The defending Manitoba Junior Hockey League champion Steinbach Pistons will meet the Winkler Flyers Friday night in Niverville in game one of the best-of-seven Turnbull Cup final. Shane Burns and Samuel Noad scored second period goals and Cole Plowman made 25 saves as the Pistons blanked the OCN Blizzard 2-0 Wednesday night in the deciding seventh game of their semifinal at the HyLife Centre in La Broquerie. It's the third year in a row Steinbach has earned a trip to the final. The Pistons lost to the Dauphin Kings in 2022 and beat the Virden Oil Capitals in 2023.


The Winnipeg Jets play their regular season finale tonight (7 p.m.) against the Vancouver Canucks at Canada Life Centre. The Jets have clinched second place in the NHL's Central Division and will meet the Colorado Avalanche in round one of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Canucks finished first in the Pacific Division and will face the Nashville Predators in the opening round. 


The Manitoba Moose gave up four third period goals and dropped a 6-4 decision to the Milwaukee Admirals. Parker Ford scored twice for the Moose while singles went to Henri Nikkanen and Axel Jonsson-Fjallby.


Michelle Sawatzky-Koop, who was inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame in 2022, will be enshrined in the Volleyball Canada Hall of Fame on June 5th in Ottawa. As a setter for the University of Manitoba, the Steinbach native helped the Bisons win three straight CIAU championships, from 1990 to 1993. During that time, she took home National Player of the Year honours twice. In the early 1990s, Sawatzky-Koop played for the Canadian junior team and competed at the World Student Games. She joined the senior national women's team in 1995, winning bronze at the Pan American games that year. At the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Sawatzky-Koop guided the Canadian women to a ninth place finish and led the team in a 3-2 victory over Peru - the first Olympic win for the women's program.


Brad Jacobs, who won the 2024 Viterra Provincial Men's Curling Championship in Stonewall with Reid Carruthers, Derek Samagalski and Connor Njegovan, has left the curling scene in Manitoba and joined Marc Kennedy, Brett Gallant and Ben Hebert in Alberta. Jacobs replaces skip Brendan Bottcher who parted ways with Kennedy, Gallant and Hebert on Wednesday. 

hockey_2023Pistons goaltender Cole Plowman made 25 saves in recording the shutout in game seven (photo courtesy Scott Stroh - Ice Wave Media)

The Steinbach Pistons defeated the OCN Blizzard 2-0 Wednesday night in the seventh and deciding game of their semifinal series. Head coach Paul Dyck will join Clayton Dreger on the Pistons Report which airs Thursdays at 5:15 p.m. on AM 1250 Radio.