Meet a wonderful bundle of energy

Mr. Aker Wilde Musto is a four-year-old preschooler who is causing quite a stir in the academic and athletic world.

“Preschool is going great! I really like reading time. The teachers pick my favourite books to read. I really like outside time, too, where I can run around really fast,” he told me.

“I play on snow mountains too!”

There is no doubt as to how serious Aker (Wilde Man) Musto is as an athlete when, at just four years old, the young fella is already training on snow mountains.

Elmwood Giants registration slated for March 28, 29

Elmwood Giants Baseball Club will be holding in-person registrations for girls and boys born between 2011 and 2022 on Saturday, March 28 and Sunday, March 29 from noon to 3 p.m. both days at Chalmers Community Centre (480 Chalmers Ave.), in the main floor meeting room.

Registration is for the Learn to Play program, which ranges ages four to seven, as well as for the 9U, 11U, 13U and 15U age groups, organizers say.

The baseball club is also looking for anyone interested in helping coach one of these age groups.

For more information, call Al Kinley at 204-338-9603.

Trojans recapture provincial AAAA hockey title

The Vincent Massey Trojans captured their second straight Manitoba High Schools Athletic Association boys’ AAAA hockey championship on March 16, with a 4-1 victory over the Oak Park Raiders at Seven Oaks Arena.

The Trojans held a 3-0 lead after two periods, through first-period goals from Aiden Dilay and Will Bader and a second-period marker from Carter Kaczmarz. Oak Park’s Karsten Ross pulled one back for the Raiders before Dilay iced the game with an empty-netter.

The goal by Ross was the first allowed by Massey in four provincial tournament games. Trojans goalie Noah Barnes was named to the tournament all-star team beside teammates Bader, Dilay and Trevor Johnstone, as well as the Raiders’ Ross and David Sudoski.

Wolverines win big

West Kildonan Collegiate has a new championship banner to hang in its halls.

On March 12, the West Kildonan Wolverines won the Winnipeg High School Hockey League’s Price Division championship, securing a two games to one series victory over the Collège Lorette Collegiate Scorpions.

“It went well,” said volunteer coach Jamie Leach. “We had pretty good buy-in from most everybody. We just kind of caught fire in the playoffs, winning the first five games. We had an unbelievable final. The boys played great. That all comes from the buy-in all year long.”

The Wolverines struck first in the best-of-three final, winning the opening game 3-2 over Lorette at the Seven Oaks Sportsplex on March 9. The Scorpions evened the series with a 4-2 win on March 11 to force a deciding game the next day. In the deciding match, West K proved victorious, earning a 3-2 win to bring the championship banner home.

Voyageurs victorious

The Collège Louis-Riel Voyageurs capped off a near perfect season in fine fashion.

Two powerhouse squads from southeast Winnipeg faced off in the championship series last week when the Voyageurs took on the Dakota Collegiate Lancers. On March 11, Riel won the Winnipeg High School Hockey League’s Winnipeg Free Press Division championship in two straight games.

“It’s really rewarding for the boys, above anything,” said coach Justin Buissé-Laroche. “It was a great season overall.”

CLR won the first game of the final 4-3 in overtime at Seven Oaks Sportsplex on March 9. Luka Tetrault and John-Thomas Cavell scored in the first to give the Voyageurs a 2-0 lead, but Dakota struck back with three quick goals from Triton Joudrey, Ivan Kuschev, and Cruz Agostino (on the power play) in the second period to take the lead. Riel’s Tristan Sabourin tied the game with less than a minute left in the second, and a scoreless third led to overtime. Jesse Trager scored the game winner, on the power play, near the midway mark of the overtime period.

A host of upcoming hall inductions

A long list of Manitoba athletes, builders and teams will be honoured between May 2 and 5. Over the four-day period, the provincial softball, curling and golf halls of fame will hold their annual induction ceremonies.

The 23rd induction ceremony of the Manitoba Softball Hall of Fame is scheduled for Saturday, May 2, at the Victoria Inn and Conference Centre in Brandon. The Manitoba Curling Hall of Fame will induct its 2026 class on Sunday, May 3, at the Victoria Inn in Winnipeg. The Pine Ridge Golf and Country Club will be where the Manitoba Golf Hall of Fame inducts its 2025 group of honourees on Tuesday, May 5.

The 2026 softball class includes Al Norris and Dave Saulnier, who played the outfield for the Winnipeg Colonels, who won the first Western Major Fastball League championships in 1973. In addition to captaining the Colonels, Norris played on other senior A championships teams in Manitoba before relocating to Calgary in the 1980s, where he coached and managed. Saulnier switched to slo-pitch where he played for Beavers, who dominated the sport for many years.

An infielder, Brian Gadsby played fastball for many seasons, winning a senior A provincial title with the Steinbach A&W Stealers. In slo-pitch, he played for a SPN National 60+ champion and won three silver medals with the Manitoba Keystone Canucks at the Huntsman World Championships in Utah. Dean Fuller from Boissevain caught for the Minto Mustangs and Winnipeg Penguins for 11 seasons, winning provincial intermediate A and senior B titles. James Mann was an outstanding outfielder in Brandon fastball for 20 seasons, then switched to slo-pitch in his early 60s and played until he was 76.

High school hockey playoffs heating up

Winnipeg

High school hockey playoffs heating up

High school hockey players across Winnipeg and beyond are deep into playoff action.

The Winnipeg High School Hockey League’s top Platinum Promotions division wrapped up its championship series last week, with the Oak Park Raiders prevailing over the Vincent Massey Trojans in the best-of-three final. The two teams finished at the top of the regular season standings before blazing through the playoffs.

Young Marauder makes an impression

Andrey Yamborko is a 17-year-old Grade 12 student and basketball player at Maples Collegiate.

