Please join us in Welcoming our Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries Player of the Month for December, with 8 games played, scoring 5 goals and 8 assists for a total of 13 points and a +/- rating of +4, Sam Zagari.

The Blizzard forward, Assistant Captain, Miguel Bouvier has been named this years recipient of the RBC Community Ambassador award. One player from each MJHL team, Community Ambassadors are recognized for making a difference and giving back to their communities in which they play in. Each player has displayed outstanding citizenship and sportsmanship both on and off the ice and a commitment to volunteerism. In addition, a donation will be made to a school of the players choice located in each Ambassador’s local community from RBC.

Outside of practice and game days, Miguel works as an EA at one of our local elementary schools part time. The students in the school immediately welcomed him and recognize him when he is out in town. They now join us at games to cheer him on! He often is found out shovelling and volunteering his time when the team is out in the community. His citizenship and sportsmanship is outstanding both on and off the ice.

Congratulations Miguel!

DECEMBER 5 – The Blizzard Defeat Swan Valley Stampeders 3-1

The Blizzard earned a hard-fought victory over the Stampeders on Tuesday night, with a 3-1 win at the Swan River Centennial Arena. The Blizzard improved their season record to 14-10-0-2, while the Stampeders fell to 6-18-2-0.

The FIRST PERIOD has a late Blizzard goal when #11 Riley See scored his sixth goal of the season, assisted by #23 Sam Zagari. The Blizzard outshot the Stampeders 13-12 in the period.

During the SECOND PERIOD the Stampeders tie the game with no answer from the Blizzard.

THIRD PERIOD See and Supprien steal the win when  #11 See scored his second of the night and seventh of the season, unassisted. Shortly after #17 Quincy Supprien scored an empty-netter with less than two minutes left, assisted by #44 Brett Ward and #16 Sebastian Hamming, to secure the win for the Blizzard. Tomas Anderson made 10 saves in the period and 27 in total.

DECEMBER 9 – The Blizzard showed no mercy to the Winnipeg Freeze on Saturday, December 9, as they scored nine goals in a one-sided showing at the Hockey For All Centre. The Blizzard improved their record to 15-10-0-2, while the Freeze dropped to 6-18-1-0.

The FIRST PERIOD has the Blizzard opened the scoring early, as Sam Zagari netted his fifth goal of the season at 4:36, assisted by Ethan Bibeau and Riley See. See doubled the lead at 12:17, with Bibeau picking up his second helper of the night. Adam Belzil made it 3-0 at 13:24, with Eric Mork and Sebastian Hamming getting the assists. The Freeze had no answer for the Blizzard’s offence, as they were outshot 16-6 in the first frame.

The SECOND PERIOD saw the Blizzard continued their onslaught, as Belzil scored his second goal of the game at 8:43, with Marlen Edwards and Mork setting him up. Kieran Cooke added another goal at 13:03, with Mork and Belzil earning the assists. Edwards scored a power-play goal at 16:32, assisted by Zagari and Hamming. The Freeze were unable to generate any offence, as they only managed seven shots on goal in the second period.

THIRD PERIOD The Blizzard did not let up, as Mork scored his sixth goal of the season at 1:08, with Miguel Bouvier and Edwards getting the assists. Tyler Bernier scored his first goal of the season at 7:33, with an assist from Hamming and Lucas de la Salle. Freeze gets on the board but is quickly answered when See scored his second goal of the game at 15:01, assisted by Bibeau and Zagari. Freeze finish with another goal but it just wasn’t enough. The Blizzard outshot the Freeze 14-6 in the final period.

DECEMBER 12 – The Blizzard pulled off a thrilling shootout victory over the Winkler Flyers on Tuesday night, thanks to a clutch goal by Riley See in the extra frame.

The FIRST PERIOD saw a slow 20 minutes of Blizzard action while the Flyers net a PP goal to give them the lead.

During the SECOND PERIOD the Blizzard respond with a power play goal of their own, as #23 Sam Zagari nets the Blizzard’s first goal, set up by #16 Sebastian Hamming and #16 Ethan Bibeau.

The THIRD PERIOD  had both teams exchanging goals and penalties. #27 Marlen Edwards scored a beautiful goal at 7:25, giving the Blizzard their first lead of the game. Flyers tie it up mid period.

OVERTIME goes scoreless and leads to a shootout.

The game went to a SHOOT OUT, where the Blizzards #11 Riley See was the only player to score, beating Klassen with an incredible goal. Anderson stopped all three Flyers shooters, securing the win for the Blizzard.

The Blizzard improved their record to 16-10-0-2 with the win, while the Flyers dropped to 19-3-1-1 with the loss. Anderson made 38 saves on 40 shots.

