Riels in a good place

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This article was published 05/08/2014 (4354 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s been quite a while since the St. Boniface Riels hoisted the Jack McKenzie Trophy as Manitoba Major Junior Hockey League Champions, but if last year was any indication, the team will snap the drought in the near future.

The Riels had one hand on the trophy after sweeping the opening two rounds of the MMJHL Playoffs. After years of it being the opposite, the Riels dispatched the Charleswood Hawks to advance to the finals, a matchup that pitted the two best teams in the league against each other.

After taking game one of the series, the Riels dropped their next four straight to the Raiders Jr. Hockey Club, vanquishing their hopes of a picture-perfect season. But all is not lost and the Riels, despite coming up just short, are well positioned to take another stab at a championship.

With 16 returnees from the 2013-14 team, the Riels are poised to make a return to the final in the upcoming season.

“We are looking forward to doing it all over again, our whole staff is back,” said Riels’ head coach, Ryan Frykas. “We have a couple spots to fill as well, so we are hoping to get in some top talent and making a run at it again.”

The Riels boasted the league’s best record, dropping just six contests all season while winning 37 and tying only two games. This was in large part due to the Riels’ owning six of the league’s top-10 scorers, including No. 1 through 4.

“We had a pretty successful season, I am proud of the way that they played throughout the year,” said Frykas, who played four seasons in the MMJHL himself.

 “That’s a big record for the Riels, it’s been a long time coming since the Riels had been to the finals,” Ryan’s father, Riels president Larry Frykas added.  

“I give all the credit to the coaching staff, they put the guys through a little dry land training, they had them in good shape throughout the year, and the coaching staff put a lot of good time into them to get them to where they were.

“Ryan won Coach of the Year this year in the league, so that was an added bonus.”

The MMJHL has seen significant growth over the 10 years Frykas has run the Riels. He credits the ability of players to attend university or college and still play competitive hockey for the rise in numbers.

“To have an opportunity to play in the MMJHL, because it’s such a good league, and to be able to attend classes and get a degree, it’s important,” said the elder Frykas. “That’s what we have been trying to do as a club.”

“Everyone seems to be pretty equal now, there is parity across the league,” coach Frykas added. “More people want to play, they don’t all want to do the MJHL grind and all the travel that comes with it. It’s a great league with a lot of talent.”

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