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Howdy, folks.
Lots on my mind this week, with plenty of ground to cover, so let’s go around the horn.
🏆 How lucky are we to be enjoying not only an incredible Stanley Cup Final — the first four games of the series have been pure hockey heaven — but also a compelling NBA Finals as well, which included a historic comeback last night by the New York Knicks.
It’s just been terrific, must-see theatre. You’d almost think it was scripted.
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🏒 There’s obviously plenty of Manitoba flavour in the SCF, with five local products (Mark Stone, Brett Howden, Keegan Kolesar, Seth Jarvis, Jordan Martinook) all competing and playing significant roles. Then there’s the always polarizing Nikolaj Ehlers, who is certainly silencing some critics with his play, now with 14 points (7G, 7A) through 16 playoff games.
I found it quite telling that, with Carolina clinging to a one-goal lead in Tuesday’s must-win Game 3, Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour had the guy named Fly out there in the final minute defending. And how did Ehlers reward his coach for that faith? By icing the victory with an empty-netter, on top of the two assists he had earlier in the night.
Good for Ehlers, who is a quality player and a quality person. We had some awesome chats in Milan in February when he was competing for Denmark at the Winter Olympics, and now he’s two wins away from a Stanley Cup.
🥅 It was fun reminiscing about our province’s hockey past the other day while covering the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame announcement. One of the inductees in the player category, Mike Leclerc, used to occasionally play on my team back when I was just a wee little goalie for the Gateway Flyers. His older brother, Mark, is my age and we used to be job-share partners in net.
Mike would often get called up to play with our team and would absolutely be the best player on the ice despite being a year younger. I wasn’t surprised when he went on to a great NHL career, which at one point included playing on a line with Teemu Selanne and Paul Kariya with the Mighty Ducks in Anaheim.
Fun fact: Mark and Mike’s dad used to help coach us, particularly working with Mark and myself in net. But he never put on skates, nor did he bring a hockey stick on the ice. Instead, he’d walk out in his boots with a bucket of pucks and then throw them at us to simulate shooting.
✈️ Prediction time: I suspect the Winnipeg Jets use their No. 8 pick (as opposed to trading it) and land one of the following players during the first round of the NHL draft on June 26: either centre Viggo Björck or Tynan Lawrence, or defenceman Daxon Rudolph or Alberts Smits.
If I had to pick just one, I’d say Rudolph is the guy.
⚽ Confession: I’m not much of a soccer guy. Sure, I appreciate the skill and athleticism that it takes to play the sport at the highest level, but it’s not something that typically reels me in as a viewer or spectator, with one major exception —the World Cup always manages to grab my interest. Perhaps it’s because I AM a big fan of international competition and best-on-best tournaments.
Obviously I’ll be rooting for Canada in a big way, along with Scotland (family lineage). Yes, I’m prepared to be disappointed. How about you? Will you be watching?
⚾ Speaking of disappointing, how about those Toronto Blue Jays?
A 33-36 record is certainly not what I would have predicted, but it’s hard to get too down on the ballclub given the incredible run of injuries they’ve experienced. The good news is the American League appears to be a pillow fight this year, as evidenced by the fact Toronto is just one game out of a playoff spot with a whopping 93 games to go. With plenty of walking wounded expected back soon, I’m hoping some brighter days are ahead.
On the subject of the Jays, what a great evening it was last Thursday hearing Cito Gaston, Joe Carter and host Rod Black swap stories during the annual Rady Sports Dinner. It was a fantastic evening for a great cause — one that leaves you walking away feeling pretty good about humanity.
🏇 A very cool moment on Wednesday night at Assiniboia Downs. Second-year jockey Ciera Pruitt rode to a thrilling come-from-behind victory in the sixth race on the back of Bromeo, a horse trained by her mother, Lise.
And all of this happened on the birthday of Ciera’s father/Lise’s husband, Jerry, who was at the track cheering them both on. “First win for my Mom,” Ciera wrote on Facebook. “I couldn’t have been happier to get her in the winner’s circle for the first time this season. She is always pushing me to work harder and be stronger and you are the reason I try so hard every day and every race. I’ve learned my best qualities from you. It’s an honour to be in the winner’s circle but to be in it with my family is even more special.”
You may recall I profiled the Pruitt family last summer as Ciera was in the early stages of her rookie season, which ultimately ended with a dozen victories. She got the first two of her 2026 meet on Wednesday.
⛳ My good friends over at the Canadian Animal Blood Bank tell me tickets are moving fast for the upcoming Mutt & Masters Golf Classic. The fourth-annual event will be held July 9 at Wildwood and is always a highlight of summer for me.
If you (and possibly your four-legged family member) would like to join us, just click here to grab tickets. You can also make a donation to this wonderful charity even if you can’t attend. They truly are doing incredible, life-saving work. You can also support them — and try your luck — with their online 50/50 raffle, which is open to all 18+ residents. Check that out here.
📰 Shameless sales pitch time: Not yet a subscriber to the Free Press? There’s no better time than now to join us.
Check out this excellent, limited time offer ($1.44/week for a full year) which gets you the most comprehensive Jets coverage from yours truly and my colleague, Ken Wiebe, along with enhanced local sports, news, business and entertainment coverage that you won’t find anywhere else. Find out more here.
🌴 I’m off on holidays next week, so we’ll chat again in this space June 25.
Let’s hope the rain stays away for a while. We could use some drying out, and I’ve got a handful of golf games in my personal forecast.
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