Tristan Keck scored two goals in a losing cause, as the Winkler Flyers dropped a 6-4 decision to the visiting Virden Oil Capitals. The Flyers showed some rust on Sunday afternoon, playing for the first time in a week and just second time in the last 14 days. Exactly one week after beating the Steelers in Selkirk, the Orange and Black returned home looking to extend their winning streak to seven games. This was Winkler’s first meeting of the season against Virden, who were playing their third game in as many days. The Flyers struck first, 6:40 into the hockey game when Evan Last and Shawn Pachet assisted on Tristan Keck’s 26th goal of the season, giving the Flyers a 1-0 lead. However, just 33 seconds later the Oil Caps tied the game 1-1. It did not take the Flyers long to get that one back as Cam Whyte gave Winkler a 2-1 lead just 18 seconds after Virden’s first goal. Zak Hicks assisted on Whyte’s 15th of the year. With 4:31 to play in the period, Devan Schram pulled Virden even 2-2. Winkler would retake the lead before the end of the period as Tristan Keck potted a rebound in the front of the net for his second of the game and MJHL leading 27th of the season. Evan Last and Shawn Pachet drew the assists once again and the Flyers took their 3-2 lead into the second period. The Flyers outshot the Oil Captials 13-7 in the first period, but the second would be a different story. Winkler started the middle period flat and let Virden back into the game. Virden captain Ben Williams tied the game at three, under a minute into the period and Schram scored his second of the game, midway through the second on the power-play to give the visitors a 4-3 lead. Virden outshot Winkler 9-3 in the period and took their one goal lead into the third. Still trying to hit their stride, the Flyers managed to tie the game just over eight minutes into the third period. Driving hard towards the Virden goal, Kayden Jarvis tapped in a Brett Klassen centering pass pulling Winkler even 4-4, 8:01 into the third period. Bryce Enns also assisted on Jarvis’ fourth of the season. After taking one step forward and two steps back the entire game, Winkler would take a too many men on the ice penalty with just over three minutes left in regulation. On the ensuing power-play, the Oil Capitals would score their second man advantage goal of the game with 1:15 to play taking a 5-4 lead. They would also add an empty net goal with 22 seconds left to secure the 6-4 victory. Dasan Sydora (15-3-1) made 25 saves on the 30 shots he faced. Virden outshot Winkler 31-25 overall. The Flyers were 0-for-2 on the power-play and 3-for-5 on the penalty-kill. Cam Whyte extended his point streak to four while Keck moved his to three. It was only the Flyers third regulation loss on home ice this season. Winkler (19-6-5) will travel to Selkirk (12-14-1) on Tuesday night for their first game in the month of December. The Flyers are 3-0 against Selkirk this season. You can listen to Tuesday’s game live on Country 88.9FM and online at www.pembinavalleyonline.com with Matt Friesen’s pregame show getting underway at 7:25pm. NOTE: The first CJHL roster cut down deadline is Monday, December 1st at 8:00pm. All teams must finalize their 25 man roster, while also leaving a number of cards open for future moves ahead of the January 10th, 2015 final trade deadline. Winkler currently has 22 player on their roster. GAME STATS

The Winkler Flyers added two players and subtracted two during a busy December 1st roster cut down deadline. The Flyers sent G Adam Vander Linden and F Shawn Pachet to Neepawa and picked up F Tanner Hepp from Dauphin and G Casey Parker from Melville (SJHL) before the 8pm deadline. The first move of the day saw the Flyers ship goaltender Adam Vander Linden (95) and forward Shawn Pachet (95) to the Neepawa Natives (MJHL). This season, Vander Linden had a (4-7) record, a 3.12 goals against average and a .895 save percentage. Pachet, also from Winnipeg, had recorded 22 points (5 goals – 17 assists) in 28 games played. Both players were in their second year in Winkler. Coming back to Winkler in the deal was forward prospect Brennan Ostir (99), a fourth round pick in the 2015 MJHL Bantam Draft and future considerations. Ostir has 15 points (2 goals – 13 assists) in 14 games played with the Winnipeg Monarchs of the Winnipeg City Midget AAA Hockey League this season. In a separate move, the Flyers acquired gritty forward Tanner Hepp (95) from the Dauphin Kings (MJHL) for future considerations. In 25 games played with the Kings this season, the Thompson, Manitoba product had four points (3 goals – 1 assist) to