This past weekend, March 1-3, Hockey Manitoba held the Peewee Rural A2 Provincials in Steinbach, MB.  This years champs are Brandon's own, Guild Insurance Penguins! In the round robin the Penguins won 5-2 vs Springfield, 2-1 vs Morden, and 9-0 vs MacDonald before defeating Niverville 8-1 in the the semi finals to advance to the final against Winkler.  The Penguins came out strong in the championship game, jumping out to a lead before shutting the door and relying on some great goaltending to earn the shutout and the championship with a 3-0 win. The Brandon Guild Insurance Penguins are: #5 Sage Hall-Vermette, #6 Ashton Hamm, #7 Ruben Janse Van Rensburge, #8 Dante Lenardon, #9 Myles Scramstad, #10 Ulrich Moller, #11 Zos Giordani-Gross, #12 Rylan Dean, #14 Landon Dreolini, #16 Cole Ericson, #17 Tyler Rogers, #19 Brock Eastman, #20 Hunter Andronick and #30 Micky Giordani-Gross.  Coaches: Jason Hamm, Devin Scramstad and Derek Gross. Story Submitted

Season tickets for the Wheat City Whiskey Jacks are now available on their website. They open the season on the road in Minot on May 24th against the Souris Valley Sabre Dogs. The Whiskey jacks home opener has been scheduled several days later, on the 28th, against the same Sabre Dogs club.  The league features teams in South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska and Wyoming.  Each club plays a 64-game regular season schedule. Adult Season: $345.00 Senior 65+ Season: $289.00 Military Season: $289.00 Kids (3-12) Season: $229.00 taxes not included in above pricing  

Jayson Argue was one busy goalie Friday night for the Swan Valley Axemen of the North Central Hockey League. Argue faced 108 shots, stopped 106 of them, in dropping a 2-1 decision to the Russell Rams. Russell forward Brock Nixon scored the eventual game winner in the 3rd overtime period. In total Russell peppered Argue with 53 shots in the overtime periods. Prior to this season, Argue had spent four years playing college hockey at Bentley University. Winning goaltender Jerrod Auger stopped 37 of the 38 shots he faced in picking up the win.

The middle of February saw the Wheat City Whiskey Jacks release their coaching staff for 2019 and today they announced the team’s first group of player commitments. The first player introductions (listed below) include a pitcher, an outfielder, and a shortstop/2nd basemen. Robbie Merced, a short stop/2nd baseman from Fort Scott Community College and a native of Springfield, MO; Colton Charnholm, a pitcher with Spokane Falls Community College and a native of Belgrade, MT; Jayce Bailey, an outfielder with Boise State University and a native of Coeur D'Alene, ID Additional player introductions will be released on the team's Facebook account in the coming weeks. The team opens the season on the road in Minot on May 24th against the Souris Valley Sabre Dogs. The team’s home opener has been scheduled several days later, on the 28th, against the same Sabre Dogs club. For information on the Expedition League visit www.theexpeditionleague.com.

The Manitoba Room will be transformed into The Patch at this year's Brier being held inside Brandon's Keystone Centre from March 2-10. The Patch is "curling’s legendary party place" featuring a nightly lineup of live entertainment, food & beverages, activities, and more. A series of musical acts have already been confirmed including: The Incredibly Hip, The Proud Sons, and Brad Johner and the Johner Brothers.  Fans will also have the chance to meet athletes at daily team autograph sessions and ask questions at the “Up Close & Personal Sessions.” For more details please click this link.