The Steinbach Pistons are representing the MJHL at the Centennial Cup in Portage la Prairie with their first game tonight versus the Collingwood Blues of the OJHL.
This will be the Steinbach Pistons second time making it to the National Championship. Their first time was back in 2017-2018 when the tournament was called the RBC Cup. Since the RBC Cup the Centennial Cup has been changed a bit with now every league in the CJHL sending their champion plus the host team to compete for the title. The ten teams that will be in attendance at this year’s Centennial Cup are: Brooks Bandits (AJHL), Battlefords North Stars (SJHL), Steinbach Pistons (MJHL), Portage Terriers (Host), Kam River Fighting Walleye (SIJHL), Collingwood Blues (OJHL), Timmins Rock (NOJHL), Ottawa Jr. Senators (CCHL), Cobras De Terrebonne (LHJAAAQ), and the Yarmouth Mariners (MHL).
The Centennial Cup goes from May 11-21 at Stride Place in Portage, Manitoba. The teams are divided into two pools, Pool A (SJHL, Host, MJHL, SIJHL, OJHL) and Pool B (AJHL, CCHL, LHJAAAQ, NOJHL, MHL). Both pools have a preliminary round robin tournament with the top four teams in each pool making it to the quarterfinals which starts on May 19.
“Outside of the Terriers, the teams we are facing in the tournament we have not played before, so preparation is a little more extensive” Head Coach and GM Paul Dyck stated when asked how the Coaches prepare against teams they have never seen before. “Technology has made this process much more efficient as we have access to video where we can complete a fairly comprehensive scouting report on a team in a few hours. It’s the best you can do without seeing them live or having played against them.”
“We were thankful to end the finals in 5 games to buy us a few extra days to recover from an extremely gruelling 18-game MJHL playoff run” Dyck stated about having some time off between Game 5 and the start of the Centennial Cup. “We took a number of days away from the rink to rest, take a break from the game and refocus on the Centennial. We have seen a renewed energy in practices leading up to today.”
When asked about the mood and excitement around the team in preparation for the Centennial Cup Dyck said, “the energy and excitement levels have been high after winning the Turnbull Cup as you would expect. The guys should enjoy this moment as it is one, they will always cherish and be able to share together as a group. There has also been a lot of excitement knowing they have earned the opportunity to play the National Championship and how special that is. I will tell you; this is time we are all enjoying but would like to keep the ride going for another 10 days!”