Oak Park dominates Steinbach in football season opener

The Steinbach Regional Sabres didn’t exactly start their 2026 Winnipeg High School Football League campaign how they imagined it.

They would have always been in tough against defending champions Oak Park in their home opener Sept. 11 but when Raiders star AJ Bangura snagged the opening kick-off with a one-handed catch and took it the distance for a clean touchdown, it became clear the Sabres were in for a long day.

“It’s a tough play, (Bangura) is a special player, you saw that out there,” head coach Stephen Fedus said after the game.

“He was tough to stop.”

New-look Nighthawks looking to defend MJHL championship

The Niverville Nighthawks are hoping to prove their Turnbull Cup and national championship win from last season wasn’t a fluke.

Despite key departures up front, including the graduation of their entire top line from last season (Hayden Wheddon, Merik Boles, Adam Vigfusson), the team appears ready to compete once again.

The Nighthawks played five exhibition games this year, the most of any team in the East Division, losing just a single time, their final game against the Steinbach Pistons Sept. 12.

“They’ve developed the systems really well,” head coach Dwight Hirst said after the game, noting the night’s action was about getting some last-minute looks at some younger players and seeing who is ready for a bigger role this season.

Steinbach Pistons roster features massive turnover once again

In what’s becoming a regular occurrence, the Steinbach Pistons have nearly a whole new crop of players set to take the ice for them this season.

Just eight players are returning to the squad from last year, where they finished with the second-highest record in the league.

With such a fresh roster, head coach and general manager Paul Dyck said the Pistons are a “work in progress,” noting this was the first time he’s only had a single-digit number of returnees.

“It takes time,” he said after a team event Sept. 15.

Carillon Sports Second Shots: Sept 10th edition

Featuring pre-season football in Springfield and pre-season hockey in Steinbach.

MJHL tweaks playoff semi-finals format

The Manitoba Junior Hockey League is changing the road to the Turnbull Cup.

The broad strokes will still be the same, with the top four teams in the East and West conferences still playing a divisional-based quarterfinals, leading to a seeded semi-finals and finals.

The change comes in the semi-finals. Division winners will automatically be ranked first and second when it comes to seeding the semi-finals this season.

Last year Virden was the top seed in the West Division but had to play without home ice advantage in the semi-finals, taking on Steinbach, which finished with 96 points, 13 ahead of the Oil Capitals, despite placing second in the East.

Changes coming to Pistons, MJHL broadcasts

Fans who catch Dave Anthony’s Steinbach Pistons broadcasts will have a new and easier way to listen to them this season.

Anthony will be broadcasting the audio streams for all Pistons games to a YouTube page, (@DABroadcasting). For the past few seasons, Pistons audio broadcasts were available on the Mixlr platform. Game broadcasts with video are available at FloHockey.com, which has an expensive yearly subscription.

“The big reason behind the change was giving Pistons fans an option for when we’re on the road,” Anthony told The Carillon.

“It won’t be video, it will only be audio but it’s easier to sync up to FloHockey. It’s also still free, so no worries there. As broadcasts around the Manitoba Junior Hockey League move forward, a home/away option is important in my opinion, especially when paying for streaming of games.”

Providence’s Bhangu given Bill Wedlake award

For four seasons, Karan Bhangu has patrolled the back-line for the Providence Pilots soccer team, and the now senior was rewarded for his performances on and off the pitch this fall.

Bhangu was named one of two Bill Wedlake award winners for the 2025/2026 season. The award is given to a player who makes one of the Manitoba Colleges Athletic Conference’s TrueSport teams.

“It’s been a joy to coach Karan, and I look forward to his final year with us. He constantly pushes his teammates to enjoy every moment and be better on and off the pitch,” said Giovanni Benitez Friesen, Bhangu’s head coach at Providence University College.

“He takes school seriously and it shows. He is a disciplined man and is capable of doing many great things. He truly cares and is always looking for ways to serve and help his teammates whether that be through homework, rides to places, being considerate of people’s celebrations and wanting the best for them. Karan is a great example of what a true sport athlete is.”

