The Southeast Prairie Thunder will be looking to represent the region at the Allan Cup in 2018.  Like the team has done in previous years, they have once again dipped into Brandon and the Westman region to help fill their roster.   Among those on the Thunder roster with ties to the Brandon Wheat Kings are: Tyler Dittmner, Matt Lowry, Paul Ciarelli, Darren Bestland, and Reid Gow. Ian White, who suited up in over 500 NHL games, is also on the Thunder roster.  Former Swan River Stampeder, Ian Lowe is skating with the Thunder this year as well.  The Bradwardine, MB native spent the six last seasons playing professionally in the CHL and the ECHL. The Thunder are currently battling the Île-des-Chênes North Stars in a best of 5 series to see who will represent the West region at the Allan Cup. The Thunder took the first game of the series 4-2 on goals by Tim Plett, Tyler Dittmer, Matt Lowry and Matt Gingera. The winner of the series will travel to Rosetown, SK to compete in the Allan Cup, a trophy awarded annually to the national senior men's ice hockey champion.  This years tournament is being held from April 9th-14th. Manitoba Provincial Finals Mon Feb 19 Île-des-Chênes 2 at South East 4 Sun Mar 4 South East at Île-des-Chênes 2:00 PM Sun Mar 11  Île-des-Chênes at South East 4:00 PM Max Bell Game 4 TBA South East at Île-des-Chênes  If Nec Sat Mar 24  Île-des-Chênes at South East 4:00 PM Max Bell  If Nec

BRANDON – Bobcat men’s basketball standout Tyvon Cooper has been chosen as a Canada West second-team all-star. The Middletown, N.Y. product put on a solid offensive show while leading the Bobcats back to the playoffs for a second straight year. He reached double digits in all 20-conference games and scored 20 or more points in 10 of those contests. “It is a team sport, it is never just me out there,” said Cooper. “My teammates put me in a good position to be effective on the court and they deserve a ton of credit. They always find ways to help me improve as a player and the coaching staff also deserves a big pat on the back.” Cooper’s 2017-18 conference award is one step up from last year when he was named a third-team all-star. Brandon coach Gil Cheung says Cooper never ceases to amaze him. “Tyvon is the hardest worker we have and being selected to his second straight all-star team is a testament to the hours he puts in,” added Cheung. “I know he is more proud of leading us to back-to-back playoff appearances more than any individual accomplishment, but he definitely was a standout in Canada West. Cooper’s most dominating performance came against the Manitoba Bisons on November 24 when he recorded a rare triple-double in BU’s 88-85 overtime win. He nailed a buzzer-beat three-pointer in the extra frame to power the Bobcats to victory. Cooper also collected another three double-doubles during the season. Canada West has Cooper’s name listed among the league leaders in a host of categories including sixth in scoring at 20.2 points per-game. He also had a league-leading 94 free throws and his 84.2 percentage was eighth best in the conference. The Bobcats leaned on Cooper a ton in clutch situations and his total minutes played were sixth most in Canada West. Bobcats pumped for playoffs BRANDON – Provincial rivals are on a collision course and the Canada West playoffs will be their battleground. The Brandon University men's volleyball team will welcome the Winnipeg Wesmen for a best-of-three quarter-final series at the Healthy Living Centre this coming weekend. Match 1 – Friday, February 23 at 7:00 pm Match 2 – Saturday, February 24 at 7:00 pm Match 3 – Sunday, February 25 at 4:00 pm (if necessary) Tickets can be purchased at the front desk of the Healthy Living Centre or online through AuthentiGATE. Playoff tickets are $10 for adults; seniors, BU staff, faculty and alumni pay $7 while youth (age 14-17) are $5. Kids 13-and-under can catch the playoff games for free, as can all current BU students. Brandon clinched home court advantage in the opening round thanks to a fourth-place finish in the conference with a 17-and-7 record. Home court was huge for BU during the regular season as they posted a near perfect record of 10-and-1. The Bobcats split their home-and-home series with the Wesmen during the regular season. Brandon fell in five sets in Winnipeg on November 28, but rebounded with a five-set victory of their own on December 1 at the HLC. Brandon also came out on top in their two exhibition meetings with Winnipeg. The Bobcats won a four-set showdown at the end of September as part of BU's pre-season tournament. They later eliminated Winnipeg from the Wesmen Classic during the Christmas break. The Bobcats swept Winnipeg in the semifinals en route to winning the tournament title. BU and Winnipeg have a long history and it includes a previous showdown in the post-season. The last time the Bobcats hosted in the playoffs was 2014-15 when BU earned a hard-fought quarter-final series win over the Wesmen.

The annual Sports For Youth registration event will take place at the Brandon Shoppers Mall on Saturday, March 3 and Sunday, March 4.  With over ten different organizations represented, the 2-day event serves as a perfect one-stop location for parents to register their children for spring sporting activities in Brandon. As an added bonus, those who complete a registration at the event will have an opportunity to win their registration fee free or a $100 Shoppers Mall gift card. Participating sport organizations include: Brandon Minor Baseball Brandon Youth Soccer Association Golf Brandon Kidsport – Westman Peak Performance & Athletics Prairie Breeze Stables Prairie Football League Special Olympics Westman Softball Association Westman Softball Umpires’ Association Westman Youth Basketball Westman Youth Football Association Event Dates: March 3, 2018 – 9:30 am to 6:00 pm March 4, 2018 – 11:00 am to 5:00 pm

