for anyone planning on attending the Southeast Event Centre’s 80s-themed social later in the evening.

The Pistons also play an unusual Wednesday afternoon game against the Blues Jan 7. Puck drop is at 12:30 p.m. in Winnipeg at the Rink Training Centre.

The Manitoba Major Junior Hockey League has a full slate of games scheduled for Dec. 23, but the Morris-based Pembina Valley Twisters will be on the road against St Vital.

Soup’s On founder receives award from Governor General

The Soup’s On founder has received a medal from the Governor General last week for her work in feeding the hungry.

Joy Neufeld was awarded the Meritorious Service Decorations (Civil Division) medal last week, which is given to people to recognize their remarkable contributions in many different fields of endeavour, from advocacy initiatives and health-care services, to research and humanitarian efforts. Past recipients have tackled poverty in their community, improved educational opportunities for children in Canada and abroad, or raised awareness of important causes and issues.

“Each of you contributes to fostering a feeling of pride and cohesion in our society. Today, we celebrate not only your talent, expertise and the years of dedication you’ve invested in building your careers. We also honour all the lives you’ve touched through your work,” said Governor General Mary Simon during the ceremony in Ottawa.

“The Order of Canada and these Meritorious Service Decorations are an invitation to continue strengthening pride and solidarity across our nation. On behalf of all those whose lives you have touched, I offer my deepest gratitude and heartfelt congratulations.”

Arena reno delays push St Malo Warriors to St Jean

If the two-time defending champion St Malo Warriors home to add another Capital Region Junior Hockey League banner to their rink, they’ll need to do it in someone else’s home.

The Warriors announced on social media Dec. 13 they would need to play the rest of their season outside of the St Malo Arena, as ongoing construction will continue for the rest of this hockey season.

“While this is not the situation anyone hoped for, the St Malo Warriors remain committed to defending our back-to-back championships by adding a third straight league championship,” the post reads.

“The Warriors will play the majority of their home games in St Jean Baptiste, with additional home stops in Grunthal, Rosenort and St Agathe.”

Steinbach Arts Council joins suicide prevention, wellness committee

The Steinbach Arts Council has always promoted the idea that art can bring about general overall wellness. Now, the Southeast’s principal arts organization has joined a committee dealing with suicide prevention and wellness where the incorporation of the arts into mental health awareness is part of the journey to enhance one’s mental wellbeing.

“As you know, Steinbach Arts Council loves to create partnerships with organizations in and around the community. At the heart of those partnerships is the belief that we really have a lot of common goals within this community…,”said SAC executive director David Klassen.

“Most recently, we’ve decided to join a community led group that’s focusing on suicide prevention. It’s called Roots of Hope and it is actually through the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC). So, the relationship with Southern Health has offered us the opportunity to sit around that table and lend our voice…we can help, let us contribute, and let us help move this important topic forward.”

Roots of Hope is “a multi-site, community-led model that aims to reduce the impact of suicide within communities” through a local lens. It was established and is promoted by MHCC, and in Manitoba it is funded by the Housing, Addictions and Homelessness department. The MHCC provides the framework for the committee, which is spearheaded by Southern Health. Along with SAC and Southern Health, the Steinbach Roots of Hope committee includes local organizations or community members.

U18 AAA Eastman Selects keeping pace despite offensive woes

The Eastman Selects U18 AAA team found a spectacular way to break out of an offensive slump.

The team blew out Norman 11-1 Dec. 14 at the Southeast Event Centre, ending a spell of four games with just a single even-strength goal.

That lack of offense didn’t stop the team from racking up points, with a pair of extra time losses and a spectacular come from behind win over some of the better teams in the league.

Their most spectacular result came against the Winnipeg Thrashers Dec. 13. Eastman scored three late third period goals to tie a game against the second-place Thrashers, before star defenseman Crosby Mateychuk finished the job in overtime on the powerplay.

COLUMN: Grey Matters – Rembrandt’s two Simeons

Simeon: a name that comes from the Hebrew root word meaning “to hear” or “to listen”.

When Rembrandt painted Simeon blessing infant Jesus in the temple in 1631, he was only 25 years old. In 1669 (the final year of his life) at the age of 63, he painted a second version. The two paintings tell us as much about the artist himself as they do the subject matter.

The first painting is an ornate scene with the temple itself presented as a character in the story. Rembrandt’s early style is marked by meticulous detail, dramatic contrasts of light and shadow (chiaroscuro), and a vibrant, almost theatrical composition. “Rembrandt’s characteristic illumination shines like a spotlight coming down from heaven, making Jesus the brightest figure in the scene. Simeon holds the child as he gazes up to heaven. Another attendant in the temple looks on, hands raised in praise. Nearly two dozen other figures line the background, looking on. Here, young Rembrandt shows what he’s capable of” (The Rabbit Room).

The second version from 1669, one of his last paintings reveals a profound change in his approach. “Gone are the crowds looking on. Gone are the columns, and filigree, and architecture. Gone is brilliant beam of light. The crisp brushwork of a steady young hand has given way to the shaky, mottled, impressions of the old master’s touch” (The Rabbit Room). The scene is pared down to its essence: Simeon, the Christ child, and a shadowed figure, all enveloped in warmth and simplicity.

