Eastman Warriors surrender 2026 Manitoba rugby season

The Eastman Warriors will not be playing out the rest of their season.

The team announced on social media June 2 they would be withdrawing from the competitive league season in Manitoba Rugby and forfieting their remaining games, citing a lack of players.

“Not a post we were hoping to make,” their caption reads.

“Us Warriors LOVE rugby, and this deeply saddens us. We will continue practices throughout the summer and in hopes get more men to fill the team and start off strong in the 2027 season.”

Carillon Sports Second Shots: June 4th edition

Featuring photos from a Carillon Sultans MJBL game May 26, Eastman Warriors and U18 AAA Sultans games May 28, the SRSS Rugby 7s tournament May 29 and the Lumberzone vs Premier Buildings charity hockey game at the SEC May 29.

Bottom-finishing MJHL franchises sign new coaches

The Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s two Winnipeg franchises have announced who will be leading their teams into the 2026/2027 season.

The Monarchs, which changed branding from the Freeze last season are moving to Riley Dudar as their head coach and general manager, replacing Zach Franco, who joined the franchise last season.

Dudar played junior across Western Canada junior A leagues, eventually spending five years with the University of Manitoba Bisons, where he immediately signed on as a coach following his playing career. Most recently he was the director of player development for the Brandon Wheat Kings, but his experience includes a stint as the director of player personnel for the Flyers.

“My focus is to create a high-performance development environment for players who strive to move on to the next level as quickly as possible,” Dudar said in a Monarchs news release.

American Division 1 colleges considering age limit

The NCAA is considering more changes to eligibility for college athletes who want to compete at the highest level of American post-secondary sports.

The organization announced May 22 their Division 1 Cabinet was considering introducing an age limit, with athletes having five years to compete. Under their proposal, the clock would start when an athlete graduates high school (or when they turn 19, whichever comes first). There is no current limit on age in the NCAA.

The move could have massive impacts for hockey. Most players complete a four-year junior career until their 20-year-old season in either Canadian Junior A hockey leagues like the Manitoba Junior Hockey League or in the United States Hockey League before joining the NCAA ranks.

Top NHL agent Allan Walsh was one of many from across the hockey world to voice their opposition to the proposed new rule, tweeting, “The ‘5 in 5’ rule cannot and will not stand as applied to College Hockey.”

SPORTS FLASHBACK 1996: Irish dairymen hope hurling catches on

The Southeast Hurlers are sporting a perfect two wins-no losses record, after a rematch against Winnipeg opponents at the A.D. Penner Park, showcasing a game never before seen by sports fans in the Southeast.

When talk turns to “hurling”, the names of great baseball pitchers like Nolan Ryan or Randy Johnson usually come to mind, but a pair of Irish dairy farmers, who have settled in the Southeast, are hoping they can change that.

Pat Donnelly and Tom Dooley brought their hurling skills along from “the old country” and are trying to get their Canadian friends interested in what they say is one of the world’s oldest sports.

To the casual observer, the sport of hurling would appear to be a cross between field hockey and lacrosse, with a soccer net and football goal posts thrown in to make it more interesting.

DANKOCHIK’S DRAFTINGS: Nighthawks’ Centennial Cup run caps off Carillon’s hockey season

The end of an extra long hockey season came to an end for The Carillon in memorable fashion, with the Niverville Nighthawks claiming the Centennial Cup in P.E.I. May 17. The season began in Niverville with the Nighthawks home opener Sept. 19.

I track the events I attend in two chunks of the year (labelled hockey and baseball in my spreadsheet), which start with the first Manitoba Junior Hockey League regular season game of the year, and end either with the Turnbull Cup final or the Centennial Cup, if needed.

With the Nighthawks and Steinbach Pistons out in the first round of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League playoffs last year, our hockey season was extended quite a bit compared to 2024/2025. Those playoff runs fuelled an overall increase of MJHL coverage from 22% of events covered to 31%.

The other big impact on the stats came from the Eastman Selects male U18 AAA program move from Beausejour to Steinbach. The male team’s new proximity meant they became a more prominant team for us to get out to.

Carillon Sultans perfect to start the MJBL season

The Carillon Sultans have a chance to do something special this season. After claiming back-to-back Manitoba Junior Baseball League championships, the team is returning most of their players in the quest for a three-peat.

There is one major change, as Don Meilleur has taken over for Rick Penner as head coach.

“We’ve virtually brought back the entire team,” Meilleur said after a 9-4 win over Winnipeg South May 28.

