Manitoba Junior Hockey League Superthread

[jetsmooseice]

havent been to a MJHL game in a long time now.. thinking of going to a WInnipeg Blues or Niverville Nighthawks game this season, depending on my work schedule and etc.. would be nice to check out the MJHL once again after a long time (last time I think was wayyyy back in 2014 or so ehhh)

As much as I hate to say it as a fan of the (Winnipeg) home teams, the experience in Niverville is better, they have the classic small town junior hockey vibes with a good-sized, very engaged crowd most nights, and a pretty exciting team to watch on top of all that.

It's funny, but if you live in the eastern half of Winnipeg as I do, it takes practically the same length of time to drive to Selkirk (from NE Winnipeg) or Niverville (from SE Winnipeg) as it does to get out to a Blues/Freeze game at HFAC.

Oh, and regular season starts in two days!!!!!!!!

 

[Tom ServoMST3K]

havent been to a MJHL game in a long time now.. thinking of going to a WInnipeg Blues or Niverville Nighthawks game this season, depending on my work schedule and etc.. would be nice to check out the MJHL once again after a long time (last time I think was wayyyy back in 2014 or so ehhh)

Seconding going to Niv over Winnipeg games - Really any franchise over Winnipeg games -The HFA centre is a neat facility, I've seen some really amped up and cool events there, but it's where junior A atmosphere goes to die.

I'd also probably avoid Selkirk too, but that's just based on what I've heard, not personal experience. I can say Selkirk is just terrible for Junior B games when I've gone there.

Speaking of, CRJHL appears to be turning the tide in the MB junior B battle after getting off to a tough start in their war with the KJHL - CR is expanding (La Broquerie) this year while KJ has two teams going away for at least one year.

Message from president:

"...A brief update on the KJHL, due to unfortunate and unforeseen circumstances, the Waywayseecappo Wild and the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation Selects will be taking a leave of absence for 1 year and will be back next season. Business will go on per usual and the KJHL will operate with 5 teams, OCN Storm, Peguis Juniors, NCN Flames, Norway House Northstars and Cross Lake Islanders..."

Also, nobody cares but me, but the junior C HTJHL is expanding to 10 teams this season - Adding Ste Anne, Grunthal and Mitchell.

High School Hockey is about to start too - you're seeing a big increase in quality over the past few years IMO in the High School ranks - Top player in the league last year is in the MJHL now.

 

[jetsmooseice]

Interesting post @Tom ServoMST3K . A few thoughts:

-I have also heard bad things about Selkirk. I have been to the SRC several times but never for a Steelers game... the venue is showing its age but it's still pretty nice and has a certain grandiosity you rarely see in the MJ. Back in the day Selkirk had a reputation as a solid junior hockey town but that has kind of faded. Regardless, I am going to for sure make it out to a game there this season and I'll report back on my findings.

-I have to admit I don't follow the Jr. B/C ranks, but I wonder why two KJHL teams are going on hiatus? That's quite a hit for that league to take. But that said, the province is big enough for two Jr. B leagues, especially ones drawn on regional lines to limit travel.

-Speaking of Jr. C, I don't know much about it nor do I get where it fits into the hockey universe. I assume it is basically the "house league" version of junior hockey? i.e. you're 18, not making the Dub or MJ, don't want to take on the hassle of jr. B, so you join jr. C as a last hurrah before moving on to the beer leagues? Jr. C is so rare, I wonder why it's thriving the way it is in southern Manitoba?

-Interesting observation about high school hockey, I wonder what is behind the upswing in player quality? Is it an economic thing, i.e. mom and dad don't have the big $ it takes to send junior to RHA or Pilot Mound so they end up taking a less expensive route like high school? Or is something else behind it?

 

[Tom ServoMST3K]

Interesting post @Tom ServoMST3K . A few thoughts:

-I have also heard bad things about Selkirk. I have been to the SRC several times but never for a Steelers game... the venue is showing its age but it's still pretty nice and has a certain grandiosity you rarely see in the MJ. Back in the day Selkirk had a reputation as a solid junior hockey town but that has kind of faded. Regardless, I am going to for sure make it out to a game there this season and I'll report back on my findings.

