Nash Sugden of Morden and Zach Norris of Morris were winners on last nights opening draw of the 2023 Provincial U18 Curling Championships at the Altona Curling Club. Sugden defeated Ronan Peterson of the Heather 6-5 and Norris beat Colton Olafson of Portage 8-3. This afternoon at 12:30 p.m. Norris will meet Luke Robins of West St. Paul. Sugden will take on Colton Olafson on the 7:30 p.m. draw. Dayna Wahl of Altona and Shaela Hayward of Carman will both play their opening games at 9 a.m. Wahl will face Meghan Lagadi of Pembina and Hayward will meet Shayna Benson of Dauphin. 


The Winnipeg Jets have lost three games in a row for the first time this season. Jared Spurgeon and Mats Zucarello each had a goal and an assist as the Minnesota Wild downed Winnipeg 4-1 at Canada Life Centre. Pierre-Luc Dubois had the lone goal for the Jets. His 16th of the season midway through the first period cut Minnesota's lead to 2-1. Frederick Gaudreau and Samuel Walker had the other goals for the Wild who received a 31-save performance from Filip Gustavsson. Winnipeg's Connor Hellebuyck made 24 saves. The Jets (21-13-1) host the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday. 


Canada will face Germany today (5:30 p.m.) at the 2023 World Junior Hockey Championship in Halifax. Canada lost 5-2 to Czechia on Boxing Day. It was the first time Team Canada lost its preliminary round opener when the World Juniors have been played in Canada.


Canada finished the preliminary round with an 0-2 record at the Spengler Cup in Davos, Switzerland. Brett Connolly had the lone goal for Canada in a 2-1 loss to host HC Davos. Canada will play in the quarterfinals on Thursday. 


Canadian women's hockey team captain Marie-Philip Poulin has been voted Canada's Female Athlete of the Year for 2022. The 31-year-old forward from Beauceville, Quebec became the only hockey player in the world -- male or female -- to score goals in four straight Olympic hockey finals. Her two goals paced Canada to a 3-2 win over the United States in the gold medal game in Beijing.


The Christmas break is over for the Brandon Wheat Kings and Winnipeg Ice. The Wheat Kings will meet the Pats in Regina tonight and the Ice take on the Warriors in Moose Jaw. Winnipeg owns the best record in the Western Hockey League at 26-4. Brandon is 12-16-4 and trail the Medicine Hat Tigers by three points in the race for eighth place in the Eastern Conference.