– Jennifer Jones and Team Canada have knocked off previously unbeaten Russia 7-5 at the World Women’s Curling Championship on Monday in Japan. Jones and company are tied with the Russians and the Swiss for top spot in the standings at 4-and-1. The defending Olympic champions are back in action Tuesday against the Americans and Denmark
– Brandon’s Mike McEwen and his Winnipeg team ran the table at a world curling tour event in Grande Prairie, Alberta. McEwen and company scored two in the second and stole three in the third en route to a 6-0 victory over Niklas Edin of Sweden in the final.
– The Virden Oil Capitals are trailing their best-of-seven quarter-final two games to one after falling 2-1 in overtime in Winkler. Soren Frederiksen had the lone goal for Virden, while Cam Whyte had the game-winner for the Flyers against his hometown team. Game four of the best-of-seven series is Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. in Virden. Meanwhile, the Wayseecappo Wolverines dropped an 8-0 decision against the Portage Terriers and trail the series three games to none. The Wolverines will look to stave off elimination when they host the Terriers on Wednesday night.
– Bobby Ryan scored the shootout winner and Andrew Hammond made to 27 saves to improve his record to 10-0-and-1 in his first 11 starts as Ottawa downed Philadelphia 2-1 in Sunday’s NHL action. Elsewhere, the Caps blanked the Bruins 2-0; St. Louis beat Dallas 3-0; the Hurricanes got past the Blue Jackets 3-2; the Red Wings were 5-1 winners against the Penguins; Cam Talbot made 38 saves as the Rangers downed the Panthers 2-1 and Kyle Palmieri and Nate Thompson scored 35 seconds apart in the third period as Anaheim rallied for a 4-2 win over Nashville. The Ducks and Rangers are tied for top spot in the overall standings.
– The Brandon AAA Midget Wheat Kings have another chance to get to the league final on Monday night. The Wheat Kings gave up back-to-back goals seven seconds apart in the third and fell 2-1 on Saturday on home ice against the Winnipeg Thrashers. Brandon is on the road for game four of the best-of-five semifinal, with the Wheat Kings looking to get back in the final for the first time since 2007. If it goes the distance, a fifth and deciding game goes Wednesday night at the Sportsplex. The Pembina Valley Hawks knocked off the Winnipeg Wild over the weekend to sweep the other semifinal series.
– The Minnedosa Bombers have drawn first blood in their best-of-five semifinal series in the North Central Hockey League. Wes Lewis had a goal and an assist to lead the Bombers to a 3-1 victory over the Miniota-Elkhorn C-Hawks.
– Hockey Manitoba handed out more hardware in week two of their provincial championships. Boissevain won the Rural ‘A’ and Carberry captured Rural ‘B’ championship in the Atom categories. In the Bantam divisions, Brandon took home the Rural ‘AA’ title; Foxwarren the Rural ‘C’and McCreary in Rural ‘D.
– Elkhorn product Sherri Bowles and the NAIT Ooks are women’s hockey champions in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference for a third consecutive year. Bowles and the Ooks captured the title over the weekend by defeating the Red Deer Queen’s in four games in the best-of-five final. Bowles served as an alternate captain and was named first-conference all-star and her senior year. She’ll be Monday’s guest for Westman Sports Talk, airing at 12:10 and 4:05 p.m.
– Westman teams had runner-up finishes at the provincial high school basketball and hockey championships over the weekend. The top-ranked and host Killarney Raiders lost in the final at A/AA junior varsity boys’ provincials; Grandview Spartans finished runner-up on the girls’ side while the host Broncos won a bronze medal; the Neelin Spartans lost in the final at the JV boys’ AA provincials and the Morris Mavericks captured the A/AA high school hockey title, while the Deloraine/Hartney Colts were bronze medalists in Melita.
– A big weekend in the CIS with four national champions crowned. The Alberta Golden Bears captured their second straight men’s hockey title and 15th overall; the Western Mustangs won their first-ever women’s hockey title; the Carleton Ravens won the men’s basketball tournament for a fifth straight year and 11th time in their last 13 years and the Windsor Lancers made it five straight women’s basketball championships.
– Manitoba’s contingent for the 2017 Canada Summer Games is already starting to take shape. Brandon’s Faron Asham has been appointed the head coaching duties for a province’s baseball team. Asham is making Manitoba coaching history with his latest assignment becoming first to coach at a Western Canada Games, a Manitoba Games, a North American Indigenous Games and now a Canada Summer Games in 2017 in Winnipeg.
– Jose Bautista hit a two-run homer and Jose Reyes had a run-scoring triple and a double, as the Toronto Blue Jays’ split squad beat Atlanta 10-5.
– The Toronto Raptors suffered their 10th loss in 12 games after dropping a 113-97 decision against the Portland Trail Blazers. DeMar DeRozan led Toronto with 22 points and eight rebounds.
– The top seeds have been handed out for the NCAA tournament. The top-seed overall went to undefeated Kentucky, while Wisconsin, Villanova and Duke also got top seeds for the tourney. March Madness tips off Tuesday.
– Four Westman racquetball players are advancing to nationals after winning their respective divisions at the provincial championships in Winnipeg. The Brandon trio of Reid Sorotsky, Milana Paddock and Alex Murray, along with Teanna Letkeman of Carberry will compete in the Canadian championships from April 22nd to the 25th in Quebec.