go along with 86 penalty minutes. With the Norman Northstars of the Manitoba AAA Midget Hockey League from 2010 to 2013, Hepp recorded 94 points (45 goals – 49 assists) in 131 games played. The 5’10”, 190lbs right winger also had 164 penalty minutes in AAA. Winkler also picked up goaltender Casey Parker (95) from the Melville Millionaires (SJHL) with their third move of the day. Parker, a native of Regina, Saskatchewan played the last two seasons with the Battlefords Northstars, Estevan Bruins and Flin Flon Bombers (SJHL). The Flyers sent future considerations to Melville in the deal. “We’re excited about the additions we made today,” said Flyers Head Coach and General Manager Ken Pearson. “Tanner brings grit and energy up front and makes us tougher to play against. He showed some offense in AAA and was Norman’s Captain which will only add to our solid leadership in the room.” “Casey will give us good depth in goal and we know he can be good for us when called up in net” added Pearson on goaltender Casey Parker. “It’s always tough to see kids go and Adam and Shawn did a lot for us the past couple years and I wish them nothing but success in Neepawa.” Concluded Pearson. The roster shake up brings the Flyers roster to 22 players with three open cards which can be used to acquire players before the January 10th final trading deadline. The Flyers will travel to Selkirk on Tuesday (Decemeber 2nd) where both new players are expected to be in the lineup. You can catch the game live on Country 88.9FM and online at www.pembinavalleyoneline.com with Matt Friesen’s pregame show at 7:25pm.

The Winkler Flyers did not do themselves any favors in a 4-1 loss in Selkirk on Tuesday night. Zach Heisinger scored the Flyers’ only goal of the game as the Orange and Black dropped consecutive games for just the second time this season. After seeing their six game winning streak come to an end, Sunday afternoon against Virden, the Winkler Flyers traveled to Selkirk looking to begin a new streak against the Steelers. Winkler had three victories in their previous three games against Selkirk and it looked like they were going to have a good chance in this one too, judging by the first few minutes. The Flyers took it to the Steelers in the first period and generated many great scoring chances, but for a variety of reasons they failed to find the back of the net. After holding off the Flyers early attack, the Steelers took advantage of blown coverage in front of Winkler’s net and took a 1-0 lead, exactly 10 minutes into the game. Winkler was quick to get that one back as just 1:11 later, Zach Heisinger (6) finished off a two-on-one pass from Tanner Posch and the game was tied 1-1. However, Selkirk would take the lead back with 4:51 left in the first and took their 2-1 lead into the intermission. Selkirk goaltender Teegan Sacher was one of the main reasons for that, as Winkler outshot the Steelers 16-11 through 20 minutes, with many of those shots being high quality. Starting the second period on the power-play, the Flyers had chances to tie the game early on, but Selkirk Captain Brian MacKenzie scored on a short-handed breakaway, pushing the Steelers ahead by two, just 1:04 into the second period. Selkirk then increased their lead to 4-1 late in the period and never looked back as Winkler was unable to beat the Selkirk netminder the rest of the way, despite more great chances. Winkler outshot the Steelers 35-33 overall. The Flyers were 0-for-3 on the power-play and 2-for-2 on the penalty-kill. Dasan Sydora (15-4-1) took the loss making 29 saves in his ninth straight start in goal. The second place Flyers (19-7-5) will travel to the Yellowhead Centre in Neepawa on Friday night for their second game of the season against the Natives (9-19-1). Winkler, who will be looking to snap their small two game losing skid lost in a shootout to the Natives in their first meeting of the season, November 7th in Neepawa. Puck drop in Neepawa is 7:30pm with Matt Friesen’s pregame show on Country 88.9FM and online at www.pembinavalleyonline.com getting underway at 7:25pm. GAME STATS

