AS I SEE IT COLUMN: A ‘woke’ sport is an enlightened sport

Did you get to see Olivia Stedman sing the U.S. and Canadian national anthems at the Jets-Seattle game last week?

If you didn’t, you may have read about her incredibly inspiring story in the Free Press or watched clips in social media or saw her story on the news.

If this is all new to you, you should know that at that game, 22-year-old Olivia Stedman got to fulfill her dream of singing the national anthem at a Jets game, thanks to the kindness of Jets co-owner Mark Chipman who graciously made Olivia’s dream come true, the unending support of Olivia’s amazing family, the organizations (like Inclusion Winnipeg and the Movement Centre of Manitoba) that have helped Olivia and her family on their difficult journey and the public school teachers who have nurtured Olivia’s love of singing for most of her young life. (Full disclosure: I work in the school division Olivia recently graduated from.)

Olivia is blind from birth and has other serious challenges in her life because she had a stroke in her mother’s womb.

DANKOCHIK’S DRAFTINGS: Regular seasons should matter

There’s no doubt that the NFL has become the dominant sports league, at least in North America.

The traditional view of a “big four” of the NHL, MLB, NBA and NFL is now completely outdated, thanks in large part to the NFL lapping the field.

In my opinion, one ingredient in the NFL’s “secret sauce” is ensuring their regular season actually matters. Any single loss or stretch of bad play in the league could be disastrous for a team and even if they recover, it makes their path in the playoffs much tougher.

This is especially bad in hockey, as not only does regular season excellence not give any big reward given a lower seed’s potential to find a great goalie, but it’s actually seen as a negative by some fans. Going into the playoffs with the best regular season record isn’t seen as a an accomplishment by many, but a curse to be overcome.

Providence Pilots futsal season kicks off

While soccer is probably the last sport on most Manitoban minds as a massive cold front blew through the province last weekend, the final sport of the Manitoba Colleges Athletic Conference season began in Niverville.

Futsal, an indoor soccer sport played on hard courts, was hosted Jan. 18 in Niverville, with teams from Brandon able to make the trip despite the weather.

The Providence Pilots managed to come out of the weekend with a 1-1 record, thanks to a late go-ahead goal against Assiniboine College to win 2-1. Earlier in the day, the team dropped a 2-1 decision to the University of St Boniface.

Tory Walker coaches both the Providence soccer and futsal teams and was happy with an opening weekend split.

Eastman Selects avoid disastrous loss in playoff race

It wasn’t a game head coach Bruce Sirrell was all that happy with, but the Eastman Selects managed a last-second 7-6 victory over the last-place Yellowhead Chiefs to keep pace in the Manitoba AAA U18 league.

The Selects are battling to stay as high as possible in the standings. Despite being in fifth place exiting the week’s action, are just one point ahead of the Winnipeg Thrashers. Ninth-place Pembina Valley are just six points behind as well, with games in hand to play.

“We didn’t have any energy,” Sirrell said after the game, noting Yellowhead was dominating in transition in the first period.

“That’s hockey. You just stay with the process… It’s a good character win. It wasn’t a textbook good game, but it’s one of those games that you look back and say ‘you lose that it would really sink us.’”

Cameron rink top seed in newly branded women’s provincial championship

Rocks are already flying in Pilot Mound, as the provincial curling schedule kicked off with Manitoba’s women’s championship Jan. 22.

New Bothwell’s Kate Cameron is the top seed, as both team Kaitlyn Lawes and Team Kerri Einarson have already locked up spots in the national Scotties Tournament of Hearts. Those two Manitoba-based teams earned spots at nationals thanks to their pre-season spots in the Canadian Team Ranking System (CRTS).

Team Chelsea Carey had also been granted a spot at nationals thanks to their strong results last year when the team was skipped by Jennifer Jones, but lost their automatic seeding when Karlee Burgess left the team to join the Einarson rink. At least three players need to return for a team to keep their qualifications.

Team Cameron will be bringing a newer look line-up to the provincial event, as usual second Brianna Cullen is representing Canada at the International University Sports Federation world games. The team is currently seventh in the CRTS, and the highest-seeded team at provincials.

Carillon Sports second shots: Jan. 16th edition

Featuring photos from an SRSS Sabres hockey game against Selkirk Jan. 8, two Steinbach Pistons/Niverville Nighthawks games Jan. 9 and Jan. 11 and a Steinbach Huskies game Jan. 10.

Providence turns to de Jong to head cross-country team

A new sport means a new head coach at Providence College.

The school is aiming to enter a team in the National Christian Colleges Athletic Association’s cross-country championship in Indiana this fall.

The program will be led by Caleb de Jong, a Trinity Western University graduate, who competed in track and field at the USports level at University.

“It’s an exciting time,” de Jong said in a Providence news release.

Fire And Ice Banquet features Bomber great

The greatest receiver to play in the Canadian Football League will be entertaining the region’s sports fans at the Steinbach Pistons annual Fire and Ice Banquet.

The team announced Milt Stegall will be the guest speaker at their banquet earlier this month.

When he retired after the 2008 season, he was both the leagues all-time receiving yards leader and all-time touchdown leader, a record he still holds to this day. He was inducted into the Canadian football hall of fame after he finished playing.

What makes those accomplishments all the more impressive is Stegall spent all 14 seasons in Canada with the Blue Bombers.

‘A treasure and a pleasure,’ — Dreger retires after 40 years on the air

In late 1984, Clayton Dreger had little experience as a broadcaster. He had provided CFAM radio in Altona bonspiel reports as part of his role on the Morris Curling Club’s board of directors, but had yet to nab a position.

