Local Sports

Cochrane’s own Dylan Pighin helped lead the Zone 2 Blaze 19AA ringette team to a national title at the Canadian Ringette Championships in Ottawa this past weekend.

The championships, which began with opening ceremonies on March 30 and concluded on April 5, saw the Blaze go undefeated in eight games.

18-year-old Pighin is a former Cochrane High student and long-time Cochrane Ringette Association player who now leads the 19AA team says it was an unforgettable experience.

“We played teams from all over Canada. It was super fun.”

A fanfare by the Canucks, family and friends made Ty Mueller's first taste of the NHL special.

The 22-year-old centre, who got his start in Cochrane Minor Hockey, was called up from the Abbotsford Canucks to centre one of Vancouver's top scoring lines against the Minnesota Wild on Saturday night.

Mueller played 15 shifts, totalling 10 minutes and 56 seconds of ice time between Brock Boeser and Jake DeBrusk.

The Saskatchewan Rush lost a rivalry game their last time out as the Calgary Roughnecks came to town and won a low scoring 10-6 decision inside SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon. They will look to rebound this weekend down in Denver as they face the Colorado Mammoth in a Sunday matinee. 

The loss didn't shake up the NLL standings entering the final month of the regular season. With 11 wins the Rush are still in second place behind 12-win Buffalo, Halifax and Rochester behind them tied for third with 10 wins each, those four clubs being the only ones to clinch a playoff spot already. 

MOOSE JAW, SK – The Moose Jaw Warriors are excited to announce that 19-year-old defenceman Aiden Ziprick has committed to Bemidji State University for the 2026-27 season. 

“We would like to congratulate Aiden on committing to Bemidji State in 2026-27,” said General Manager Jason Ripplinger. “Aiden came to Moose Jaw looking for an opportunity to develop as a player and a person. [Aiden] took big steps to set himself up to be a top defenceman in the WHL in the upcoming season.”

The Portage Terriers staved off elimination on Saturday night, beating the Dauphin Kings 3-0 on home ice. Penalty trouble cost the Terriers early in the series, but on Saturday night they locked it down giving up four power plays to Dauphin but they killed them all off.

Portage came out firing in the first period and scored in the first three minutes. Adam Belzil was left alone in front of the net and he was able to deke past Dauphin goalie Cole Sheffield to open the scoring. The Dogs outshot the Kings 16-9 through 20 minutes.

Steinbach’s junior curlers closed out the 2024-25 season with strong performances at two major events in Winnipeg — the Curl Canada RockFest skills competition and the annual junior season wind-up bonspiel.

The Curl Canada RockFest Man-Sask event wrapped up Saturday after three days of competition. Nearly 100 U15 curlers from across the Prairies gathered for the individual skills challenge, and Steinbach had seven curlers qualify for the event.

One of the highlights came in the female division, where Ahinoam Ruka brought home the bronze medal.

The Portage Terriers dropped a heart breaker on Friday night 4-3 in double overtime to the Dauphin Kings.

The Terriers started the game strong until a penalty derailed their momentum. Matthew Thomas then scored on the power play to make it 1-0 Kings. Rylan Gage made it 2-0 late in the period for his second of the playoffs. After letting in 2 goals on 14 shots, Terrier goalie Ryan Velan was done for the night, and Mitchell Kathler came into the game in relief.

Cochrane football player Leighten Boynton received his Canadian Junior Football League (CJFL) championship ring at St. Clair College’s athletics awards banquet on Thursday night, recognizing his team’s historic national title win.

The oldest group of West Central Wheat Kings players had their awards night recently.

Moose Jaw, SK – With the conclusion of the Moose Jaw Warriors’ season, General Manager Jason Ripplinger and the Moose Jaw Warriors scouting staff are preparing for one of the organization’s biggest days of the year – the WHL Prospect Draft. 

The 2025 drafts begin on May 7 with the WHL Expansion Draft and the first round of the WHL Prospects draft. The US Priority Draft and the remaining rounds of the Prospects Draft will follow on May 8. The CHL Import draft will follow later in the summer.