The South Eastern Manitoba Hockey League's regular season schedule came to an end Sunday night. Tanner Lesann had three goals and two assists as the Portage Islanders defeated the Morden Bombers 9-2.  The team almost had a perfect season but ended with a 16-1-1 record. Braydon MacDonald scored twice as the Warren Mercs downed the Winkler Royals 5-3 and Justin Tremblay had four goals and two helpers in the Ile des Chenes Northstars 13-3 victory over the Altona Maroons. The quarterfinal pairings feature the Islanders against the Royals, the Mercs meet the Notre Dame Hawks, the Bombers take on the Northstars and the Red River Wild meet the Ste. Anne Aces. The first two rounds of the playoffs are best-of-five series.

The Portage Terriers won both of their games in a home and home set against the Winnipeg Freeze. Friday, in Winnipeg, it was a 4-1 victory and Saturday, on home ice, the team held on for a 6-5 win. The team has won 4 in a row and holds down the top spot overall in the MJHL. Their 32-9-1-1 record has them two points ahead of Steinbach and 4 ahead of Winkler. The Terriers are on the road tomorrow night in Selkirk and then they have a makeup game Wednesday night as they host the Freeze once again.

The Gladstone Lakers clinched the top spot in the Tiger Hills Hockey League's East Division on Saturday night with a 4-3 overtime win at Deloraine. The Lakers have a 13-4 record as the regular season comes to an end this week. With a 6-9-1-1 record, MacGregor is fourth in the division.

It was another successful Portage Cup weekend with U11 Gold and Silver teams from around the area going head to head. Virden won the Boston Pizza Gold division with a 5-4 edge-of-your-seat win over Winkler.

The Central Plains female Capitals are tops in the Manitoba U15 female hockey league after a two wins over the Norman Wild on Sunday. The Caps cruised to an 11-1 victory in the first game and then won a much closer 3-1 match to end the day.

Former Wheat King Jake Chiasson scored the go-ahead goal on the power play at 11:58 of the third period as the Saskatoon Blades rallied for a 4-2 victory over Brandon. Brett Hyland and Nolan Ritchie did the goal-scoring for the Wheat Kings who had a 2-0 lead late in the middle frame.

The PCI Trojans will host the Pembina Tigers at Stride Place tonight. With a 17-4 record, the team has won 4 in a row and is two points behind Morden for top spot in the league.

The Viterra Men's provincial curling championships happen this week in Neepawa. The Ryan Hyde foursome of the Portage curling club will play their first game against Sean Grassie at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday morning. The provincial high school curling championships start Thursday in the Pas. The Colton Olafson foursome from PCI will play their first game at 2 p.m. while William Morton Collegiate of Gladstone skipped by Blake Rosling will hit the ice at 11:15 a.m.


The Winnipeg Blue Bombers re-signed receiver Nic Demski to a three-year contract extension, keeping him in Blue and Gold through 2025. The Winnipeg native and product of the University of Manitoba will be entering his fifth season with the Blue Bombers in 2023 after beginning his Canadian Football League career in 2015 as a first-round draft pick with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. He signed with Winnipeg as a free agent in 2018 and is coming off a 2022 season in which he set career bests despite missing five games. Demski finished ’22 with 64 receptions for 772 yards and 10 touchdowns – all the best numbers in his career – and in the process was named the Blue Bombers Most Outstanding Canadian Player for a second straight season and was also selected to the West Division All-Star Team.