Steinbach Pistons sputter out of MJHL playoffs

The Steinbach Pistons had their chance to force a winner-takes-all game seven in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League semi-finals.

With just two seconds on the clock and down 4-3, the Virden Oil Capitals iced the puck, setting up a last gasp chance for the visitors. While Sam Noad perfectly won the face-off back to Connor Paronuzzi, who was lurking right at the top of the slot, Tyson Ulmer read the play perfectly, squeezing by Brett Kaiser, who was screening for Paronuzzi, to get a leg on the ensuing shot to block it.

Head coach and general manager Paul Dyck said losses in game one and game two, where Virden came out and took early 3-0 leads inside the Southeast Event Centre, were too much to overcome. Steinbach’s coach had already been crunching numbers following the series conclusion, noting the Oil Capitals scored their first goals across the series seven minutes into the game, while it took Steinbach 23 minutes on average to find the back of the net.

“Game one and game two were so detrimental to our cause,” Dyck said a couple days after the loss.

Niverville Nighthawks glide into MJHL final

For four games, the Waywayseecappo Wolverines battled above their place in the standings during the Manitoba Junior Hockey League semi-finals, but finally faltered in game five.

The Niverville Nighthawks finished 40 points ahead of Waywayseecappo in the standings, but could only manage narrow victories and a loss until game five, a 7-0 drubbing on home ice April 10 to send them to the MJHL finals.

There was no drama to be had in the game, with Calyb Moore scoring the winning goal just 30 seconds into the first period, followed up 90 seconds later by Marlen Edwards to double the lead.

“Wayway did a really good job of playing a defensive style and clogging up the middle and bringing the series into the mud to start it out,” head coach Dwight Hirst said after the game.

Zach Lansard’s season continuing with Team Canada

While the Regina Pats season may have ended in the first round with a 4-1 series loss to top-ranked Medicine Hat, Zach Lansard’s season isn’t over yet.

Ste Anne’s Lansard, who is expected to be selected in this year’s NHL draft, will play with Team Canada, getting named to the pre-tournament roster for the upcoming U18 Men’s World Hockey Championships in Slovakia.

“Our group will continue to monitor the Canadian Hockey League playoffs, and we expect to add players prior to the start of the world championship,” U18 general manager Alan Millar, who selected the roster said in a Team Canada news release.

”At this time, we are pleased with the level of talent and international experience we have on our projected roster and are excited to gather in Slovakia in preparation to defend our gold medal.”

Carillon Sports Second Shots: April 9th edition

Featuring photos from Game four and five of the Capital Region Junior Hockey League finals and MJHL playoff games in Steinbach and Niverville.

Providence Pilots embrace hometown in rebrand

The Providence Pilots will have a new look next season.

The college released their new logo March 26, featuring an otter wearing pilot’s goggles as a nod to the post-secondary school’s home in the town of Otterburne.

“Strong, agile, determined, and free, the otter provides a symbol in which all Providence athletes can see themselves represented,” a Providence news release reads.

“It also creates a meaningful connection to the Town of Otterburne, grounding the Pilots brand in their local identity.”

Kate Cameron joins forces with Québec-based team

Kate Cameron’s curling career is taking her East from New Bothwell to a French community, but she’s going just a bit further than La Broquerie.

Cameron is joining forces with Québec skip Laurie St-Georges to form a new team for the upcoming curling cycle. Cameron will be the team’s skip with St-Georges at third. The front end from team St-Georges will also play for the new-look Team Cameron, with second Emily Riley and lead Émilia Gagné filling out the roster.

After skipping a Manitoba-based rink to a bronze medal at nationals in 2024, Team Cameron was granted one of the direct qualification spots at the Canadian Olympic Curling Trials, but couldn’t make the playoffs. They also failed to qualify for the Scotties this year, falling in the Manitoba championship semi-finals. After the end of the year, the team announced they were disbanding for the upcoming 2030 Olympic cycle.

The St-Georges rink added third Sarah Daniels last season, but lost out at the Québec provincials in the gold medal game, also missing out on a Scotties appearance. Daniels, who had been playing for a B.C.-based team before joining St-Georges, announced she would be leaving the team last month.

Steinbach Pistons eliminated from MJHL playoffs

The Steinbach Pistons season came to an end April 12, falling 4-3 in game six of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League semi-finals to the Virden Oil Capitals.

The Pistons had battled back to tie the game 2-2 with a Liam Doyle short-handed goal, but the Oil Capitals managed to restore their one-goal lead on that same powerplay.

Nathan Schaefer hammered home a one-timer from the point that eluded a screened Easton Thvedt. A three-on-one tally from Liam Goertzen ended any chances of another come-back from Steinbach, despite a last-minute scramble goal from the Pistons with the net empty.

Connor Paronuzzi had a glorious chance to tie the game after a Virden icing with two seconds left, but his one-timer attempt off the face-off was blocked by a charging Oil Capitals defender

SPORTS FLASHBACK 1991: Landmark captures first volleyball championship

The Landmark 96’ers humbled the host Niverville Panthers 15-6, 15-2 in the championship final to win their first ever Provincial ‘A’ High School Boys’ Volleyball Championship on the weekend.

