Fraudsters target Steinbach Pistons vendors

The Steinbach Pistons are warning the community after an unknown person emailed their vendors to try and get fees for the upcoming season.

The fraudsters impersonated Pistons director of sales and marketing Jamie Roy, emailing from jamieroysteinbachpistons@yahoo.com.

“This individual has no affiliation with the Steinbach Pistons organization, and this activity is being taken very seriously,” an email from the real Jamie Roy reads.

“Please do not respond to or engage with this email under any circumstances. All official communication from the Steinbach Pistons will come exclusively from our verified organizational domain. Any email that does not originate from our official domain should be disregarded immediately.”

Carillon Sports 2nd Shots: Aug 13th edition

Featuring a Hanover Kickers game in Steinbach Aug. 4, MMSL soccer in Landmark Aug. 6, bullriding in Richer Aug. 7 and a charity hockey game at the Southeast Event Centre Aug. 8.

Landmark FC thriving in MMSL’s lower divisions

Sixteen years and counting. That’s how long Landmark FC has been playing in the Manitoba Major Soccer League’s lower divisions.

The club currently tops the standings of the MMSL’s fifth division, with a few players who helped found the team in 2010 still suiting up for them, including manager Mike Plett, who quipped he wanted to play with the team in it’s 50th anniversary year.

“I’ll be 73, so that’s my goal — to play until I’m 73,” Plett said with a chuckle after a 0-0 draw against Storm FC Aug. 6 in Landmark.

Many of the players in this edition of the team come to Landmark from Winnipeg, eager to continue their competitive soccer career beyond rec leagues.

U19 Wildcats finish 7th at nationals

The Eastman Wildcats AAA program continues to rack up the hardware.

The program’s U19 team finished seventh at the softball national championships in Calgary, racking up a 4-3 record in pool play and advancing to the playoffs.

More than a dozen teams from across Canada made the trip, with the Selects the only team from Mantioba to participate.

The Wildcats dropped a 15-4 decision in the knockout rounds to the Cloverdale Fury.

SPORTS FLASHBACK 2012: Southeast Prairie Thunder are finally Allan Cup winners

Grunthal’s Marv Kornelsen started his quest to win the Senior AAA National Hockey Championship more than a dozen years ago. Finally, the Southeast Prairie Thunder won the coveted Allan Cup, as they defeated the Rosetown Red Wings 4-1 in the national final in Lloydminster.

It was the fourth straight trip to the Allan Cup for the Thunder. The Thunder join the 2003 Ile des Chenes North Stars as Manitoba winners of the national championship.

Make no mistake, the 2012 edition of the Southeast Prairie was Kornelsen’s team. He cobbled this team together several years ago, and kept it going with his tireless efforts and resources, year in and year out. It was an undying commitment to be the best team, on the ice for the best senior hockey played in this country, and to win that national championship.

By all accounts, this was the best team that Marv took to a national championship, which was very evident when it was all said and done, as they came home with the Allan Cup.

Sultans drop hard-fought final to take silver at 22U nationals

The Carillon Sultans may have been one hit away from a national championship.

Down 1-0 in the bottom of the fourth inning to the defending champion Windsor Selects, Carillon batters struck out twice in a row before a pop out to the catcher ended the threat. The Sultans would go on to lose 5-0 in the gold medal game Aug. 9 in southern Ontario.

Carillon didn’t get another base runner after the bottom of the fourth until the last out of the game. The Sultans won the bronze medal game at the 2025 edition of the tournament.

“That was a tough one,” head coach Don Meilleur said after arriving back in Manitoba.”

Senior Sultans stumble at provincials, take 1-0 series lead in playoffs

The Carillon Sultans senior baseball team couldn’t manage a win at the AA provincial championships, going 0-3 at the tournament. The Sultans earned a spot at the tournament thanks to a third-place finish last season and West Winnipeg hosting the tournament this season.

Carillon dropped games to Cartwright, Oak River and the hosts and were unable to make the semi-finals. The draw was a bit unlucky for the Sultans, as Oak River and West Winnipeg faced off in the championship final, with the South West Baseball League representatives claiming the championship.

The Sultans were slightly understaffed at provincials, with the Sultans junior team playing in Windsor at the 22U national championships. Cedric Lagasse and Anders Meilleur were sure to take some at bats for Carillon's final regular season game of the season to ensure they’d be eligible for the team in the playoffs.

The Sultans season continued with a rare home playoff game after press time Aug. 12. The team finished third in the top division of the Winnipeg Senior Baseball League’s regular season and is playing Elmwood in the semi-finals. It was just the second home game in Senior Sultans history.

