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SOUTH EASTERN MANITOBA HOCKEY LEAGUE
April 24, 2023 - Aces Take Silver in Provincial Championships
Thanks to Clayton Dreger and Pembina Valley Online for the following story.
The Miniota/Elkhorn C-Hawks are Hockey Manitoba Provincial Senior "A" champions.
Shaun Bowles had three goals and two assists as the Tiger Hills Hockey League champions downed the Ste. Anne Aces 7-3 Sunday at the East End Arena in Winnipeg in the deciding third game of the Manitoba Cup final. Brad Cole, Taylor Sanheim, Curtis Gardham and Dillin Stonehouse also scored for the C-Hawks who led 5-0 early in the second period. Tanner Harms, Brenden Walker and Keith Grondin replied for the South Eastern Manitoba Hockey League champions.
The Aces cut Miniota/Elkhorn's lead to 5-3 after 40 minutes. Ste. Anne had a chance to cut the deficit to one but failed to score with the man advantage to start the third period. Gardham's goal 5:39 into the final frame extended the C-Hawks lead to 6-3.
April 17, 2023 - C-Hawks Special Teams Force Game Three
Behind a shorthanded and two powerplay goals on Sunday afternoon in Virden, the Miniota/Elkhorn C-Hawks evened the Hockey Manitoba Senior "A" championship series at one game a piece and forced a single game showdown on Sunday vs Ste. Anne.
The C-Hawks opened the scoring 3:55 into the opening period but Ste. Anne replied eight minutes later as Owen Blocker netted his third of the series. The tie was short lived as Miniota/Elkhorn went ahead to stay three minutes later and it was 2-1 after 20 minutes.
The C-Hawks extended their lead in the second with a shorthanded goal and a powerplay marker making it 4-1 with one period to play. The final period saw Blocker continue his goal scoring prowess getting the Aces within two but another C-Hawks powerplay goal with six minutes left made it a 5-2 final.
The third and deciding game for the championship is set for Sunday, April 23rd at 6 p.m. at East End Arena in Winnipeg.
April 8, 2023 - Aces Take Game One
In the first game of the provincial Senior "A" championship series, the SEMHL champions Ste. Anne Aces came back from an early two goal deficit to beat the THHL champion Miniota/Elkhorn C-Hawks 3-2 at East End Arena.
The C-Hawks jumped out to an early lead on goals from Curtis Gardham and Taylor Sanheim before the game was four minutes old. The Aces Owen Blocker made it a one goal game a short time later and it was 2-1 C-Hawks after one period.
Blocker tied it up three and a half minutes into the second with his second of the game. Keith Grondin scored the eventual winner midway through the second period and with a scoreless third, the Aces are one win away from a provincial championship.
AP Steve Christie turned away 38 shots for the Aces while his counterpart in the C-Hawks net, Cory Gardham, stopped 27 in a losing cause. Ste. Anne took five of nine minors called in the contest.
April 4, 2023 - Senior "A" Provincials Are Set!
The Ste. Anne Aces will be taking on the Miniota/Elkhorn C-Hawks in a best of three series to determine the provincial Senior "A" champions.
Game 1: Saturday, April 8th - 6 p.m. at East End Arena in Winnipeg
Game 2: Sunday, April 16th - 3:30 p.m. in Virden
Game 3: Sunday, April 23rd - 6 p.m. at East End Arena in Winnipeg
March 27, 2023 - Wild's Heppner Selected as Dale Rempel Person of the Year
Congratulations to the Red River Wild's Brenden Heppner on being selected as the deserving recipient of the SEMHL's Dale Rempel Person of the Year award.
Brenden has become a huge part of local fundraising in the Morris-St Jean area and brings a contagious energy to the Wild and any committees he sits on. He sits on the Red River Wellness committee which is currently raising money for Tennis-pickle ball courts in Morris. Brenden is part of the Morris Area Foundation which is a charitable foundation which invests in the Morris community. He is also hands on with the Farmer Pre-seed shinny hockey tournament which raises money for Children’s Hospital. They raise about $20,000 per year.
