– Brandon product Nolan Thiessen has his second Tim Hortons Brier title. The Alberta lead and teammates Kevin Koe, Pat Simmons and Carter Rycroft jumped out to a 6-3 lead after five ends and went on to a 10-5 victory over B-C’s John Morris in Sunday night’s final at the Canadian Men’s Curling Championship in Kamloops. The Alberta foursome will now head to the World Men’s Curling Championship in Beijing, China later this month. Earlier in the day, Manitoba’s Jeff Stoughton won the bronze medal game, downing Quebec’s Jean-Michel Menard 9-5.
– Gold medal winning curler Kaitlyn Lawes will be in Brandon Monday (March 10). Fans will get the chance to get autographs, pose for pictures with Lawes and hear some of her Olympic stories at Brandon Source for Sports. She’ll also have her gold medal from the Sochi Games with her. Monday’s session runs from 1:00 – 2:30 p.m.
– Matt Dunstone and Michelle Montford have secured spots in next year’s Provincial Curling Championships. Dunstone won the Safeway Berth Bonspiel in Carman over the weekend, defeating Rob Atkins of East St. Paul 10-8 in the final. Montford won the Scotties Berth Bonspiel, downing Carberry’s Tina Kozak 9-1 in the final.
– Wheat Kings’ prospect Kirklan Lycar scored the game-tying and game-winning goals as the Eastman Selects downed the Brandon AAA Midget Wheat Kings 4-3 Sunday in the fifth and deciding game of their Manitoba AAA Midget Hockey League semifinal series. Brandon had a 3-1 lead midway through the second period on goals by Duncan Campbell, James Shearer and Bradley Schoonbaert. The Selects move on to face the Winnipeg Wild in the MMHL Final. CKLQ’s Tyler Crayston has more on the upset here.
– Michael Stiliadis stopped 24 shots for the shutout as the Dauphin Kings blanked the OCN Blizzard 5-0 Sunday night to open their Sher-Wood Division semifinal. Other MJHL action Sunday saw Riley Hay score twice as Portage beat Steinbach 3-1 to tie their Addison Division semifinal 1-1 and Byron Spriggs made 16 saves for the shutout as the Winnipeg Blues upset Selkirk 5-0 in the opening game of their Addison Division semifinal.
– Ashley Robertson scored twice and Brett McDonald stopped 29 shots as the Souris Elks beat the Deloraine Royals 4-1 in Tiger Hills Hockey League action Sunday night. Deloraine still leads the Best-of-Five Western Division Final 2-1 with Game #4 Wednesday in Souris. Meanwhile, Carberry beat Gladstone 7-6 Sunday to tie their Eastern Division Final 1-1. Game #3 is Wednesday in Carberry.
– The North Central Hockey League Final will get underway Tuesday night when the Miniota-Elkhorn C-Hawks host the Grandview Comets (8:30 p.m., Elkhorn). It’s a rematch a last year’s championship series, which the C-Hawks on in four games.
– Foxwarren captured two of the 11 Hockey Manitoba Provincial Championships handed out over the weekend. Foxwarren won the Midget Rural B title in Treherne, downing Teulon 5-2 in the final while the Falcons Pee Wee team took the Rural C crown in MacGregor with a 6-1 win over Grunthal in the final. Other Westman teams winning titles over the weekend included Souris in the Pee Wee Rural B, Deloraine in the Pee Wee Rural D, Brandon in the Female Atom A/B and Manitou-Somerset in the Female Atom C/D. Results from Hockey Manitoba Provincial Championships can be found here.
– NHL general managers kick off their annual March meeting Monday in Florida. One of the topics up for debate might be changes to overtime to reduce the number of shootouts. Just over 13 per cent of all regular-season games have gone to a shootout since the format was instituted after the 2004-05 lockout.
– Sad news in Calgary. Flames forward Matt Stajan is taking a personal leave following the death of his newborn son. Stajan signed a four-year extension with the Flames earlier this year. The team says a private memorial service will be held in the coming days.
– There might be a new host coming to ‘Hockey Night in Canada.’ A media report suggests CBC personality George Stroumboulopoulos will take over as the full-time host of the CBC hockey program. Longtime host Ron MacLean will reportedly be kept on in a smaller role when Rogers takes over editorial control along with Canada’s NHL broadcast rights next season.
– Canada has its first gold medal at the Paralympic Games in Sochi. Para-Nordic skier Brian McKeever and his guide, Erik Carleton, finished first in the men’s 20-kilometre classic, visually-impaired race on Monday. Canada also has two silver and three bronze for a total of six medals.
– The Ottawa Gee-Gees were the only team in Canada to beat Carleton this season. The Ravens weren’t about to let it happen again. Carleton picked up its fourth straight national men’s basketball title, and their 10th CIS title in the last 12 years, with a 79-67 victory over its crosstown rival on Sunday. The Gee-Gees upset the Ravens last week in the Ontario University Association final.
– Brad Keselowski has won NASCAR’s Sprint Cup race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, surging ahead on the final lap when Dale Earnhardt Jr. ran out of fuel. When Earnhardt’s Chevy slowed in the final miles, Keselowski roared past in his Penske Ford for the first weekend sweep in his career. Keselowski virtually assured himself of a spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship after missing it entirely last season. Earnhardt finished second for the second straight week after opening the season with a win in the Daytona 500.
