MJHL NOTES: Youthful Flyers expect to improve across the season

The Winkler Flyers are hoping to improve after an unusual down season by their standards in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League.

The Flyers finished fourth in the East Division, their worst finish since the COVID-19 pandemic, and were swept in the first round of the playoffs by Niverville.

Head coach and general manager Matt Melo is in his third season with the Flyers and anticipates his team growing throughout the year.

“We’re a young group, I think we’re a strong group, but certainly there’s lots to clean up,” Melo said following a pair of defeats to Steinbach over the weekend to open their season.

“We knew it would take a bit of time, there’s going to be a learning curve and with that some challenges and mistakes. (It wasn’t) the weekend we would have liked, but sometimes those are the moments you can learn and solidify as a group.”

Helping that process is a brand new facility. The renovated Centennial Arena in Winkler opened in the final weekend of the regular season last year, only hosting four games as the team moved into their new digs.

This season, the Flyers are settled in and raring to go. Nearly 1,000 people were in attendance for their home opener.

“The fans have been out and supporting us really well,” Melo said.

“It’s just an incredible spot to play. Our facility is top-notch. We have everything we need for junior hockey players to get to the next level and that’s what our group wants to do.”

Those young Flyers were punished in transition in the two losses to Steinbach, with Pistons forwards converting their chances easily.

“The guys’ ceiling and potential is through the roof,” Melo said.

“We’re going to be a group that competes and out-works other teams. We’re going to have to be super detail oriented and we’re going to defend really well.”

Melo said he preferred his team’s play in their 5-2 loss in Steinbach compared to their 3-1 home opener loss, noting he thought they created a lot more chances on the second night of the back-to-back.

“I liked our effort a lot more, we got pucks to the blue paint and created a bit more chaos around the crease,” he said.

“I think we need to get more bodies there, get in sight-lines… We’re certainly not panicking in this room. We have a lot of belief in here and we expect to be contending come March.”

The Flyers boast a strong Eastman connection on their team, with Steinbach’s Noah Stott ready for a full season. The 2008-born forward played a combined 39 games for Swan Valley and Winkler last season.

“(Stott) is a unit of a man, he can mix it up, he can be physical but he also has a nose for the net,” Melo said.

“We love him, he’s a great kid. We’re happy to have him on our side and not in Steinbach.

St Adolphe’s Graeme Pickering played 29 games in the MJHL with Winkler last season and is starting his season back in Red Deer in the Western League.

For more MJHL coverage, including stats, game recaps for Steinbach and Niverville and the upcoming schedule, be sure to check out the print edition of The Carillon, published every Thursday.