Pistons to host New Year’s Eve tilt

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This article was published 20/06/2019 (1770 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Manitoba Junior Hockey League released the 2019-20 regular season schedule on Thursday and the Steinbach Pistons will play the majority of their home games on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays in the coming season.

A highlight of the schedule will be a New Year’s Eve tilt being played at 6:00 p.m. Dec. 31 in Steinbach as the Pistons host the Winnipeg Blues.

The Pistons will play eight home games each on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday this season.

The only aberrations from that home schedule, other than the Tuesday New Year’s Eve game, is one other Tuesday game, that being Jan. 28, again vs. the Blues, and only one Sunday night game, Nov. 17 vs. Wayway. In past years there have been several Sunday night home games.

There will also be two holiday Monday afternoon games, both with 2:30 p.m. start times as the Pistons host the Winkler Flyers on both occasions – Remembrance Day on Nov. 11 and Family Day on Feb. 17.

The Pistons open the regular season schedule on Friday, Sept. 20 as they entertain the Winkler Flyers at 7:30 p.m. at the T.G. Smith Centre.

Other games on opening night on Sept. 20 will have Wayway at Neepawa, Virden at Selkirk, Dauphin at Swan Valley and the defending champion Portage Terriers hosting the Winnipeg Blues.

Last year the MJHL Showcase was held in December at the Seven Oaks Sportsplex in Winnipeg. It will again be played at Seven Oaks this season, but instead will be moved back to its early fall time slot as the dates for the Showcase this year will Sept. 30 and Oct. 1. The Pistons will face Selkirk on Sept. 30 and Waywayseecappo on Oct. 1, with both those games at 12 noon.

After Steinbach’s home opener on Sept. 20 there will be a three-week break before they finally return to the cozy confines of the T.G. Smith Centre when they will host the Portage Terriers on Oct. 9. During that time away they will play seven games on the road, including those two games at the Showcase.

The Pistons will make their first trip to the new home of the Winnipeg Blues on Oct. 15 as they will take on the Blues at the Rink Training Centre. The Blues, who previously played at Bell MTS Iceplex, were recently sold and have relocated to the Rink Training Centre.

Steinbach wraps up the regular season Feb. 28 at Selkirk.

Again, each team in the 11-team loop will play a 60-game schedule, consisting of a balanced schedule, with each team competing against each other six times during the season, three home and three away.