The Winkler Flyers moved back into second place in the MJHL standings with a hard fought 5-3 win over the visiting Winnipeg Blues on Sunday night. Bryce Enns scored two goals in the third period as the Orange and Black snapped their three game losing streak with their 20th win of the season. Beginning a three game home stand against their rivals from Winnipeg, the Flyers were looking to get back into the win column after falling short in their last three outings. During that time, the Blues had taken a one point lead on the Flyers for second spot in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League standings. The Flyers had a good first period and would outshoot the Blues 10-5 in the first 20 minutes. Winkler took a 1-0 lead when Patrice Wren (7) batted home a rebound with 4:07 to play in the first with Tristan Keck and Cam Whyte assisting. Winkler took their one goal lead into the second. Winnipeg pushed back in the second, but it was the Flyers who scored the next goal. With Flyers’ forward Tanner Posch in the penalty box early in the frame, Lawson McDonald’s (7) slap shot beat Blues netminder Scott Parsons, giving Winkler a 2-0 lead. Tristan Keck and Jeff Michiels assisted on the short-handed goal, 2:45 into the period. The Blues began to chip away at the Flyers lead near the midway point of the period. With 8:58 to play, Jake Stillwell scored Winnipeg’s first goal and just over four and a half minutes later, he tied the game. Winnipeg outshot Winkler 16-4 in the period and the two teams skated into the third in a 2-2 tie. The game opened up in the third with the intensity at a high level. Just over nine minutes into the period, Bryce Enns carried the puck around the Blues net and picked the far corner, putting Winkler bank in front 3-2. Brett Klassen and Zak Hicks assisted. With Winnipeg now looking for the equalizer, the Flyers picked up some much needed insurance with 5:07 to go in regulation. Taking the pass from Jeff Michiels in the neutral zone, Tanner Posch skate hard towards the goal and tucked in his third of the season restoring the Flyers two goal lead. That goal proved to be a big one as Winnipeg would score a power-play goal with 1:43 to go, cutting Winkler’s lead to 4-3. With the Blues goaltender on the bench and the extra attacker on the ice, Dasan Sydora and the Flyers defense firm on at the end to preserve the victory. With 10 seconds left on the clock, Reid Burak kicked the puck out of the zone to Bryce Enns who scored his second of the game and seventh of the season into the empty net, giving the Flyers the 5-3 win. Dasan Sydora was tremendous in goal for the Flyers making 38 saves while improving his record to (16-4-1). Winnipeg outshot the Flyers 41-27 overall, 36-17 in the final 40 minutes. Winkler was 0-for-4 on the power-play and 5-for-6 on the penalty-kill. With the win, the Flyers (20-8-5) jump over the Winnipeg Blues (19-6-6) for second place in the MJHL standings. Winkler will continue their homestand, Tuesday, December 9th when they host the first place Portage Terriers (32-2-1). Puck drop at the Winkler Recreation Complex is 7:30pm. Winkler is (1-2-1) against the Terriers this season. NOTE: Scott Gall, Evan Last and Nolan McGuire all missed Sunday’s game due to injury. Brandon Bartley (Central Plains Capitals) and Nicholas Labossiere (Winnipeg AAA Warriors) were “AP’s” on Sunday and performed exceptionally well.   GAME STATS

The Portage Terriers scored four unanswered goals while handing the Winkler Flyers a 5-2 loss at home. Tristan Keck and Zak Hicks scored for Winkler and Connor Hamonic had a pair of assists as the Flyers lose for just the fourth time at home this season. Two days removed from ending their losing streak with a win over the visiting Winnipeg Blues, the second place Flyers welcomed the MJHL’s top club for their second last meeting of the regular season. Winkler had a (1-2-1) record in their previous four meetings against Portage. After trading chances in the first period, Tristan Keck ripped home his league leading 28th goal of the season with 4:34 to play before the break. Connor Hamonic and Patrice Wren picked up the assists and the Flyers led 1-0. With 1:43 to go in the period, the Terriers tied the game at one. Dasan Sydora had a strong opening frame as the Terriers outshot Winkler 14-8 through the first 20 minutes. The Flyers took the lead back just over two minutes into the second period when Connor Hamonic slid the puck over to Zak Hicks who scored his fourth of the season. Jeff Michiels drew the second assist. Portage tied the game again, 8:14 into the period when Zach Waldvogel scored a power-play goal. Just under two minutes later, the game turned for Winkler. At the 10:01 mark of the period, the Terriers appeared to score again. The goal was initially waved off by the official, but was later called a good goal, giving the Terriers a 3-2 lead. Portage took their one goal lead into the second intermission while outshooting the Flyers 27-16. Winkler played better in the third period but could not get back into the game. The Terriers would add two more in the period and skate away with