SRSS Sabres hockey finish winningest regular season in program history

While the Steinbach Regional Secondary School Sabres came up one game short of earning a first-round playoff bye, head coach John Laninga has them aiming high.

The team is going into the playoffs having given up the second-fewest goals of any team in the top division of the Winnipeg High School Hockey League, setting new program highs for wins in a regular season.

Laninga said the team isn’t resting on that heading into the playoffs.

“I think if you talk to anyone in that locker room, they’re not completely satisfied,” Laninga said after the team’s final regular season game of the season against St Paul’s Feb. 4.

“Overall, I’m really happy with the body of work.”

Laninga said this edition of the Steinbach Regional hockey team was one of the hardest practicing editions the program has seen, including in off-ice workouts and video study.

“They’re just serious,” Laninga said, crediting the returning players for setting a great team culture.

“(They) surpassed expectations, bought into the message and put themselves in a really good spot heading into the playoffs.”

Oak Park Vincent Massey and Sturgeon Heights finished ahead of the Sabres in the standings, meaning Steinbach has to play last-place Shaftesbury in the first round. Laninga was fine with not getting a bye, and hopes a competitive first-round series will set the team up for success throughout the playoffs.

“There’s no freebies at all in the league, everyone has a deep line-up, everyone has a really good goaltender and it feels like high school hockey is as tight as it’s ever been,” he said.

“We want to be sharp, we want to be ready to go for whatever happens.”

The first game of the playoffs for Steinbach was finished after press time Feb. 11, with a potential game three set for Mitchell Feb. 13.