Weekend sports wrap: Natives lose to Pistons; Verhelst, Team West finish ninth at World U-17 Hockey Challenge
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- Published on Monday, January 6, 2014
myWestman.ca
The following is a recap of what transpired in local sports over the weekend . . .
Natives fall to Pistons
The Neepawa Natives wound up dropping a tightly-contested contest to the Steinbach Pistons by a score of 3-1 on Sunday night.
After a scoreless first period, the defending Manitoba Junior Hockey League champion Pistons got on the board at the 3:39 mark of the second when Ryan Edevold netted an unassisted tally. Tyler Penner would make the score 2-0 for the home team less than two minutes later.
The Natives cut into the lead as Sam Briscoe would score at the 9:36 mark, making the score 2-1 after 40 minutes of play.
However, that was as close as the Natives would get on the night as Penner would score his second of the game into an empty net late in the third period, helping the Pistons improve to 30-9-1.
Nicholas Deery picked up the win in net for Steinbach, turning aside 21 of 22 shots, while Matthieu Verreault made 34 saves between the pipes for Neepawa, who dropped to 10-26-4 this season and are currently tied for fifth place and the final playoff spot in the Sher-Wood Division.
It was Verreault's third straight start in net for the Natives since being added to the roster late last month.
The game on Sunday was the Natives only game of the weekend.
The Natives host the Dauphin Kings on Wednesday night at the Yellowhead Centre. Game time is 7:30 p.m.
Here are the scores from the rest of the MJHL over the weekend . . .
Friday:
Wayway 5 OCN 4 (SO)
Selkirk 3 Dauphin 0
Steinbach 4 Portage 0
Saturday:
OCN 3 Virden 2
Steinbach 4 Portage 0
Selkirk 7 Swan Valley 4
Winnipeg 4 Winkler 1
Sunday:
Dauphin 5 Virden 1
Selkirk 2 Wayway 0
Verhelst, Team West finish ninth at World Under-17 Hockey Challenge
Team West, which included Neepawa Natives netminder Tyson Verhelst, defeated Germany 4-3 on Friday afternoon to finish in ninth place at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in Nova Scotia.
Ryan Gardiner scored the game-winner for Team West eight minutes into the third period. Jackson Keane, Jesse Gabrielle of the Brandon Wheat Kings and Colton Conrad -- who ended up leading the Canadian team in scoring with seven points -- netted the other tallies for Team West.
Logan Flodell wound up getting the start in net for Team West, making 23 saves, while Cody Brenner turned aside 24 shots between the pipes for Germany.
It was the second time Team West defeated Germany during the event having earned a 7-1 win against them in pre-tournament action.
Team West ended up in last place in their group, finishing the preliminary round with one overtime win and three losses.
Verhelst played in only one preliminary round game for Team West, making 13 saves in a 5-2 loss to the Czech Republic. He also played in half of the pre-tourney win over Germany.
The United States wound up winning the event, defeating Team Pacific 4-0 in the championship final.
Wheat Kings pick up win over Pats
The Brandon Wheat Kings picked up a dramatic 4-3 overtime victory on Saturday night over the visiting Regina Pats at Westman Communications Group Place.
Richard Nejezchleb's power play goal with just 3.2 seconds remaining in overtime gave Brandon the win as the Wheat Kings improved their record to 21-16-4-0 on the season.
Nejezecleb's game winning goal -- his team leading 22nd of the season -- came 40 seconds after Regina's Chandler Stephenson was assessed a goaltender interference penalty for running over Brandon netminder Jordan Papirny.
The Wheat Kings scored three consecutive tallies in the second period as Jens Meilleur, Tyler Coulter and John Quenneville netted goals for Brandon before the Pats came all the way back in the third to force the extra period. Colby Williams scored twice, including the equalizer with just over five minutes remaining in regulation. Patrick D'Amico rounded out the scoring for the Pats, who were outshot 40-34, including 5-0 in overtime.
Jordan Papirny stopped 31 of 34 shots to pick up the win between the pipes for Brandon.
The Wheat Kings home stand continues Tuesday night against Red Deer, before back-to-back games next weekend against the visiting Prince Albert Raiders.
Neepawa's Quintin Lisoway ended up going pointless on the night for Brandon.
Farmers fall to Gladstone
The Neepawa Farmers dropped a 3-2 decision to the host Gladstone Lakers on Saturday night in Tiger Hills Hockey League action.