CARILLON SPORTS SECOND SHOTS: Aug 6th edition

Featuring a Hanover Sting game in the Manitoba Major Soccer League July 30 and the 13U/15U provincial baseball championships at Optimist Park in Winnipeg.

Eastman Selects Tomes, Rigaux pick up Hockey Manitoba scholarships

A pair of Eastman Selects U18 standouts were recognized for their strong play and schooling by Hockey Manitoba, as the organization announced their scholarship recipients for 2026 last week.

Goaltender Addie Tomes was given the Todd Davidson Memorial Scholarship and defender Vayda Rigaux claimed the Buck Matiowski Memorial Scholarship.

Tomes, who committed to the University of Saskatchewan, maintained a 90% average at St Mary’s Academy, in addition to being one of the Manitoba Female Hockey League’s top goaltenders.

Across her two years with the Selects program, she racked up a 34-4 record, with a save percentage above 0.950. Tomes also is a volunteer coach for other goaltenders.

Niverville soccer pioneer passes away

The Manitoba soccer world is mourning following Walt McKee’s death last week.

McKee played football, soccer, rugby and even wrestled for the University of Manitoba Bisons, was drafted by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers as a kicker and was named the CFL’s rookie of the year as a kicker in 1971. It was on the soccer pitch after his playing career where he made his biggest impact, including in Niverville.

He was a founding member of the Winnipeg Fury Soccer Club, served as assistant coach of the Canadian National Soccer Team and eventually served as Athletic Director at the U of M, bringing women’s soccer to the University in 2005.

“Walt was a great, great man and outstanding Athletic Director,” now retired Bisons football head coach Brian Dobie said in a U of M news release honouring McKee.

SPORTOPICS FLASHBACK 1987: Two out of three falls, anyone?

I cannot say I’m an enthusiastic supporter of professional wrestling, having only taken brief glimpses of the sport at July 1 at the Steinbach fairgrounds in years past, when the likes of “Frenchy” Champagne and “Puppy Dog” Peloquin were the headliners.

Those were the days when Dennis “Von” Mehling wrestled out of the Madison Club in Winnipeg and could be seen strutting his stuff on the local scene. Those were the days when Merv Unger was a full-time newspaper man and a part-time wrestling promoter. A role I think he has since reversed.

Those were also the times when one wouldn’t dare to suggest that the likes of “Mad Dog” Vachon or Verne Gagne would actually go into the ring and fake mayhem strictly for the benefit of the fans.

No Siree! Those guys meant it! Many a corner post bore the marks of a vanquished wrestler’s forehead and many a ringside chair was shattered over someone’s skull in the heat of the battle.

AS I SEE IT COLUMN: Southeastern Manitoba’s time to shine in sports

It’s been a highly successful time for teams and athletes from southeastern Manitoba.

Here’s a brief summary of the excellent news (with apologies to teams and athletes I might be missing).

Ste. Anne’s Larocque family helps Canada win gold at world ball hockey championshipsBig-time congratulations to Ste. Anne’s Jocelyn Larocque, her sister Chantal and her dad Andy as the Larocque family extraordinaire helped lead Canada to a gold medal last week at the International Street and Ball Hockey Federation (ISBHF) Women’s Legends World Ball Hockey Championships in Czechia.

Jocelyn Larocque is a living legend in ice hockey, what with her Olympic gold and World Championship titles. She is also a world-class ball hockey player and now coach, as she was behind the bench for Team Canada, who went undefeated in the tournament.

13U Carillon Sultans claim provincial championship

The future of the Carillon Sultans program is as bright as ever, as the program sent teams to both the 15U and 13U AAA Provincial finals Aug. 2.

The organization’s 15U team fell short in the final, surrendering 11 runs over two innings to fall well behind South Central in the final early.

The team finished just 16-13 during the Manitoba Premier Baseball League season, but caught fire at tier 1 provincials, rattling off three wins in their first four games to lock up a spot in the final before their final pool game of the tournament.

Both the 13U and 15U tier one and tier two tournaments took place at Optimist Park in Winnipeg.

Eastman Wildcats celebrate strong showing at nationals

The Eastman Wildcats certainly can hold their heads high after some strong results at the U15 and U17 national championships.

The U15 team had a 3-1 record in pool play, and eventually losing out to the eventual national champion Coverdale Fury 1-0 in the knockouts.

“Offensively, we battled against some of the best pitchers in the country — pitchers we rarely have the opportunity to face back home,” a social media post recapping the tournament reads.

“Our girls continually picked each other up. If one player struck out, the next found a way to get on base. They competed every inning and never stopped believing in one another. Defensively, we were outstanding. Our girls played smart, stayed composed, and never backed down from any challenge.”