Playoff update: Ste Anne Aces take early lead in SEMHL finals

Editor’s note: this story was written March 11 to be published in the March 13th edition of the Carillon

The Ste Anne Aces survived a late scare from the Springfield Winterhawks to take a 2-0 lead in their best of seven South East Manitoba Hockey League final, winning 4-3 in Oakbank March 10.

The Aces looked to be in complete control, bouncing back from a second-period disallowed goal to bring a 4-2 lead into the final frame.

Springfield struggled to generate offense, despite an extended five-on-three, before Quinton Howden managed to strike with 35 seconds to go. Despite the short time remaining on the clock, the Winterhawks generated a glorious chance to tie the game, with a backdoor pass skipping out of reach of a Springfield player as the clock ticked down.

The game finished at a late time, as an extended delay took place after a pane of glass was ejected from the boards at the Oakbank arena. With no spares on hand, rink staff had to try a couple different options before installing the final fix.

It took a while for both teams to get going in the final, with a scoreless first period in game one, hosted in Ste Anne March 8. Adam Hughesman, who leads the SEMHL in playoff goals so far this season, opened the scoring in the second period, as the teams exchanged goals.

A Curtis Rebeck marker for the visitors just 30 seconds into the third period tied the game 2-2, before the Aces pulled away, with captain and star forward Brenden Walker notching the winning goal before setting up Hughesman and Alex Tetrault to give Ste Anne a 5-2 victory.

Game three took place after press time at the Maurice Chaput arena in Ste Anne. Game four will be March 15 in Oakbank, with game six if needed March 19 back in Ste Anne.

Whichever team wins the finals will have home-ice advantage in the provincial senior AA hockey finals.

HTJHL

The Springfield Xtreme and Niverville Clippers appeared on a collision course all year, and the two top teams in the Hanover Tache Junior Hockey League are now meeting in the league finals.

With the league splitting into two divisions this season, including for the playoffs, the Clippers cruised to a victory in the West Division, while the Xtreme dominated the East Division. Neither team has faced an elimination game these playoffs, with the Macdonald Swarm the only team to even take a lead after winning game one of the West Division final.

Niverville even managed to give Springfield their only regulation loss so far this season, defeating them 3-2 Jan 4.

In game one of the series, played in Oakbank March 11, the Clippers added another regulation loss to the Xtreme’s season, nabbing two third period goals to win 2-1.

CRJHL

It’s been a war through three games of the Capital Region Junior Hockey League semi-final featuring the Selkirk Fishermen and St Malo Warriors.

While the Warriors have carved out a 2-1 series lead, it’s clear there is no love lost between the two franchises, which have battled for league supremacy since the league’s founding in 2018. The teams have combined for 313 penalty minutes through the first three games, including back-to-back 120 minute outings in games one and two.

Those penalty minutes came with several resulting suspensions, with five players serving time on the league’s suspension list in advance of game four.

It looked like the series had somewhat calmed down in game three, hosted in St Malo March 9, but a flurry of activity in the final 30 seconds had referees busy. They handed out four misconducts and three major penalties (one for a check to the head, two for fighting) with just 22 seconds to go in the period.

The result on the scoreboard was a big one, with the Fishermen heading into hostile territory and coming back with a 5-0 win to avoid going down 3-0 in the series.

A pair of second period special team goals was the difference for the Warriors in game two, with Jeremie Collette striking on the powerplay before Ashton Dubois nabbed a short-handed marker to turn a 2-2 tie into a 4-2 lead St Malo never surrendered.

Game four and six are in Selkirk March 14 and 18, with game five back in St Malo March 17.

MALE U18 AAA

The Eastman Selects U18 AAA 2024/2025 season came to the exact same end as last year, with the team dropping a first-round series to the first-place Brandon Wheat Kings.

The Selects had their chance to nab control of the series in game one, but allowed a third period equalizer before falling in overtime.

From there, the Wheat Kings dominated, out-scoring Eastman 13-3 in the next two games, including a 7-1 blowout March 5 in Brandon. Jaxson Brick and Cole Dupuis ended any hopes of a series comeback just 90 seconds into the decisive game three, giving the home side a 2-0 advantage before fans had even settled into their seats.

The semi-finals will see the Wheat Kings taking on the Southwest Cougars, while the Winnipeg Wild and Winnipeg Bruins will do battle in an all-city series.

The fifth-seeded Cougars were the only lower seed to advance out of the quarterfinals.

MINOR

The final weekend of provincial championships were held at venues across Manitoba March 7-9, with the La Broquerie Habs winning the co-ed U18 Rural B championships in Ste Agathe.

The U13 Rural A2 championships were hosted in Ste Anne, with the Aces nabbing a bronze and Springfield losing to Morden in the final.

In earlier action, Lorette won the U11 Female Rural B championships and the Eastman South Blizzard took the co-ed U15 Rural AA banner.