Amateur

NHL

DARRYL DYCK / THE CANADIAN PRESS Everett Silvertips’ Brek Liske (42) and Chicoutimi Sagueneens’ Liam Lefebvre (39) collide during the first period of the Memorial Cup semifinal hockey game, in Kelowna, B.C., on May 29, 2026.

Four Manitobans find NHL homes in latest draft

Mike McIntyre 5 minute read Yesterday at 6:44 PM CDT

Brek Liske figures it was meant to be.

“So my Dad was always a Flyers fan throughout his whole life, and he kind of brainwashed me into it,” the Beausejour product told reporters on Saturday — mere moments after Philadelphia had selected him in the second round, 53rd overall, of the NHL draft.

He learned of his selection while at the family cottage, surrounded by dozens of family members and friends, including many in Flyers jerseys.

Liske was one of four Manitobans to hear their name called over the weekend.

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Amateur

SUPPLIED Steve Bradley with a nice late season muskellunge. Species of considerable length, like pike, muskies and large lake trout must be held horizontally across the front of the subject or seated and supported by the angler’s legs.

Fish handling tips for fishes’ welfare and better photos

Patrick Nolan 6 minute read Preview

Fish handling tips for fishes’ welfare and better photos

Patrick Nolan 6 minute read Friday, Jun. 26, 2026

Most of us who spend any appreciable time fishing have encountered those special moments when we want to capture a photograph of the catch that has just made it into the boat.

Numerous circumstances might be driving our desire to get that photo: a neophyte’s first fish, an exceptional catch, the so called “fish of a lifetime,” or any number of other factors that really can be determined only by the angler and the photographer.

Regrettably, many of us have also experienced varying levels of satisfaction with the images captured after we have released the fish to swim free, leaving the angler wishing for more, at which time it’s too late.

The good news is that with a little bit of forethought and planning, we can consistently take great photos of the fish we catch — with the fishes’ welfare of utmost interest, of course.

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Friday, Jun. 26, 2026

Amateur

SUPPLIED Divers Alex Tiaglei (left) and Braden Rumpit hit the road in their modified bus on a mission to cliff dive in all 50 United States in 50 days.

Divers Tiaglei, Rumpit jumping their way through 50 states in 50 days

Joshua Frey-Sam 6 minute read Preview

Divers Tiaglei, Rumpit jumping their way through 50 states in 50 days

Joshua Frey-Sam 6 minute read Friday, Jun. 26, 2026

Two months ago, Winnipeg high-diver Alex Tiaglei received a call that he could’ve easily confused for a belated April Fool’s joke.

On the other end was his American-born friend Braden Rumpit, whom Tiaglei had dove against at several competitions around the world.

Rumpit gave it to him straight: he planned to do a cliff dive in all 50 United States in 50 days, and he wanted Tiaglei to do it with him.

“I mean, at first I thought he was kind of crazy,” said Tiaglei. “But then I started thinking about it, and the pieces were definitely falling together pretty well.”

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Friday, Jun. 26, 2026

Olympics

Isaiah King Photo Jackson Tachinski (right) at Team Canada’s flag football training camp in Chula Vista, Calif. The former Manitoba Bison pivot is in a comfortable role on the national flag team as a starting receiver who will be tasked with throwing the ball when needed.

Former Bison impressing on national flag football team

Joshua Frey-Sam 6 minute read Preview

Former Bison impressing on national flag football team

Joshua Frey-Sam 6 minute read Wednesday, Jun. 24, 2026

For years, Jackson Tachinski watched doors close, knowing another one was bound to open.

It happened time and time again during his five years as the Manitoba Bisons’ starting quarterback, trusting that he would find the right opportunity to deliver a strike.

Tachinski recently experienced something similar when the Winnipeg Blue Bombers released him following the club’s training camp last month. It’s the third time that the quarterback-turned-receiver had the door slammed shut on his CFL dreams, having also been let go by the Edmonton Elks in each of the last two springs.

Tachinski landed on his feet each time, however, and this time was no different.

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Wednesday, Jun. 24, 2026

Amateur

Golf Manitoba Photo St. Charles Country Club’s Camryn Thomas finished fifth this past weekend in the Junior Girls category at the NextGen Prairie Championship.

Manitobans crushing the links: Bevy of Top-10 finishes for local golfers this past weekend

Mike McIntyre 6 minute read Preview

Manitobans crushing the links: Bevy of Top-10 finishes for local golfers this past weekend

Mike McIntyre 6 minute read Monday, Jun. 22, 2026

When it comes to the future of Manitoba golf, it would appear the kids are alright.

