(+1) 1st – Dauphin Kings
This Week: 2-0
Overall: 22-6
Impressive Player: Goalie Carson Cherepak – 2-0, 2 shutouts, 31 saves on 31 shots
Talk about a statement weekend. Dauphin came in with someone to prove and didn’t live up to the hype, the blew past it. They man-handled one of the top teams in the league. After a pair of losses, it’s safe to say the Kings have their swagger back. They can’t get too big for their britches though and look past their next opponent or it could be a less then merry times heading into Christmas break.
Up Next: Friday, Dec 17th @ Steelers, Saturday, Dec 18th vs Steelers
(-1) 2nd – Steinbach Pistons
This Week: 1-1
Overall: 21-6-1
Impressive Player: Defenceman Zac Patrick – 1 goal
Coming off a gutsy road win in a tough environment to push their winning streak to six, the Pistons ran into a hot goalie. It was a Blizzard team that played pretty solid defence as well as some timely scoring. Steinbach’s offence had shots but couldn’t really sustain anything as injuries up front may be catching up. They’ve done well battling with some key forwards out and they’ll need to dig deep against a Virden team flying high.
Up Next: Friday, Dec 17th @ Oil Capitals, Saturday, Dec 18th vs Oil Capitals
(+1) 3rd – Virden Oil Capitals
This Week: 2-0
Overall: 14-12-2
Impressive Player: Forward Carson Buydens – 1 goal, 4 assists
Could be one of those weekends when the season is over, the Oil Caps look back on as the taking off point. They rolled over the Freeze and showed they are a top team in the West. They needed some guys to get going and with a number of players putting up points, it should be a boost of confidence heading into the final two games of 2021. If they really want to make noise, they’ll need to do that against a top team in Steinbach. That would get some attention.
Up Next: Friday, Dec 17th vs Pistons, Saturday, Dec 18th @ Pistons
(-1) 4th – Waywayseecappo Wolverines
This Week: 1-1
Overall: 18-8-2
Impressive Player: Forward Kobe Campbell – 1 goal
Winning three of four to start December has Waywayseecappo right where they should be, close to the top and with a little distance between them and the teams chasing them. The Wolverines work as hard as any team and find different guys to contribute. It’ll be interesting to see what they do against a Blues team that beat them back at the Showcase. Wouldn’t bet Wayway forgot about that and will look to make that wrong into a right.
Up Next: Thursday, Dec 16th vs Blues, Saturday, Dec 18th @ Blues
(+1) 5th – Winkler Flyers
This Week: 1-1
Overall: 15-11-1-1
Impressive Player: Defenceman Jacob Sargent – 1 goal, 1 assist
Things were looking a little scary in Winkler but coming away with a win to snap a four-game losing streak should calm down the waters just a little bit. When Winkler scores, they score a lot. When they don’t, they lose. As teams tighten up defensively moving into 2022, it’ll be up to the Flyers to find ways to score when things aren’t going their way, which hasn’t always been easy to do this year.
Up Next: Friday, Dec 17th vs Blizzard, Saturday, Dec 18th vs Blizzard
(+1) 6th – Portage Terriers
This Week: 2-1
Overall: 11-14-2-1
Impressive Player: Forward Jaden Pashe – 1 goal, 2 assists
The Terriers have put their heads down and worked their way into not only the playoff conversation but into the possible upset conversation. A young, fast, hungry team that is finding different ways to win. They may be one of the more underrated teams in the MJHL but not for long if they keep doing what they’re doing… and there’s really no signs of them slowing down.
Up Next: Friday, Dec 17th vs Swan Valley, Saturday, Dec 18th vs Swan Valley
(-2) 7th – Winnipeg Blues
This Week: 0-2
Overall: 17-10-0-1
Impressive Player: Goalie Dawson Green – 0-2, 61 saves on 67 shots
Winnipeg is in the midst of the toughest slide of their season. They’ve lost 6 of their last 7 games and were shutout for the first time this season and followed it up by being held scoreless again in the next game. Outside of the big three, scoring has been an issue but now it seems the Blues are in a boat with a lot of holes. The Christmas break cannot get here soon enough for the Blues.
Up Next: Thursday, December 16th @ Wolverines, Saturday, Dec 18th vs Wolverines
(+1) 8th – Neepawa Titans
This Week: 1-1
Overall: 10-13-2-3
Impressive Player: Forward Jaeger Lapointe – 3 goals
The Titans were on a bit of a roll before being stopped by the Flyers in their last game. Still, winning three out of four during a stretch where they played the second and third ranked teams in the East is something. Neepawa keeps hanging around in the tightly packed Western Conference but will need to carry over what’s made them successful of late when the schedule flips back to playing their own division. It’s simple: No more giving away points if they want to make the playoffs. Splitting a weekend series is no longer good enough.
Up Next: Friday, Dec 17th @ Freeze, Saturday, Dec 18th vs Freeze
(+1) 9th Swan Valley Stampeders
This Week: 2-0
Overall: 9-12-2-3
Impressive Player: Forward Cody Barnes – 1 goal, 2 assist
The Stamps have been on a bit of a teeter-totter for the entire season. Up and down, up and down. Trying to find consistency in what makes them successful. While they haven’t torn it up through the first 28 games, they are right in the thick of it, which has to have them at least somewhat happy. Into January, they’ll have one of the more unique schedules with back-to-back home games or back-to-back road games. They’ll need to find balance in their game or risk standing still while the West moves ahead without them.
Up Next: Friday, Dec 17th @ Terriers, Saturday, Dec 18th @ Terriers
(+1) 10th- Selkirk Steelers
This Week: 1-0-1
Overall: 11-13-2-2
Impressive Player: Golie Cole Plowman – 1-0-1, 67 saves on 72 shots
Selkirk has been struggling since mid-November, so for them to stand up and take three out of four points is massive. They can pretty clearly hear the Terriers barking at their heels and it doesn’t look like that will change any time soon. Selkirk has had stretches of positives but at the negatives have been far too often seen. If they can find a way to get at least something out of their series vs the Kings, it could be just what they need to start a run.
Up Next: Friday, Dec 10th vs Steelers, Saturday, Dec 11th vs Steelers
(+1) 11th – OCN Blizzard
This Week: 1-1
Overall: 11-14-1-2
Impressive Player: Forward Brock McDonald – 1 goal, 1 assist
The Blizzard have to feel really good about their weekend. They took it to the top team in the East. They did a lot of good things and if they can bottle that and go with it, they’ll find more success than failure. The Blizzard have always been a gritty, blue-collar team but they have some offensive punch to go along with perhaps one of the best goalies in the MJHL.
Up Next: Friday, Dec 17th @ Flyers, Saturday, Dec 18th @ Flyers
(-4) 12th – Winnipeg Freeze
This Week: 0-3
Overall: 6-20-2
Impressive Player: Defenceman Matthew Yakubowski – 2 goals
In a season where there have been some tough stretches, the latest three game losing streak may be the toughest. Surrendering 20 goals over those three games, has put them 11 points behind Portage. While there continues to be bright spots offensively, the lack of defence has and will continue to hurt the team going forward. Two more game and they’ll get a mental reset but things don’t get much easier after Christmas. It’s all about finding positives in a long season and the Freeze need to just keep trying to find them.
Up Next: Friday, Dec 17th vs Titans, Saturday, Dec 18th @ Titans
