The Royal Canadian Legion's Funspiel hits the ice from March 9th to 10th next weekend. Both legion members and non-members are welcome to register at the Legion or The Pas Curling Club for $40 a person. registration includes 3 guaranteed games, a supper on Saturday at the Legion, and a potential to win prizes! This year's Funspiel has a Jersey theme, with participants encouraged to wear their favorite jerseys from any sports team or league.

The Blizzard earned their second shutout victory in a row last night as they hosted the Dauphin Kings.

Outshooting the Kings 45-15 The Blizzard kept the pressure on the entire night as Miguel Bouvier opened up scoring during the first and second periods. Former Blizzard Ashton Paul wound up in the box for an interference call, allowing Cale Strasky to shoot the third goal of the night halfway through the second period. Griffin Ayotte scored the final goal of the night halfway through the third period and the Blizzard ended the night 4-0 against the Kings.

The Blizzard now sit at 70 points, four points ahead of the Dauphin Kings, holding on to second place in the MGEU West Division.

The Dauphin Kings will have a chance to close that gap again as they face the Swan Valley Stampeders tonight.

Three games are still on the schedule for The Blizzard this week as they host the Portage Terriers on Friday, the Winnipeg Freeze on Saturday, and The Dauphin Kings again on Sunday.

The Blizzard are on the ice tonight in a vital game at the Roy H Johnston Arena. The Blizzard and the Dauphin Kings have been locked in a battle for second place in the MGEU West Division for over a month, with both teams being within 2-4 points of each other regularly. As the playoffs near, both teams have already clinched playoff contention, with the Blizzard sitting 21 points ahead of the 4th-place Neepawa Titans as of writing. The Puck Drops at 7:30 tonight, with your pre-game broadcast starting immediately after your OCN Media Bingo on CJAR.

To say it's been an uphill battle for the OCN Storm this year may be a bit of an understatement. After key players have been injured, entire staff rosters have been changed, and battles have been fought the OCN Storm could now be one win away from earning a spot in the KJHL playoffs.

On Saturday the OCN Storm had a key victory agaist the Norway House North Stars. Tye Burke, Drew Peters, Dravin Ballantyne and Rowan Fenner eah scored while Nathan Stevens scored twice. THe North Stars spent more time in the penalty box than they did on the ice, spending 43 minutes away that included two major misconduct penalties. Combined, North Stars Allan Wesley spent a whole 20 minutes off the ice. Throught all this chaos, OCN Storm goaltender Marcus Scott only allowed one goal in through the entire 60 minutes of play.

Sunday

The OCN Storm faced the Waywayseecappo Wild, and the Storm was raging the entire game.  Drew Peters and Hutton Foster each scored a hat trick as Cedrick Puffalt and Milan Constant and Logan marr each scored twice. Brayson Richard scored the lone Wild goal during the second period.  The night wrapped up 16-1 for the Storm.

The OCN Storm now sit one point behind the Cross Lake Islanders, who are holding on to the final spot in the upcoming KJHL Playoffs.

The Blizzard played two vital games against teams in the MGEU West division over the weekend.

On Saturday the Blizzard faced the Waywayseecappo Wolverines, a team in a 1 point battle against the Neepawa Titans for the final playoff spot in the West.

Despite being short a man due to an interferance penalty a minute before, Sam Zagari opened up scoring 8 minutes into the first period, Followed by another goal from Griffin Ayotte 12 minutes into the period. Waywayseecappo Wolverines Aiden Moser, scored his teams first goal with just 5 minutes left of the first period, only to wind up in the box himself for boarding during the final two minutes.

An intense second period followed, with game a whopping 11 penalty calls across both teams (5 Blizzard, 6 Wolverines) that included game misconducts, roughing, major fighting and more. Despite this, Griffin Ayotte scored his second goal of the night only two minutes into the period and Riley See scored two, one a minute afer Griffin, and another at the 11 minute mark. 

It seemed during the third period a fire was lit under the Wolverines as they came back, hard. Scoring three goals during the period and nearly catching up. If it hadn't been for a goal from Ethan Bibeau it may have been a much closer game, but at 60 minutes the buzzer went and the Blizzard came out with a 6-4 win over the Wolverines

Sunday

on Sunday the Blizzard were up against the MGEU West leading Virden Oil Capitals. both teams were evenly matched, both in net and out on the ice. unlike the night before, only 7 penalties were called between both teams (3 Blizzard, 4 Oil Capitals.)  Sam Zagari scored the loan goal of the night during a power play as Tomas Anderson kept 28 shots out of the net, ending the night 1-0 for the Blizzard.

Although the Blizzard have officially earned their playoff mark. The Dauphin Kings are still not far behind, having also earned 4 points during the weekend. This makes tomorrows game even more vital, as the Blizzard host the Dauphin Kings at 7:30 PM tomorrow at the Roy H Johnston Arena.

The Junior Varsity Basketball Zone 11 Championships take place this weekend in The Pas and Flin Flon. The Boy's teams will be in The Pas, beginning with the Margaret Barbour Spartans on the court against the Oscar Lathlin Wolverines at 1 PM. The girl's teams are headed to Flin Flon, where that tournament also begins at 1 PM.

