‘The guys’ ceiling and potential is through the roof’

The Flyers are hoping to improve after an unusual down season by their standards in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League.

Winkler finished fourth in the East Division and were swept in the first round of the playoffs by Niverville.

Head coach and general manager Matt Melo is in his third season with the Flyers and anticipates his team growing throughout the year.

“We’re a young group, I think we’re a strong group, but certainly there’s lots to clean up,” Melo said following a pair of defeats to Steinbach this past weekend to open their season.

“We knew it would take a bit of time, there’s going to be a learning curve and with that some challenges and mistakes. (It wasn’t) the weekend we would have liked, but sometimes those are the moments you can learn and solidify as a group.”

Helping that process is a brand new facility. The renovated Centennial Arena in Winkler opened the final weekend of last year’s regular season, only hosting four games as the team moved into their new digs.

This season, the Flyers are settled in and raring to go. Nearly 1,000 people were in attendance for their home opener last Friday.

“The fans have been out and supporting us really well,” Melo said. “It’s just an incredible spot to play. Our facility is top-notch. We have everything we need for junior hockey players to get to the next level and that’s what our group wants to do.”

The young club was punished in transition in the two losses to Steinbach, with Pistons forwards converting their chances easily.

“The guys’ ceiling and potential is through the roof,” Melo said. “We’re going to be a group that competes and outworks other teams. We’re going to have to be super detail oriented and we’re going to defend really well.”

Melo said he preferred his team’s play in their 5-2 loss in Steinbach compared to their 3-1 loss in the home opener, noting he thought they created a lot more chances on the second night of the back-to-back.

“I liked our effort a lot more, we got pucks to the blue paint and created a bit more chaos around the crease,” he said.

“I think we need to get more bodies there, get in sight lines… We’re certainly not panicking in this room. We have a lot of belief in here and we expect to be contending come March.”

The Flyers are in Winnipeg to take on the Monarchs on Friday at Hockey For All Centre (7:30 p.m.) before hosting Neepawa on Tuesday (7 p.m.).

New season, new staff for Monarchs

The Winnipeg Monarchs are hoping this is the year they take the leap into competitiveness.

The team — which joined the MJHL in 2020 as the Winnipeg Freeze — rebranded last season. And, since joining the league, the club has never finished better than 12th in the standings, with last year’s 11 wins a new franchise-best mark.

The Monarchs — who call the Hockey for All Centre in Winnipeg home, have a brand new staff this season, with Riley Dudar taking over as head coach and general manager. Zach Franko, who led the program behind the bench in the 2025-26 season, is now with Swift Current in the Western Hockey League as an assistant coach.

“It was a crazy off-season, but I’m having a lot of fun so far doing it,” Dudar said after the club’s season-opener against Niverville last Friday. “I really enjoy our group so far.”

The team has been busy this off-season adding staff, including a director of goaltending development (Brant Hilton), assistant coaches (Brett Dudar and Ian Gowletz), assistant general managers (Dayne Gluting and Blake Bonni) and a director of physical and mental performance (AJ Zeglen).

“I was hired to turn this thing around and in order to do that you need great people,” Dudar said.

“It’s not a quick turnaround, it’s a process. In order to execute that process you need fantastic people. I wanted a range of hockey abilities, guys that are full time in hockey, guys that have different views on hockey and a passion for the game. People that can work well together, that also means disagree(ing) on things.”

The Monarchs took a 2-0 lead on defending champions Niverville and looked in good shape to spoil the banner raising night for the Nighthawks, but faded as the game went along, eventually losing 5-2.

“We’ve just got to focus on staying grounded, focus on the process and what we can control,” Dudar said after Friday night’s game.

“For the most part we didn’t have any quit which I’m happy to see. Just a couple key turnovers. That’s the difference in hockey games. Our guys are learning and they’re going to improve from this game. It’s a good benchmark game for us.”

The Monarchs closed out their regular-season opening weekend falling to the Winnipeg Blues 5-4 last Saturday in overtime.

After hosting Winkler Friday night, the club hosts Northern Manitoba on Saturday (7 p.m.) before going on the road to face the Blizzard on Tuesday (7 p.m.) and Wednesday (7 p.m.) night in The Pas.

— Carillon