SPORTS FLASHBACK 2005: Competitive curlers need both fitness and finesse

Some curlers may look like they would be more at home in the aisles at Safeway selecting groceries rather than on the ice throwing rocks for the Manitoba men’s curling championships at the upcoming Safeway Select.

It was not that long ago that an Olympic curler was chastised for being out of shape and the suggestion was made that he did not look enough like an athlete to represent his country in such a stellar competition.

Looks can be deceiving, and if you harbor any doubts that competitive curlers require both finesse and fitness to be at the top of their game, it’s time to turn loose your imagination a little.

Picture this. You are at the previously mentioned grocery store, about to push a shopping cart down the cereal aisle, past all the healthy foods, while heading for the cookies, which they hide at the other end of the store.

Pilots women’s basketball team doubles up on trophies

Providence College’s women’s basketball team continues to add to their trophy case.

The team went into the Northern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament as the number one seed and proved why they earned that ranking, holding off a late charge from Trinity Bible College in the final minutes of the final Feb. 22.

After a back and forth opening half, the Pilots managed to build a 10-point third quarter lead. Trinity battled back to pull the game within three, but three quick baskets within a 40-second span mid-way through the fourth turned the game. Faith LaRocque hit two of those baskets, including an acrobatic layup twisting around a defender.

Providence crushed Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College in the quarterfinals before battling past fellow Manitoba team St Boniface in the semi-finals. Head coach Kendall Perpall was named NIAC coach of the year and LaRocque was player of the year.

La Broquerie Habs, Eastman Selects join playoff ranks

The Capital Region Junior Hockey League became the latest hockey loop to begin their post-season play, with quarterfinal action kicking off in La Broquerie Feb. 23.

The Habs dominated Arborg 4-0, controlling much of the play and shutting down any opportunity the Ice Dawgs had before it could even begin to look dangerous.

La Broquerie had an outside chance at finishing third in the league standings, but lost on the final day of the regular season to Beausejour.

St Malo earned a first-round bye after a strong finish to the regular season. The two-time defending league champions will play home games in their upcoming semi-final in Morris, as the Pembina Valley Twisters had any chance of reaching the Manitoba Major Junior Hockey League’s post season ended this week.

Larocque wins Silver with Team Canada at Olympics

For 58 minutes, it looked like Canada’s golden generation of women’s hockey players had one more great performance in them.

Going into the Olympic Gold Medal game against the United States, the Canadians, featuring Ste Anne’s Jocelyne Larocque were heavy underdogs, but a Kristen O’Neill short-handed breakaway had the Canucks up 1-0.

Despite U.S.A. leaning on younger players for their advantage in recent years, it was their veteran captain who saved the day, tipping home a point shot with two minutes to go to tie the game before Megan Keller scored the golden goal in the three-on-three overtime.

“It’s going to take a little bit to decompress, there’s no doubt about it. That’s the exact game expected, a tight matchup,” an emotional Canadian defender Renata Fast told the Free Press following the game. Fast was paired with Larocque throughout most of the tournament.

U15 AAA Selects continuing to produce top WHL talent

Three years ago, Brek Liske (Beausejour) was taken by Everett in the first round of the WHL draft. Two years ago Graeme Pickering (St Adolphe) and Asher Gingras (Steinbach) were taken in the first round. Last year Crosby Mateychuk (Dominion City) was selected by Vancouver and has already made the jump to major junior.

In 2026, Île-des-Chênes’ Nixon Gaudet is hoping to add his name to that list, as the U15 Eastman Selects enjoy another strong year in the AAA league thanks in part to the 2011-born forward’s efforts. Gaudet had 50 goals in the first 29 games of the season.

“He’s probably one of the most skilled players in the draft, but because of his size he gets knocked back a few pegs,” Selects head coach Gerald Tetrault said.

“That being said, he’s a dog and he works so hard and I’m super proud of where he’s come in the last couple years as a player.”

Providence College set to add rugby next fall

Providence College continues to add sports programs to their offerings.

With Cross Country, Curling and now rugby, the Pilots are set to add three new sports during the fall 2026 semester.

Providence will play Rugby 7s in the Prairie University Women’s Rugby Conference, with the aim of playing 15s next year. Isi Masi, who played high-level rugby in Austrailia and Manitoba and coaches the Eastman Warriors women’s rugby team, will head up the program.

Athletic director Joel Coursey said Masi is the perfect coach to build a strong culture around the sport at the school.