the 5-2 victory. Dasan Sydora (16-4-1) took the loss in goal making 30 saves as the Terriers outshot the Flyers 35-27. Winkler went 0-for-3 on the power-play and 6-for-8 on the penalty-kill. The Flyers (20-9-5) will complete their three game homestand on Friday, December 12th when they host the Dauphin Kings (7:30pm). The game is VISP “Free for All” night where all fans will get into the game free of charge and the first 1000 fans through the door will receive a Winkler Flyers/VISP cowbell. There will also be some great prizes available. You won’t want to miss this one. NOTE: Scott Gall, Jordan Wall, Evan Last and Nolan McGuire all missed the game due to injury. Jordan MaCausland, Coltyn Bates and Robert Hechler of the Brandon AAA Wheat Kings made their Flyers debut on Tuesday and played well. GAME STATS

Zak Hicks scored the shootout winner in the fourth round as the Winkler Flyers beat the visiting Dauphin Kings 6-5 in front of nearly 1200 fans at the Winkler Recreation Complex. Tristan Keck led the way with two power-play goals to lead the Flyers to their 21st win of the season. Playing in front of their largest crowd of the season, the Orange and Black took on the Dauphin Kings in one of the most entertaining games in recent memory. Friday night was VISP “Free for All” night, where each and every fan received free admission to the game courtesy of VISP – Next Generation Internet. Winkler had beaten the Kings in their previous four meetings and had scored at least six goals in three of those games. The Kings went at the Flyers in the opening few minutes and took a 1-0 lead just under four minutes into the hockey game. Winkler responded well to the early setback and would rattle off three goals of their own in the first period. The first came on the power-play, 8:11 into the period when Patrice Wren and Cam Whyte assisted on Tristan Keck’s 29th goal of the season, tying the game 1-1. Nearly three minutes later, Connor Hamonic snuck one in from a sharp angle and the Flyers had their first lead of the night. Kayden Jarvis and Bryce Enns drew the assists on Hamonic’s third goal of the year. With 5:46 to play in the period, Kayden Jarvis picked up a Jon Carlson rebound and tapped home his fifth of the season, giving Winkler a 3-1 lead heading into the second. The Flyers outshot the Kings 16-10 through the first 20 minutes. Winkler added to their lead in the second period with the goal coming from 16 year old Nicholas Labossiere. With 6:55 to play in the second, the young Flyers’ AP carried the puck across the goal mouth and snapped in his first ever MJHL goal. Zak Hicks and Tanner Hepp assisted and the Flyers led 4-1. The Kings would get back into the game in the late stages of the second, scoring two goals while cutting Winkler’s lead to 4-3 after two periods. Dauphin held onto the momentum in the third and tied the game 4-4 just over three minutes into the period. The third period provided plenty of drama and excitement with both teams in search of the go ahead goal. Late in the third, the Flyers found themselves on the power-play with a chance to go back in front. Winkler’s power-play, which had been in a horrible slump the last number of weeks connected for the second time in the game with 4:49 left in regulation. After taking the pass from Connor Hamonic in the left wing corner, Cam Whyte swung it towards the front of the net where Tristan Keck was waiting to snap home his MJHL leading 30th goal of the season and second of the game. Trying to hang on for the win, the Flyers found themselves playing in their own end late in the period. With the Dauphin goaltender on the bench in favor of the extra attacker, the Kings would score the equalizer with 1:13 remaining on the clock. The two teams would head to overtime in a 5-5 tie. After overtime solved nothing, the Flyers and Kings were headed to a shootout. The shootout had not been kind to Winkler this season having lost all four of their games that went to the skills competition. Cam Whyte went first for the Flyers and could not beat Kings goaltender Troy Martyniuk. After Dasan Sydora stopped Kings forward Rylan Freed, Patrice Wren would also be stopped by the Dauphin keeper. Sydora shut the door and the second Kings shooter. Tristan Keck went next for the Flyers, and again failed to capitalize. Kings defenseman Ben Hull also failed in his attempt which moved the competition into round four with neither team scoring a goal. Zak Hicks was up next for Winkler and fired a wrist shot low glove side. The goal was initially waved off, but after a short discussion it was determined that the shot went