Be positive, productive in partner’s travel absence

Jets new backup Stevenson ‘stoked’ to be in tandem with Skinner

It didn’t take long to get the dirt on the newest member of the Winnipeg Jets.

Meet Clay Stevenson, who has no problem if you prefer to refer to him by his long-standing nickname of “Mud.”

“You know, Clay is in the mud, and there you go. That’s it, right there,” Stevenson said Wednesday with a laugh. “I got it in juniors when I was playing in Coquitlam, and kind of stuck ever since.”

Stevenson is now hoping to make a name for himself in a city that, quite fittingly, translates to “muddy water” in Cree. The 27-year-old from Alberta was placed on waivers by the Washington Capitals and claimed by the Jets, who were looking to clarify a goaltending situation which was as murky as the Red River.

Manitoba PCs choose Narth as interim leader; ‘deeply hurt’ Khan blasts former caucus colleagues

Manitoba’s Progressive Conservative caucus chose MLA Konrad Narth as interim party leader Tuesday to replace Obby Khan, who quit a day earlier after he said he was stabbed in the back by a small group of caucus members plotting in secret to oust him.

Port of Churchill signs agreement with Dutch port

Arctic Gateway Group, operator of the Port of Churchill, has signed an agreement with the Port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands to attract business and strengthen supply chains linking Western Canada and Europe.

The agreement enables the two ports to work together to develop new trade in critical minerals and energy products, connect Canadian producers with European buyers, and identify opportunities to improve the supply chain from Western Canadian resource projects through Churchill and into European markets.

The Port of Rotterdam is Europe’s largest port and home to more than 3,000 businesses across its industrial complex, serving as a major gateway for critical raw materials and energy.

Meanwhile, the Port of Churchill has been identified as a transformative national strategy for Canada and is emerging as a northern trade corridor connecting Western Canada’s resources to global markets.

Psychological drama pairs parables to ask big questions

The Bloody Theatre is an apt title for playwright Steven Ratzlaff’s latest work, a twisty parable of faith, fortune and consequence that required the crew to familiarize themselves with several tools of torture.

Some of those implements have been Frankensteined together by sound designer and musician Jesse Krause, including a “torture cello,” whose warping wails serve as a sonic stand-in for creaking floorboards, swinging doors and instances of suffering that director Bill Kerr knew would be too visceral to be shown onstage.

The Bloody Theatre isn’t necessarily a Halloween story, but with its blend of religious parable, historical martyrdom and psychological drama, it fits right into spooky season.

Produced by local collective Untimely Theatre, Ratzlaff’s script examines principles of communal responsibility, juxtaposing the present-day journey of an unhoused — by choice — Winnipeg woman named Heidi (Sarah Constible) with a verbatim staging of Martyr’s Mirror of the Defenseless Christians, a 17th-century Dutch text that includes heresy trial transcripts detailing the suppression of Anabaptist beliefs under Lutheran, reform or Catholic majorities in Europe.

Netminder no stranger to heavy workload as Jets new No. 1 readies for regular-season start

Stuart Skinner is quick to admit that he wasn’t always wired this way.

As the Winnipeg Jets new starting goalie prepares for his fifth NHL season, Skinner conceded that the accountability aspect that is now synonymous with his character took some time to build up.

“As I grew up and got older, you go through certain things in life that either build character or make things worse for you. It depends on your choice and your decision,” Skinner said during a recent conversation with the Free Press. “I learned it through trial and error. I learned that, sometimes, it’s hard to get honest with yourself… For me, it’s definitely been a road for me to get to a place like this.

“It definitely is one of my pillars. Accountability is so important because that brings you into a spot of what you’re going to do next. It’s easy to let yourself off the hook. I’m more in the business of putting myself on the hook.”