Raiders in the hunt for championship banner

The Oak Park Raiders are at the top of the Winnipeg High School Hockey League to end 2025, and that’s exactly where the team intends to be at season’s end.

“Since Day 1, the goal is to go the distance and be playing in the last game of the year,” coach Ian McDonald said. “That’s something we talk about weekly.”

In the WHSHL’s top Platinum Promotions Division, Oak Park held the top spot with a 13-1-2 record going into a Dec. 19 game against Lord Selkirk, though both Vincent Massey and Sturgeon Heights were within a pair of wins at press time.

“There are about four of us — Vincent Massey, Steinbach, Sturgeon Heights — where almost every game goes to extra time,” McDonald said. “Those are the teams that we’ll key in on. But any team can beat any team, that’s the strength of the league. Any game we’re not at our best, we can lose to anyone.”

Voyageurs undefeated at holiday break

The Voyageurs are off to a perfect start.

In the Winnipeg High School Hockey League’s Winnipeg Free Press Division, Collège Louis-Riel was undefeated going into the winter break, earning all possible 42 points over 14 games.

“We’re new in the (WFP Division) this year, so still getting an understanding of (how) the upper competition compares to where we were last year,” CLR coach Justin Buissé-Laroche said. “As teams are adjusting to us, we’re trying to tighten up the penalty kill and run new ideas through the guys so we don’t get outplayed or outcoached.”

Led by a core of Grade 12 players, including captain Davinault Lafrenière, Buissé-Laroche feels his team this year is well-rounded, on and off the ice.

Hockey hall honours vets’ class of 2025

On Dec. 17, the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame held its second veterans luncheon – an event devoted exclusively to individuals and teams that excelled in the sport at least 50 years ago. Four players, one builder, and one team were inducted into the HOF at a ceremony held in the Hockey for All Centre, where there is a gallery of previous inductees.

In 1985, the hall of fame’s inaugural class consisted of 70 players, 11 builders and 32 championship teams. Since then, and usually on a biennial basis, the hall has continued to induct worthy candidates. In the early years, research on inductees relied on word-of-mouth, oral histories, and laborious searches of newspaper archives. The internet changed that process, and it became apparent that many deserving candidates had been overlooked.

In 2015, a veterans research committee was established and since then a veteran or two has been recognized at the induction dinner. In 2023, when the HOF hosted its first luncheon dedicated solely to inductees put forth by the veterans committee, headed by board member John Jameson, players Paul Meger, Sonny Rost and Charles Tobin, and builder George Tackaberry were honoured. The 1956-57 Western Hockey League champion Brandon Regals and the 1959-60 to 1963-64 Brandon Wheat Kings juniors were added to the Wall of Champions.

The 2025 class of veterans is made up of players Harry Bueckert, Helge Bostrom, Ron Matthews, and Al Millar, builder J.D. Pratt, and the Winnipeg Olympics women’s team.

MWHSHL season approaches holiday break

Teams in the Manitoba Women’s High School Hockey League will soon be able to take a well-earned breather, as the 2025-26 season approaches its holiday break.

This season’s edition of the league features 29 teams — the largest number in the its history — as well as a structural change. This season, the MWHSHL is now divided into Division 1/2 East, Division 1/2 West, and Division 3.

“It’s been a great season so far,” said league president Brad Nechwediuk, who is also head coach of the Glenlawn Lions girls’ team. “The restructure of the divisions has seen an overall positive impact, and we’re also seeing a tight race in the east division this year.”

At press time, CPET Canadiennes led Division 1/2 East with 29 points after 14 games played, J.H. Bruns was second with 27 points after 13 games played, and Glenlawn sat third with 26 points after 14 games played. Teams across all three divisions will each play 24 games.

Hawks soar through first half

While the Charleswood Hawks are off to a solid start, there’s still room to soar even higher.

At press time, the Hawks stood in third place of the 10-team Manitoba Major Junior Hockey League, with a 12-6-2 record nearing the halfway mark of the 2025-26 season, two points up on fourth place River East Royal Knights ahead of a Dec. 12 match-up (score was unavailable at press time).