SPORTS FLASHBACK 1986: SPORTOPICS says good-bye to ‘Charlie O’

I can remember when I met Jake Blatz. He was a young businessman, just starting out in the restaurant trade, and I was a 14-year-old high school student, skipping classes to play a little pinball.

Jake Blatz warned me that while he appreciated my contribution to the machine in his coffee shop, one of the school trustees had a business right next door and kind of frowned on seeing students in the restaurant during school hours.

I remember when I first saw Jake Blatz in a baseball uniform. I was a rookie reporter with The Carillon and he was a pitcher for the Millers fastball team, which I had the pleasure (?) of coaching and managing.

The first time he walked out onto the field, he was wearing a tie under his Millers jersey and I told myself this wasn’t just a ball player. Here was an owner.

AS I SEE IT COLUMN: Our Olympic curlers have tarnished Canada’s reputation

Curling used to be noted for being a gentleman and gentlewoman’s game. Canadians used to be known for being polite.

That changed last week when both Canada’s women’s and men’s curling teams got embroiled in a curling controversy that made headlines – all of which made Canada look terrible – around the world.

First the men, where it all started. By now you know that Sweden accused Team Canada of “double-touching” a stone. According to curling rules, once you remove your hand from the rock’s handle, you cannot touch the rock again.

Immediately upon being accused of double-touching, Canada’s Marc Kennedy instantly, without showing any fuse or any ability to check his emotions, started throwing f-bombs at the Swedes.

Providence Pilots soar to championship on home court

System basketball at Providence College is here to stay.

The school clinched a Manitoba Colleges Athletic Association championship on their home court at the Niverville Resource and Rec Centre Feb. 15, defeating Canadian Mennonite University 69-58 to cap off an undefeated MCAC season.

Kendall Perpal, who took over for now-athletic director Joel Coursey has put his own twist on what the school calls system basketball, with the team cycling through hockey-style line changes every couple minutes.

With offense hard to come by in the final quarter, Perpall mixed up those lines, putting out a group of more veteran players who rose to the occasion to close out the victory. The Pilots didn’t hit a field goal until more than six minutes into the final frame, relying on a couple foul shots and their strong defense to close out a feisty CMU squad.

Puck drops for playoffs across the region

Playoff hockey has kicked off across the region, with the Steinbach Regional Secondary School Sabres starting the marathon of games Feb. 11 when they started their first round series in the Winnipeg High School Hockey League

The first round of the Platinum Promotions division playoffs in the WHSHL was absolute chaos.

While fourth seed Steinbach Regional and fifth seed Collège Jeanne-Sauvé made quick work of their opponents, the three other preliminary round series saw the lower seed defeating the higher one.

The top three seeds got a first round bye, with Steinbach playing CJS in the quarterfinals. Game one was at the Southeast Event Centre after press time Feb. 18.

Carillon Sports 2nd Shots: Feb. 12th edition

Featuring Steinbach Pistons and SRSS Sabres games Feb. 4, Eastman Selects game Feb. 5, Providence Pilots basketball games Feb. 13, and an SEMHL game in Ile des Chenes Feb. 14.

Ewasko’s ice shining on Olympic stage

Greg Ewasko felt a rush of emotions Wednesday evening as the first rocks slid down the pebbled ice he helped create, officially ushering in the start of the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Pride. Relief. A brief moment of horror when a power outage plunged the venue into darkness. And, beneath it all, a deep sadness over what could have — and should have — been.

The Oakbank product had spent years imagining this day alongside his wife, Monique. Together, they mapped out what their first Olympic Games would look like. But not long after Ewasko received the call he’d dreamed of in the fall of 2023 — the World Curling Federation wanted him as an ice maker — Monique died of cancer.

“We didn’t really get to celebrate it,” he told the Winnipeg Free Press, his voice cracking.

SCI rink reaches schoolgirls final

While the SCI Sabres hockey team managed to win only one of three games in a tournament at Copper Cliff, Ontario, Sharon Dyck and her curling foursome went on a winning streak to give their school its best representation ever at the provincial schoolgirls’ curling championships in Winnipeg during the Christmas holidays.

Dyck and third, Marj Mooney, second Pat Guenther, and lead Donna Armstrong came within two wins of capturing provincial honors at the 94-rink bonspiel. Dyck’s rink reached the finals of the premier A&W event, before bowing to last year’s champs, the Pidzarko rink from Rossmere.

Even the final game was close, until Chris Pidzarko cracked a three on the seventh end and stole singles in the eighth and ninth to put the game out of reach for the Steinbach foursome.

By reaching the finals of the first event, Dyck got a second shot at the provincial honors in a playoff involving the three trophy winners.