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.

Ralph Krueger to be inducted into IIHF hall of fame

Switzerland’s national hockey team made a smart choice choosing Steinbach’s Ralph Krueger to coach their team in 1998.

In the 35 years before Krueger took the helm, the Swiss had only played in the top division six times. Under Krueger, they didn’t miss a year playing in the A-Pool.

Krueger coached Switzerland at 12 world championships and three Olympics and was announced as part of the International Ice Hockey Federation’s hall of fame class of 2026 as a builder.

“The team was always competitive, but most important it believed it belonged at the top and played with a confidence infused in them by Krueger,” his bio reads.

Springfield tackles climate change starting with a tree inventory

The RM of Springfield is creating a climate change adaptation plan, beginning with a tree inventory.

“(The) climate (change) adaptation plan is basically a plan to get the RM of Springfield ready for future events such as drought, low water levels, flooding, extreme heat, extreme cold, wildfire smoke, air quality, and of course winter snow,” said Nomar Yorobe, utility projects and asset management coordinator.

The RM has been working on the plan since September when they applied to the provincial government for funding. Currently, Springfield is waiting to hear if their plan is successful. Springfield has budgeted $83,000, but the funding only covers up to $70,000.

“So, we’re basically just waiting, in the waiting game for now. And we are hoping to get an answer, of course, next year. And I believe the timeline is to get it done within two years,” said Yorobe.

Calvert, Ueno win Morris Superspiel

While the eyes of Canadian Curling were in Halifax, the Dekalb Superspiel rolled on.

With the Canadian Olympic Curling Trials scheduled for the same week as the superspiel, there was less star power on the ice in Morris this year.

Team Calvert, out of Winnipeg has made a habit of performing well at the event, losing in the final in their first season together and winning back-to-back championships, including this year.

Calvert defeated Team Sinnett in the final. taking advantage when a last rock draw came up short in the second end, leaving an open draw for five to take complete control of the game. After conceding a pair of steals, Sinnett shook hands after just four ends of play.

COLUMN: Tales from the Gravel Ridge – A season for reflection

Winter has arrived in our part of the world. Having said that, those of us living not far from the longitudinal centre of Canada know only too well that, along with what the calendar reveals to us, we are also experiencing what’s normal to all of us who have lived here for most of our lives. It is the season when cold and blustery weather may well make travel hazardous, and we are reminded once more why certain activities are normal for certain times of year.

All in all, I actually enjoy the changing seasons which all of us living in this part of the world fully expect. Sometimes the first snowfall of the year may come to us as a surprise, arriving earlier than anticipated. Regardless, whether early or late, snowy weather, along with bitterly cold days will arrive eventually. We know, of course, that a good blanket of snow is vital to prairie life as a protective layer for all manner of reasons, be it for hibernating wildlife as well as nurturing a range of prairie vegetation. In recent years we have become acutely aware of the possibility of drought if we don’t have an abundant snow cover in winter, along with an adequate amount of rainfall during the summer months.

We may sometimes grumble a little about the weather, but it is truly remarkable how well all nature, including the human race, are able to adapt to these changes that occur season by season, and year after year. For the most part, I think we are rather delighted when a fresh blanket of snow covers the ground where last summer’s luxuriance has dried up and crumbled. It’s almost as if fall cleanup has occurred, at least outdoors.

In the minds of children winter brings its own rewards, especially if heaps of snow arrive early in the season, hopefully with the best of textures. All that snowball producers and snow fort builders need for a good time, is plenty of snow. Such activities can be enjoyed in solitude, or in the company of friends or classmates. The benefits and possibilities of snow are enormous. For children and youth a little bit of snow shovelling is not necessarily an onerous task, especially if it’s a self-appointed activity. Even filling up a large boiler indoors with well-compacted snow shovelled into containers outdoors, was not burdensome. I well remember such activities when our family lived in Rosengard so many decades ago. Having this necessary potential water supply was important to facilitate laundering the family’s clothing and linen supplies. The water from our well was extremely hard and could impossibly produce laundry that was sparkling white to my mother’s expectations.

Oakbank’s Caiden Gault honoured after strong weekend

Caiden Gault had the best weekend of any forward in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, helping his Northern Michigan Wildcats to their first win of the season.

He had three goals over two games to lead the conference, and his eight on the season are the most by any Wildcats player this year.

Gault, who was born in Oakbank, transferred to Northern Michigan this year after three years suiting up for Ferris State University.

Gault opened the scoring in the Wildcats 3-2 win and their 4-3 overtime loss, both to Bowling Green. His third of the weekend was spectacular, as he set up at the point on the powerplay and ripped a one-timer slap shot perfectly into the top corner to give his team a 2-1 lead in the second period.