The OCN Storm had a big win against the Cross Lake Islanders last night.

The night began with an early goal from Domi Leask, followed by an intense remaining 18 minutes of play. Kielan Holland scored two goals for the storm but the Cross Lake Islanders kept the pressure on, ending the first period at 3-3.

During the second period, Nathan Stevens and Ron Campbell each scored, pulling the storm ahead to a 5-3 lead against the Islanders. During the third period, an Islanders cross-checking penalty served by Tyren Cheechoo had some interesting results in the final five minutes of play. starting with an early Islanders shorthanded goal from Wilfred McLeod, Cedrick Puffalt scored the Storm's sixth goal of the night during the final seconds of the penalty.

The Storm come home victorious, 6-4 over the Cross Lake Islanders, who hold on to the final playoff spot in the KJHL. The OCN Storm are now only 3 points behind the Islanders and set to be back on the ice this weekend as they face the Norway House North Stars on Saturday and the Waywayseecappo Wild on Sunday at the GLMC.

Sunday's early afternoon game will be broadcast live here on CJAR at 1:30.

The OCN Storm traded wins with the NCN Flames over the Weekend. Despite taking a year off previously, Keilan Holland scored a combined 5 goals over the weekend, 3 of which were during Sunday's overtime win against the Flames. On Saturday the Flames came on top with a 10-4 victory over the OCN Storm. Sunday afternoon's game told a much different tale, with Drew Peters assisting each of Keilan Holland's hat trick-earning goals, including the overtime-winning goal. The OCN Storm are getting ready to head on the road once again as they face the Cross Lake Islanders tomorrow at 7:30 PM.

The Blizzard earned all 6 possible points over the weekend when they went to the southern end of the province.

On Friday the Blizzard were on the ice against the Niverville Nighthawks. The Blizzard proved once again that they are the least penalized team in the league, avoiding any time in the box for the whole 60 minutes of play while the Nighthawks spent a combined 23 minutes. Despite the Nighthawks serving most of those penalties during the first period, they opened up scoring late into the first period. Quincy Supprien tied the game early into the second period and again in the first 20 seconds of the third period. Carter Spirig scored a goal two minutes later as the Nighthawks pushed ahead 3-2. Riley See scored the game-tying goal with less than 4 minutes on the clock, pushing the game into overtime. An extensive shootout followed, featuring eight players from each team. Ethan Bibeau and Sebastian Hamming each scored, ending the shootout with a 4-3 victory for the Blizzard.

On Saturday, The Blizzard were in Selkirk in another close game. This time the teams were even in penalty minutes, spending 10 minutes in the box each. for the first 35 minutes of play, the game remained scoreless until Riley See took the puck from Sam Zagari and dumped it into the Steelers' net. Very early into the third period the Selkirk Steelers took advantage of a power play opportunity and tied the game 1-1 against the Blizzard. Adam Belzil scored minutes later, but that goal was tied once again by the Steelers as the game went into another overtime shootout for the Blizzard. Sebastian Hamming and Quincy Supprien each scored, earning the Blizzard another 2 points on the road.

On Sunday, despite two long games of hockey the nights before, Ethan Bibeau and Adam Belzil each scored during the second period as Loic Morin stopped all 20 shots on goal, earning the Blizzard a 2-0 shutout win over the Winnipeg Freeze.

The Blizzard have widened the gap between them and the third-place Dauphin Kings in the MGEU West division at 64 points this season as the countdown to the MJHL Playoffs is well underway.

The Blizzard stay home this weekend, as they prepare to face the Waywayseecappo Wolverines on Saturday and the division-leading Virden Oil Capitals on Sunday.

The OCN Storm are headed North today for a pair of games against the NCN Flames. The Storm are coming off a 6-4 win against the league-leading Peguis Juniors last week while the Flames suffered a 7-2 loss to the PBCN Selects this past Saturday. The puck drops tonight at 7:30 PM and 1:30 PM on Saturday.

The Blizzard are on the road today as they head for a 3 game road trip at the southern end of the province.

Today the team heads to Niverville to face the Nighthawks at 7 PM. On Saturday they'll face the Selkirk Steelers and on Sunday, they'll wrap up the game with a 6 PM puck drop against the Winnipeg Freeze.

The Blizzard are locked in a points battle for second place in the MGEU West Division with the Dauphin Kings 2 points behind the Blizzard.

Due to unforeseen circumstances The Wescana Inn U13 Female Tournament had to be canceled this weekend. However, that doesn't mean teams won't be hitting the ice!

In place of the tournament, the U13 huskies female team and U13 OCN Storm will be playing exhibition games at the Roy H Johnston Arena this weekend. The series kicks off Saturday with a pizza shootout, and wraps up with awards Sunday afternoon. 

The Wescana Inn U13 Female Tournament hits the ice this weekend at the Roy H Johnston Arena.