Brenden was also a big part in helping the Wild in joining the SEMHL. He had his hands in fundraising and player recruitment. Brenden was a member of the PV twisters when Dale Remple brought the team to Morris. After his Junior days were over, Dale hired him at Remple Insurance in Morris 16 years ago. He’s been there ever since.
March 25, 2023 - Ste. Anne Are SEMHL Champions!
Congratulations are in order to the Ste. Anne Aces on winning the 71st annual SEMHL championship!
Led by playoff MVP Brenden Walker and a 51 save performance by Guy St Vincent, the Aces stormed back from a 3-0 series deficit to take the series 4 games to 3.
For the full game story, check out Clayton Dreger's story on Pembina Valley Online.
They will now wait on the victor of the THHL championship between Minnedosa and Miniota/Elkhorn to challenge for the Manitoba Senior 'A' championship.
March 22, 2023 - One Game...That's It!!!
This year's SEMHL championship is coming down to one game!
Game seven goes this Saturday night at 8 pm in Morden where the Bombers will look to take advantage of their home crowd and win their first championship under the Bombers name since the 1981/82 season. Ste Anne will be looking to crown their inaugural SEMHL season with a victory for their faithful.
Make sure to come out (get there early) and support the SEMHL, the oldest senior hockey league in Manitoba.
March 17, 2023 - Game Postponed
Tonight's game four of the SEMHL Finals has been postponed due to inclement weather and poor road conditions.
The series will resume Sunday night at 7 pm in Ste Anne.
March 5, 2023 - Morden and Ste. Anne To Faceoff In Finals
The third place Morden Bombers and the fourth place Ste. Anne Aces have both advanced to the SEMHL finals after knocking off higher seeds in the league semi finals. The league champion will once again battle for the provincial title, taking on the Tiger Hills league champions.
Ste. Anne won three one-goal contests, two in overtime, over the regular season champion Portage Islanders while Morden took four games to eliminate the second seeded, and defending provincial champion, Warren Mercs.
The schedule for the finals has been released and is available by clicking the Playoffs link above.
February 21, 2023 - Semi's Are Set
The semi-finals are now set with Portage to face Ste Anne and Warren to face Morden in best of five series.
The Islanders and Aces will open up their series Wednesday night in Portage while the Bombers will travel to Warren on Friday night to face the defending league champion Mercs.
Make sure to come out and support the teams as they look to take home the league championship trophy, the Rocky Mountain Equipment Trophy.
February 14, 2023 - Wild Rookie Honoured
Congratulations to the Red River Wild's TJ Matuszewski on being voted as the SEMHL's Rookie of the Year for the 2022-23 season.
February 13, 2023 - Hardware Haul For Portage
The Portage Islanders had some league awards to present at their opening game of the 2022-23 playoffs.
First off was the Bob Hamm Trophy as regular season champions. Next up, Jens Meilleur was presented with his second straight league MVP award. Last but not least, Steve Christie was presented with the Best Goaltender award, his third (2014-15 and 2018-19).
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| Bob Hamm Trophy Regular Season Champs |
MVP Jens Meilleur |
Best Goaltender Steve Christie |
February 12, 2023 - Doell Keeps Sportsmanlike Award in Winkler
Congratulations to Winkler Royals Mitch Doell on being voted the leagues most sportsmanlike player for the 2022/23 season. Presenting the award to Mitch is Royals team president Brian Giesbrecht.
February 10, 2023 - Morden Pair Share Award
Congratulations go to Mike Rey and Adam Hughesman of the Morden Bombers as they were rewarded tonight as the SEMHL's leading scorers for the 2022-23 season.
February 8, 2023 - Are We Ready For Some Playoff Action?
The matchups are set and teams are rested as we head into the start of the 2022-23 SEMHL playoffs.
Friday night, Morden will host Ile des Chenes while Portage welcomes Winkler. On Saturday, the other two series will commence with Notre Dame at Warren and Red River at Ste. Anne.
February 5, 2023 - Altona's Henry Repeats As SEMHL's Best Defenceman
Congratulations go out to Altona Maroons defenceman Adam Henry on repeating as the SEMHL's Best Defenceman for the 2022/23 season.