through the net before hitting the back wall. With Winkler up 1-0 in the shootout, it was up to Dasan Sydora to stop the next shot to give Winkler the win. And the Flyers goaltender did just that. Sydora stopped Dylan Bredhal for the victory clincher and the Flyers were awarded the 6-5 win. All in all it was a wildly entertaining affair with end to end action, drama and excitement. Sydora (17-5-1) picked up the win in goal making 34 saves. Winkler outshot Dauphin 44-39 through 65 minutes of play. The Flyers went 2-for-4 on the power-play and 4-for-4 on the penalty-kill. The third place Flyers (21-9-5) will travel to Steinbach (18-9-4) on Sunday night to play the Pistons. The Flyers are (1-1) against Steinbach this season and have not played their rivals since the opening weekend of the regular season. You can catch Sunday’s game live on Country 88.9FM and online at www.pembinavalleyonline.com with Matt Friesen’s pregame show getting underway at 6:55pm. The Winkler Flyers would also like to thank VISP – Next Generation Internet for a very successful “Free for All” night. The Flyers would also like to congratulate all the prize winners and would also like to announce they will be donating $1,773 to the Katie Cares Respite Home Project from Friday’s 50/50 pot.  Thank you all for your support. GAME STATS

The Steinbach Pistons scored four power-play goals in a 7-1 victory over the Winkler Flyers in the third meeting of the season between the two rivals. Patrice Wren scored the only goal for Winkler and goaltender Casey Parker took the loss in his second start as a Flyer. After a thrilling shootout win over the visiting Dauphin Kings on Friday night, the Flyers traveled to the TG Smith Center in Steinbach to play the Pistons for the third time this season. The Flyers and Pistons had not played each other since the opening weekend of the season, when both teams won their respective home openers. Early in the first period, just moments after a good looking Flyers’ power-play, the Pistons carried the puck into the Winkler zone on a 3-on-2 and beat Casey Parker under the blocker arm, taking a 1-0 lead at the 4:38 mark of the period. Not even two minutes later, Steinbach doubled their lead to 2-0. The Flyers trailed 2-0 after the first period but not for a lack of chances. Winkler had four power-plays in the frame and generated a huge number of chances but no goals. Winkler cut Steinbach’s lead to 2-1 early in the second period when Patrice Wren finished off a nice pass from Tristan Keck just 1:26 into the period. Cam Whyte drew the second assist on Wren’s eighth of the season. However, just passed the seven minute mark of the period, Denis Bosc picked the top corner over Parker from a sharp angle and the Pistons lead was back up to two. The Pistons took control of the game later in the period when they scored their fourth goal on a 5-on-3 power-play, and took a 5-1 lead on the ensuing 5-on-4 power-play, 9:56 into the second. That would spell the end of the night for Parker who finished the game with just 13 saves on 18 shots. With Dasan Sydora now in goal, the Flyers shut down the Pistons the rest of the period and trailed by four heading into the third. With the effort level still there in the third, the Flyers gave up two more power-play goals in the period and the Pistons had a 7-1 lead. Casey Parker (0-2) took the loss in goal making 13 saves on 18 shots faced through a period and a half. Dasan Sydora (17-5-1) made 16 saves on the 18 shots he faced. Steinbach outshot the Flyers 36-24 overall. Winkler went 0-for-4 on the power-play and just 1-for-5 on the penalty-kill. The Flyers (21-10-5) remain in third place in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League Standings, one point back of the second place Winnipeg Blues and three points ahead of the fourth place Steinbach Pistons. Winkler will host the Neepawa Natives on Friday, December 19th (7:30pm) in their final home game before the MJHL Christmas Break. The draw for the Katie Cares Respite Home Raffle will take place during the game. GAME STATS