The effort it took to get there has pleased Hawks’ coach Dillon Smith.

“Things weren’t going to come easy for us, we have to work for our opportunities,” Smith said. “We have a group that when we play the right way together, it’s a bit more gritty and grimy. We’d work our way out of the corner a bit, to start with. What’s been nice to see is we’re able to score in different ways as well.”

Digging out wins

Emily Carroll is a 13-year-old Grade 8 student who attends Oak Bluff Community School.

“I am really enjoying school this year because I’m finally learning things that genuinely interest me,” she said. “Gym is by far my favourite class because I enjoy getting the chance to try different sports.”

That last statement makes sense, because Emily says she loves sports and right now her favourite sport is volleyball.

“I love volleyball because it’s a fun way to challenge yourself and see improvement. The games are exciting, fast-paced, and it feels amazing when you get a good hit, block, or serve. I currently play libero/DS (as a back row player, specializing in defence). I like being in the back row communicating, digging, and diving. I enjoy the challenge of reading hitters and making quick decisions,” she said.

Sturgeon Heights pits pros against joes once again

Once again, Sturgeon Heights Collegiate invited sports ‘pros’ to take on its fleet of ‘average joes’ in its annual, week-long Pros vs. Joes competition, which raises money to help bring Christmas cheer to local families.

Each lunch period from Dec. 1 to 5, members of the University of Manitoba Bisons, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the Winnipeg Rifles entered the high school’s gym and participated in a variety of challenges, from “minute to win it” (pictured) to dodgeball.

To watch the events, students had to make a donation to the school’s Christmas hamper initiative, which helps St. James-based families in need during the holiday season.

Sports in brief — week of Dec. 10, 2025

Winnipeg Rifles players named to all-star team, win awards

A number of Winnipeg Rifles players were recognized for their exceptional play in the Canadian Junior Football League this past season.

Receiver Jarome Penner and quarterback Riley Element were named to Prairie Football Conference’s offensive all-star team, while linebacker Kyler Banfield and punter Gabriel Yaipen were named defensive all-stars. Receiver Simon Leckie and defensive back Nigel Reader were named to the all-rookie team. Penner also won the PFC’s outstanding receiver award, Element the outstanding quarterback award, while Banfield was named both outstanding linebacker and outstanding defensive player.

Penner and Banfield were also recognized as first-team All-Canadians by the CJFL.

Baseball HOF names 2026 class

The Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame announced its induction class for 2026 last month, and the country hardballers dominate. Seven individuals will be honoured and just one, Ed Kulyk, is from Winnipeg. In the minor team category, Winnipeg is represented by the South Chiefs AAA peewee/bantam teams for the three seasons from 2008 to 2010.

The other individual inductees are Nate Andrews from Brandon; Darrell McElroy from Darlingford; Larry Nicholson, who grew up on a farm near Neepawa; Garth White from Neepawa; Guy Yerama from Gilbert Plains; and Lorna Robertson of Hamiota.

Kulyk is described as an organizer and builder of the Elmwood Giants, one of the top baseball organizations in the province. Between 2016 and 2025, his Giants 22U AAA team reached the Manitoba Junior Baseball League final every season and won six championships. In 2023, the Giants won the national title and in 2024 the Western Canada championship. His individual awards include being named Baseball Manitoba high performance coach of the year and MJBL manager of the year both on two occasions.

Kulyk served on the Giants’ board of directors and as chief administrator of Koskie Field where the team plays its home games. In that role, he was in charge of diamond scheduling, field maintenance, capital projects and upgrades, insurance, field security, and revenue collection. I wonder if his revenue collection duties included passing the hat between innings to collect donations from fans.

School water polo champions crowned

The waters at Pan Am Pool were a-churning recently, and the stands were bumping as the Manitoba Water Polo Association’s school league champions were crowned following an intense weekend of playoff and final action on Nov. 29 and 30.

In the end, St. Mary’s Academy won the girls high school championship, Vincent Massey took home the boys high school title, and teams from École Viscount Alexander were the middle school winners and runners-up.