FRIDAY DECEMBER 1 – The weekend began with The Blizzard, who had a record of 13-9-0-2, faced off against the Selkirk Steelers, who are 7-14-1-1, at The Roy H, in The Pas, MB on Dec.1, 2023. The Blizzard have defeated the Steelers twice this season in previous matchups and were hoping to take another on home ice.

 #35 Loic Morin in net and the line up of #2 Thomas Phillips, #10 Kieran Cooke, #19 Keenan McNeill, #9 Miguel Bouvier, and #17 Quincy Supprien were our Missinippi Airways Starting Line-up. The Steelers countered with #35 Noel Olsonawski in the net.

The FIRST PERIOD had some great exciting action, with both teams exchanging chances and hits. The Blizzard failed to capitalize on their two Power Plays. The Steelers, on the other hand, scored two goals late in the period to take a 2-0 lead. The goals were scored by #7 Preston Lundbohm at 14:12, assisted by #11 Mathieu Catellier and #19 Mathieu Moreira at 18:12, unassisted.  The Blizzard did not give up, however, and continued to pressure the Steelers in their zone.

In the SECOND PERIOD #19 Mathieu Moreira scored his second goal of the night, assisted by #2 Rocco La Cara, to give the Steelers a 3-0 lead. Near the end of the second period, at 14:17, the Blizzard scored a strong goal by #27 Marlen Edwards, assisted by #10 Kieran Cooke and #8 Adam Belzil, to cut the deficit to 3-1. The goal was a result of a great passing play and a quick shot that beat the Steelers’ goalie.

The THIRD PERIOD was a nail-biter for both teams. The Blizzard had a power play opportunity, but the Steelers just would not let them through. The Blizzard pulled their goalie in the last 9 seconds of the game, hoping to put on the pressure, but the Steelers’ defense held strong. The final score was 3-1 for the Steelers. The Blizzard gave it their all in the third period, with 14 shots on goal, while the Steelers had only 7. The total shots on net for the game were 38 for the Blizzard and 30 for the Steelers. Despite the loss, the Blizzard played an impressive game.

The Lions Dish Three Stars of the Game were awarded to Noel Olsonawski (#35) and Mathieu Moreira (#19) of the Selkirk Steelers, and Marlen Edwards (#27) of The Blizzard.

SUNDAY DECEMBER 3 – The Blizzard pulled off a stunning comeback to defeat the Virden Oil Capitals 2-1 in a shootout on Sunday night at the Tundra Oil & Gas Place. The Blizzard showed resilience and determination to overcome a one-goal deficit and force overtime, where they prevailed in the fifth round of the shootout.

The FIRST PERIOD was a strong one for the Oil Capitals, who outshot the Blizzard 16-5 and took a 1-0 lead late in the frame. Luke Robson scored his third goal of the season with just 33 seconds left, assisted by Bryce Bryant and Nolan Chastko. One power play opportunity for The Blizz but no luck at tying up the score.

The SECOND PERIOD was more evenly matched, as the Blizzard found their offensive rhythm and generated more chances. They were rewarded at the 14:20 mark when Marlen Edwards netted his fourth goal of the season, set up by Sam Zagari. The Blizzard had to kill off 4 penalties this period successfully keeping The Oil Capitals at bay. The period ended with the score tied at 1-1 with the shots favouring the Oil Capitals 35-14.

The THIRD PERIOD was a tense and thrilling affair, as both teams pushed for the go-ahead goal. The Blizzard had the edge in shots, 7-6, but the Oil Capitals had the best chance to break the deadlock. With less than three minutes left, Brett Ward was called for tripping, giving the Oil Capitals their fifth power play of the game. Anderson was especially impressive, making some spectacular saves to keep his team in the game.

OVERTIME was a goaltending duel, as Anderson and Eric Reid made some incredible stops to deny the opposing shooters. The Blizzard had three shots on goal, while the Oil Capitals had four, but neither team could find the back of the net. The game went to a shootout, where the Blizzard had the advantage of shooting first.

SHOOTOUT commenced where Marlen Edwards was sent out first and was blocked. The Oil Capitals, Josh Lehto scored on their first attempt. Supprien and Chastko both failed to score on their second tries. Sebastian Hamming got past Reid with a calculated 5 hole shot, and Ashton Gallagher restored the Blizzard’s lead with a snipe on his fourth attempt, putting the pressure on Bazin to keep the Oil Capitals alive. However, Anderson came up big and denied Bazin with a glove save, sealing the win for the Blizzard.

Splitting the weekend, ending with an outstanding win, The Blizzard will look to build on this momentum when they face the Swan Valley Stampeders on Tuesday.

The Blizzard would like to thank Vaughn Karpan for bringing the Cup to The Pas & Opaskwayak.  A special thank you for letting us get a team photo with it.  What a great day it was for our communities!