HTJHL headlines holiday hockey

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This article was published 21/12/2023 (749 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

by CASSIDY DANKOCHIK

While the region’s two Manitoba Junior Hockey League teams play their final games of the year Dec. 20, hockey fans eager for a taste of the sport will have plenty of options over the holidays.

No league will be busier than the Hanover-Tache Junior Hockey League. The eight-team circuit has five games scheduled between Dec. 21 and Dec. 23, including three games on the day before Christmas Eve.

Players in Manitoba’s only junior C league won’t have much time to rest over the holidays, with a jam-packed post-Christmas schedule as well.

There will be seven games played after Christmas and before new year’s eve, including a marquee match-up between the Steinbach Huskies and Springfield Xtreme in Oakbank. The two teams have each only lost a single game in regulation so far this season, as they battle with Red River at the top of the Standings.

The South Eastern Manitoba Hockey League has a lighter schedule, with two of the region’s team’s facing off in games Dec. 22, as Red River hosts Morden and Ste Anne travels to take on Notre Dame.

Ste Anne will finish their 2023 with a game in Portage Dec. 29, with Red River and Ile des Chenes renewing hostilities Dec. 30.

In Morris, the Pembina Valley Twisters will round out their year with a Dec. 22 match-up as they host the Charleswood Hawks.

The St Malo Warriors have finished their schedule for 2023, and won’t be in action again until Jan. 9, when they travel to visit the North Winnipeg Satelites.

In AAA U18 action, the Eastman Selects will play games on Dec. 22 and 23, first travelling for a match-up against the Winnipeg Avros before a 12 p.m. matinee in Niverville against the Westman Wildcats the next day. The region’s male U18 team is finished for the year.

The Niverville Nighthawks and Steinbach Pistons won’t be back in action until Jan. 5.