-I have to admit I don't follow the Jr. B/C ranks, but I wonder why two KJHL teams are going on hiatus? That's quite a hit for that league to take. But that said, the province is big enough for two Jr. B leagues, especially ones drawn on regional lines to limit travel.

-Speaking of Jr. C, I don't know much about it nor do I get where it fits into the hockey universe. I assume it is basically the "house league" version of junior hockey? i.e. you're 18, not making the Dub or MJ, don't want to take on the hassle of jr. B, so you join jr. C as a last hurrah before moving on to the beer leagues? Jr. C is so rare, I wonder why it's thriving the way it is in southern Manitoba?

-Interesting observation about high school hockey, I wonder what is behind the upswing in player quality? Is it an economic thing, i.e. mom and dad don't have the big $ it takes to send junior to RHA or Pilot Mound so they end up taking a less expensive route like high school? Or is something else behind it?

Take these 1 at at time - the building is fantastic in Selkirk - doesn't mean anything if there are 100 people in the stands - like there was for a jr b playoff game I went to.

Jr. B is in a weird place, because there's also the MMJHL, which bills itself as jr b, has a bunch of almost jr a players in it, but technically isn't because of their overage rules from what I understand.

I know nothing of the kj - it's one of the few leagues in mb I don't get to in a season.

Jr c is for local players who don't want to grind out a jr b career but still want to play competitively - the best teams in that league are fantastic, and the bottom teams are usually pretty bad, just depending on if your town produced a bunch of players or not.

IMO High school is benefitting from a general turn away from the traditional minor aaa programs that seems to be happening - In steinbach, it's kind of ridiculous - your home base for both u17 and u18 is an hour away now. (You're not allowed to play both aaa and high school)

It also could be pandemic related - the first season I was here the league was not that great, but last year it was much improved, and you're seeing more players leap into junior b programs, even APing once their teams are knocked out of the playoffs.

 

[jetsmooseice]

And they're off... the season is officially under way.

Blizzard, Kings and Flyers win, Blues and Freeze lose. 5 more games today. Unfortunately between going to high school football last night and going to the Jets pre season game tonight, no MJ action for me this weekend but I'll be keeping tabs on things.

 

[Tom ServoMST3K]

Last year I saw Winkler and Steinbach play once and knew everything I needed to know about the season - This year, not so much.

I chalk that up to being the second half of a back-to-back between the same two teams - Winkler has returned all seven D-Men, yet they were giving up great chances and tonnes of shots - not Winkler Flyers hockey - The night before it was also a 2-2 game, and those same two teams combined for only 13 shots in the third- that's what I'd expect moving forward.

Obviously its safe to say Winkler and Steinbach are still two good teams, but you were able to look at returning players and safely assume that.

The only mildly specific thing about Steinbach I can say for certain is the line of Paronuzzi/Hoffman/Barnett is gonna be a major problem for every other team in the league.

And I learned absolutely nothing about Niverville in their win over the Freeze. Winnipeg was lucky it wasn't 10-0. There's a couple specific players I predicted last season would have a breakout year, and they look completely on track, so I'm happy I can pick up on that kind of stuff at least.

 

[jetsmooseice]

Guaranteed win night for Winnipeg, the Blues and the Freeze are squaring off tonight at hfac!

 

[jetsmooseice]

Blues take it in a 3-2 shootout win over the Freeze, new d-man Shawn Eliav (from Florida, of all places) scores the opening goal and again in the SO to help the Blues notch the win.

I wasn't able to make the game but I did catch some of it on the radio feed while running errands. Lots of new names on both teams, it's going to take some getting used to for sure.

 

[jetsmooseice]

With the first week complete the big story has to be the Selkirk Steelers, after spending the last few years struggling to hit .500, they are off to a 5-0 start. Looks like they may have finally turned the corner.

Conversely, Winkler and Portage have declined, with only one win each. The rest of the league is more or less as you might have expected. Wayway is winless which is a bit odd, but they have only two games so far.

