Looking for the perfect gift idea for the Las Vegas Golden Knights fan in your life?  An autographed gold jersey signed by recent Stanley Cup Champion Zach Whitecloud is presently up for grabs via a social media auction fundraiser on Facebook. Bidding for the jersey began earlier today and closes Monday, August 21st at noon. 100% of the money raised during the auction goes to Westman Dreams for Kids. For complete details on the online bidding process and accompanying rules, please click here.  

The Brandon U17 AAA Wheat Kings recently announced the appointment of Dylan Halliday as the new head coach for the 2023/24 season. Halliday is no stranger to the program, as he spent some time behind the bench last season as an assistant coach with the organization. "I was asked by Chad Michalchuk to help him out and it was an incredible first introduction into coaching. Both Chad and Dave (Newman) were very open to any ideas me or Jackson had, and we owe a lot to both of those guys." Halliday told bdnmb.ca about his role last season with the team. Prior to making the transition behind the bench, Halliday spent 4 seasons with the MJHL's Virden Oil Caps as a player. "I knew I wanted to coach for real near the end of last year. As our team started to make a push for the playoffs and eventually go on a bit of a run to the finals I knew I was hooked. The excitement the players and parents brought during that playoff run was enough for me to know that I need to keep doing this." said Halliday about why he elected to apply for the head coaching position. "Brought me back to playing and that feeling you get the night before a game where you just can't wait for the games to start. it's an unexplainable feeling." As a first time head coach, Halliday believes he brings a lot to the table. "I bring a true love for the game to coaching. When I'm not at the rink I'm usually at home watching the games on tv or watching highlights. I watched a lot of tape during our teams playoff run and its something I truly love". In the days following his appointment, the organization also announced that Jackson Orr and Carter Sawchuk would be rounding out the coaching staff this year as assistant coaches. 'My assistants are no exception, we are all hockey obsessed, and we are just very excited to get started". While the exact dates for training camp are not yet known, Halliday expects to ice a very competitive team this season. "I know that game in game out we will be the most prepared team and we hope that puts us in the best spot to succeed. This program took a big step last year making it to the final but we were handled pretty easily by Winnipeg in that series. So now it's time to try and take that next step and see if we can make those Winnipeg teams sweat a little bit."

Wendy's Summer Hockey League final at J & G Homes Arena featured the Division 2 Championship with Smitty's Jets vs CHFA Hockey. Smitty's Jets - 4 CHFA Hockey - 3 https://www.aaahockey.com/game/show/39901115?fbclid=IwAR0L-O1DPlOIENI8YKDHqymYyNERYOcJQUvS-u70ikZCnIIzvtUt5XvJz9E Both teams were very close throughout the season with 8 wins per team.  So it would make sense the final game would be a battle. Thank you Scramble Studio Ryder Heaphy scored with 2 minutes left in the second period which would prove to the be the game winner for Smitty's. Regan Anderson, Ryder Heaphy, Drew Shiels, (all three play for SW Cougars) and Sebastian Stone (Plays for Winkler Flyers) all scored for Smitty's Jets. Ty Schell (Plays for Neepawa Titans) with 2 goals for CHFA Hockey and Carter Sawchuk (Former Dauphin King and Neepawa Titans) with one goal for CHFA.

Exciting times ahead for several members of the u15 Wheat City Wranglers lacrosse team as they have been selected to represent Team Manitoba u15 at the upcoming Nationals tournament in Regina. The four players (Vaughn McLeod, Cash Zdan, Mason Woychyshyn, Owen Ducharme) will join 18 others from Winnipeg to comprise the 22 person roster for the Manitoba entry. Wranglers head coach Rob Wilson was also selected as an assistant coach with the club. For McLeod, Zdan, and Woychyshyn, it will be their second time representing the province having participated last year as part of the u13 program. Goalie Owen Ducharme will be representing team Manitoba for the first time. Wheat City Wranglers club founder coach Marty Zdan, as well as coach Rob Wilson, have been a driving force to help these players succeed in representing Manitoba. Team Manitoba practiced three times a week and strength training out of Winnipeg in preparation for Nationals.  The team will be heading to Nationals in Regina Aug 14 to 20. First game will be on Aug 14 at 11 am against BC.

The City of Brandon is inviting all members of the public to participate in a conversation on the future of Brandon’s Community Sportsplex. The City of Brandon has commissioned a needs assessment to determine the best future use of the current Sportsplex arena and increase the accessibility and functionality of the facility, to develop conceptual designs and cost estimates to guide decision making and future investments. A come and go open house will take place on Wednesday, August 16, 2023 from 4 to 7 p.m. in the arena space at Brandon’s Community Sportsplex, 30 Knowlton Drive. In addition to the open house, an online survey is open until August 23, 2023. Input from Brandon families in the open house and online survey will be used to help determine needs and priorities for future improvements. The needs assessment will give Brandon a roadmap to ensure enough ice time, court time and leisure space for everyone. It is evaluating options, such as a renewed ice plant and arena or an alternate redevelopment, such as indoor turf and sport courts. The independent analysis is being done through a combination of market and trend analysis, stakeholder and community input, site assessments and costing models. The outcome of this project is to determine a viable option for redevelopment, and to develop the conceptual design for the renewed Sportsplex. The proposed and approved redevelopment will then move into a conceptual design phase, and the related construction project will be put forward in the 2024 capital budget for City Council consideration. More details on this project can be found at brandon.ca/recreation-assessment.