Glenlawn Lions girls’ win hockey title

St. Vital

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This article was published 01/04/2026 (185 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The third time was a charm for the Glenlawn Lions girls’ hockey team.

The St. Vital-based team emphatically beat the Vincent Massey Trojans in two straight games to win the Manitoba Women’s High School Hockey League’s Division1/2 East title.

The Lions beat the Trojans 6-2 at Century Arena on March 17, followed by a 5-1 victory at St. Arena on March 19.

Significantly, the championship win came on the heels of heartbreaking, back-to-back playoff final series losses in 2024 and 2025, to Shaftesbury Titans and CJS Olympiens, respectively.

“It feels fantastic, personally,” said Dean Rigaux, who is the team’s co-head coach with Brad Nechwediuk.

Having missed out on the championship at the final hurdle of the last two seasons, the win amplified the fine line between winning and losing.

“We know how hard the girls have worked for the last three seasons, and when you lose so closely you start again one Day 1 in September believing you can go through the season and can one better,” Rigaux said.

“In the last three seasons, we’ve had really good teams, and we believe we could’ve won the championship in both of the other two years. It hurts losing by such fine margins, but that’s sport.

“As it turns out, it was actually a really good learning experience. It’s how life works sometimes, and the fact we came back with the same goal, and were able to pull it off, says a lot,” he added.

This year’s Lions squad featured three Grade 9 players, five Grade 10s, three Grade 11s and five Grade 12s; eight of these players had experienced defeat in the last two finals.

Rigaux said he’s proud of the resilience and mindset of this year’s team. He credits the Lions’ powerplay, scoring and goaltending as major factors in this season’s success. As much as anything, it was the team’s collective strength that helped win the prize, he said.

“All the girls stepped up… Vincent Massey only lost three games all season,” Rigaux said. “Brad and I and the rest of the coaching staff are really proud of them,” he added. “Everyone stepped up their game, and they deserve it.”

Also on the coaching staff this season were Emily Deck and Courtney Cyrenne.