Congratulations to the Ste. Anne Aces on winning their third straight SEMHL championship on Sunday afternoon.
In a game that had six lead changes, game seven hero Cody Fowlie scored his third of the game from in close, only 2:48 into overtime, to send the Aces and their faithful into a frenzy.
The Aces took the lead 11:07 into the first period on Fowlie's first of the game but the Winterhawks answered back five minutes later on Carter Barley's marker leaving the game tied at one after one.
Ste. Anne took advantage on the powerplay seven minutes into the second with Fowlie's second extra strength goal of the playoffs. Springfield made in even at two four minutes later with Grunsten's goal. Less than a minute later, Hughesman gave the Aces another lead but that was short-lived as Frykas evened it up 15 seconds after the Hughesman marker. The Winterhawks took their first lead of the game with 6:37 remaining in the period on Pattyn's powerplay goal. 4-3 Springfield after 40 minutes.
The third saw Ste. Anne make it 4-4 only 1:20 in on Paisley's goal. The game remained tied until Thomsen gave the Winterhawks a 5-4 lead with 5:44 left but a late Springfield penalty handed the Aces the opening they needed and they took advantage. Walker tied it at five with 1:53 left and the teams headed to overtime where Fowlie ended it.
Adam Hughesman was selected by the Aces as the Playoff MVP.
How much more could we ask for as hockey fans?
The top two finishers from the regular season, the defending champion Ste. Anne Aces and the first year Springfield Winterhawks, facing off in one game to decide the league championship.
Ste. Anne has home ice advantage but that hasn't meant much in this series with four of the six games seeing the visitors victorious. Springfield has outscored the Aces 25-24 with both teams netting three powerplay goals.
Game seven goes Sunday afternoon at 3:30 in Ste. Anne.
The Ste. Anne Aces will be defending their SEMHL title against the first year Springfield Winterhawks in the SEMHL finals that start on Saturday, March 8th in Ste. Anne.
The top two teams from the regular season split their season series with Ste. Anne winning 5-4 in OT in mid-December and the Winterhawks coming out victorious in a 4-3 win coming out of the Christmas break. Both wins were road victories.
In the second round of this year's SEMHL Playoffs, 1st place Ste. Anne will be taking on 6th place Warren in a rematch of last season's final series. They split their season series this year.
The other series will see second place Springfield look to move on against fifth seed Notre Dame. The Winterhawks and Hawks also split their season series.
Please note that game four of the 1st round series between Springfield and Winkler will be played in Altona on Friday night.
Congratulations to the Winkler Royals Matthew Thiessen on being selected as the SEMHL's Goaltender of the Year for the 2024/25 season.
Matthew was also selected as the recipient of the Dale Rempel Person of the Year.
Presenting Matthew with his awards are Royals Coach John Mintenko along with Dale Rempel's mother Edna and brother Terry.
Congratulations to the Morden Bombers Collin Shirley on being selected as both the SEMHL's Most Valuable Player AND Rookie of the Year for the 2024/25 season.
Presenting Collin his awards is Bombers General Manager Sheldon Bergman.
Congratulations to the Red River Wild's Justin Baudry on being named the SEMHL's Defenceman of the Year for the 2024/25 season.
Presenting Justin his award are Wild assistant coaches Pat Ayotte and Brendan Heppner.
It took until the final night of the regular season but the playoff matchups are now set.
1. Ste Anne vs 8. Ile des Chenes
2. Springfield vs 7. Winkler
3. Red River vs 6. Warren
4. Morden vs 5. Notre Dame
Stay tuned for the 1st round schedule to be finalized.
The final night of the 2024/25 SEMHL regular season will be make or break for one team and help to decide playoff position for others.
The Carman Beavers will need a home victory, or take the game into overtime, in their final regular season game versus Notre Dame to secure a spot in the playoffs.
Morden travels to Ste. Anne looking for a win that will vault them from fourth to third in the final standings.
Springfield hosts Winkler who, with a road win, would move past Warren into sixth place.
Gonna be an interesting night!
Due to the extreme weather in Manitoba and the hazardous road conditions, tonights games were cancelled and will be rescheduled. Stay Safe!
Just in case you haven't noticed, the SEMHL's website has been updated. The obvious look and feel gives more flexibility in the information displayed on the website, is more mobile friendly, and has added information such as team stats including powerplay, short-handed, and game winning goal stats.
The 73rd season of the SEMHL kicks off tonight in Carman as the Beavers host the Morden Bombers. Tomorrow night it's Winkler traveling to Warren and Springfield's inaugural home game with Notre Dame in town. Sunday see's the defending league champion Ste. Anne Aces in Portage for the Islanders home opener.
Make sure to get out and support your team!
At the September 17th SEMHL Semi-Annual Meeting, the Altona Maroons notified the league and team representatives that they will be taking a Leave of Absence for the 2024/25 season.
For more information, click here for Clayton Dreger's report on Pembina Valley Online.
At the April 29th Annual Meeting, the team representatives voted unanimously to accept the Springfield Winterhawks into the SEMHL starting with the 2024/25 season.