‘It’s so much beyond football’: Falcons Football Club gets big boost from NFL Canada

The spring months can make for some long days for Saphira Twoheart.

Once the snow melts, the 18-year-old goes from school during the day in Sagkeeng First Nation to football practice in the evening in Winnipeg. It’s a 90-minute commute each way from her community in Fort Alexander that usually doesn’t get her home until close to midnight three days per week, but Twoheart believes that trip has paid big dividends since starting with the Falcons Football Club three years ago.

She isn’t shy about voicing what the Falcons have meant to her.

“When I first started football, I was a very shy and timid type of person, but over the years of playing football, it’s made me more talkative and more comfortable in my own skin, to the point where I could coach other teammates with the skills that I have,” Twoheart said Tuesday.

Decluttering doesn’t have to be overwhelming

Your to-be-read pile is teetering over the edge of the bedside table, there’s a container labelled oats in the pantry housing an assortment of pasta and the basement floor is covered in toys that haven’t been played with in years.

If you planned to whittle down your to-do list just before the new year but have yet to mark even one task off, don’t despair.

Enter Mandy Berndsen, 47, saviour of the overwhelmed, the overtired and the overstimulated.

The owner of Calm the Chaos Assistant is a declutter and organizer extraordinaire who promises to help get your home, and perhaps even your life, back on track.

Free Press writers discuss the blazing phenomenon of Heated Rivalry

Everyone is talking about Heated Rivalry.

It’s no exaggeration to say that the gay hockey romance from Jacob Tierney (Letterkenny, Shoresy) — based on Rachel Reid’s Game Changers novels about the secret relationship between professional hockey players and on-ice rivals Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie) — is dominating the cultural discourse. From think pieces to interviews to fan art to endless TikToks and memes, Heated Rivalry clearly has people hot and bothered.

So we thought we’d talk about it, too. Here, Free Press arts reporters AV Kitching, Eva Wasney and Jen Zoratti and sports reporter Jeff Hamilton parse what makes Heated Rivalry such a phenomenon, what it could do for hockey culture and why sometimes art needs to be a soft place to land. Warning: some spoilers ahead.

Eva Wasney: Why has this show become such a massive global hit?

Winterruption festival has become a frozen tentpole event for music fans

While Manitoba boasts one of the richest, most eclectic summer festival ecosystems in the country, Winterruption — co-produced by Real Love Winnipeg and the West End Cultural Centre — has become a frozen tentpole event for music fans in Winnipeg.

Profiter de l’hiver en musique

Depuis plus de vingt ans, le festival Music ‘N’ Mavens s’est donné pour mission de transformer l’hiver winnipegois en saison de rencontres, en misant sur la curiosité culturelle et le plaisir de se retrouver. Jusqu’au 26 mars, au Rady Jewish Community Centre (Rady JCC), la série propose chaque mardi et jeudi après-midi des concerts et des conférences pensés comme des instants de rencontre.

À contre-courant des habitudes culturelles, Music ‘N’ Mavens assume pleinement son créneau de jour avec des concerts et conférences en plein après-midi.

”Je me souviens qu’au début, on me demandait comment je pouvais penser que les gens viendraient à 14 heures quand il fait -30 degrés,” raconte Karla Berbrayer, fondatrice et directrice artistique du festival. Je leur répondais qu’il fallait une raison pour quitter la maison. Et aujourd’hui, plusieurs me disent que c’est la raison qui les pousse à sortir pendant la journée.”

À l’initiative du projet, l’on retrouve Karla Berbrayer, polyglotte et francophile, elle a nourri son intérêt pour la langue française qu’elle a commencé à apprendre en école d’immersion. La fondatrice défend depuis le départ une idée simple, celle d’offrir des propositions artistiques, sociales et culturelles à un moment de la journée souvent négligé.

New Music Festival explores theme of technology amid global rise of AI

This year’s New Music Festival runs Jan. 21-29 and includes six events.

Bisons volleyball squad has scrambling skills tested in injury-filled season

Julia Martens didn’t expect that she’d be setting balls for the two-time reigning U Sports Player of the Year in game action so soon, but the first-year setter has taken the opportunity in stride since being tabbed to tee up Raya Surinx and the rest of the Manitoba Bisons’ attackers.

The Westgate product has been nothing short of outstanding for the Bisons since assuming the starting role from fifth-year Elia Falcone, who developed a stress fracture in her foot in October.

While Martens would’ve liked her playing time to not come at the cost of a teammate, she’s run with the chance to play big minutes for the reigning national champions.

“It’s been amazing,” Martens said. “Unexpected, of course, but I’m super grateful just to have got the opportunity to play with all these fifth-year girls who are some of the best hitters in Canada. It’s been a really cool experience, getting to set them.”

Team Lawes makes Scotties Tournament of Hearts final spot on points

Team Kaitlyn Lawes is headed to the Scotties Tournament of Hearts by the slimmest of margins.

Their fate was no longer in their hands after losing to Beth Peterson in the Manitoba women’s curling provincial final in Rivers earlier this month.

“Honestly, I assumed we were hooped,” Lawes told the Free Press in a chat on Tuesday.

“I hadn’t looked at (the Canadian Team Ranking System) before provincials and we just had the goal in mind of going in there and wanting to win and earn our spot. And after the game was over, we had some texts from people saying, ‘Don’t be too upset, we think there’s a chance that you’re in.’”

Destination Ontario touts restaurants, historic villa where ‘Heated Rivalry’ filmed

TORONTO - Destination Ontario is encouraging fans of "Heated Rivalry" to relive their favourite moments from the Crave series by visiting filming locations across the province.

The tourism body shared on social media a list of six spots that serve as the backdrop to the lustful hockey show.

Most of the locations listed are in Hamilton, including FirstOntario Concert Hall, the set for the fictional Major League Hockey Awards; Dundurn Castle, which stands in for Moscow in the show; and the restaurants Ciao Bella and Le Tambour Tavern. 

Destination Ontario also lists Joni Restaurant in Toronto, which is used as a Las Vegas location in the series, and points to the entire Muskoka Region, where pivotal cottage scenes were filmed.

Rich colours, nature-inspired hues key decorating trends for 2026

Forget featureless white walls and cold, pale floors, a warm, rich colour palette is one of the key decorating trends this year — and it won’t break the budget to update your house if repainting isn’t on the cards.

Despite Pantone’s announcement of a “soft, serene and versatile” shade of white as 2026’s colour, interior designers and decorators are eschewing Cloud Dancer, informally christened “the landlord’s special,” for richer, jewel- and nature-inspired hues such as soft ochre, deep green and earthy brown.

Moving away from the sleek, clinical practicality of flat minimalism, this year’s trends reflect the uncertain political, social and economic climate, firmly re-establishing the home as a place of safety, comfort and refuge.

“Spaces that are overly minimal can feel empty and dated,” says Michelle Chisick, interior designer at Interior Illusions on Princess Street.

Patient activists seek movement in diagnosis, treatment of FND or functional neurological disorder

Functional neurological disorder (FND) is often described as an invisible illness.

The condition affects how the brain processes information and communicates with the body, resulting in a wide range of physical and neurological symptoms that differ from person to person. Unlike structural brain issues — such as tumours, strokes or lesions — functional neurological disorder (FND) symptoms don’t show up in conventional diagnostic testing and imaging.

This common, gendered disorder traces its roots to hysteria; yet, centuries later, its causes and mechanisms remain largely unknown.

Winnipeg academic Jen Sebring is among those working to make this invisible illness more visible in Canada.