January 21, 2023 - Playoff Positioning Still To Be Decided
Only two weeks remain in the regular season and all 10 teams are still jockeying for playoff positioning. Only the Portage Islanders have locked up their spot as they will finish the regular season 1st overall, ensuring home ice advantage throughout the playoffs.
While Carman and Altona have no room for error in their final games, the standings are likely to change nightly for the other seven teams. A couple losses in a row could drop a team from third or fourth to seventh or eighth in a heartbeat.
Make sure to come out and cheer on your home team as they get ready for the SEMHL playoffs!
December 22, 2022 - Happy Holidays from the SEMHL
December 19, 2022 - Rescheduled Games
With many of last weekends games cancelled due to the weather and road conditions throughout southern Manitoba, make sure to check out the league schedule for the revised game dates.
November 28, 2022 - Game Pics and Highlight Videos
Make sure to check out the in game pictures and video highlights compiled by Cheryl and Jim.
Links to their websites are available in the Links section. They travel throughout southern Manitoba for their love of photography and sport so if you see them at a game, make sure to say Hi and tell them what a tremendous job they do.
November 8, 2022 - Game Location Change
The SEMHL is happy to announce that the Saturday, December 17th game between the Notre Dame Hawks and Portage Islanders will be played in Holland...Manitoba at the Holland Ice Gardens. Game time is still 7:30 p.m.
November 5, 2022 - Game Pics
Thanks to Cheryl for sending in these shots from a couple of todays games.
October 6, 2022 - SEMHL 2022/23 Season Ready to Roll!!!
The 2022/23 SEMHL season is upon us! Players have (hopefully) been skating, schedule has been set, and the rinks are ready.
With the league expanding to 10 teams, it was discussed and voted on at the league's semi-annual meeting that the top eight teams will make the playoffs. The first two playoff rounds will be best of five while the league championship will be best of seven.
May 11, 2022 - SEMHL To Expand for 2022/23 Season
The South Eastern Manitoba Hockey League will operate with 10 teams this fall.
Representatives of the Altona Maroons, Carman Beavers, Morden Bombers, Notre Dame Hawks, Portage Islanders, reigning league champions Warren Mercs, and the Winkler Royals, voted on and accepted the applications of the Ste. Anne Aces, Red River Wild and Ile des Chenes Northstars. The Aces, Wild and Northstars were members of the Carillon Senior Hockey League.
Ste. Anne had played in the CSHL since the league's inaugural season in 2003-04. Red River was added to the league in 2010-11. lle des Chenes was set to join in 2020-21 but the season was cancelled due to COVID-19.
The Carillon Senior Hockey League's 2021-22 season was also cancelled because of roster shortages and COVID-19. The Aces had won five CSHL championships and the Wild, who play out of St. Jean, had won two league titles.
"It's going to bring some new interest into the league," noted SEMHL commissioner Tom Vatrt. "The teams that have joined are really excited about playing teams they never have and their fans are going to want to see teams that they've never seen. They've heard that the South Eastern Manitoba Hockey League is a very good competitive league and people are excited that their small communities are now part of it." Commissioner Vatrt added that the Aces, Wild and Northstars will have to abide by the SEMHL's two import limit.
The 2022-23 season will consist of an 18-game schedule as each team will play a home-and-home with the other nine teams. The playoff format will be determined at the league's fall meeting. The SEMHL's 71st season is expected to begin in late October.
April 10, 2022 - Warren Mercs Are Provincial Champs!!!
Tonight in Virden, the Mercs handed the Boissevain Border Kings a 7-6 loss, their only loss of the year, to claim the Hockey Manitoba Senior 'A' hockey championship.
Braydon MacDonald had a goal and two assists as the South Eastern Manitoba Hockey League champions held on for a 7-6 victory over the Tiger Hills Hockey League champion Boissevain Border Kings Sunday night in Virden. Kyle Lundale, Brock Couch, Mitch Hansen, Brenden Luschinski, Riley Vatour and Chase Faulkner also scored for the Mercs who lead 3-2 and 7-3 at the period breaks. Warren is the third SEMHL team to win the Manitoba Cup joining the Altona Maroons (2013) and Morden Bombers (2015).
