– Manitoba’s Jeff Stoughton closed out his round-robin at the Tim Hortons Brier Thursday with a pair of wins. Stoughton defeated B-C’s John Morris 7-6 and Ontario’s Greg Balsdon 8-6 to finish with a 9-and-2 record. Where the Manitoba team finishes will be determined after the final draw Friday morning. Alberta’s Kevin Koe is 9-and-1 and needs a victory to clinch top spot. If Koe beats Quebec, it’ll be Alberta and Manitoba in the 1-vs-2 Page Playoff game. If Alberta loses its final game, they’ll face B-C in the 1-2 game and Stoughton will face to the 3-vs-4 contest.
– The Brandon Wheat Kings continue their quest for a playoff spot Friday night when they host the Edmonton Oil Kings (7:30 p.m., Westman Communications Group Place). The Wheat Kings enter the game in seventh-place in the Eastern Conference, two points ahead of eighth-place Red Deer and four up on ninth-plaec Prince Albert. It’ll be status quo for the Wheat Kings on the injury front. Forwards Peter Quenneville and Jens Meilleur remain sidelined with lower body injuries. For more on the Wheat Kings, visit Bruce Luebke’s blog at http://luberslounge.blogspot.ca/
– The Wheat Kings have named rookie goaltender Jordan Papirny as their IMPACT Player of the Month for February. Papirny went 2-3-2 last month with a 2.86 goals against average and .920 save percentage.
– The OCN Blizzard topped the Waywayseecappo Wolverines 6-4 Thursday night to tie the MJHL’s Sher-Wood Division Survivor Series 1-1. J.J. Cruikshank scored a pair of goals in a losing cause for Waywayseecappo. The third and deciding game of the series goes tonight in The Pas. The winner moves on to face Dauphin in the Sher-Wood semifinals.
– The Virden Oil Capitals will make their MJHL playoff debut Saturday night when they host the Swan Valley Stampeders to open their Sher-Wood Division semifinal (7:30 p.m., Tundra Oil & Gas Place). The teams split their eight regular season meetings, five of which were deciding by a single goal. Virden forward Jake Dudar guested on CKLQ’s Oil Caps’ Report Thursday. You can hear the show here.
– Brandon product Tanner Jago will be continuing his hockey career south of the border. Jagohas committed to the NCAA Bentley Falcons for the 2015-2016 season. The former MJHL Rookie of the Year is spending this season with the USHL’s Fargo Force and has two goals and ten points in 48 games.
– Mike Richards scored the game winner on a Winnipeg Jets’ giveaway to lift the Los Angeles Kings to a 3-1 win Thursday night. Olli Jokinen had his 15th goal of the season for Winnipeg (30-27-7) and a busy Ondrej Pavelec stopped 38 shots. The loss leaves Winnipeg three points behind Dallas for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
– The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have brought back a familiar face and fan favourite. Former quarterback Buck Pierce has joined Head Coach Mike O’Shea’s coaching staff in the role of Running Backs Coach. Pierce retired from the Canadian Football League earlier this week after nine seasons with the Bombers and B.C. Lions.
– Brandon University handed out its final Player of the Month awards for the saeson. The top male athlete is fifth-year senior Jordan Reaves of the men’s basketball team. Reaves is pursuing opportunities to play pro overseas now that his CIS career is done. The female athlete of the month was libero Donata Huebert of the women’s volleyball team, who was recently named the CIS Libero of the Year and a first-team CIS All-Canadian.
