Photo: Scott Stroh
1st – Niverville Nighthawks (+1)
Last week: 3-1
Overall: 17-9-1
Aside from a pair of wild, high scoring, back and forth games, the Nighthawks have started to build winning habits through effort and hard work. Increased depth scoring also doesn’t hurt.
Key Player: Matteo Speranza – 2 goals, 2 assists in 4 games
Up Next: Dec. 7th vs Northern Manitoba, Dec. 8th @ Winkler
2nd – Selkirk Steelers (+1)
Last week: 2-1
Overall: 17-8-0-1
Despite their four-game winning streak coming to a halt, the Steelers are keeping pace near the top of the MGEU East Division and showing no signs of fading away thanks in large part to the offense of late.
Key Player: Wyatt Witham – 5 goals, 3 assists in 3 games
Up Next: Dec. 6th vs Northern Manitoba, Dec. 10th @ Winkler
3rd – Winkler Flyers (-2)
Last week: 1-0-1
Overall: 15-6-2
Solid bounce back after letting what looked like a sure win slip through their fingers. An angry Flyers team might be bad news for anyone they run up against. 4 of the next 6 are at home and all against divisional opponents.
Key Player: Nicholas McKee – 2 goals, 1 assist in 2 games
Up Next: Dec. 8th vs Niverville, Dec. 10th vs Selkirk
4th – Dauphin Kings (+3)
Last week: 3-0
Overall: 19-6-1
Starting to put some distance between themselves and the chasing pack in the MGEU West. Have always had the talent but now combined with the consistency, the Kings could run away and hide, impossible to catch.
Key Player: Rylan Gage – 3 goals in 3 games
Up Next: Dec. 7th vs Steinbach, Dec. 10th vs Waywayseecappo, Dec. 11th @ Northern Manitoba
5th – Steinbach Pistons (+4)
Last week: 2-0
Overall: 19-4-1
Right back to their winning ways. From filling the net to grinding out a tough game, the Pistons feel comfortable in just about any situation. They’ve also got games in hand on all the teams looking up at them in the MGEU East.
Key Player: Brody Green – 2 goals, 2 assists in 2 games
Up Next: Dec. 7th @ Dauphin, Dec. 8th vs WPG Freeze
6th – Portage Terriers (+4)
Last week: 2-0
Overall: 18-9
A nice pair of home victories to get things back on track. A lighter month of December leading to the break should help heal any bumps and bruises, but can’t afford to let rest turn into rust.
Key Player: William McKay – 2 goals, 2 assists in 2 games
Up Next: Dec. 4th vs Neepawa, Dec. 6th @ Waywayseecappo
7th – Winnipeg Freeze (-3)
Last week: 1-1
Overall: 4-15-1-2
Great response coming off a loss, the Freeze are starting to get the results to go with the hard work. Still getting heavily outshot, so playing with fire but the group will take all the positives and the points whenever they come.
Key Player: Braxton Burdeny – 1-0, 49 saves on 50 shots
Up Next: Dec. 4th vs Steinbach, Dec. 6th vs Swan Valley, Dec. 8th @ Steinbach
8th – Neepawa Titans (-3)
Last week: 0-1
Overall: 13-11-1-1
On the surface, it’s a loss but there’s a lot to like about what the team did in the only game they played. They outshot their opponent by a wide margin but ran into a hot goalie. Comfortably in the middle with a busy December to come.
Key Player: Cooper Kasprick – 1 goal in 1 game
Up Next: Dec. 4th @ Portage, Dec. 5th @ Virden, Dec. 7th vs Waywayseecappo
9th – Waywayseecappo Wolverines (-3)
Last week: 1-2
Overall: 9-14-1
A big win to stop a modest losing skid. Big points taken from the team they are chasing plus have games in hand. Will need to find more scoring if they want to cement their place. The 65 goals for is second lowest in the MGEU West.
Key Player: Reegan Kominko – 2 assists in 3 games
Up Next: Dec. 6th vs Portage, Dec. 7th @ Neepawa, Dec. 10th @ Dauphin
10th – Virden Oil Capitals (-2)
Last week: 1-3
Overall: 11-15
Losing three straight is tough but giving up 14 goals in those three games is something uncharacteristic of a normally stingy Oil Caps team. Need to bank some points in a December with some winnable games.
Key Player: Bryce Bryant – 1 goal, 4 assists in 4 games
Up Next: Dec. 5th vs Neepawa, Dec. 8th @ WPG Blues
11th – Winnipeg Blues (+2)
Last week: 0-1
Overall: 3-19-1-1
Didn’t do anything special to rise in the rankings, just simply played fewer games, and other teams around them did worse. Will be nice having 4 of their final 6 games of 2024 at home. Really 5 of 6 but the one against the Freeze is technically a road game.
Key Player: Renat Nhanieiev – 1 goal in 1 game
Up Next: Dec. 7th vs Swan Valley, Dec. 8th vs Virden
12th – Swan Valley Stampeders (-)
Last week: 0-2
Overall: 3-20-2-1
Results are the same but there is a difference in the way the Stamps are playing. Scoring will be a continued issue but there’s a progression in how they go about their business. It can be hard to see, but there is improvement.
Key Player: Aidan Taylor – 1 goal, 1 assist in 2 games
Up Next: Dec. 6th @ WPG Freeze, Dec. 7th @ WPG Blues
13th – Northern Manitoba Blizzard (-3)
Last week: 0-3
Overall: 15-11-0-1
It’s been a slow but steady decline for a team that still has division-winner potential. Have scored more than twice in just 2 games over their last 9. When, not if, the scoring does come, they’ll be on the rise.
Key Player: Miguel Bouvier – 2 goals, 1 assist in 3 games
Up Next: Dec. 6th @ Selkirk, Dec. 7th @ Niverville, Dec. 11th vs Dauphin