Those reports caught the ear of the station’s decision makers, who soon offered the then 24-year-old a job, which he has stayed in ever since.

“I had no idea where CFAM even was,” Dreger said with a laugh, noting Al Friesen, who was both the program director for CFAM and president of the Southern Manitoba Super Curling League heard his reports and was impressed enough to offer the job.

“I told him I was working construction in Winnipeg but I wanted to get into radio, I just don’t know how. He said, ‘we’re looking for somebody.’”

SPORTS FLASHBACK 1975: Steinbach Millers win first junior hockey title

The Steinbach Millers left no doubt that they are the best junior “B” hockey team in Manitoba when they skated to three straight victories to claim the provincial championship in a tournament on home ice last weekend.

The team was formed for the 1974-75 season, with players from Ste Anne, Lorette, St Malo, Randolph, Kleefeld, Grunthal and Steinbach, to compete in a newly formed Junior “B” Hockey League. The Millers won the league championship to earn a berth in the Manitoba finals, which they hosted for the first time.

Victories over Dauphin, Portage la Prairie and Pembina Valley gave Steinbach its first-ever junior hockey championship.

The Steinbach Millers were more disappointed than their fans, when they finished third in the Manitoba Games back in December, but a season of hockey later, the team ran scores to double digits in the first two games and then defeated Portage 7-4 for the Manitoba Junior “B” Hockey title in the provincial championships at the Steinbach Arena.

AS I SEE IT COLUMN: Reflections on the world juniors from Ottawa

The recent world juniors didn’t go the way Canadian hockey fans wanted it to go. Here are some thoughts after seeing the tournament in person for the first time in many years.

IT’S A BEAUTIFUL GAMEThe tournament was a refreshing reminder of how beautiful the sport of hockey is. Or can be, when all the extracurricular garbage doesn’t happen. The speed, the skill, the creativity, the athleticism — it was a pure joy to watch.

BUT IT NEEDS MORE ROOMIt was also a reminder that the guys are so big and so fast that there is barely enough room for them. The IIHF has ruled all world championships will be held on smaller North American sized ice, so one easy way to give the game and the players more room to showcase their world class skills is to make the game four on four.

HOCKEY IS IN OUR DNAInteracting with fans, skating on the adjacent outdoor rink (because the Rideau Canal wasn’t frozen enough), it’s clear that hockey is part of the fabric of this nation, whether you are a hockey fan or not. The Hall of Fame had a travelling exhibit (among other things, honouring Ste. Anne’s Jocelyn Larocque). To see the jerseys various Team Canada’s have worn over the many decades of international hockey, was a real thrill.

DANKOCHIK’S DRAFTINGS: Primary assists are king

As we celebrate Brandon Thiessen’s incredible accomplishment at becoming the Hanover Tache Junior Hockey League’s all time leading scorer, I’d like to advocate for something that will never change in hockey — getting rid of the secondary assist.

First, I need to acknowledge this is not a fight that is possible to be won, nor am I seriously advocating for a change this massive. This also isn’t to diminish the accomplishment. Thiessen played on a completely even playing field compared to his peers. This is something in hockey which just kind of bugs me.

Not all assists are created equal. Even in Thiessen’s record breaking game, he had four assists and a pair of goals. One of those assists was a beautiful saucer pass from behind the net, over a Landmark defender and right onto the stick of Rylan Penner in the slot, who one-timed it home.

Now that’s what I call an assist.

Denton Mateychuk notches first NHL goal

It took eight games for Denton Mateychuk to find the back of an NHL net.

The Dominion City product scored his first NHL goal Jan. 9, tallying to give the Columbus Blue Jackets a 4-2 lead in a game against the Seattle Kraken. The Blue Jackets would go on to win 6-2.

After an offensive zone face-off spilled behind the Kraken net, James van Riemsdyk took control, spinning out to the side of the net and letting a shot go, which was saved by Philipp Grubauer.

The rebound went right to the stick of Mateychuk, who was rewarded for his great offensive instincts, pushing all the way down to the faceoff circle before the shot, guide the puck past the outstretched arm of Grubauer along the goal-line.

Thiessen becomes HTJHL’s all-time points leader

Brandon Thiessen didn’t wait long to tie and pass Jamieson Krentz to become the Hanover Tache Junior Hockey League’s modern day career leading scorer.

With his Steinbach Huskies coming into a game against the Landmark Blues Jan.10, Thiessen was just three points away from Kretz’s mark. Krentz also played for the Huskies, racking up 224 points in four seasons, playing one year in Lorette between 2010 and 2014.

Thiessen nabbed an assist on Steinbach’s first goal of the game, then added on a powerplay marker late in the frame to make the score 3-1 and draw within one point of history.

The record would be tied and passed within 20 seconds of game time late in the second period.

Kostiuk signs with Prince Albert in WHL

The biggest news in junior hockey in the last decade was earlier this season, when the NCAA finally lifted their restriction on major junior players, and the ripple effects are continuing into 2024.

Jackson Kostiuk, a 2006-born forward from East St Paul, has left the Steinbach Pistons to sign a scholarship and development with the Prince Albert Raiders of the Western Hockey League.

Kostiuk is only the second non WHL-affiliated player to leave the Manitoba Junior Hockey League since the rule change, following goaltender Raiden LeGall’s departure from Niverville.

In 29 games with Steinbach this season, Kostiuk was scoring at more than a point per game pace, notching 11 goals and 23 assists. Last season he scored 31 points in 45 games for the Pistons.