Pilots make cross country debut in South Dakota

The Providence Pilots road to a potential national championship began in South Dakota, as the school attended their first-ever cross country meet.

Nine runners competed at the Augustana Twilight 5K race in Sioux Falls, battling 30 degree temperatrues despite start times near 10 p.m. Sept. 4.

Amariah Zult was the best women’s finisher for the school at 22:14, with Owen Eisbrenner finishing in 18:22 to lead the way for the team on the men’s side.

“There were also multiple personal bests across the team, which made for an especially encouraging start to the season given the conditions,” a social media post from the Pilots reads.

SPORTS FLASHBACK 1983: Sultans swat Pacers in Hanover finals

The Steinbach A&W Pacers wanted to get the Hanover Fastball Association finals out of the way before they left for the nationals in PEI. The Friedensfeld Sultans were more than happy to oblige. The Sultans spotted the junior team a victory in the opening game of the series, then came back with three straight victories to capture the Hanover crown.

The Sultans held the edge in hitting in the four-game set and it was only fitting that the league’s slugging king accounted for the go-ahead run in the final game Sunday.

With one out and Doug Chornoboy on third base after a two-run triple, Randy Penner parked one over the right field fence to give the Sultans a 5-4 lead. John Liska reached base on an error after a Pacers’ pitching change, moved to second base on a single, and before the inning ended, scored to increase the lead to 6-4.

The Sultans held that lead until the top of the sixth, when James Loewen scored after being hit by a pitch and Rick Comeau reached second base on an error in the outfield.

Steinbach Pistons draw big crowd for pre-season action

If fans had wandered into the Southeast Event Centre Sept. 5 for the Steinbach Pistons pre-season game against the Winkler Flyers, you couldn’t have blamed them if they thought it was a regular season contest.

Despite taking place on the long weekend, the Pistons were the hottest ticket in town, drawing 1,300 fans, including more than 750 paid to watch teams of mostly prospects battle for roster spots.

“It’s pretty impressive the type of support we got here today,” head coach and general manager Paul Dyck said after the 6-5 shootout loss to Winkler.

“For some of the players playing their first game here, I think they were pretty impressed too.”

Martin to play at Winnipeg Jets development tournament

Oakbank’s Owen Martin in continuing his Winnipeg Jets journey.

The team’s 2025 third-round draft pick will be back in action for the NHL team at the Prospect Challenge in Gatineau Que., Sept. 12-13.

Top prospects from the Jets, Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens will also be at the event, with Winnipeg taking on Montreal Sept. 12 and Toronto Sept. 13. Puck drop for both games is noon CDT. Before heading out East, the team will practice Sept. 11 at 9:15 a.m. at the Hockey for All Centre.

The Jets are planning on broadcasting the games on the team website.

Steinbach Regional Sabres building for WHSFL season

The Steinbach Regional Secondary Sabres varsity football team has a tough challenge on their hands to start the Winnipeg High School Football League schedule.

The Sabres take on defending champions Oak Park at home in the first week of the season. In order to prepare for the challenge, the team scheduled an exhibition game against traditional powerhouses St Paul’s Sept. 3. After a first quarter battle which saw the Sabres fall behind just 3-0, they faded in the third quarter, going on to lose 43-0.

Head coach Stephen Fedus said after the game he liked the way the team played in the fourth quarter.

“It took a little while, but the team started responding better to the different situations that we were facing,” Fedus told The Carillon a day after the game.

Springfield football aiming high in transition year

The Springfield Sabres football team will have a new look on the sidelines this season, but the play on the field should look the same.

Head coach Tom Walls has left the program, as he moves to Colombia. The coach has spent time around the world, including in America, Ireland and Korea.

“At fifty-five, I don’t know exactly what life in Colombia will look like, but I do know something I didn’t know fifteen years ago,” Walls wrote in his Substack.

“The opposite of fear isn’t certainty. It’s trust in yourself. Trust that you can make new friends. Trust that you’ll find meaningful work. Trust that, given enough time, unfamiliar streets become familiar, strangers become neighbours, and another place eventually starts feeling like home.”