The 96’ers, were the number one ranked team going into the provincials and were considered one of the top volleyball teams in rural Manitoba. The team saved their best volleyball of the weekend for the final against the hometown Panthers, and clearly showed their superiority in the back-to-back lopsided victories.

For the Panthers, who were runners-up for the second consecutive year, it was disappointing to lose the final again, but it was also an accomplishment just reaching the finals.

The rivalry that has been built up between Landmark and Niverville during the past two years was clearly evidenced by the more than 400 boisterous fans who jammed into the Niverville Collegiate gymnasium for the championship final.

AS I SEE IT COLUMN: To be a true sport, curling must get rid of this

There can be no question that curling is an ascendant sport. TV viewership is high, it’s one of the winter Olympics’ most popular sports, there’s a new league with an interesting format starting up; overall it looks like the trend lines in curling are all positive.

But if curling wants to be regarded as a true sport, there is one thing it absolutely has to change. If it wants to be recognized as a real sport – and by ‘real’ I mean sharing a foundational element seen in every other team sport on earth – this one thing has to go.

Without this change, curling will still be super popular in Canada and in pockets of the United States and Europe. But without this change, curling can never really be considered an equal to all team sports that share one basic, common, and universally-adhered-to truism. In a real sport, you can’t quit just because you feel like it.

Curling is the only team sport in the solar system where, if you don’t want to play anymore because you think the game is out of reach, you can simply “take off the gloves and shake hands.”

DANKKOCHIK’S DRAFTINGS: Making sense of what kinds of hockey players I prefer

Watching John Scott go nuclear during the first round of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League playoffs for Niverville has been especially satisfying for me and has caused me to reflect on what kinds of hockey players I consider “Cassidy,” style players.

All year I would compliment Scott to anyone who listened, noting he was the kind of player that could randomly spark a big playoff win with a two goal performance during a critical game.

A hat trick in game one of Niverville’s sweep over Winkler and a final minutes game-winner in game three showed I was right.

I just love players like Scott. I think back to guys like Landon Roberts with the Pistons during my first year covering the team or Bryce Warkentine, my all-time favourite Nighthawk. There’s no player archatype I love more than the middle six, bruising forward who can drag their team into the fight, even if no one else is willing to.

Providence announces athletics year end award winners

With the Manitoba College Athletic Conference season at an end, the Providence Pilots recognized their top athletes of the season.

Cole Doell and Faith Larocque were named the male and female athletes of the year respectively.

Larocque is from Niverville, but played AAAA high school basketball with Dakota in Winnipeg. She was named the MCAC women’s basketball player of the year, thriving even as she gets less minutes than other top players thanks to Providence’s system basketball more evenly distributing playing time across the team.

“Faith has demonstrated above average academic success, consistently improving her grades and her game over the past three years,” head women’s basketball coach Kendall Perpall said.

Niverville Nighthawks advance to MJHL final in style

The Waywayseecappo Wolverines put up a great fight against the Niverville Nighthawks for four games, but the dam finally broke, as the Manitoba Junior Hockey League's top regular season finisher will play for the Turnbull Cup.

The Nighthawks finally looked like a team that finished 40 points ahead in the standings, crushing the Wolverines in a 7-0 game five victory in Niverville to win the MJHL semi-final series 4-1. Neither franchise had won a playoff series before 2026.

Calyb Moore, who had yet to score in the playoffs for the Nighthawks, nabbed his first of the post-season 30 seconds into the opening period to give his side a 1-0 lead and all but ended the game 15 seconds into the second period with his second of the game to make it 4-0.

Austin Dubinsky stopped all 18 shots he faced, posting shutouts in consecutive games after a 3-0 win in Waywayseecappo in game four.

Eastman-heavy Transcona advances to MMJHL finals

The Transcona Railer Express, featuring plenty of Eastman talent, will play in the Manitoba Major Junior Hockey League finals.

Over a dozen players who have suited up for the Express this season hail from the region, including the team’s two leading playoff scorers, Trey Sellen and captain Nolan van den Bussche.

Transcona were dominant this season, posting a 36-7-1 record en route to the best regular season record in the league and a plus-111 goal difference, more than 50 ahead of every other team in the league.

The Railer Express are also a perfect 8-0 in the MMJHL playoffs so far, sweeping the Raiders Jr Hockey Club in the quarterfinals and River East in the semi-finals.

La Broquerie Habs crowned CRJHL champions

It was clear the La Broquerie Habs weren’t going to let any opportunity to clinch a championship slip away.

Heading into game five of the Capital Region Junior Hockey League finals April 2 the team was up 3-1 on the Selkirk Fishermen and put together one of the most dominant first periods any team can play.

A glance at the stat sheet doesn’t do it justice, as the Habs seemed to win every single puck battle in the opening frame, building a 2-0 lead on the scoreboard, en route to a series victory in Selkirk.

“We came out hungry, we wanted to win it tonight,” La Broquerie head coach Dan Taillefer said after the game, with a custom wrestling belt made for the team placed over his shoulder.

CARILLON SPORTS SECOND SHOTS: April 1 edition

Featuring Manitoba Junior Hockey League quarterfinal games in Niverville and Steinbach March 25/28, game four of the Manitoba Female Hockey League U18 AAA finals in Niverville March 27, and game six of the South East Manitoba Hockey League final in Ile des Chenes March 27.