Low air quality puts halt on MHSAA track championships

Smoke and storms wrecked havoc on the sports schedule across Manitoba last weekend, including in the Southeast.

The highest-profile event cancelled was the Manitoba High Schools Athletic Association track and field provincial championships. Athletes from across the province were set to compete at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg June 5-7, before two consecutive days of poor air quality due to wildfire smoke caused organizers to cancel the event outright.

Executive director of the MHSAA Chad Falk said with the short time left in the school year and the impossible logistics of re-organizing an event with more than 1,500 athletes, simply postponing provincials wasn’t a possibility.

“The nature of the event and how many athletes, the unique venue, access to officials, access to venues, kids travelling from across the province, it was just impossible to look at finding a way to reschedule it,” Falk said in an interview with the Winnipeg Free Press.

U18 AAA Selects moving back to Steinbach

The Southeast Event Centre in Steinbach continues to attract major tenants, as the Eastman Selects male U18 AAA team will be based out of the new arena moving forward.

The U18 team had been in Steinbach until the then-named Beausejour Blades of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League moved to the community in 2009. The U18 team moved to Beausejour when the junior A team took up residence in the now-demolished Centennial Arena.

Rachel Antymis has worked as the team’s manager since she was 19 and has been involved with the program for nearly a decade. She said the Selects hope to grow their fanbase with the move to Steinbach, noting most of the players now come from the southern part of their region.

“Ten years ago, we had tons of North boys, but it’s kind of shifted,” Antymis said.

Carillon Sports Second Shots: June 5

Featuring photos from a Winnipeg Senior Baseball League game in Steinbach May 27 and the softball/baseball Manitoba High School Athletic Association provincial championships in Stonewall.

Pistons D-man Munro heading to Olaf College

Matt Munro will continue his hockey career at an American college.

The Steinbach Pistons defenseman played over 100 games in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League, splitting time between his hometown Swan Valley Stampeders and the Pistons.

He’ll be playing for St Olaf College, a Lutheran liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota.

Munro began the 2024/25 season with the North Iowa Bulls in the North American Hockey League before heading back to the MJHL to suit up for Steinbach at the 2025 roster deadline. He had 11 points in 23 games for the Pistons this season.

NorMan Blizzard quickly find new head coach

The Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s defending champions have found their new head coach/general manager.

After Eric Labrosse left the Northern Manitoba Blizzard, the franchise moved quickly to replace him, naming Ty Valin as their new bench boss.

“Being named Head Coach/ GM of the Northern Manitoba Blizzard in the MJHL is an incredible opportunity,” Valin said in a Blizzard news release.

“I want to sincerely thank the White family for the opportunity to lead their organization. I’m extremely excited to meet all the players and staff, and get to work preparing for the season.”

SPORTS FLASHBACK 1993: Ste Anne curlers getting green light to replace rink

The Village of Ste Anne will rebuild the community’s curling rink, destroyed by fire 10 days ago, in time for most of the upcoming curling season after the project received the green light from council.

Firemen from seven departments managed to save the adjoining Ste Anne Arena, but the curling rink was completely destroyed in the June 20 blaze. Arson is suspected as the cause.

The alarm at the curling rink went off shortly after midnight, June 19, alerting guests at a wedding reception at the nearby Ste Anne Cultural Centre. By 12:30 a.m., that building had been evacuated in the fear the fire could spread to the arena right next door.

The blaze at the west side of the curling rink appeared to have been started on the outside of the building in an area where refrigeration pipes are located, Ste Anne Fire Chief Ken Dayment said.

Steinbach Regional Sabres falls just short at provincials

A pair of Steinbach Regional Secondary School Sabres teams came just short of adding two provincial championship banners to their gym May 31.

The school’s baseball team fell 13-1 at the provincial finals to Garden City Collegiate, while the soccer team came up just short in the semi-finals of their tournament, dropping a match 3-2 to the Shaftesbury Titans. The AAAA Manitoba High School Athletic Association soccer finals happen in the summer, while the A-AAA finals take place in the fall.

Both provincials finished May 31, with baseball taking place in Stonewall and soccer at Buhler Park in Winnipeg.

