Derik Cook and Jesse Mistelbacher scored 79 seconds apart early in the third period as the Lorette Comets defeated the Macdonald Swarm 6-4 in Ile des Chenes Thursday night in the Hanover Tache Junior Hockey League's final game of 2021. Troy Beauchemin had two goals and three assists for the first place Comets. Calum Tremblay and Cole Dekoninck also scored for Lorette. Justin Grenier, Spencer Kaminsky, Kaydin Robertson and Jeremy Weurch replied for the Swarm who lead 2-1 after the first period. The game was tied 4-4 after forty minutes. The Steinbach Huskies game against the Niverville Clippers scheduled for this afternoon at the T.G. Smith Centre has been postponed.

 

The Brandon Wheat Kings lost 3-2 to Edmonton in front of no fans at Westoba Place. Simon Kubicek scored the only goal of the shootout for the Oil Kings. Edmonton netminder Kolby Hay stopped 40 shots and all three he faced in the shootout. Marcus Kallionkieli and Mason Ward scored power play goals for the Wheat Kings. Brandon's Ethan Kruger made 31 saves. The Wheat Kings next two home games, January 1st against the Red Deer Rebels and January 7th against the Calgary Hitmen, have been postponed due to capacity restrictions in place in the province of Manitoba. Brandon's next scheduled game is January 12th against the Tigers in Medicine Hat which is the start of the Wheat Kings four-game Alberta road trip.

 

The Winnipeg Ice game in Swift Current was postponed Thursday. Four Broncos players have been placed on the WHL COVID-19 Protocol List due to exhibiting symptoms or having tested positive for the coronavirus. It is believed the exposure to COVID-19 occurred outside the team environment. Broncos team activities including on-ice practices and off-ice training have been paused pending further team results.

 

Five more players tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday prior to the cancellation of the 2022 World Junior Hockey Championship in Edmonton and Red Deer. The positive tests included players from Canada, Slovakia and Germany as well as two members of Team Sweden. One staff member and an on-ice official also tested positive. The International Ice Hockey Federation cancelled the tournament Wednesday after three games had been forfeited due to teams entering quarantine after positive test results. Four players from Russia, the United States and the Czech Republic had tested positive.

 

The Canadian national women's soccer team, which includes Winnipeg's Desiree Scott, is Canada's 2021 Team of the Year. Julia Grosso's goal in penalty kicks gave Canada a 3-2 shootout victory over Sweden in the gold medal game at the Tokyo Summer Games. Olympic decathlon champion Damian Warner is the Male Athlete of the Year and the recipient of the Lionel Conacher Award. Leylah Fernandez, who reached the final of the U.S. Open Tennis Championship and earned her first WTA Tour title, won the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award as the Female Athlete of the Year.