April 9, 2022 - Warren To Take On Boissevain In Senior Final
Warren Mercs
vs
Boissevain Border Kings
Sunday, April 10 at
6 pm in Virden
April 8, 2022 - Warren Tops Minnedosa, Onto Provincial Final
Friday night in Minnedosa, Minnedosa led the game by one after 60 minutes. With that one goal victory leaving the series goal total tied, the teams headed to overtime. With just over 11 minutes gone in overtime, Chase Faulkner netted the winning goal to put the Mercs into Sundays final.
April 4, 2022 - Warren Takes Game One 7-6
Warren leads the provincial semi-final by one goal following a 7-6 victory Sunday night over the Minnedosa Bombers.
A scoreless first period was followed by a nine goal second and a 5-4 Mercs lead. Faulkner led the way with two goals while singles went to Couch, Mitchell, and Vautour. The third saw each team pot a pair, Vautour with one and the eventual game winner by Luschinski.
Hogue backstopped the Mercs stopping 32 of 38 shots. Warren peppered his counterpart in the Minnedosa net with 60 shots.
Game two of the series goes Friday, April 8th in Minnedosa. Game time is 8:30 pm.
April 2, 2022 - Warren To Take On Minnedosa Starting Sunday
Warren will be representing the SEMHL starting Sunday as they host the Minnedosa Bombers at 6:30 pm in the start of the home and home series. Game two is next Friday night in Minnedosa at 8:30 pm.
March 24, 2022 - Warren Takes SEMHL Title!
The Warren Mercs swept the Notre Dame Hawks tonight to claim the SEMHL's 70th championship season title.
Mercs goaltender Hayden Dola was named the playoff MVP as he backstopped Warren with a 8-1 playoff record and a 2.45 GAA. The Mercs will now wait to take on the Minnedosa Bombers in a two game total goal home and home series with the winner moving onto a single game playoff versus either the Boissevain Border Kings or the Miniota-Elkhorn C-Hawks for the Manitoba Senior "A" Championship.
March 13, 2022 - It's Warren Versus Notre Dame for the SEMHL Title
This years SEMHL finals will feature the 3rd place Warren Mercs and the giant killers, the 7th place Notre Dame Hawks!
Warren knocked out the 2nd place Morden Bombers in five games while the Hawks have gotten by 4th place Carman and 5th place Winkler in the Survivor Series, as well as 1st place Portage in seven games.
Make sure to watch the SEMHL website for the final series schedule.
March 6, 2022 - Islanders Meilleur Voted League MVP
Congratulations are extended to forward Jens Meilleur of the Portage Islanders as the MVP of the 70th season of the SEMHL.
March 1, 2022 - Mullin Selected for Dale Rempel Award
This years recipient of the Dale Rempel Award is the Morden Bombers Steve Mullin.
Steve's list of accomplishments include:
- Minor Hockey Board 2015-Current
- President of Minor Hockey 2017 – Current (5years)
- Coached at least 1 minor Hockey Team for 8 years
- Runs development 3 on 3 program through Morden Minor Hockey
- Played Mohawks/Mudhens 10 years
- Served as President of Mohawks (Senior Men’s baseball Organization)
- Helps run baseball development camps for Minor baseball with Mud Hens Organization
- Umps every other year (when he has time)
- Coaches multiple minor baseball teams in Summer
- Volunteered at 2017 Esso Cup – On ice announcer
- Volunteered at 2019 Canadian Women’s U-18 Championship (Game Operations Assistant)
Congratulations Steve, well deserved!
February 26, 2022 - Hughesman and Clark Share Scoring Title
Congratulations to Morden's dynamic duo of Adam Hughesman and Andrew Clark in leading the SEMHL in scoring for 2021/22.
February 25, 2022 - Peters Takes Home Best Goaltender Award
Congratulations to Morden's Reed Peters on being awarded the SEMHL's Best Goaltender Award for 2021/22.
February 23, 2022 - Bombers Hughesman Named SEMHL's Rookie of the Year
Congratulations to Morden's Adam Hughesman on being awarded the SEMHL's Rookie of the Year.
February 13, 2022 - Survivor Series Set To Begin Tuesday in Winkler
The 5th place Winkler Royals and the 7th place Notre Dame Hawks start their best of three Survivor Series Tuesday night in Winkler.