The line of Tristan Keck, Patrice Wren and Cam Whyte recorded 14 points as the Flyers routed the Neepawa Natives 8-3 in their final home game before the MJHL Christmas break. Winkler raced out to a 5-0 first period lead, and fired nearly 60 shots on net while earning their 22nd win of the season. Playing the Natives for the first time at home this year, Winkler was looking to hit the win column for the first time in three games against Neepawa. In their two previous meetings at the Yellowhead Centre, Winkler came home with a shoot-out loss and a regulation loss. The Flyers offense clicked early, as Patrice Wren (9) scored the game’s first goal just 1:21 into the contest. Cam Whyte and Tristan Keck picked up the assists. Just over a minute later, Cam Whyte and Jon Carlson helped Jeff Michiels score his second, giving Winkler a 2-0 lead, 2:22 into the hockey game. Winkler struck again at the 5:06 mark when Tristan Keck potted his league best 31st with Wren and Whyte assisting. The Flyers next two goals came on the power-play. The first one came off the stick of Bryce Enns (8) with the assists going to Lawson McDonald and Jordan Wall. The second one came from Tristan Keck with Patrice Wren and Zak Hicks assisting on Keck’s second of the game and 32nd of the season. The first period came to a close with the Flyers outshooting the Natives 17-11 and leading the game 5-0. The Orange and Black scored the lone goal of the second period, and it came at the 7:03 mark. Skating towards the front of the net, Patrice Wren redirected a nice Tristan Keck pass through Neepawa goaltender Reid Stallard and the Flyers lead had grown to 6-0. Winkler outshot Neepawa 22-8 in the second period and took their six goal lead into the third. The Natives finally beat Winkler goaltender Dasan Sydora just over a minute and a half into the third but the Flyers were quick to get that one back. Just over six minutes into the period, Cam Whyte finished off a pretty passing play with Patrice Wren and Scott Gall and the Flyers had regained their six goal lead thanks to Whyte’s 17th of the season. Neepawa then cut Winkler’s lead to 7-2 at the 9:22 mark of the third, before Evan Last put the Flyers ahead 8-2 just a few minutes later with Winkler’s third power-play goal of the night. Cam Whyte and Lawson McDonald recorded the assists on Last’s fifth of the year. With Winkler in full control of the hockey game, Neepawa scored their third goal with five seconds left. Dasan Sydora (18-5-1) was good when called upon making 25 saves in the win. The Flyers outshot Neepawa 56-28 overall. Winkler went 3-for-10 on the power-play and 10-for-10 on the penalty-kill. Scott Gall and Evan Last returned to the lineup after missing the last number of games due to injury. Gall picked up an assist after missing the last 10 games, while Last scored a goal after sitting out the last four. Patrice Wren finished the game with five points (2 goals – 3 assists), Cam Whyte also recorded five points (1 goal – 4 assists) and Tristan Keck had four points (2 goals – 2 assist). Lawson McDonald also had a multi-point game with two assists. Winkler (22-10-5) will travel to Steinbach (21-9-4) on Saturday night for their final game before the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s Christmas break. In three games against the Pistons this season, the Flyers are (1-2) with both losses coming on the road. Winkler remains in third place in the MJHL Standings, one point back of the second place Winnipeg Blues and three points ahead of the fourth place Pistons. You can catch Saturday’s game live from the TG Smith Centre in Steinbach with Matt Friesen’s pregame show on Country 88.9FM and online at www.pembinavalleyonline.com getting underway at 7:25pm. The next Flyers’ home game will be December 31st when the Flyers host the Steinbach Pistons in a New Year’s Even matinee at 4:30pm. GAME STATS

The Winkler Flyers dropped a heart breaker in Steinbach on Saturday night, losing 5-4 in a shootout to the Pistons in their final game before the Christmas Break. The single point moves the Flyers into a second place tie with the Winnipeg Blues in the MJHL Standings as they move into the unofficial second half of the season. Looking to avenge their 7-1 loss in Steinbach less than a week ago, the Winkler Flyers traveled to the TG Smith Centre trying to build on their 8-3 win over the visiting Neepawa Natives the night before. After the Pistons took the lead just over eight and a half minutes into the game, Cam Whyte deked out Steinbach goaltender Nick Deery with 6:30 to play in the period, tying the game at one. Tristan Keck assisted on Whyte’s 18th of the season. Winkler then took the lead early in the second period when Kayden Jarvis buried a Nicholas Labossiere pass for his sixth of the year. Minutes later, Jon Carlson one-timed home a Jeff Michiels feed from behind the net and Winkler had a 3-1 lead thanks to Carlson’s third of the year, 9:53 into the second. Steinbach cut Winkler’s lead to 3-2 with seven minutes remaining on the power-play. Flyers goaltender Dasan Sydora was having another strong outing, keeping his club in the lead through 40 minutes, despite