Selkirk just got placed at #5 in the national CJHL rankings, it's probably been a while since they've made that list.

 

[jetsmooseice]

I was listening to the Rod Pedersen Show today when guest Kyle McIntyre, Commissioner of the SJHL, dropped an interesting tidbit. They were talking about the future of the Centennial Cup, and the Commish was, shall we say, less than committal about the SJ's continued participation in that event.

I'm not 100% sure if he was talking about the SJ hosting the event or participating in the event, but it sounded to me like the latter.

The interview is late in the show, within the last 20 minutes or so.



Could be a real hit if the SJ is the next junior A league to leave the Centennial Cup. At a certain point you lose the critical mass needed to go on...

PS - Wayway won last night with a 5-1 victory over Neepawa, so now only the Freeze remain winless...

 

[jetsmooseice]

Selkirk still undefeated after a 7-0 rout of the Oil Caps.

The league leaders on mjhlhockey.ca are totally dominated by Steelers players at the moment...

 

[oldunclehue]

I was listening to the Rod Pedersen Show today when guest Kyle McIntyre, Commissioner of the SJHL, dropped an interesting tidbit. They were talking about the future of the Centennial Cup, and the Commish was, shall we say, less than committal about the SJ's continued participation in that event.

I'm not 100% sure if he was talking about the SJ hosting the event or participating in the event, but it sounded to me like the latter.

The interview is late in the show, within the last 20 minutes or so.



Could be a real hit if the SJ is the next junior A league to leave the Centennial Cup. At a certain point you lose the critical mass needed to go on...

PS - Wayway won last night with a 5-1 victory over Neepawa, so now only the Freeze remain winless...

The MJHL/SJHL/AJHL are going to have to really start thinking outside the box either on their own or together if there is going to be any future for these leagues. With the believed route the NCAA is taking to allow CHL players to qualify for scholarships, these leagues are going to basically be Junior B leagues. I've heard rumours that NCAA teams are already in talks with WHL leagues to become feeder/development leagues for their committed players, meaning a NCAA team will send their players to WHL teams at 18-19-20 to play and then head to university after playing top level hockey.

No top end players will want to stay in Junior A leagues in Canada as the route to NCAA and onwards will all go through the WHL/OHL/QMJHL for most Canadians.

Sad as it will likely be the end of most rural Junior A programs in the next decade or less.

Junior A leagues could become feeder leagues to Usports, but without scholarships to play Usports and no player agreements from leagues to pay anything, I don't see it being a route thats successful.

 

[jetsmooseice]

The MJHL/SJHL/AJHL are going to have to really start thinking outside the box either on their own or together if there is going to be any future for these leagues. With the believed route the NCAA is taking to allow CHL players to qualify for scholarships, these leagues are going to basically be Junior B leagues. I've heard rumours that NCAA teams are already in talks with WHL leagues to become feeder/development leagues for their committed players, meaning a NCAA team will send their players to WHL teams at 18-19-20 to play and then head to university after playing top level hockey.

No top end players will want to stay in Junior A leagues in Canada as the route to NCAA and onwards will all go through the WHL/OHL/QMJHL for most Canadians.

Sad as it will likely be the end of most rural Junior A programs in the next decade or less.

Junior A leagues could become feeder leagues to Usports, but without scholarships to play Usports and no player agreements from leagues to pay anything, I don't see it being a route thats successful.

Interesting observation. The BCHL and to a lesser extent the AJHL have the most to lose as the de facto route of choice for junior aged players interested in taking the NCAA route. Some of those teams basically have WHL-level setups, I'm not sure if those are going to last long under the new world order, such as it is.

In the MJ, though? Is there really that much to lose? Hardly anyone was going to NCAA D1 teams from the MJ anyway. And I'd imagine the same 300 people a night turning up to watch the team in Neepawa, Wayway or wherever will still be there in a few years... in every town except Winnipeg, the MJ will still be the biggest show in town.