The Royals took the season series two games to one. The lone Hawks win was a 9-3 victory back in October. Winkler followed that up with a 5-4 shootout victory in November and a 5-3 win in early February. With both teams having balanced scoring and solid goaltending, this series is expected to go the distance.
February 11, 2022 - Royals Laurencelle Awarded As SEMHL's Most Sportsmanlike Player
Congratulations to Winkler's Remi Laurencelle on being voted the SEMHL's Most Sportsmanlike Player.
February 6, 2022 - Survivor Series Matchups Set
With the final standings determined, the SEMHL Survivor Series is set to begin on Friday, February 11th as Winkler hosts Altona at 7:30 pm. The following night in Carman, the Beavers host Notre Dame at 7 pm. The winners of each these games will than face each other in a three game series to move on to play the regular season champions, the Portage Islanders.
February 5, 2022 - Altona's Henry Awarded D-Man of Year
Congratulations to Altona's Adam Henry on being awarded the SEMHL's Defenceman of the Year at tonight's game versus Morden. Presenting the award to Adam is Maroon's Executive Member Scott Cherewayko.
February 5, 2022 - Initial Survivor Series Matchups Set
Following tonight's games, the final standings have been determined and the Survivor Series matchups have been determined.
Portage, Morden, and Warren will get a rest as the remaining teams compete in a Survivor Series. Carman will host Notre Dame and Winkler will host Altona to see who moves on the play the regular season champion Portage Islanders,.
Make sure to watch the SEMHL website for playoff scheduling!
January 28, 2022 - League Record Book
A big shout out to Dennis Young of the Carman Beavers as he has compiled the SEMHL stats and come up with the single season record holders for the SEMHL. They can can be found in the SEMHL Record Book on the left side menu.
January 13, 2022 - SEMHL Playoff Format
As we head into the final month of the 70th SEMHL season and the top four teams (at this point) only two points apart, what better time to revisit the playoff format that was agreed upon by the teams at the semi-annual meeting.
To finish the regular season in first, second, or third gives those teams a well deserved break as the remaining teams will play a Survivor Series to move onto the league semi-finals.
The Survivor Series will start with the 4th place team hosting the 7th place team and the 5th place team hosting the 6th place team. The winner of each of these games will play a best of three series with the winner moving onto the league semi-finals.
The semi-finals will be a best of seven with the regular season champions taking on the winner of the Survivor Series while the 2nd and 3rd place teams face off.
The finals, again a best of seven, will see the winners of the semi-finals compete for the Rocky Mountain Equipment Championship trophy.
Good luck to all the teams! It should be a great final month.
October 19, 2021 - Puck to Drop On 70th Season!
The SEMHL's 70th season of entertaining hockey kicks off this Friday night in Portage as the Islanders host the Warren Mercs. Game time is 8 p.m.
A scheduling note...Saturday night's Carman home opener hosting the Altona Maroons has been rescheduled for November 30th.
September 14, 2021 - SEMHL Holds Semi-Annual Meeting
The SEMHL held our semi-annual meeting in Carman on Monday night and are looking forward to the upcoming 70th season of the SEMHL. The regular season will start the weekend of October 22nd and conclude February 6th.
June 6, 2021 - SEMHL In Mourning
Sadly, the SEMHL lost a distinguished alumni on Friday with the untimely passing of Marlin Vanrobaeys.
Following a storied junior hockey career with the Selkirk Steelers, Marlin played 12 seasons with the Morden Bombers. Over those seasons, he was a nine time SEMHL All Star, two time league MVP and league champion (1978-79 and 1981-82). Finishing his career as the second leading scorer in SEMHL history, his 864 career points in only 363 games included 318 goals and 546 assists. His 93 points in 1981-82 are the fifth highest total in league history.
The SEMHL member clubs, executive, and alumni send our condolences to Marlin's family and friends at this difficult time.
May 14, 2021 - Annual General Meeting
The SEMHL held their Annual General Meeting on Thursday, May 13. All of the teams are hopeful for a return to the ice this Fall to celebrate the 70th season of the SEMHL!
The current league executive was retained for the 2021-22 season.