being outshot 32-15 after two periods. Tyler Penner pulled Steinbach even, 3:30 into the third period but Winkler would take the lead back just over five minutes later. At the 8:36 mark of the third, Bryce Enns and Connor Hamonic assisted on Scott Gall’s 11th of the year and the Flyers were back in front 4-3. The fast paced, exciting hockey game would get turned up a notch at the end which led to the Pistons tying goal. With Zak Hicks already in the penalty box late in regulation, Dasan Sydora would get knocked down beside the goal by Pistons forward Tyler Garrioch. After no penalty was called on the play, both players made their way towards the Flyers net. Seconds later, Sydora chopped down the Steinbach forward in front of the goal, resulting in a five minute spearing major and a game misconduct for the Flyers’ goaltender and a lengthy 5-on-3 power-play for the Pistons. Goaltender Casey Parker was then called into action with 2:36 left in the third, the Flyers leading 4-3 and the Pistons on the power-play. After a series of great saves by Parker, the Pistons managed to sneak in the tying goal with 1:55 left in regulation. Still on the power-play, the Pistons stormed the Flyers’ net the rest of the way but Parker and the Flyers would hold on until the buzzer. In overtime, the Flyers killed off the rest of the Sydora major and had a small power-play of their own which they came close to scoring on, but the game would head to a shootout knotted up at four. After Casey Parker and Pistons’ goaltender Nick Deery shut the door in the first three rounds, Tyler Penner snuck the game winner around the left leg of Parker giving Steinbach the extra point and the 5-4 victory. Dasan Sydora and Casey Parker combined to make 54 saves through 65 minutes of play as Steinbach outshot Winkler 58-20. The Flyers now fall to (1-5) in shootout games. Winkler went 0-for-3 on the power-play and 2-for-4 on the penalty-kill. At (22-10-6) the Winkler Flyers move into a second place tie with the Winnipeg Blues in the MJHL Standings heading into the Christmas Break. The Flyers will host the Steinbach Pistons on December 31st in a New Year’s Eve Matinee (4:30pm) in their first game back from the break. The Winkler Flyers family would like to wish all their fans and supporters a very Merry Christmas and look forward to seeing you all after the break. GAME STATS

As the unofficial first half of the season comes to a close, the Winkler Flyers head into the Manitoba Junior Hockey League Christmas Break tied for second place in the standings with a (22-10-6) record. With 22 games remaining in the 2014-15 season, the Flyers will hope to build upon one of their hottest starts in recent memory. After taking three of four points in their final weekend before the break, the Flyers are now off until their New Year’s Eve matinee against the Steinbach Pistons on December 31st (4:30pm @ Winkler Recreation Complex). The Orange and Black are off to one of their best starts in years at (22-10-6 = 50pts). At this same time last season, the Flyers were in last place in the Addison Division with a record of (11-23-4 = 26pts). Tristan Keck has been finding the back of the net at a record setting pace, leading the MJHL with 32 goals in 38 games. Cam Whyte, Patrice Wren, Scott Gall and many others continue to round out a pretty consistent Flyers’ offense. Winkler is just 35 goals off of their season totals from last year with 138 goals scored through 38 games this year compared to 173 goals scored all of last season. Goaltender Dasan Sydora has been the back bone of the Flyers’ defense sitting near the top of the league in both wins and shutouts. The Flyers defense corps also continues to grow and improve with just two of the Flyers’ seven defenseman having more than a year and a half of Junior Hockey experience. Of Winkler’s final 22 games remaining in the season, 12 of them are against teams in the bottom half of the standings (Swan Valley-4, Neepawa-3, Selkirk-2, Dauphin-1, Waywayseecappo-1, OCN-1). Winkler has just one game left against the first place Portage Terriers, two games remaining against the Winnipeg Blues (tied for second with Winkler), two against the fourth place Steinbach Pistons and five against the fifth place Virden Oil Capitals. The Flyers have 10 games left at home and 12 on the road. With 21 players currently on the roster, the Flyers have three open cards to use before the January 10th trading deadline.   The entire Winkler Flyers organization would like wish all their players, fans and supporters a very Merry Christmas and look forward to seeing you again after the break.