Team Reid Carruthers of the Granite Curling Club in Winnipeg is the number seed for the 2024 Viterra Provincial Men's Curling Championship that begins one week from today in Stonewall. Carruthers, Derek Samagalski and Connor Njegovan lost the Manitoba final a year ago to Matt Dunstone at the Yellowhead Centre in Neepawa. Brad Jacobs, who won the Northern Ontario championship 13-times, joined Team Carruthers this season and will skip the team at his first Manitoba championship. Seeds two through five are Ryan Wiebe & Braden Calvert of Fort Rouge and Jordon McDonald & Brett Walter of Assiniboine Memorial. The Manitoba champion will represent our province at the Brier in Regina in early March, joining the reigning Manitoba champion Matt Dunstone team (CTRS #4) who have already pre-qualified.


Ian Friesen and Cole Topham each had a hat trick and Keyan Grimard chipped in five assists as the Steinbach Huskies defeated the St. Clements Gators 18-2 at the East Selkirk Arena. Ethan Unger, Rylan Penner, Ethan Plett and Brandon Thiessen added two goals each for the defending Hanover Tache Junior Hockey League champions who moved three points ahead of the Springfield Extreme in the race for first place. The Huskies and Xtreme both have two games left in the regular season schedule. Logan Funk, Eric Mateychuk, Darius Gagne and Griffin Plett also scored for Steinbach. Luke Tyslau and Ryan Pellaers replied for the last place Gators. 


All three Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League teams were winners on day one of the MJHL/SJHL Showcase at the Seven Oaks Sportsplex in Winnipeg. Kirk Mullen and David Cote of the Steinbach Pistons scored power play goals in MJHL 20U Black's 4-3 loss to SJHL 20U White. Pistons netminder Cole Plowman made 28 saves for 20U Black. SJHL 20U Gold defeated MJHL 20U Red 5-2. SJHL 18U Blue edged MJHL 18U White 3-2. Niverville Nighthawks goaltender Raiden LeGall stopped 26 shots for 18U White.


Dawson Barteaux had two goals and an assist as the Manitoba Moose downed the Rockford IceHogs 4-1. Brad Lambert and Jeffrey Viel also scored for the Moose who received a 22-save performance from Thomas Milic. 


The Winnipeg Goldeyes signed infielder Edwin Arroyo for the upcoming season. Arroyo is no stranger to the American Association, or first-year Goldeyes manager Logan Watkins. Prior to missing the 2023 campaign due to injury, the 33-year-old spent the 2022 season with the Cleburne Railroaders team piloted by Watkins. In 87 games, Arroyo hit .316 with 17 doubles, four triples, five home runs, 41 runs batted in, and 15 stolen bases. He was among the league leaders with a .434 on-base percentage. A native of Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico, Arroyo played three seasons for the Chicago Dogs between 2018 and 2020. He hit a combined .306 with 51 doubles and 113 RBIs for Chicago and earned a post-season All-Star nod in 2020. Winnipeg now has nine players under contract for the 2024 season. American Association clubs may carry up to 30 players during spring training, which begins May 1st.

hockey_2023The Nighthawks are in fourth place in the MJHL's East Division

The Niverville Nighthawks play their first game of February on Saturday night against the Wolverines in Waywayseecappo. Nighthawks head coach Kelvin Cech will join Clayton Dreger on Sportsbeat which airs Wednesdays at 5:15 p.m. on AM 1250 Radio.