“(We’re) potentially getting Cody Gunderson coming back after his college. Expectations are high but this is a really great group and we’re just happy to get going. We want to get another championship at the end of the year.”

Centennial Cup MVP Vigfusson earns NCAA scholarship

Niverville Nighthawks captain Adam Vigfusson showed what an outstanding showing at the Centennial Cup is worth.

The 2005-born forward from Gimli turned a most valuable player award into a NCAA division 1 commitment, signing up to go to St Cloud State.

Vigfusson had committed to York University to play USports, but after a 12 point performance at the national junior A championships, including a hat trick, American universities were sure to come calling.

“That was the dream result. The pressure didn’t faze us at all. We just went about our business and got the job done,” Vigfusson told the Winnipeg Free Press.

Area students set for high school provincials

High School athletes will be competing for top-end banners this weekend as the baseball, softball, rugby and soccer provincial championships are all set to be given out June 6.

Those looking to travel close to home can catch the soccer championships at the Steinbach Soccer Park. Eight teams will play in a single-knockout format on both the boys and girls side.

The Steinbach Regional Secondary School Sabres girls team will be taking on Léo-Rémillard at 10 a.m. June 5. The girls final will be at 2 p.m. June 6.

In the boys’ bracket, SRSS will be facing Zone 15 champions Vincent Massey (Brandon) in the quarterfinals. The game kicks off at 11:30 a.m. June 6, with the boys final 12:15 p.m. the next day.

Carillon Sports Second Shots: May 28th Edition

Featuring an SRSS rugby match, SRSS spring football games and the Zone 13 softball championships.

DSFM schools duke it out for Zone 13 softball championship

Throughout the Zone 13 Softball championships, Collège Régional Gabrielle-Roy and École Saint-Joachim schools had a competitive advantage. They were able to shout instructions to their players in French to keep their cards close to their chest.

That wasn’t the case in the final, as St Joachim defeated Gab-Roy 10-6 to claim the Zone 13 softball championships. Four Division scolaire franco-manitobaine schools were represented in the final, with Les Roys teaming up to field a co-op team with Pointe-des-Chênes and the Braves playing alongside Réal-Bérard.

“It’s the first time in probably 20 years two DSFM teams were in the finals in Zone 13,” St Joachim head coach Pat Tetreault said after the game.

“Hats off to their team, and I’m proud of my bunch for stepping up. Two little schools competing against some pretty big schools and we’re not done.”

SRSS win Zone 13 baseball banner in dramatic fashion

Since the 2018 season, the Steinbach Regional Secondary School Sabres have dominated the Zone 13 baseball diamonds. The Sabres have yet to lose a game in either the league or the championship tournament, en route to banner win after banner win.

The team got their toughest test in years this season, but managed to overcome the Saint-Joachim Braves to win the final 6-5, thanks to a walk-off single from Grade 9 student Kyler Verestiuk.

“Every year is exciting but when you win in walk-off fashion, it’s obviously a little different,” Brandt said.

“That was a fun moment.”

Carillon Sultans off to hot start in MJBL and fundraising

The back-to-back Manitoba Junior Baseball League champions Carillon Sultans are back on the field, preparing for another memorable season.

The team is 5-0 to start the year. They earned the right to represent the province at nationals in Windsor, Ont. with their 2025 championship win. The team got a head start on fundraising last season, but are still looking for support.

They’re hosting a trivia night at St Adolphe Community Club June 5 to support their fundraising efforts. The cost is $240 per team.

Head coach Don Meilleur, who has taken over for Rick Penner this season, said the team was also planning on doing another raffle this season, with tickets to go on sale soon.

SPORTS FLASHBACK 1995: La Broquerie teen excels at cricket

Eighteen-year-old Andrew Amsden of La Broquerie is consumed with cricket, and for good reason. The 1995 graduate of the Steinbach Regional Secondary School, who emigrated to Canada from Britain with his family in 1989, spent the summer playing for Canada’s Under 19 National Cricket Team.

While Amsden’s classmates at the SRSS naturally are more familiar and more concerned with sports such as volleyball, basketball, hockey, baseball, or perhaps curling, Amsden is ensconced in cricket, and understandably so.

For the uninitiated, according to the dictionary, “cricket is a game played with a ball and solid wood bat by two sides of 11 players on a grass field centering on two wickets, each defended in turn by a batsman.”

The rules of cricket make it a complex game for the outsider.