The Virden Oil Capitals will meet the Steinbach Pistons in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League's Turnbull Cup final. Joey Bielik's power play goal 13:40 into the second overtime lifted the Oil Capitals past the Portage Terriers 3-2 at Stride Place Wednesday night in the deciding seventh game of their semifinal. Nolan Chastko scored both Virden goals in regulation including the tying marker midway through the third period. Brenden Holba and Mike Stubbs replied for the Terriers. Oil Capitals goaltender Owen LaRocque made 43 saves in game seven while Portage netminder Bailey Monteith faced 32 shots. Virden and Steinbach met in the MJHL final five years ago. The Pistons rallied from an 0-2 series deficit and beat the Oil Capitals in six games to capture the Turnbull Cup for the second time. The Terriers season isn't over. Portage is the host team for the 2023 Centennial Cup National Junior "A" Hockey Championship which begins May 11th at Stride Place. 


The Western Hockey League's Eastern Conference semifinal between the Winnipeg Ice and Moose Jaw Warriors is now a best-of-three. Zack Ostapchuk scored a power play goal 11:56 into overtime as Winnipeg shaded the Warriors 3-2 in Moose Jaw and evened their second round playoff series at two games apiece. Vladislav Shilo and Matthew Savoie scored in regulation for the Ice. Martin Rysavy and Jagger Firkus did the goal scoring for the Warriors. Dominion City's Denton Mateychuk drew an assist on Firkus' eighth of the post-season 1:22 into the third period which tied the game at 2-2. Game five goes Saturday at the Wayne Fleming Arena. 


Canada will play its preliminary round opener against Sweden today (7:30 a.m.) at the 2023 World U18 Hockey Championship in Porrentruy, Switzerland. Brandon Wheat Kings goaltender Carson Bjarnason of Carberry is the lone Manitoban on Team Canada's 22-player roster. Since 2002, Canada has won four gold medals at the IIHF U18 World Championship (2003, 2008, 2013, 2021), in addition to one silver (2005) and three bronze (2012, 2014, 2015).


The Winnipeg Jets meet the Golden Knights in Vegas tonight in game two of their best-of-seven NHL Western Conference quarterfinal. Winnipeg beat the Golden Knights 5-1 in their series opener on Tuesday. The Jets announced they have signed forward Dominic Toninato to a two-year, two-way contract with an average annual in the NHL of $775,000. Toninato, 29, played five games for the Jets this season and recorded one assist and two penalty minutes. The Duluth, Minnesota native also played 50 games for the Manitoba Moose and had 35 points (19G, 16A) and 24 PIMs. Toninato, a fifth-round pick (126th overall) in the 2012 NHL Draft, played four years for his hometown University of Minnesota-Duluth before making his professional debut in 2017-18 with the Colorado Avalanche organization.


The Manitoba Moose recalled forward Joseph Nardi from the ECHL's Toledo Walleye. The team also signed goaltender Joe Murdaca to a professional tryout. Nardi, 25, appeared in four contests with the Moose this season, scoring a goal in his AHL debut on Jan. 4, 2023. Nardi also suited up in 56 games for Toledo and tallied 23 points (5G, 18A) through those contests. Murdaca, 25, played in 12 ECHL games this season between Atlanta, Orlando and Newfoundland. The Niagara Falls, Ontario product compiled a record of 7-5-0-0 to go along with a 2.59 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage. The Moose begin their quest for the Calder Cup on Friday when they take on the Milwaukee Admirals at Canada Life Centre in the Central Division semifinals.