Now that I think about it, I'm not sure who really stands to lose locally besides maybe Steinbach, which just invested in a big new rink and appeared to be setting itself as a AJHL-type recruitment powerhouse which probably won't happen now.

 

[oldunclehue]

Interesting observation. The BCHL and to a lesser extent the AJHL have the most to lose as the de facto route of choice for junior aged players interested in taking the NCAA route. Some of those teams basically have WHL-level setups, I'm not sure if those are going to last long under the new world order, such as it is.

In the MJ, though? Is there really that much to lose? Hardly anyone was going to NCAA D1 teams from the MJ anyway. And I'd imagine the same 300 people a night turning up to watch the team in Neepawa, Wayway or wherever will still be there in a few years... in every town except Winnipeg, the MJ will still be the biggest show in town.

Now that I think about it, I'm not sure who really stands to lose locally besides maybe Steinbach, which just invested in a big new rink and appeared to be setting itself as a AJHL-type recruitment powerhouse which probably won't happen now.

The players on each team that could crack a WHL line up (which are usually in the top 6 forwards and top 2-3 D and a goalie) for most MJHL teams will all push to try to get to a WHL team. If the league loses their top end talent to CHL teams....that means the league will be less competitive, also there are a lot of younger players who try to get into the league, develop and go to NCAA, those players will forego that and push to get into the WHL as soon as possible. Teams struggle to get fans now, but if you water down more and more with each season, fans won't be able to justify going to games if the entertainment isn't there. IMHO.

 

[jetsmooseice]

Well, it was an eventful Thanksgiving weekend... Blues win (!!!!), Steelers lose. The Blizzard has jumped out to an early lead in the West Division standings.

 

[jetsmooseice]

Looks like the Steelers are definitely regressing to the mean now after a 9-0 (!) loss in Winkler.

Liam Ernst with the 19-save shutout, former Olds Grizzly Niklas Gudmundson with the hatty for the Flyers.

 

[jetsmooseice]

What a weekend, the Winnipeg Freeze tallied a win! Over Dauphin no less. 3-1.

It was good enough to earn '05 Freeze netminder Braxton Burdeny one of the star of the week mentions as he stopped 59 of 60 (!!) in that game.

 

[jetsmooseice]

Well, we're at the first break in the season as the Western All-Star Showcase takes place this week in Warman, SK with teams made up of MJHL and SJHL all-stars squaring off.

With the season basically a quarter of the way through, here's how the standings shape up:

Not that there are any massive surprises but I guess the only thing I wasn't really expecting was how Selkirk has ascended to the top tier of MJHL teams. Virden has come back down to earth. The Winnipeg teams are struggling as usual.

The league is back in action on Friday.

 

[Tom ServoMST3K]

Seems like the Steelers were completely fake. Going by points percentage, they're not even a top three team in the league now.

The only half-way decent teams they beat in that streak to start the season were Niverville, which appears to have taken a slight step back this season, and Portage, who got off to a putrid start to the season. No idea what was up with the Terriers to start this year, but they appear back on track.

Ty Paisley (my PFP and second-favourite local junior A player I've watched) is back in Steinbach after a stint in the BCHL. I thought you were locked out if you played in a non HC league, but it seems like that rule has been loosened this year.

Nice to see the MJHL pick up a win in game one of the showcase - I know the reputation now is the SJ is a much better league.

EDIT: By "completely fake" I mean not a contender - they'll probably make the playoffs still, but then get beat by one of the two "real" teams.

 

[jetsmooseice]

The only half-way decent teams they beat in that streak to start the season were Niverville, which appears to have taken a slight step back this season, and Portage, who got off to a putrid start to the season. No idea what was up with the Terriers to start this year, but they appear back on track.

The Terriers are back on track, and then some... they have now won 10 in a row!!!

There is looking to be a pretty stark divide in the standings so far... Neepawa is the only .500-ish team so far, everyone else is either dominant or a punching bag.

 

[jetsmooseice]

And so it begins...

From Niverville to Everett. The question is how many more will there be.

h/t to @Tom ServoMST3K for the heads up on this move