Playoffs have started in both the Tiger Hills Hockey League and the North Central Hockey League.  Below is the final player statistics leaders for each league. 2017-18 THHL Regular Season Leaders Rnk Name Team GP G A Pts PIM 1 Tyler Dittmer Boissevain 18 20 40 60 8 2 Matt Lowry Neepawa 17 25 24 49 2 3 Zenan Ziemer Boissevain 15 21 24 45 6 4 Shane Jury Minnedosa 18 27 17 44 16 5 Ward Szucki Neepawa 16 22 22 44 10 6 Matt Saler Minnedosa 17 15 29 44 37 7 Aubrey Chapman Killarney 18 15 24 39 49 8 Lance Nugent Neepawa 16 14 25 39 6 9 Jesse Bernard Killarney 15 17 20 37 6 10 Tyler Ham MacGregor 15 22 12 34 10 11 Sean Kubas Gladstone 15 15 19 34 8 12 Jesse Toth Gladstone 17 14 20 34 40 13 Jordon Geddes Gladstone 11 13 21 34 4 14 Matt Varnes MacGregor 16 12 22 34 10 15 Bret Levandoski Neepawa 18 11 21 32 4 16 Del Cowan Hartney 14 17 14 31 22 17 Mark Agnew Hartney 12 12 18 30 8 18 Garett Rempel Neepawa 18 10 20 30 19 19 Garrett Johnston Gladstone 11 11 18 29 17 20 Patrick Sheldon MacGregor 16 16 12 28 22   THHL Top Regular Season Goalies Rnk Name Team Record Mins GA GAA Shots Sv% SO 1 Brian Archibald Killarney (12-1-0-0) 785 29 2.22 189 0.921 2 2 Dane Fortin Souris (6-1-1-1) 548 24 2.63 184 0.897 2 3 Kris Westblom Souris (5-3-0-1) 550 29 3.16 202 0.911 0 4 Brody Palmer Boissevain (6-2-0-0) 480 28 3.50 123 0.927 1 5 Matt Kohlman Gladstone (4-1-0-0) 300 18 3.60 30 0.900 0 6 Cody Pollon Minnedosa (3-3-1-0) 402 26 3.88 129 0.860 0 7 Riley Feser Hartney (6-2-0-1) 545 36 3.96 227 0.877 0 8 Brady Plett Neepawa (8-2-0-0) 574 38 3.97 234 0.880 0 9 Darris Hardern Killarney (4-0-0-0) 240 16 4.00 72 0.903 0 10 Ted Lea Pilot Mound (0-1-0-0) 60 4 4.00 0 0.000 0   NCHL Regular Season Scoring Leaders PLAYER TEAM GP G A PTS PIM 1 Jory Mullin Swan Valley 15 24 23 47 2 2 Tanner Lewis Virden 16 26 17 43 10 3 Jordan Cullum Russell 15 18 22 40 43 4 Tanner Koroscil Foxwarren 16 21 17 38 18 5 Jeff Riddell Swan Valley 15 15 20 35 20 6 Drake Bodie Virden 14 9 24 33 14 7 Brayden Cullum Russell 16 15 16 31 20 8 Dillin Stonehouse Minota-Elkhorn 14 19 11 30 2 9 Kelsey McLeod Minota-Elkhorn 14 14 16 30 14 10 Brock Jersak Swan Valley 16 14 16 30 15 11 Derek Falloon Russell 14 12 18 30 6 12 Montana Tanner Foxwarren 14 9 20 29 8 13 Kelly Gray Swan Valley 13 7 21 28 6 14 Braedan Boschman Moosomin 15 16 10 26 43 15 Brayden Nabholz Moosomin 14 12 14 26 35 16 Curtis Oliver Minota-Elkhorn 15 12 14 26 8 17 Kyle McLeod Minota-Elkhorn 13 8 18 26 4 18 Robert Briem Foxwarren 8 11 12 23 10 19 Jackson Wallis Moosomin 13 11 12 23 14 20 Brad Potoroka Grandview 16 11 11 22 14   NCHL Regular Season Leading Goalies GOALIE TEAM GP W L T SO GAA SA SV% 1 Cory Gardham Minota-Elkhorn 8 7 1 0 21 120 99 2 Jerrod Auger Russell 8 5 3 0 23 210 187 3 Drew Denischuk Swan Valley 6 5 0 0 15 171 156 4 Ian Chipelski Foxwarren 2 2 0 0 6 30 24 5 Danny McDonald Grandview 9 6 3 4 31 212 181 6 Josh Peterson Virden 7 5 2 0 26 28 2 7 Keenan Pasternuk Grandview 5 3 1 0 17 103 86 8 Ryan Mathieson Virden 8 4 4 0 31 125 94 9 Deven Dubyk Swan Valley 9 7 2 2 35 376 341 10 Kyler Beckett Moosomin 7 2 5 6 29 149 120

In July of this year, 10-year old Jaxon Jacobson will be heading to Edmonton, Alberta to represent Manitoba at The Brick Invitational Hockey Tournament where he will represent Team Manitoba Brick 2018. Founded by Bill Comrie the Brick Invitational Tournament is among the most prestigious super novice hockey tournaments in North America.  Now in it's 29th year, the tournament showcases the top 10-year old hockey players in North America. The fourteen member team was announced in the middle of November of 2017 and features the top 2008 born players from all over the province. Just like his favorite NHL player Nikolaj Ehlers, Jaxon used a combination of his speed, tenacity and skill to impress the Team Manitoba management team. First lacing up the skates at age two, Jaxon has been playing minor hockey since the young age of four. He currently skates for the Atom AA Wheat Kings, who he lists as his favorite hockey team alongside the Las Vegas Golden Knights. Jaxon is particularly excited about plating in this year's Brick tournament. “I am excited about the opportunity to play for Team Manitoba, it's going to be a lot of fun” he tells bdbmb.ca.  Many players who have played in the tournament have gone on to NHL careers including the likes of Johnny Guadreau, Tyler Sequin, Dougie Hamilton and PK Subban.