Jordan DePape scored twice late in the first period and Brenden Walker's shorthanded marker with 1:34 left in the second period proved to be the winner as the Ste. Anne Aces defeated the Warren Mercs 5-2 in game two of the SEMHL's best-of-seven final. Burke Heide and Tanner Harms into an empty net with 1:56 left also scored for the Aces who lead the series two games to none. Erik Swanson and Dexter Kuczek replied for the hometown Mercs. Warren led 2-0 until DePape scored his first of night at 16:42 of the opening period. Game three goes Wednesday night in Ste. Anne.
All four playoff series will start Friday. The Portage Terriers will play on the road in Winkler with game 2 being at Stride Place Sunday night. (get tickets here) The other series will be the Steinbach Pistons with home ice advantage against the Niverville Nighthawks, the OCN Blizzard square off against Dauphin Kings, and the Virden Oil Capitals have home ice as they battle the Neepawa Titans. Steinbach finished first overall in the regular season.
Niverville Nighthawks goaltender Raiden LeGall is a Manitoba Junior Hockey League Star of the Week. LeGall helped guide the Nighthawks to their second straight playoff appearance. In a must win game against the Virden Oil Capitals, the Morden native put the team on his back, making 46 saves in a 2-0 shutout performance at Tundra Oil & Gas Place. The Bemidji State University commit turned aside 18 of 19 shots the following night in a 5-1 win over the Swan Valley Stampeders that would solidify Niverville's playoff spot.
Manitoba Moose goaltender Thomas Milic is the AHL Player of the Week. The 20-year-old Port Coquitlam, B.C. native started all three games for the Moose during the week, posting a 3-0-0 record, as Manitoba built a six-point lead for the final playoff spot in the Central Division. The rookie netminder allowed just four goals on 85 shots for a 1.30 goals-against average and a .953 save percentage. Milic opened the week with his first career AHL shutout in a 6-0 win over Milwaukee. Milic made 29 saves, including 13 in the third period, to blank the division-leaders. The Winnipeg Jets 2023 fifth round selection then turned aside 21 shots, including five in overtime, before stopping all five attempts in the shootout for a 3-2 win against the Chicago Wolves. Milic followed up with 31 saves the next night as part of a 6-2 victory over the Wolves. He stopped 11 of 12 shots in the third period to hold off a Chicago charge. Milic, the third-youngest goaltender in the AHL this season, holds an 11-5-1 record in 19 appearances, supported by a 2.63 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage.
The Vincent Massey Trojans and Dakota Lancers are Provincial High School AAAA varsity basketball champions. The Trojans defeated the Oak Park Raiders 101-82 in the boys final Monday night at the Investors Group Athletic Centre at the University of Manitoba in south Winnipeg. The Lancers downed the Garden City Gophers 84-34 in the girls final. Vincent Massey's Chris Piotrowski and Dakota Collegiate's Izzi Fust were named the tournament MVP's.
Colton Lott & Kadriana Lott have a 3-0 round robin record at the 2024 Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Championship in Fredericton, New Brunswick. The three-time Manitoba champions defeated Lynn Kreviazuk & David Mathers of Ottawa 8-4 and Veronique Bouchard & Jean-Francois Charest of Chicoutimi 12-4.
Rachel Homan is undefeated heading into day four at the World Women’s Curling Championship in Sydney, Nova Scotia. Homan, vice-skip Tracy Fleury, second Emma Miskew and lead Sarah Wilkes downed Marianne Roervik of Norway 9-4 and improved to 4-0. The Canadian champions face Stefania Constantini of Italy (4-0) and defending World champions Silvana Tirinzoni of Switzerland (5-0) on Tuesday.
The Provincial Mixed Curling Championship was held this past weekend in Neepawa. The 2024 championship team is skipped by Ryan Wiebe. Wiebe, who curls out of the Fort Rouge club in Winnipeg, beat Braden Calvert in the final 4-3.
The Winnipeg Goldeyes signed right-handed relief pitcher Joey Steele. With the Goldeyes, Steele will be reunited with starter Landen Bourassa and catcher Rob Emery, who were his teammates at the University of San Francisco. Chosen in the 30th round of the 2019 Major League Baseball June Amateur Draft by the Miami Marlins, the 28-year-old played three seasons in their system, reaching the Class-A Advanced level in 2021 and 2022 with Beloit of the Midwest League. Steele, a native of San Francisco, pitched last season for the Lexington Counter Clocks of the Atlantic League, where he posted a 2-4 record with a 3.61 earned run average and three saves in 49 appearances. He also averaged 1.58 strikeouts per innings pitched.