The Southwest Cougars saw their eight-game win streak come to an end Wednesday night in Souris. Alex Campbell scored twice and Piet Mierau made 39 saves as the Parkland Rangers shaded Southwest 4-3. Connor Hoemsen, Spencer Cullen and Eric Berger did the goal scoring for the Cougars. Campbell's second of the night on the power play at 12:36 of the second period snapped a 3-3 tie and stood up as the game winner. Southwest goaltender Micky Gross stopped 32 shots.
Team Manitoba will face Ontario Red today (11 a.m.) in the quarterfinals at the 2024 U18 Women's National Hockey Championship in Quispamsis, New Brunswick. Manitoba finished fourth in Group B with a 1-2 preliminary round record. Ontario Red was 3-0 and first in Group A.
The Western All-Star Showcase wrapped up Wednesday in Warman, Saskatchewan. Angelo Zol of the Weyburn Red Wings made 32 saves in recording the shutout as Team SJHL defeated Team MJHL 2-0 to earn a split of the two-game series. Dustin Renas of the Yorkton Terriers and Jadon Iyogun of the Melville Millionaires scored second period goals for Team SJHL. Team MJHL goaltender Mitchell Kathler of the Portage Terriers faced 27 shots. Team MJHL beat Team SJHL 4-2 on Tuesday.
Wyatt Njegovan scored with 1:31 left in the third period and Cohen Kulbacki potted his fourth goal of the night with 13 seconds remaining as the Neepawa Tigers rallied for a 9-8 victory over Virden at the Yellowhead Centre in the lone Westman High School Hockey League game. Ian Foster chipped in with a goal and four helpers for the Tigers. Dexen Routledge had three goals and four assists for the Golden Bears.
The Winnipeg Jets meet the Colorado Avalanche tonight (7 p.m.) at Canada Life Centre. The Jets are coming off a 3-0 victory over Utah on Tuesday. Winnipeg has won 12 of its first 13 games and own the best record in the National Hockey League.
Canada's National Women's Hockey Team opened the Rivalry Series with a 7-2 loss to the United States in San Jose Wednesday night. Lacey Eden and Abbey Murphy both scored a pair of goals for the Americans who jumped out to a 5-0 first period lead. Blayre Turnbull and Sarah Nurse scored for Team Canada. Kristen Campbell of Brandon got the start in net for the Canadians but was pulled after allowing five goals on 15 shots in the opening 20 minutes. Ann-Renée Desbiens turned aside 12 of 14 shots in relief. Game two of the Rivalry Series is Friday night in West Valley City, Utah.
Ryan Wiebe, Shaela Hayward, Ty Dilello and Jennifer Clark-Rouire finished in first place in Pool B with a 5-1 record and have advanced to the Championship Pool at the Canadian Mixed Curling Championship in St. Catharines, Ontario. The Manitoba champions defeated Kurt Balderston of Alberta 6-5 on Wednesday. Team Wiebe will meet Cody Tanaka of BC and Trent Skanes of Newfoundland & Labrador today and then play Owen Purcell of Nova Scotia and Jason Ackerman of Saskatchewan on Friday. The top four teams from the Championship Pool advance to the semifinals.