There will be a new team for the Selkirk Steelers to face off against in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League as the MJHL Board of Governors announced June 4 that it has granted an expansion franchise to operate in Niverville, MB.

The new MJHL member will play its inaugural season from the brand new Niverville Community Resource and Recreation Centre (CRRC) in the 2022-2023 campaign.

“Niverville is recognized as one of the fastest growing communities in the province and the MJHL is thrilled to bring a new organization into this community, while adding another first-class, state of the art facility to our League,” said MJHL Commissioner, Kevin Saurette.

“We have been in ongoing discussions with this group for a number of years and are very confident that the community owned non-profit organization and the Town of Niverville will provide an ideal new home market for the MJHL going forward. I would also like to recognize the significant commitment and efforts of Clarence Braun who was instrumental in helping bring a new MJHL franchise to the Town of Niverville,” Saurette concluded.

Niverville’s Mayor, Myron Dyck shared his excitement in welcoming Junior A Hockey to the growing Town of Niverville.

“On behalf of the Town of Niverville I would like to take this opportunity to welcome the MJHL to our community and to congratulate the group of local residents for their hard work in making their dream a reality today. We are excited for this news and wish both the MJHL, local resident Clarence Braun, his management team, and all their supporters much success in the years ahead,” shared Myron Dyck, Mayor of Niverville.

Niverville Junior A Hockey Inc.

After considering this opportunity for some years, we at Niverville A Junior Hockey Inc. are both excited and proud to be accepted as the newest franchise entry into the MJHL. As we have been exploring entry into the MJHL, we have extended the opportunity for ownership and have seen many new shareholders added within the past few months. That opportunity will continue as we follow a plan to be ready for the 2022-2023 MJHL season.

As a shareholder group for this community owned not for profit team, we are excited to be in the community we are in. We are aware of the many young families that have made Niverville their home and the investment that they have made to our community. We look forward to engaging with many hundreds of volunteers in the surrounding area as we put the various leadership teams into place in the weeks and months ahead.

We are especially grateful to the Council of the Town of Niverville and administration for their vision in the building of this awesome community recreational space called the CRRC. We are thankful for their support as we move forward and make plans for it to be our hockey home for many years to come.

I want to personally express great appreciation to Kim Davis the former commissioner of the MJHL and its present commissioner Kevin Saurette. Kim was their back in our early meeting’s. He was gracious in helping us understand what this opportunity could look like. In the past few years Kevin has been there for us at every turn in his support in representing our cause to the league governors.

We are grateful to all the league partners, governors and their representative for having the confidence to welcome us in. We are looking forward to providing a great game experience and a quality hockey product on the ice that will add value to the MJHL as a league. We believe that this initiative will provide another great opportunity for young players in the surrounding area to play Junior A hockey at the highest level.

We anticipate our initial website to be functional within a short period of time and will release that info as it becomes available. Stay tuned for further updates and we thank you all.

For more additional information please contact Clarence Braun at 204-791-2587 or email at clareb2@shaw.ca.

The MJHL looks forward to working with the new management and ownership group along with the Town of Niverville in the days ahead as they begin their journey towards their inaugural 2022-23 season in the MJHL.

By Jim Bender 

The Manitoba Junior Hockey League may have been idle since the Covid-19 pandemic forced it to abruptly cancel its 2020-21 season last fall, but those who operate the well-respected circuit have certainly kept busy off the ice. 

The MJHL has posted a number of releases in recent months, but their happiest one was that they were able to announce that the 2021-22 season will begin on Sept. 17. 

“With the vaccination rollout and speaking with the (provincial) government, Sept. 17^th was a very important date to be able to open with,” said an elated MJHL commissioner Kevin Saurette. “It’s really important to have that date, especially after a very long and difficult year.” 

The MJHL will be using an East-West format this year, which means the Selkirk Steelers will play in the same division as the Portage Terriers, Steinbach Pistons, Winkler Flyers, Winnipeg Blues and Winnipeg Freeze. Each MJHL team will play a 54-game schedule, with 40 of those to be against those in the same division and 14 outside the division. 

“We’re doing this to reduce travel and reduce the number of hotel nights needed for the teams,” Saurette said. “The majority of the games will be held on weekends, which should create an exciting atmosphere in each community where the games will be played.” 

While such teams as the CFL Winnipeg Blue Bombers have already announced that they will only allow spectators who have been fully vaccinated against Covid to attend their games, the MJHL has yet to decide whether or not to follow suit. 

“We’re definitely looking at it,” Saurette said. “We will take direction from the government with respect to indoor facilities. It will depend on what’s going on with the vaccination timeline, but it’s all looking very positive right now and we expect a larger number of spectators (than last season) to be allowed.” 

Saurette pointed out that the MJHL franchises will follow whatever Covid protocols that the government dictates, adding that the teams had followed them strictly before the season was cancelled. 

“I commend them for all of their efforts,” he said. 

Most of the MJHL players, coaches, GMs and office personnel have been fully vaccinated, as the league recommended, Saurette said. 

Another major MJHL announcement was that Neepawa has adopted the Titans as its new nickname, replacing one that was insensitive to First Nations people. 

“They’ve done a very good job with it and it sounds like the community is really embracing the change,” Saurette said. 

The MJHL also announced that Niverville will join the circuit as an expansion franchise for the 2022-23 season. 

“It has a very strong, non-profit ownership group and it will have a state-of-the-art arena,” Saurette said. “It’s one of the fastest-growing communities in Manitoba and it’s very close to other MJHL communities.” 

There are no current plans to add another expansion team, Saurette said. 

The Tampa Bay Lightning have extended their lead in the best of seven Stanley Cup final with a victory in game 2 on June 30.