Garett Rempel and Neil Ernest scored for Neepawa in a losing cause.
The Farmers were supposed to travel to Swan Lake to battle the Cougars on Friday but all games that night were postponed due to bad weather.
The Farmers currently sit with a 4-10-1 record and remain in last place in the Eastern Division.
For the rest of the scores from around the THHL over the weekend, click here.
Chiefs defeat Lightning; shut out by Wild
Morgan Geekie scored twice, helping the Yellowhead Chiefs defeat the Interlake Lightning 5-1 on Saturday in Manitoba AAA Midget Hockey League action.
Tanner Koroscil, Dayton Heino and Nick Noonan-Robinson scored the other goals for the Chiefs in the win.
On Sunday, the Chiefs travelled to Winnipeg and wound up falling 6-0 to the Wild.
The Chiefs now sit with a 14-15-0-2 record.
Meanwhile, the Brandon AAA Midget Wheat Kings had their 18-game winning streak snapped on Saturday when the club dropped a 5-3 decision to the Winnipeg Wild.
For the rest of the scores from the weekend, click here.
Jets fall to Bruins, Penguins
The Winnipeg Jets dropped both of their games over the weekend in NHL action.
On Saturday, the Jets lost 4-1 to the Bruins in Boston.
Dustin Byfuglien scored the lone goal for the Jets in the loss.
On Sunday, Evgeni Malkin scored twice, helping lead the host Pittsburgh Penguins to a 6-5 win over the Jets.
Evander Kane scored twice, while Jacob Trouba, Mark Scheifele, Blake Wheeler all netted single tallies for the Jets in the loss.
The Jets have lost three straight games and now sit with a 19-21-5 record.
Stone scores first NHL goal
Former Brandon Wheat Kings captain had a day he'll save in his memory bank for the rest of his life.
Mark Stone scored his first NHL goal on Saturday night, helping the Ottawa Senators to a 4-3 overtime win over the Montreal Canadiens.
Canada world junior team finishes fourth
For the second straight year, Canada has failed to win a medal at the World Junior Hockey Championship.
Canada lost 2-1 to Russia in the bronze medal game on Sunday.
Finland defeated Sweden 3-2 in overtime in the championship final.
Neepawa midget girls hockey team wins bronze
The Neepawa midget girls hockey team came away with a bronze medal at the Lake of the Woods hockey tournament in Kenora.
Neepawa, who finished second in their respective pool, ended up defeating Morden 2-0 in the third place game.
There were eight teams participating in the event, including a club from Brandon, Steinbach and two squads from Winnipeg.
Sigurdson wins Deer Lodge Open
Steen Sigurdson won the Manitoba Curling Tour's Deer Lodge Open over the weekend.
Sigurdson defeated Richard Muntain 8-3 in the championship final.
BU falls to Huskies in exhibition tourney final
The Brandon University men's volleyball team lost in four sets to the host Saskatchewan Huskies in the championship final of the EBWM Men's Volleyball Invitational in Saskatoon on Saturday.
Roy Ching had 11 kills for the Bobcats in the loss.
Atom A tourney takes place in Neepawa
The Neepawa rural Atom Tournament of Champions took place at the Yellowhead Centre over the weekend.
The Souris Elks won the tournament over the Killarney stars 5-1 in the final. Meanwhile, Portage defeated Shoal Lake/Rossburn in the consolation final.
Here are the tournament all stars from the event:
Goaltender: Dawson Carlisle - Souris
Defencemen: Zackary Janz - Souris; Drew Hilhorst - Killarney
Forwards: Myles Sobry - Souris; Tyson Zimmer - Russell; Parker Korman - Killarney
Teams in the tournament included a hometown Neepawa squad, coached by Troy Brister, Mike Speiss and Scott Byram, as well as clubs from Souris, Carberry, Minnedosa, Russell, Gladstone and Shoal Lake.
Proceeds from the event went to Neepawa Minor Hockey.
In photo: (Top) The Wheat Kings celebrate moments after Richard Nejezchleb scored in overtime on Saturday night. (Middle) The Neepawa midget girls hockey team pose for a photo moments after winning a bronze medal at the Lake of the Woods tournament in Kenora. (Bottom) Round-robin action between Minnedosa and Killarney on Friday afternoon at the Yellowhead Centre.
Top and bottom photos by Lanny Stewart
Middle photo submitted