A trio of young provincial players earned Top 10 honours this past weekend at the NextGen Prairie Championship which was held at the Neepawa Golf & Country Club.

Leading the way was 16-year-old Camryn Thomas, who finished fifth in the Junior Girls category after rounds of 79, 76 and 81. That left her 10 shots back of B.C.’s Serin Girard, who edged out Saskatchewan’s Grace Odnokon in a playoff.

Alberta’s Raylee Denton finished third, while Ontario’s Vivian Liu was fourth.

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Monday, Jun. 22, 2026

Amateur

International Skating Union Photo Winnipeggers Ava Kemp and Yohnatan Elizarov will make their senior-level Grand Prix debut in October.

Winnipeg pair skaters among world’s rising stars

Laurie Nealin 6 minute read Preview

Winnipeg pair skaters among world’s rising stars

Laurie Nealin 6 minute read Monday, Jun. 22, 2026

When the International Skating Union announced its 2026 Grand Prix of Figure Skating entry lists last week, it described the global series as “world-class competition featuring many of the sport’s biggest names alongside a new generation of rising stars.”

Winnipeggers Ava Kemp and Yohnatan Elizarov, who graduated from the junior ranks as the 2026 world pair champions, are among those rising stars. Their senior-level Grand Prix debut will mark the official start to their four-year build towards the 2030 Olympic Winter Games.

Kemp, who turns 18 on Wednesday, and Elizarov, 22, will open at Skate Canada International in Kelowna, B.C., at the end of October, the second of six events on the circuit. Their teammates, world bronze medallists and Canadian champions Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud, are the top seeds in that event.

Two weeks later, the Winnipeg duo is slated to compete at Skate America in Washington state alongside Germany’s world champions and Olympic bronze medallists Minerva Hase and Nikita Volodin.

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Monday, Jun. 22, 2026

Amateur

Golf Manitoba Photo Winnipegger Addison Kartusch teed off as an amateur in her first professional tournament at the Great Lakes Championship in Harbor Spring, Mich., this weekend.

Winnipegger Kartusch pleased with lessons learned from first pro tourney

Joshua Frey-Sam 6 minute read Preview

Winnipegger Kartusch pleased with lessons learned from first pro tourney

Joshua Frey-Sam 6 minute read Monday, Jun. 22, 2026

Seeing is believing, and Addison Kartusch recently got a glimpse into what life could be like as a pro golfer.

The 19-year-old Winnipegger teed it up in her first professional event over the weekend in the Great Lakes Championship in Harbor Springs, Mich., playing among 143 others who aspire to swing it on the LPGA Tour one day.

The 54-hole event was the ninth tournament of the season on the Epson Tour, which has been the development tour of the LPGA Tour since 1999. The 19-event circuit goes throughout the summer and is powered through the Race for the Card, which grants the tour’s top players a membership to play with the best in the world.

Kartusch, who just wrapped up her sophomore campaign of NCAA Division 1 golf at Bowling Green State University, still has some time before she needs to worry about playing for money and membership, but this experience was less about where she finished on the leaderboard.

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Monday, Jun. 22, 2026

Amateur

MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS Sport Manitoba’s new president and CEO Evan Andrew will focus on helping members grow their sports in a safe and inclusive way.

Sports Manitoba’s new president and CEO a team player

Taylor Allen 5 minute read Preview

Sports Manitoba’s new president and CEO a team player

Taylor Allen 5 minute read Friday, Jun. 19, 2026

It was a little over a decade ago when Evan Andrew was the “new guy” sitting at a small desk on the fifth floor of the Sport Manitoba building after landing a role with the 2017 Canada Games Host Society.

“I didn’t really know anyone at Sport Manitoba at all. I was out there, plugging away in one of those cubicles and people would be like ‘Hey, who are you?’” said Andrew with a laugh in a sit-down interview with the Free Press on Thursday.

“I would say they took a bit of a chance on me, for sure. I was the director of marketing and sponsorship for the Canada Games, and I hadn’t necessarily managed a bunch of people so I think they took a chance, but in the end, it was a very successful Canada Games and the areas I oversaw, we achieved, or even overachieved, in some of those areas around revenue generation.”

With the Games in the rear-view mirror, Andrew was hired as Sport Manitoba’s new director of marketing. He worked his way up to become director of business operations before recently earning the ultimate promotion: Sport Manitoba president and CEO.

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Friday, Jun. 19, 2026

Amateur

Golf Manitoba Photo St. Charles Country Club’s Camryn Thomas at the 2025 Junior Girls Championship last July at Quarry Oaks Golf Course.

