Nine Steinbach Pistons will play in the 2023 MJHL-SJHL Showcase January 31st and February 1st at the Seven Oaks Sportsplex in Winnipeg. Ty Paisley, Warren Clark, Nicholas Mikan and Noah Szabo will play for Team 18U White; Davis Fry and Dawson Milliken will play for Team 20U Black and Dominik Wasik, Ian Amsbaugh, Travis Hensrud and Landon Roberts will play on Team 20U Red. Five Niverville Nighthawks were also selected. Evan Bortis and Brett Tataryn will play for Team 20U Red; Desmond Johnson and Josh Paulhus will play for Team 20U Black and Carson Reed will play for Team 18U White. The event provides high performance exposure in front of NHL, WHL, NCAA and USPORTS scouts. The 2023 edition of the joint showcase is the first in Manitoba and first since 2020 in Regina, after both the 2021 and 2022 showcases were canceled due to the global pandemic.


Andrew Irving of the Fort Rouge Curling Club in Winnipeg won the 133rd Manitoba Open Bonspiel. Irving defeated Justin Reynolds of Winnipeg Beach 5-4 in the Asham Event final. Other event winners were Josh Drews (Merrimack Valley), Sean Grassie (Deer Lodge), Jesse McCullough (Fort Garry), Andrew Wickman (Fort Rouge), Darryl Friesen (St. Vital), Adam Minor (AMCC), Ken Stanley (St. Vital), Steve Michaleski (Morris), Daniel Birchard (Pembina) and Timothy Friesen (East St. Paul). The three Viterra Championship berth winners were Justin Reynolds, Richard Muntain of the Granite and Joey Witherspoon of Assiniboine Memorial. 


The Provincial Junior Curling Championships begin tonight at the Portage Curling. The top three seeds for the Junior Women's Championship are Katy Lukowich of the Granite, Zoey Terrick of the Heather and Grace Beaudry of St. Vital. The 11 team Junior Women’s event will be a triple knockout, with a 4-team Page Playoff. Julie Van Ryssel of Springfield will meet Dayna Wahl of Altona on the opening draw tonight at 7:30 p.m. Defending champion Jordon McDonald is the number one seed for the Junior Men's Championship. Jace Freeman of Virden is the second seed followed by Aaron Van Ryssel of Springfield. The Junior Men will play a round-robin format with two pools of five teams and a 4-team Page Playoff.  Aaron Van Ryssel will play his round robin opener against Colton Olafson of Portage Wednesday at 10 a.m. The finalists in both championships advance to the Canadian Junior Championships March 25th - April 2nd in Rouyn-Noranda, Québec.


The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have signed American defensive end Jackson Jeffcoat to a one-year contract extension. He was scheduled to become a free agent next month. The Dallas native returns to the Blue Bombers for a sixth season in 2023. Despite missing six regular season games due to injury, Jeffcoat finished the 2022 campaign with four quarterback sacks, 20 defensive tackles, one interception along with a forced fumble and fumble recovery. He was especially effective in the playoffs with a sack in each of the Western Final and Grey Cup games, adding a forced fumble in the championship loss to the Toronto Argonauts.

 

The East St. Paul Arena will be the home of the 2023 Provincial Scotties Tournament of Hearts which begins next Wednesday. Host committee co-chair Kim Link will join Clayton Dreger on This Week in Curling which airs Tuesdays at 5:15 p.m. on AM 1250 Radio.