From Friday through to Sunday The Pas Huskies, Cross Lake Islanders, and Norway House North Stars will face each other twice before the Gold game on Sunday afternoon.

The Pas Curling Club is gearing up for their bonspiels next month. Kicking off the month of March will be the ladies' bonspiel on Friday, March 1st to 3rd. Contact Janis Fjermestad at 620-3765 before the February 28th deadline to register.

The MBCI Spartans were all over during the weekend.

The Junior Varsity girls teams hosted a tournament at MBCI over the weekend. The MBCI Spartans and Spartans Blue teams wound up facing each other in the tournament, earning 5th and 6th place.

The Senior Varsity girls teams of both MBCI and Oscar Lathlin Collegiate were in Swan River for the Swan Valley Co-Op Classic. Oscar Lathlin Collegiate came second place in the consolations matches and the MBCI Spartans earned first place in the tournament with a close win of 43-42 against the Dauphin Clippers.

In Curling the Senior Varsity Boys team had a 1-3 record at Provincials.

The Blizzard did a lot more than earn a couple of points over the weekend! Not only did they beat two teams back to back, but they didn't allow a single goal past the pipes during either game.

On Friday the Blizzard were up against the second-place Winkler Flyers who have already earned their spot in the playoffs. A team well known for their time in the box the Flyers earned 7 penalties against the Blizzards two. Emilien Charron scored partway through the second and Kieran Cooke scored late into the third period, ending the night 2-0 against the Flyers.

On Saturday Riley See earned a hat trick, Keenan McNeill scored twice, along with goals from Quincy Supprien during the first period, and Miguel Bouvier and Sam Zagari during the third period the night ended 8-0 for the Blizzard.

The final playoff push is underway across the league with less than 10 games remaining for every team. Currently, the Blizzard sit two points ahead of the Dauphin Kings at second place and 56 points this season.

Qualifying rounds matches begin today in the MHSAA Provincial Curling Championships. After winning zones earlier this year, the Margaret Barbour Spartans are on the rink today as they aim to qualify for the elimination tournament at Collége Jeanne Sauvé.

Lots of basketball is happening across the north this weekend.

Tomorrow the MBCI Spartans Junior Varsity Girls teams host 6 other teams including the Hapknot Kopper Queens and Dauphin Clippers.

The Junior Varsity Boys Gold team will be headed to Winnipeg for the PCI Trojans Junior Varsity Basketball Tournament.

The Senior Varsity teams are in action too, with the girls teams of MBCI and Oscar Lathlin Collegiate headed to Swan River, while the MBCI Boys team headed to Dauphin.

The OCN Storm had a pair of vital games over the Weekend at the Gordon Lathlin Memorial Centre.

On Friday the Storm faced their league rivals, The Cross Lake Islanders. Both teams are fighting for playoff contention, sitting one point away from each other. Keilan Holland Scored his first goal in the KJHL since rejoining in early January. It was a close game, set to go into overtime until Wilfred McLeod scored the final goal for the Islanders with 3 seconds left of the third period.

On Sunday Keilan Holland scored again, Drew Peters earned another hat trick, and Domi Leask and Ron Campbell each scored as they beat the Peguis Juniors 6-4.

The Blizzard were only able to grab two points over the weekend when they headed down south.

On Friday, despite 9 penalties against the Blizzards two, the Steinbach Pistons outscored the Blizzard 5-2.

Saturday saw a rematch for the Blizzard against the Winnipeg Blues.  This time the Blizzard outscored them 4-0 until Lucas Desousa scored the lone Blues goal late into the third period. The night ended 4-1 for the Blizzard.

On Sunday the Blizzard wrapped up the weekend with an early game in Portage La Prairie. The Blizzard attempted to catch up to a 3-0 start to the third period, falling short as the night ended 3-2 for the Terriers.

They hit the ice this Friday as they host the Winkler Flyers at the Roy H Johnston Arena.

Teams across northern manitoba at all levels of play are writing letters of support for the U18AAA and U15AAA Norman Northstars.

Rumor has spread that the league may be looking at dismantling the teams due to the long travel distances. 

But has not been confirmed as of writing.

If true, dismantling the program could lead to less access to hockey for youth in the North.

The Grub Box U11 Hockey Tournament took place at the Roy H Johnston Arena over the weekend.

In the A1 Division, The Pas Huskies came third against the Thompson King Miners and Norway House Bruins.

The U13 Huskies were in Flin Flon, where they earned first place after a 7-0 match against the host Flin Flon Bombers.

The U13 second team placed second after a 4-3 overtime loss.

The U18 Huskies came second in their tournament against the La Broquerie Habs.

The OCN Storm had a big win last night in Norway House. Drew Peters returned to the ice, wasting no time and scoring a goal each period to earn another hat trick. Logan Marr opened up scoring in the second period, and Nathan Stevens scored halfway through the third, ending the night 5-2 for the Storm.

The Storm are now preparing to face the Cross Lake Islanders in a pair of home games this weekend. Both games will be broadcast live on CJAR, beginning at 7:30 on Saturday and 1:30 on Sunday.