Ken Wiebe

Reporter

Raised in the booming metropolis of Altona, Man., Ken Wiebe grew up wanting to play in the NHL, but after realizing his hands were more adept at typing than scoring, he shifted his attention to cover his favourite sport as a writer.

Inspired by a high school English teacher (who just so happened to show him how to throw a curveball as a teenager), Ken combined two of his passions, writing and sports, when he started his journalism journey in 1994, accepting a job as a sports writer at the Red River Valley Echo in his hometown.

The opportunity to essentially serve as the sports editor at the age of 19, while also writing, taking photos and helping to lay out the paper with an exacto knife and a roller, was what inspired him to pursue a career in newspapers.

While attending the University of Regina, Ken joined the Winnipeg Free Press for a student internship during the summer of 1999, covering a variety of events, including the Pan Am Games, where Canada’s ‘Miracle on Grass’ victory over the United States captivated the nation and local baseball fans alike.

After graduating with a degree in Journalism and Communications from the University of Regina, where he played two seasons with the University of Regina Cougars men’s hockey team and was familiar with the role of the 12th and/or 13th forward, Ken accepted a three-month term at the Free Press in the summer of 2000.

When a full-time opening in the sports department of the Winnipeg Sun opened in August of 2000, Ken was hired and he spent the next 19-plus seasons of his career there.

Ken has worked for The Athletic, Sportsnet and TSN. He’s currently the co-host of The Kenny and Renny Show, a post-game show that breaks down Jets action on YouTube and most podcast platforms.

Ken has spent more than two decades covering the amateur and professional sports scene in Manitoba, chronicling a Winnipeg Goldeyes Northern League championship in 2012, a Manitoba Moose run to the Calder Cup final in 2009 and the Winnipeg Jets return to the NHL since 2011.

Other career highlights include covering the 2022 Stanley Cup final between the Colorado Avalanche and Tampa Bay Lightning, the 2006 and 2022 Grey Cups, and appearing as an intermission analyst on Hockey Night in Canada in January of 2023.

The opportunity to rejoin the Free Press in September of 2023 has allowed Ken to live his own version of Back to the Future and he couldn’t be happier about it.