He is a well-rounded athlete, but his focus now is playing basketball for the Maples Marauders, the third-ranked team in the Manitoba High Schools Athletic Association’s AAAA varsity boys rankings.

“I love basketball because it is very fun and lets me get away from anything that could be going wrong in my life,” he said. “I play wing primarily and also play guard. Playing wing allows me to make a lot of off-the-ball reads and also crash the glass while spacing the floor, which I like doing most.”

Andrey was named the MHSAA male athlete of the week on Feb. 25, for his exploits leading the Maples attack. The Marauders are enjoying a successful year, finishing Maples second in the Nick Laping tournament, second in the St. Vital Invitational, third in the Maples Invitational, and third in the Bedford Road Invitational in Saskatoon, Sask.

Top volleyballers earn Iwanoczko scholarships

Top volleyballers earn Iwanoczko scholarships

Transcona

The Manitoba High Schools Athletic Association and Volleyball Manitoba announced the 2026 recipients of the Dr. Dale Iwanoczko Memorial Volleyball Scholarships last week.

Gabriel Beaudin of Dauphin Regional Comprehensive Secondary School; Kaitlyn Couckuyt of Vincent Massey High School (Brandon, Man.); Céleste Pelletier of Collège Jeane-Sauvé and Elliot Smith of Miles Macdonnell Collegiate each received $1,000 for exceptional work both on and off the court.

Next stop: junior ball

The Winnipeg Rifles’ latest group of player signings has head coach Geordie Wilson looking forward to training camp and the upcoming season. Several local high school stars recently committed to play with the Canadian Junior Football League club, with more names to be announced in the months ahead.

A pair of Grant Park Pirates top the list. Quarterback Alex Blasko looks to make the jump to junior in the coming season. In 2025, Blasko completed 78 of 127 passes for 1,341 yards and 10 touchdowns, while also averaged 6.4 yards per carry and scoring three touchdowns. In an October game against the Crocus Plainsmen, he threw for 377 yards and four touchdowns while rushing for a fifth.

“He’s tall, and a good athlete with good mechanics,” Wilson said. “He has the ‘it factor’.”

Blasko will have a familiar face protecting him on the offensive line. Fellow Pirate Sebastian Weisberger comes from a football family. Wilson said the young lineman has a great frame and loves to move bodies.

Manitoba a hotbed of goaltending greats

In our last Memories of Sport column, which featured Jimmy Foster, the goaltender who led Great Britain to hockey gold in the 1936 Winter Olympics, there was a comment that Manitoba had been blessed with many outstanding goalies. Charlie Gardiner, Sugar Jim Henry, Terry Sawchuk, Brandon-born Turk Broda and Ed Belfour, from Carman, were named as examples.

The Manitoba Hockey Players Foundation was formed in 1967 as an umbrella organization for hockey-oriented people such as former players, officials, coaches and fans. Over the years, the foundation has supported ex-players in need, as well as scholarships and charities. In 1985, the foundation formed the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame and Museum to preserve and promote our province’s hockey heritage. Sam Fabro was the first chairman.

On Oct. 13, 1985, the first class of inductees was named. The group included Manitobans who had been inducted into the NHL Hall of Fame. The goalies were Gardiner, Broda, Sawchuk and Charlie Rayner, who played for the Kenora Thistles in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League and won the NHL MVP award in 1949-50 with the New York Rangers.

Sugar Jim, who shared the Rangers net with Rayner for three seasons of his NHL career, was inducted in the initial Manitoba Hall of Fame group. Gordon Bell, Wilf Cude, and Paul Goodman were the other goalies. Bell helped the Portage Terriers win the 1942 Canadian junior championship and had a lengthy pro career, primarily in the AHL. Cude played junior for St. Vital and spent 10 years in the NHL from 1930 to 1940 with five different teams. Goodman played junior in Selkirk and won a Stanley Cup with the Chicago Black Hawks in 1938.

A sport for everyone

Table tennis is hot right now.

So hot that Marty Supreme, a recent movie about a table tennis player from New York’s Lower East Side, played by Timothée Chalamet, has earned itself nine Academy Award nominations — including best picture, best actor (Chalamet) and a best director nod for Josh Safdie.

So it’s no wonder that the Manitoba Table Tennis Association is putting in the work to make table tennis as accessible as possible to those looking to pick up a paddle and join in on the fun.

While Marty Supreme features its share of healthy movie magic, presenting the sport at its global peak in the 1950s and lacing the match scenes with energetic cuts and cinematography for maximum effect, its depiction of competitive play wasn’t that far off the mark.

Stretching for success

Growing up, 16-year-old Manon Lambert split her time athletically between hip-hop dance and soccer. But now she is pretty much focused on soccer and plays for Bonivital Soccer Club.

“I love soccer. It’s physical. It’s exciting and it’s challenging,” she said. “It demands a lot of time and energy, but the payoff is worth it.

“I play defence, mostly centre back but sometimes fullback. There is nothing like sticking a good tackle or blocking a hard shot,” she added, which must make her coaches happy.

Speaking of coaches, Manon had nothing but good things to say about hers.

Off to the skate races

Blades flashed fast and furious at Canada Life Centre on Feb. 18.

That evening, hundreds of students from 17 elementary schools in Winnipeg School Division took part in the division’s 105th annual skate races, held this year in the downtown NHL rink.

“The goal of this event is to promote physical activity, healthy living, and positive sport behaviours,” said Alyson Gysel, WSD divisional physical and health education support teacher. “Building on what students learn in class, this extra-curricular opportunity allows them to explore skating as a lifelong activity.”

This year, approximately 375 students in Grades 3 to 6 took part.