Photo: Ryan Sawatzky
(-) 1st – Winkler Flyers
This Week: 2-0
Overall: 6-0
Impressive Player: Tanner George – 2 goals, 1 assist in 1 game
Showing early maturity in finding different ways to win. Depth continues to be a strong suit for the undefeated Flyers. Goaltending also is a highlight with both goalies sporting 3-0 records respectively.
Up Next: Oct. 15th vs Waywayseecappo
(+2) 2nd – Dauphin Kings
This Week: 1-0
Overall: 5-1
Impressive Player: Logan Walker – 1 goal, 1 assist in 1 game
Still surrendering minimal goals against while finding a groove offensively. The Kings sit atop the West with a real chance to pull away from what will be a crowded middle of the pack.
Up Next: Oct. 14th vs Neepawa
(+2) 3rd – Steinbach Pistons
This Week: 2-1
Overall: 5-2
Impressive Player: Leo Chambers – 1 goal, 3 assists in 3 games
Been a grind at times for the defending champs but keep finding ways to put points in the bank. A strong d-core that can defend plus score will be a major factor all season long.
Up Next: Oct. 13th @ OCN, Oct. 14th @ Swan Valley
(-2) 4th – Niverville Nighthawks
This Week: 1-1
Overall: 4-1-1
Impressive Player: Ty Kennett – 1 goal and 1 assist in 2 games
Solid response after facing some adversity shows the Nighthawks are not going to let rough patches dictate their game for long stretches. Busy schedule leading up to the MJHL Showcase will be quite the test.
Up Next: Oct. 11th vs Waywayseecappo, Oct. 13th @ WPG Freeze, Oct. 14th @ Portage
(+2) 5th – Portage Terriers
This Week: 1-0-0-1
Overall: 3-2-1-1
Impressive Player: Nathan Lenoski – 1 goal, 2 assists in 2 games
Points in every game of their lengthy homestand so far have Portage feeling good with their best hockey still to come. The Terriers have the most scorers inside the league’s top 10 with three.
Up Next: Oct. 11th vs Virden, Oct 14th vs Niverville
(+2) 6th – Virden Oil Capitals
This Week: 1-0
Overall: 3-3-1
Impressive Player: Joey Bielik – 1 goal in 1 game
An up and down start to the year has Virden at .500 through seven games. While the results have been mixed, the goaltending has been more and more consistent, producing the only goalie to this point with two shutouts.
Up Next: Oct. 11th @ Portage, Oct. 14th @ WPG Blues
(-1) 7th – Neepawa Titans
This Week: 1-2
Overall: 4-4
Impressive Player: Mason Lobreau – 1-1 with a 31 save shutout, 62 saves on 65 shots in 2 games
Great bounce back after falling in back-to-back contests. Keeping losing streaks from getting out of control will keep the Titans right in the thick of the West which is shaping up early to be a dog fight on a nightly basis.
Up Next: Oct. 13th vs Waywayseecappo, Oct. 14th @ Dauphin
(-5) 8th – Waywayseecappo Wolverines
This Week: 0-2
Overall: 3-3
Impressive Player: Luke McCarthy – 1 goal, 2 assists in 2 games
A tightly packed 4 game road trip with a pair of afternoon games mixed in for good measure. Get what points you can and get through it. October is the busiest month of the year for the team with 13 total games.
Up Next: Oct. 11th @ Niverville, Oct. 13th @ Neepawa, Oct. 15th @ Winkler, Oct. 17th vs Swan Valley
(+2) 9th – Winnipeg Blues
This Week: 1-0
Overall: 2-3
Impressive Player: Lucas DeSousa – 2 goals in 1 game
Starting a four-game homestand off with a win is a big boost of confidence for a team that can’t let points slip away early as the top four in the division try and pull away. Still have to work on keeping shots against down.
Up Next: Oct. 14th vs Virden, Oct. 15th vs WPG Freeze
(-1) 10th – Selkirk Steelers
This Week: 1-2
Overall: 2-5
Impressive Player: Aiden Anderson – 2 goals, 2 assists in 3 games
Unable to string wins together but also not piling up losses, the Steelers are keeping their hooks in to the rest of the division and as depth scoring continues to find its way, the more wins will come. Must stay out of the penalty box going forward as they lead the league with 135 PIM.
Up Next: Oct. 13th @ Swan Valley, Oct. 14th @ OCN
(-1) 11th – OCN Blizzard
This Week: 1-2
Overall: 2-4
Impressive Player: Tomas Anderson – 1-1 with a 23 save shutout, 47 saves on 50 shots in 2 games
A massive showing against one of the top teams in the other division but couldn’t follow it up scoring just three times over the course of two games. Fire a ton of shots on goal and as the young players figure out the opposition, more shots will find the back of the net.
Up Next: Oct. 13th vs Steinbach, Oct. 14th vs Selkirk
12th – Swan Valley Stampeders
This Week: 1-1
Overall: 2-4
Impressive Player: Alex Walicki – 1 goal, 2 assists in 2 games
Up and down the Stamps go but there’s a sense that good, consistent things are right around the corner. May need to outscore their problems at times but as a group, starting to make it harder to score on them.
Up Next: Oct. 13th vs Selkirk, Oct. 14th vs Steinbach
13th – Winnipeg Freeze
This Week: 0-0-1
Overall: 0-4-1
Impressive Player: Elliot Perreault – 2 goals, 1 assist in 1 game
Pushed the defending champs to the limit. Refused to quit and some of the key offensive producers got rolling. Should be a boost going forward and a message to the rest of the league to not sleep on a group that has no quit and can score in bunches.
Up Next: Oct. 13th vs Niverville, Oct. 15th @ WPG Blues