The soccer team was able to bounce back to take out St Boniface to nab the third place plaque. Shaftesbury went on to defeat Louis-Riel in the final 2-1.

Braves dominate larger competition to win provincials

La Broquerie’s École Saint-Joachim and St Pierre-Jolys’ École Communautaire Réal-Bérard may be a pair of small French schools, but that didn’t stop them from dominating their competition at the Manitoba High School Athletic Association fastpitch championships in Stonewall May 30/31.

The team went undefeated at the tournament, blasting past AAAA school Vincent Massey (Brandon) 11-3 in the finals, hosted at Stonewall Quarry Park.

“We’re talking about maybe 250 students,” coach Pat Tetrault said after the game.

“We don’t make for quantity we make for quality… There’s some tough schools, some good teams out here.”

Senior Carillon Sultans aiming high in 2025

The Carillon Sultans of the Winnipeg Senior Baseball League are off to a solid start to their season.

With a 5-1 Carillon sit in second place in the league standings. The Sultans off to a much better compared to last season when they lost four straight games to start the season.

Player/manager Nick Wall is happy how the Sultans will line up this season, noting not only did the team not lose anyone, they also added some quality players who graduated from the MJBL.

“It’s looking really good,” Wall said after a 17-0 win over North Winnipeg May 27.

Carillon Sports Second Shots: May 29th edition

Featuring photos from the Carillon Sultans Winnipeg Senior Baseball League home opener May 20, the Zone 13 baseball championships May 21, the SRSS Spring football games against Grant Park May 22 and the SRSS Rugby tournament May 23.

MJHL champion NorMan Blizzard lose head coach

The reigning Mantioba Junior Hockey League champions will look a lot different next season, as head coach and general manager Eric Labrosse has left the program.

Labrosse and assistant coach PA Deslaurier came to NorMan two years ago, leading them to a pair of strong seasons as the club went through massive changes off the ice, including a name and arena change for The Pas-based team.

“We wish nothing but the best of luck to both Eric & P.A., thank you for your service at a most-critical juncture of our history,” a news release on the Blizzard’s website reads.

“Their hard work and assisting in our laying a strong foundation, has set the groundwork for future success, you shall be missed.”

Sevens rugby growing in Manitoba, at Steinbach Regional

It has been a memorable school year for the Steinbach Regional Secondary School rugby sevens team.

Not only did the season kick off with a trip to B.C. last fall, but the school saw a massive expansion to their annual tournament. Head coach Tahnee Grosskopf said the trip out West was big for the program, as playing competitive games and meeting Canadian Olympians was a great recruiting moment to convince players to give rugby a try this season.

The SRSS tournament, hosted May 23 at A.D. Penner Park, was a massive success. Instead of a one division all-girls battle with only a few teams, this year saw over a dozen teams competing across three separate divisions. Food trucks provided concessions as both the football and rugby fields were kept busy throughout the day.

Sevens is a shorter and faster-paced format than traditional rugby, with seven players per team on the pitch and only seven minutes per half.

SPORTS FLASHBACK 1997:Retiring coach is ‘roasted’ by his friends at Lorette

More than 100 friends, students and co-workers honoured Jude Boulianne at an evening of fun and laughter at Lorette Collegiate, sending the long-time teacher and counsellor off on his retirement in style.

Boulianne, who had announced he would be retiring at the end of the school year, has worked for the Seine River School Division for 26 years, spending the last 11 years at Lorette Collegiate, where he was the physical education instructor and coach of a successful high school hockey program, which saw the Scorpions win the provincial high school title this spring.

Seine River Superintendent Roy Seidler was the first to the microphone to ‘roast’ the guest of honour and was followed by Gord Tumlison, Rod Lindquist and John Gray, who played hockey with Jude, ran summer hockey schools and ‘go back a long way’. The trio, complete with fake mustaches, shared old hockey stories and performed a skit pretending they had always wanted to be ‘just like Jude’.

Rounding off the evening were Jude’s daughter Brigette Davies, Gary Maryniuk, a hockey parent, and Jeff Barron, a Lorette teacher and assistant coach, who all toasted ‘the great Jude Boulianne.’