Mixed reactions to speed limit bill

Two southeastern Manitoba municipalities have mixed feelings over a private member’s bill seeking to allow municipalities to set speed limits on provincial roads.

Progressive Conservative MLA for La Vérendrye Konrad Narth introduced Bill 222, The Highway Traffic Amendment Act (Speed limits on provincial roads), to the legislature on Dec. 4. The bill would let any local traffic authority, such as a First Nation or a municipality, to set speed limits on provincial roads in urban areas.

Stuartburn Reeve Michelle Gawronsky said she learned about the bill for the first time when it was read out in the legislature. She called it “unfortunate” because there was no prior consultation with Narth before it was introduced.

“I’m not saying the bill isn’t good, but I just think there’s an awful lot of questions that we would’ve like to have asked Konrad before this actually went before the legislature,” she said.

Struggling Pembina Valley Twisters hope coaching change provides spark

The Pembina Valley Twisters went from contender to bottom feeder in Manitoba Major Junior Hockey League the blink of an eye. Just two seasons ago they finished second and battled St James in the league finals.

Many of the players on that team did not return, leaving the Twisters to struggle at historic levels. The team won just three games in 2024/2025, with a minus-218 goal difference. Pembina Valley didn’t win a game at their home rink in Morris.

This year showed little improvement. Through 22 games this season, they have just two wins and a minus-88 goal difference, although those two wins have come on home ice.

With those results, it’s no surprise the team has made a coaching change. Braeden Beernaerts and Riley Wise are out, replaced by Chris Unger. Unger is from Winkler, and previously coached high level minor hockey. He played junior A hockey in Selkirk in the 90s.

COLUMN: Carillon Flashback Dec. 10, 2001 – Company tradition boosts Christmas hamper campaign

For the past six years, Steinbach groups have been getting together in a combined effort to ensure needy families in the Southeast get a little something extra at Christmas.

For the past four years, the employees at a group of Blumenort-based companies have been getting together at an annual Christmas party to add thousands of dollars to that Christmas hamper fund.

Last week, Community Christmas committee chairman Hank Klassen backed a half-ton up to Penner Farm Services at Blumenort to load the toys donated by employees of the Penner family’s five companies.

But the toys are only a small part of the annual contribution. Employees of Penner Farm Services, Southeast Forest Products, Penfor Construction, Nu West Products and W-4 Dairy again saw their donations of $2,500 tripled by their bosses.

Inaugural holiday market packs library

The Jake Epp Library hosted their first holiday market on Dec. 6.

Carillon Sports Second Shots: Dec. 11th edition

Featuring photos from an SRSS Hockey Game Dec. 3 and a Niverville/Steinbach MJHL game Dec. 5.

St Pierre-Jolys arena repairs complete

The St Pierre-Jolys Arena repairs are complete, a month early.

“Things went really well, and everything that was required was local. Local meaning like within Winnipeg, within Manitoba. Nothing had to be ordered out of province, so everything fell into place perfectly. So that means we’ll be able to get our hockey teams back to our own arena,” said Mayor Raymond Maynard, adding it was the structural grade beam that was replaced.

Maynard said parents had to take their children out of town for ice sports with some travelling distances about 30 minutes from town. He said teams from St Malo, Winnipeg, and Steinbach are some of the teams that use the St Pierre arena.

“In my view, if their community does not have an arena, it doesn’t grow. There’s nothing to bring in the young families to come to move to our community. What is there to do? There’s basically not much, right? As soon as you’ve got an arena, it gives you a bunch of other things that you can do, like hockey, ringette, and in summer maybe some indoor sports and stuff,” he said.

Winnipeg homeless organization voices support for Steinbach’s The INN

A Winnipeg homeless outreach charity has endorsed a proposal to build Steinbach’s first transitional housing complex, The Carillon has learned.

Main Street Project, which offers housing and addictions supports in Winnipeg, voiced its support for The INN (Initiative for Neighbourly Nights) in a letter to provincial officials on Nov. 19.

“We are confident that The INN will provide a safer, more stable, and more compassionate response to housing instability in Steinbach,” read the letter, signed by executive director Jamil Mahmood.

The INN, which formed in July 2023, is an assisted-living transitional housing project that would house people in 12 rooms for up to 18 months. It would also offer onsite nursing and addictions services. The roughly $1-million project, located at Main Street and Kroeker Avenue, is slated for construction in spring 2026, pending city approval of its permit application.

Manitoba Museum mural showcases Grunthal ice age fossils

A new mural at the Manitoba Museum displays ice age fossils found in southeastern Manitoba.

Unveiled on Dec. 1, the mural inside the Winnipeg museum shows woolly mammoths, muskoxen and a giant beaver wandering Grunthal’s former marshy and pine-tree-dotted landscape.

Joe Moysiuk, the museum’s curator of paleontology and geology, said the fossils found in gravel pits around Grunthal are at least 40,000 years old. Those fossils are some of the most intact versions of ice age mammals found in Manitoba, he noted.

“I hope that people will come away with a feeling of the immensity of time and how much our province has changed over the last few tens of thousands of years,” Moysiuk told The Carillon.