Steinbach Pistons aiming to continue ‘era of excellence’

In advance of such an exciting year off the ice, Paul Dyck and the Steinbach Pistons are working hard to make sure their outstanding run of play continues on it.

The Pistons will finally have a building to match their play on the ice, as the Southeast Event Centre will officially welcome junior A hockey beginning Dec. 31.

In the meantime, there are 31 games to be played in La Broquerie before the team can finally call the centre home. Dyck, the team’s head coach and general manager, said the team is staying focused and not anticipating the second half of the season too much.

“It’s something everybody is looking forward to, but it’s very much day-to-day here,” Dyck said, adding even the move from the tiny confines of the T.G. Smith Centre to the HyLife Centre in La Broquerie was a welcome one.

“It’s nice to be in a stable environment again. Yes we’re looking forward to (the move), but it is secondary and we’ve got a lot of hockey to be played before then.”

The Pistons have been a perennial contender in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League since winning their first league championship in 2013. The team has never finished below third in the regular season standings since that victory, with all years led by Dyck. Steinbach even named their season ticket drive in their new building the “era of excellence.”

“Having the pre-season under our belt and training camp we feel like we’ve learned a lot about our group,” Dyck said.

“There’s always a lot of anticipation and nervousness with the younger players… It’s a fun time of year, it’s an exciting time. This week leading up to the regular season always seems a little bit more intense on the ice.”

The team is coming into the season with big expectations after losing out on the MJHL championship to the Winkler Flyers in the finals last season.

“We want to play a fast, up-tempo game, an exciting brand of hockey and I think we have a chance to win a lot of hockey games this season,” Dyck said.

“I expect us to grow as a group. I’m looking forward to it… Our expectations are to always be in the mix at the end of the year and I firmly believe we should be with this group.”

Steinbach should have an excellent core of forwards this season, returning plenty of players from last year’s team, which finished with the most goals scored in the league.

While leading scorers Leo Chambers and Kirk Mullen have aged out of junior, the Pistons are in a strong position to replace them, with seven of the team’s top 10 forwards points-wise returning to the line-up. Dyck said having so many familiar faces in practice has made learning the team’s structure easy compared to last season.

“(The returning forwards) have been a huge part of leading practice and really conveying to the new players just on expectations and how we play, how we execute our forecheck, what our neutral zone looks like,” Dyck said.

“They’ve been quick to share some teaching points that maybe last year came from the coaching staff.”

Brayden Barnett will add some major junior pedigree, fresh off three seasons and more than 100 games with the Regina Pats.

“(Barnett) has just transitioned seamlessly,” Dyck said.

“I knew he would, he’s a high character guy, just a great team person, loved by his teammates. Of course he’s a big presence on the ice, but just goes about his work every day. He’s a strong silent type leadership, but also vocal when he needs to be.”

With Cole Plowman aging out of junior and Beck Liden returning to the states, Dyck has worked hard to replace their production in the crease. Liden posted an impressive 0.936 save percentage in 19 games last year.

Dyck said the back-up and starter roles should be filled by Christian Green and Zach Burleigh. The American-born Green is coming in from the B.C. Hockey League’s Okotoks Oilers, which was one of five teams to make the switch from the Alberta league mid-way through last season.

Burleigh spent last season in the Ontario Junior Hockey League, appearing in 22 games with the Brantford 99ers.

“Our desire here is to have two really good goalies and I think we’re in that position again,” Dyck said.

A familiar face will lead the charge on defense. Noah Szabo is back in Pistons colours, looking to repeat as MJHL defenseman of the year. It’s a less experienced group of returning players compared to the forwards, but Dyck is confident they’ll pick right up where they left off.

The Pistons were in tough last year, with major injuries throughout the D-core, forcing Dyck to call up 18U and junior B players to suit up for the team.

Szabo was paired with 2007-born Oakbank defenseman Reece Gault for the team’s final exhibition game of the season, with the duo combining for three points in the victory.

“Anytime you have a Noah Szabo who can play for 25-30 minutes a night, it just stabilizes and makes the whole D-core that much more confident,” Dyck said, adding Spencer Penner and Shane Burns are ready to log big minutes as well.

Penner (Blumenort) and Eric Cote (La Broquerie) round out a D-core full of local players.

Steinbach will open their season on the road for a finals rematch with Winkler Sept. 20, before returning to La Broquerie’s HyLife Centre for their home opener against those same Flyers the next night.

“Let’s see where we’re at right from the beginning,” Dyck said, noting he loves to see the Pistons challenged early in the season.

“(The Flyers) are the benchmark coming out of last year, so it’s a good barometer for us.”

Puck drop is at 7 p.m. Steinbach Pistons games are broadcast on dabroadcasting.mixlr.com, with paid video available at Flohockey.com.