Camryn Thomas takes Women’s City and District title by 1 stroke

Joshua Frey-Sam 3 minute read Preview

Camryn Thomas takes Women’s City and District title by 1 stroke

Joshua Frey-Sam 3 minute read Sunday, Jun. 14, 2026

Camryn Thomas of St. Charles captured the Golf Manitoba women’s city and district championship in Winkler on Sunday.

Thomas (+17, 159) fired a 10-over 81 to hold a share of second place in Saturday’s opening round with Hannah Diamond, then followed up with a seven-over 78 that proved to be enough to edge two-time reigning champion Charmaine Hayden (+18, 160), who entered the day as the leader by one shot but bogeyed her last hole to finish with a second-straight nine-over 80.

Hannah Diamond (163), Stacey Borowski (164) and Payton Chapman (177) rounded out the top five.

Later in the day, Kristian Hammerback continued his reign in the All Abilities Championship with an eight-shot victory over Spencer Easthope and Dave Marchand. Hammerback, who finished five-over for the tournament after rounds of 76 and 69 (145), is still the only player to win the event since it was added to Golf Manitoba’s provincial championship calendar in 2019.

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Sunday, Jun. 14, 2026

Amateur

FIBA.BASKETBALL PHOTO Winnipeg’s Settimo Yugu (right) celebrates with a teammate.

Winnipegger part of Canada’s historic FIBA U18 AmeriCup gold medal

Joshua Frey-Sam 6 minute read Preview

Winnipegger part of Canada’s historic FIBA U18 AmeriCup gold medal

Joshua Frey-Sam 6 minute read Saturday, Jun. 13, 2026

Of the 12 players who made Canadian basketball history last weekend, Winnipeg’s Settimo Yugu was perhaps the most unlikely to do so.

The 17-year-old had fallen on hard times in recent months. His debut season at the Bella Vista College Preparatory School in Phoenix was interrupted due to a couple of medical emergencies he suffered for unknown reasons — experiences that were made worse without his parents being there to turn to for comfort.

Then, one month before the FIBA U18 Men’s AmeriCup was set to begin, Yugu was released from the national team roster, leaving him to finish the rest of the school year and return home for the summer.

While waiting for a connecting flight in Chicago, however, he received a call from Team Canada head coach Charles Hantoumakos, who re-invited the 6-9 forward to join the team’s training camp a week before the tournament started.

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Saturday, Jun. 13, 2026

NHL

Tim Smith / BRANDON SUN FILES Cypress River’s Carson Carels

Five Manitobans that could have their name called in this year’s NHL draft

Mike McIntyre 6 minute read Preview

Five Manitobans that could have their name called in this year’s NHL draft

Mike McIntyre 6 minute read Friday, Jun. 12, 2026

It likely won’t take long for a Manitoban to hear his name called in the upcoming NHL Draft.

But Carson Carels, the pride of Cypress River who is expected to go early in the first round, won’t be the only local product picked when the annual showcase of teenage hockey talent begins on June 26 and concludes a day later.

Five Manitoba-born players cracked the final rankings recently released by NHL Central Scouting, further evidence the province continues to produce its share of promising puck prospects.

Seven Buffalo Boys were selected in last year’s draft — one shy of the all-time record of eight set in 2017, 2018 and 2022. That strong showing came on the heels of a surprisingly lean 2024 draft, when just one Manitoban was selected, and not until the fifth round.

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Friday, Jun. 12, 2026

Olympics

NORCECA PHOTO FILES Volleyball player Alicia Ogoms said whatever she does ‘now is just gravy’ after discovering she had Stage 3 breast cancer back in 2024. The Winnipegger is on course to return to game play, and will should officially be declared cancer-free in 2030.

Hall of Famer Ogoms gunning for return to court after battling cancer

Joshua Frey-Sam 9 minute read Preview

Hall of Famer Ogoms gunning for return to court after battling cancer

Joshua Frey-Sam 9 minute read Monday, Jun. 8, 2026

Alicia Ogoms would be (mostly) at peace if she called it a career. No one would question her decision either.

Frankly, however, she has no interest in that.

The 32-year-old wants to go out on her terms, and she’s fought like hell for the last 20 months to make sure that happens.

Ogoms has already solidified herself as one of the most accomplished female players to grace the volleyball court in Manitoba’s rich history, and now she’s on a mission to carry out something that — to her knowledge — has never been done before.

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Monday, Jun. 8, 2026

Amateur

Cassidy Dankochik / CARILLON FILES Gimli’s Adam Vigfusson led the Niverville Nighthawks to a Turnbull Cup title in April before the captain and the club swept their way to a Centennial Cup title in May.