“It was a very exciting weekend of water polo,” said Lisa Cupples, past-president of the MWPA. “For us, the true success story is St. Mary’s Academy, as this is only their third year in the league. Most of their athletes came from competitive swimming and were convinced to give water polo a try. Many of them have since joined the Vortex club in Winnipeg, and at least one of them is playing at the highest level of competition that we have in water polo for club players.”

“We’re feeling great,” said James Villa, teacher and water polo coach at St. Mary’s. “It was a really long season, with lots of effort. The girls played their hearts out and I couldn’t be prouder of them.”

Crusaders capture AAAA varsity boys volleyball title

Manitoba’s high school volleyball championship tournaments in all boys and girls classifications wrapped up over the past couple of weeks.

The final events of championship season were the Manitoba High Schools Athletic Association’s varsity AAAA finals, played Dec. 1 at Investors Group Athletic Centre at the University of Manitoba.

In the boys’ final, St. Paul’s High School’s Crusaders cruised past Dakota Collegiate’s Lancers in straight sets (25-14; 25-19; 25-18), behind 6-7 hitter Liam Mancer’s 18 kills.

Crusaders Oluwafisayomi Sofoluwe and James Zang were named to the tournament all-star team, while Mancer was named the tournament MVP.

Lancers, Olympiens fall in AAAA volleyball finals

Manitoba’s high school volleyball championship tournaments in all boys and girls classifications wrapped up over the past couple of weeks.

The final events of championship season were the Manitoba High Schools Athletic Association’s varsity AAAA finals, played Dec. 1 at Investors Group Athletic Centre at the University of Manitoba.

In the girls final, Brandon’s Vincent Massey High School Vikings defeated the Collège Jeanne-Sauvé Olympiens in four sets (25-15, 26-24, 23-25, 25-17) to win the school’s second straight championship. The Vikings were led by tournament MVP Hannah McGregor, a 16-year-old, Grade 11 hitter who led all players with 25 kills.

Although the Olympiens were defeated in the final match, three of their players earned individual honours. Linnae Johnson won the Dairy Farmers of Manitoba players’ choice award, while teammates Celeste Pelletier and Amara Shams were named to the tournament all-star team.

Railer Express on track so far

The Transcona Railer Express are rolling through the competition so far this season.

At the start of December, the Railer Express held a 15-2-1 record, good for second place in the Manitoba Major Junior Hockey League, only one point back of defending champions the St. Boniface Riels, ahead of a Dec. 5 game between the two clubs (the result was unavailable at press time).

“They’re really fast and transition well, especially through the neutral zone,” longtime coach Derek Gagnon said ahead of the Riels matchup. “They don’t spend a lot of time in their zone. So when we do get in there, hopefully we can make it count.”

The Railer Express had scored the most goals per game at 4.83, while earning the second-best goals against average at 1.89 and the league’s second-best penalty kill, operating at 90.4 per cent. Starting goaltender Sage Delaronde held a 1.74 GAA and 0.941 save percentage, second only to top ’tender Owen LaRocque of St. B.

‘Like the sun on a rainy day’

Isla Taylor is 10 years old and attends Sansome School in Westwood.

“My favorite class is gym,” she said. “My teacher, Ms. Paul, makes the day exciting and I love seeing my friends, doing sports council, and being a patrol.”

Isla loves school and she also really, really likes sports.

“I play hockey, swimming, tennis, golf, softball, and handball and I want to start ultimate and volleyball next,” she said.

Living the dream

Keylyn Filewich is living her dream.

The southwest Winnipeg native and basketball player has signed a contract with Östersund Basket in Sweden’s premier women’s basketball league, SBL Dam, marking her fourth season as a professional player.

Prior to her move to the Scandinavian nation, the former University of Winnipeg forward (who has also played centre during her career) spent time in Germany’s second tier with VfL VIACTIV-AstroLadies Bochum, where the team won the championship in her last year, when she also finished the season as MVP.

“When I finished in Germany, I wanted another chance to experience a different culture, and I had a teammate in Bochum who had played in Sweden and spoke very highly about the experience and bought into (head coach Max Tandberg Vall’s) vision,” Filewich, 27, said.