From the thrill of victory, to the agony of defeat: Championship wins and losses highlight 2023 in sports

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This article was published 06/01/2024 (612 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The region had several success stories in the sporting world. Here are a few marquee moments from across 2023.

Centennial Arena goes out with a bang

The teams which called the Centennial Arena in Steinbach home certainly made their final seasons inside the aging building a memorable one.

With the building slated for destruction in the summer of 2023, the Hanover-Tache Junior Hockey League’s Steinbach Huskies, Steinbach Regional Secondary School Sabres and the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s Steinbach Pistons were all able to squeeze in one more championship before the rink was eventually torn down.

The final action inside the Centennial Arena saw Steinbach close out the MJHL finals, defeating the Virden Oil Capitals 3-0 in front of a raucous crowd which sent out their home building in style.

After the victory, Steinbach’s head coach and general manager, Paul Dyck, admitted the team was feeling pressure to replicate the results of their arena-mates.

“I’ve spent many, many years in this building and I can’t think of a better way for it to end,” Dyck said after the final whistle.

“You couldn’t write a better script.”

It was a special championship for Pistons star forward Ty Paisley, who grew up in Steinbach, and lost in the 2022 finals. He wasn’t about to let his hometown team down in his final year, posting 11 goals and 18 assists during the playoffs, including a goal in the series-clinching game.

The Pistons couldn’t advance at the Centennial Cup but did pick up their first win at the national championship. Later in the summer, Warren Clark became the second-ever player to be drafted straight from Steinbach’s MJHL team to the NHL when Tampa Bay selected him in the sixth round.

The new Southeast Event Centre is expected to be finished in late 2024, with the Pistons relocating to La Broquerie temporarily while the new building is under construction.

Memories to last a lifetime in Ste Anne

The Ste Anne Aces ran one of the best senior hockey programs in Manitoba before the COVID-19 pandemic destroyed the Carillon Senior Hockey League.

Undeterred, they made the switch to the South East Manitoba Hockey League alongside the Ile des Chenes North Stars and Red River Wild for the 2022/2023 season.

The move paid off, with several players giving one more season of senior hockey a go before retirement, the Aces were able to prevail in a dramatic seven-game series to win the SEMHL league championship in their first year.

The Aces fell behind 3-0 in the series and needed a dramatic comeback overtime win at home to even force a game seven. Inside the Morden Bombers home arena, they would prevail 5-3 in the final game of the series, powered by a heroic performance from 40-year-old netminder Guy St Vincent, who made nearly 50 saves in the victory.

St Vincent, who had played for the Aces since 2013, retired after the provincial championship, which the Aces lost.

“We knew (Morden) were a good team, we knew they had firepower, we knew they could score goals, but we also knew we could do the same,” St Vincent said.

Ste Anne captain Erik Leefe called his goalie, “the best player on the ice,” in game seven.

The victory came at the perfect time for Ste Anne, as the community was able to rally and become one of the four finalists for Kraft Hockeyville. While the town would come up short in the final vote, just by making the finals, they earned a $25,000 grant.

The campaign was organized in part by Sarah Normandeau, who was able to recover after the announcement to deliver a message to the packed crowd through a bullhorn, committing to keep the arena open despite desperately needing the funds.

“I never knew our community could rally like this,” Normandeau said.

“Yes, we’re allowed to be disappointed, we’re allowed to show our feelings…. We’re allowed to have a fall. But it matters how you pick yourself up after.”

Sure enough the Ste Anne arena was up and running for fall of 2023.

A historic championship

Rugby is one of the oldest organized sports in Manitoba. For over 100 years, players from across Manitoba have competed for a trophy given to the top team in the province, which had always been given to a Winnipeg team.

Until 2023.

The Eastman Warriors became the first team from outside the Perimeter Highway to win the championship, defeating the Manitoba Wombats on a blustery day at the Maple Grove Rugby Park 39-29 Sept. 23.

The victory came one year after the Warriors were defeated in the championship game, with the Wombats ending their bid for an undefeated season.

The 2023 Warriors would not be denied, led by veteran forward Ioan Evans, who scored two second half tries to salt the game away. After the game, he credited the strong second-half performance to hard training sessions throughout the season.

“We needed to make sure we had discipline, we had structure, and making sure we’re playing together as a unit,” Evans said.

“We had that belief and the coaches kept on instilling that in us, and building it every single practice, every single game.”

Women’s players from the Eastman region also walked away with hardware after their grand final, as they joined the Winnipeg Assassins team to help them to their own undefeated championship.

Collegiate successes

It wasn’t just the Steinbach Regional Hockey team which managed to put a banner up in the SRSS gym this season, as the girls rugby team and both junior varsity and varsity girls volleyball teams won provincial championships as well.

It was a tough road for the SRSS varsity team, as they lost the league championship and needed five-set victories in every game of their tournament run, including in the final against Selkirk.

There was no question who was deserving of the tournament MVP award, with Sienna Driedger dominating throughout the year. The Trinity Western commit finished the final with 24 kills, including the championship-clinching point.

Head coach Amy Toews praised Driedger for not only her ability on the court, but her leadership throughout the match.

“She keeps such a level head regardless of what’s going on in the game, and I think that really helped level our team,” Toews said.

There wasn’t much luck to be had for the rest of the Sabres teams, with the baseball and softball teams losing at provincials despite looking strong. The golf team came up one stroke short of a provincial championship as well. On the football field, Steinbach enjoyed a bounce-back year after going winless last season, making the playoffs after re-alignment across the Winnipeg High School Football League.

The AAAA championships had a new face in town, as the Gabrielle-Roy Les Roys took down the giants of the province en route to the school’s first-ever top tier banner. Their junior varsity boys volleyball team won the provincial championship.

The program has had years of success at the AA level, including boys and girls varsity championships this season, but had yet to make their mark at the highest level.

That changed this season, with the junior varsity boys defeating Sisler in straight sets.

“It feels like a sense of community when it comes to our school, and we rally behind the volleyball program,” head coach Dan Lother said after the game.

At the college level, the Providence Pilots men’s teams were brilliant this season, winning provincial basketball and volleyball championships, while the women’s teams came up just short in the finals. Both soccer teams lost in their provincial finals.