The PCI Saints hockey team finally picked up something they have wanted for a while - a win. Over the past couple of weeks the squad has come very close several times but last night they finally got the job done. It took a shootout but they beat the Pierre Elliot Trudeau Canadiennes 1-0. Abby Reichert turned aside 35 shots for the shutout victory.
Ketema Wall and Jeffrey Holomay did the goal scoring and Koen Bleznuk stopped all 41 shots he faced as the Garden Valley Zodiacs blanked the Morris Mavericks 2-0 in the lone Zone 4 High School Hockey League game.
Connor Jensen scored Winkler's lone goal 1:51 into the first period as the Flyers lost 2-1 in overtime to the Winnipeg Blues. Former Pembina Valley Hawks netminder Brock Moroz made 56 saves in net for the Blues. Flyers goaltender Malachi Klassen faced 16 shots. Steinbach beat Selkirk 5-2 in the other game. The Portage Terriers host Dauphin, 7:30 tonight at Stride Place.
The top three teams in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League's East Division are in the Canadian Junior Hockey League's Top 20 Rankings. The Steinbach Pistons moved up one spot from six to five. The Portage Terriers dropped from nine to 10. The Winkler Flyers, who were previously unranked, are number 16. The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League's Battlefords North Stars are the number one nationally ranked team for the seventh week in a row.
The Brandon Wheat Kings lost 5-4 to the Blades in Saskatoon. Winnipeg's Connor Roulette potted the winner 2:33 into overtime for the Blades. Calder Anderson, Rylen Roersma, Brett Hyland and Jake Chiasson replied for the Wheat Kings. Chiasson's goal with 10.1 seconds left in the third period tied the game at 4-4. Saskatoon forward and La Salle native Tyler Parr scored his fourth of the season eight minutes into the second period.
Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor scored two goals each and Connor Hellebuyck made 39 saves as Winnipeg downed the Florida Panthers 5-2. Adam Lowry also scored for the Jets. Pierre-Luc Dubois chipped in with three helpers. It was Panthers coach Paul Maurice's first game back in Winnipeg since he resigned as Jets head coach last December 17th. Maurice was 315-223-62 in 600 games over nine seasons in Winnipeg.
Manitoba champions Randy Neufeld has a 4-0 record and Terry Ursel is 1-3 at the 2022 Canadian Senior Curling Championships in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. Neufeld and Ursel will play their final two Pool B round robin games today.
The Canadian men's curling championship is returning to Regina. Curling Canada announced that the 2024 Brier will take place March 1st-10th. The Brier has been played at the Brandt Centre three previous times - in 2018 (won by Team Canada’s Team Brad Gushue); in 2006 (won by Quebec’s Team Jean-Michel Ménard) and 1992 (won by Manitoba’s Team Vic Peters). Previous Regina-hosted Briers took place in 1976 (the memorable victory by Newfoundland/Labrador’s Jack MacDuff) and 1955 (just as memorable as Garnet Campbell of Avonlea and his three brothers won Saskatchewan’s first Brier title). The 2023 Brier starts March 3rd in London, Ontario.