By Derek Holtom
With less than 10 games left on the schedule for most teams, the playoff picture remains unclear at best in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League.
The league-leading Niverville Nighthawks have stumbled of late, going a modest 6-4-0-0 in their last 10 games and barely scraped by two non-playoff teams – the Swan Valley Stampeders and the Northern Manitoba Blizzard – last weekend. Their lead over the Steinbach Pistons is down to three points. Those two teams don’t have any games remaining against one another, which keeps Niverville’s destiny in their own hands.
Those two teams will get home ice advantage though, as Portage and Winker are well back and battling for third and fourth place. They entered Sunday tied for third, with the Terriers holding a game in hand. Two interesting notes – these teams don’t play each other again this year, and the Flyers remain hot since the trade deadline, and are 8-2-0-0 in their last 10 games.
Selkirk has officially fallen off a cliff and is officially eliminated from the playoffs, as are the two Winnipeg teams.
In the West Division, the Virden Oil Capitals look as though they’ll be the top seed. Even though the Dauphin Kings beat them on Saturday, it was via a shootout. Virden leads the Kings by eight points with five games in hand, so they all but have first locked up.
Dauphin’s real worry should be the Waywayseecappo Wolverines. Undefeated in their last 10, Wayway trails Dauphin by just two points. These two teams also have to factor in the Neepawa Titans, who were six back of Wayway heading into action Sunday. Further complicating things is that all three teams play one another down the stretch.
The Swan Valley Stampeders are not officially eliminated yet, but it seems inevitable despite their much better record in 2026. The Stamps trailed the Titans by 16 points heading into action Sunday. With only 20 potential points left to earn, the Stamps basically need to win out and have the Titans lose out to somehow get into the playoffs.
The Northern Blizzard are officially eliminated but do appear to be playing better hockey since the trade deadline. They took Niverville to overtime last week as an example of that.
This coming week should help clarify things for most teams, but with the races so tight, we could be waiting until the final day of the regular season before all the playoff matches are finalized.
• The MJHL Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries Stars of the Week feature a pair of players from the West Division, starting with Sebastien Hicks from the Waywayseecappo Wolverines.
In three games Hicks scored four goals and four assists for an eight-point week to earn his nod.
Next up is Winkler Flyers goaltender Liam Ernst. He won both of his starts last week, posting a 0.99 GAA, a .969 save percentage and one shutout.
The final winner is forward Ethan Stewart from the Dauphin Kings. In three games Stewart scored twice while adding five helpers for a seven-point week.