Nighthawks captain enters St. Cloud State career on heels of Centennial Cup win

Mike McIntyre 6 minute read Preview

Nighthawks captain enters St. Cloud State career on heels of Centennial Cup win

Mike McIntyre 6 minute read Tuesday, Jun. 2, 2026

Adam Vigfusson has always considered himself a student of the game.

Now, the 20-year-old Gimli product will get the chance to combine his passions for hockey and higher education as he heads to St. Cloud State University to study and suit up for the Huskies this fall.

“It came together really quickly,” Vigfusson told the Free Press on Tuesday. “My life has always been kind of around school first and hockey second. For me, to get this opportunity now, I can’t waste it.”

Vigfusson has passed every other test with flying colours. The captain of the Niverville Nighthawks led his team to both a Manitoba Junior Hockey League title and, late last month, a Centennial Cup championship. He was named tournament MVP after putting up 12 points (7 goals, 5 assists) in six games, which were all victories.

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Tuesday, Jun. 2, 2026

Amateur

JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS David Spurr (right) celebrates his win at the men’s Match Play Championship at Whispering Winds of Warren golf club Sunday, May 31, 2026.

Spurr claims first individual win, Lafleche holds off Hayden at Match Play Championship

Joshua Frey-Sam 8 minute read Preview

Spurr claims first individual win, Lafleche holds off Hayden at Match Play Championship

Joshua Frey-Sam 8 minute read Sunday, May. 31, 2026

David Spurr was in a place he was convinced he’d never reach.

So when the 43-year-old dropped an eight-foot putt on the 12th to cap a dominant seven-and-six triumph over Manitoba’s reigning Amateur Men’s Golfer of the Year Evan Nachtigall and put an exclamation point on his men’s provincial Match Play Championship title on Sunday, he couldn’t help but let it all out.

Spurr’s head fell into his hands while his caddie, Mike, and a group of five supporters, including his girlfriend, rushed the green to share many well-deserved hugs and tears.

“Just how long I’ve been playing for,” Spurr said after his round about the emotional outpour. “I’ve never won anything. I’ve won the (Mundie) Putter League with the guys five or six times — that’s a team thing — but I have no individual wins ever, and it was just like, ‘Maybe I’m just not that guy that’ll ever win anything,’ and I guess it just kind of came out there.

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Sunday, May. 31, 2026

Amateur

FILE - Cody Campbell, the co-CEO of Double Eagle Energy, introduces President Donald Trump at a Double Eagle Energy oil rig, July 29, 2020, in Midland, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, File)

Policy shaper Cody Campbell asks college sports leaders to give bipartisan fix-it bill a chance

Eddie Pells, The Associated Press 6 minute read Preview

Policy shaper Cody Campbell asks college sports leaders to give bipartisan fix-it bill a chance

Eddie Pells, The Associated Press 6 minute read Thursday, May. 28, 2026

An architect of the Senate bill that proposes to solve problems engulfing college sports says he heard the criticism right away, along with conversations of breakaway conferences and collective bargaining as ways to combat the industry’s ever-spiraling spending.

Cody Campbell’s response to that talk: You broke it, we’re trying to fix it.

“My take is, it’s pretty rich for these people who created the problem in the first place to say that all of the sudden, they have the solution to the problem,” he said.

The billionaire head of the Texas Tech board of regents spoke to The Associated Press on Thursday, a day after Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., presented a bipartisan bill they hope can put teeth behind a lot of rules already in place to guide college sports through its multibillion-dollar metamorphosis.

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Thursday, May. 28, 2026

Amateur

BROOK JONES / FREE PRESS FILES Winnipeg Wesmen head coach Chris Voth has been named bench boss for the Canadian senior men’s national team for the upcoming Volleyball Nations League tournament this summer.

Volleyball bench boss named to coaching staff for men’s national squad tourney

Joshua Frey-Sam 6 minute read Preview

Volleyball bench boss named to coaching staff for men’s national squad tourney

Joshua Frey-Sam 6 minute read Wednesday, May. 27, 2026

Chris Voth is getting bumped into the starting lineup.

The Winnipeg Wesmen men’s volleyball head coach was named to the Canadian senior men’s national team’s coaching staff for the upcoming Volleyball Nations League tournament this summer.

Voth spent five years on the staff of the senior men’s extended roster that trains in Gatineau, Que. That time was spent with Team Canada’s reserve crop, who were young professionals or up-and-coming university athletes.

Now, he’ll help the main roster as it begins its push for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

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Wednesday, May. 27, 2026

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