Selkirk Recreation Complex will get a lot livelier over the next few months.
As summer winds down, hockey season is already on the horizon — and few teams are more eager to hit the ice than the Selkirk Steelers of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League.
The 2025-26 MJHL season marks a fresh start for the Steelers after a 2024-25 campaign that began strong but soured as the months wore on.
After opening with 10 straight wins, Selkirk cooled off and finished 29-23-3-3, placing fifth in the MGEU East Division and missing the playoffs for the third consecutive year.
There were bright spots, however. Four Steelers skaters placed in the league’s top 20 scoring race, and several players advanced to college and university commitments.
While some veterans have graduated, aged out or moved on, more than half of last year’s squad is returning in hopes of finally breaking through to the postseason.
Head coach Hudson Friesen is also back for his sixth straight season. He and his staff have already spent weeks getting acquainted with newcomers through training camp.
“In past years we’ve had different types of groups, and this year, especially off the start, we’ve seen a great level of buy-in and determination from our guys,” Friesen said Thursday. “Definitely a little bit more of a gritty and feisty group this year, which we’re excited about. For us it’s playoffs or bust. Our goal is to get into the dance, and obviously anything can happen — that’s been shown the last couple years in our league.”
The oldest Steelers this season will be 20, while the team is also bringing in a handful of 17- and 18-year-old rookies.
Friesen said his staff spent the off-season recruiting junior-aged players from across Canada and the United States. Weeks into camp, he’s now assessing what tools he’ll have at his disposal — and which wrinkles still need smoothing.
“For us right now, it’s a lot of teaching and educating and implementing our structure and systems,” he said. “For the next couple days, these preseason games, we’ll definitely be homing in on some aspects of our game, especially without the puck. Going into next week and leading into our home opener, it’s about getting all areas of our game sorted out and taught to a certain extent so we can build on them as things go.”
The Steelers will again compete in the MGEU East alongside the Portage Terriers, Winnipeg Blues, Steinbach Pistons, Winkler Flyers, Niverville Nighthawks and Winnipeg Monarchs — formerly the Winnipeg Freeze.
All 13 MJHL teams will play 58 regular-season games, with 12 of them in action on opening weekend.
Selkirk will open at home Friday against the Monarchs at 7:30 p.m. at Selkirk Recreation Complex. The clubs will meet again Sunday at 6 p.m. in Winnipeg for the Monarchs’ home opener at Hockey For All Centre.
