Titans look to build on playoff appearance

The Neepawa Titans are back for another Manitoba Junior Hockey League season and head coach/general manager Ken Pearson intends to take a slow approach to the upcoming campaign.

The Titans ended their 2025-26 season with a 28-28-1-1 record, squeaking into the playoffs with a fourth-place finish in the West Division. Virden swept Neepawa in the first round, swiftly ending its post-season hopes.

During the off-season, Pearson signed a multi-year extension with the club.

“Ken has been instrumental in shaping the identity of this organization. His commitment to developing our players, strengthening our community connections and building a competitive culture is exactly what we want the Titans to stand for. We are thrilled to have him leading us into the future,” team president Jamie Denbow said in a release.

Bringing back Pearson is a stabilizing move given that it looks like there will be a lot of change in the Titans roster.

Camp was busy for Neepawa this year. They started intrasquad work in Minnedosa before moving on to exhibition games, playing four games in four nights. They concluded their pre-season with a matchup against Portage on Saturday.

“The guys have been battle tested through the pre-season,” said Pearson after the 5-2 win over the Terriers on Saturday. “We’re happy with what we see from some guys, and some of them really elevated their game tonight which is a good thing to see.”

FORWARDS

Neepawa graduated six 2005-born forwards at the conclusion of last year’s season, including: Logan Paquette, Cooper Kasprick, Kyle Weisgarber, Keenan Skrupa, Dawson Andries and Ty Kirk.

Paquette, Kasprick and Weisgarber all scored at least 50 points and accounted for 49 of the Titans’ 207 regular season goals.

The question will be who can fill that scoring deficit. In pre-season, a few names jump out who will have a role to play for the team.

In terms of returners, Talen Wallis looks like he will lead the offence. Through three pre-season games he scored three goals and added two assists.

Also returning are 2007-born forwards Addison McIntosh and Roan Michalchuk, as well as 2008-born forward Grayson Slaney.

“Some of our second-year guys that didn’t play a lot last year, they’ve brought their game to a new level, which was something that we challenged them to do in the one-on-one meetings at the end of the season,” said Pearson.

Newcomers Jack Polasek and Ethan Breakey have impressed during the pre-season and could factor heavily into the offense once they get adjusted to the league.

“To see those guys get rewarded, it’s really nice,” said Pearson about the new additions. “They worked hard this off-season. We’re going to need them to chip in offensively for us.”

The 2009-born Polasek, from Carberry, scored 14 goals and added 20 assists in his second season playing for the Southwest Cougars U18 AAA squad. That scoring is translating to the pre-season as he’s averaged two points-per-game in two games played.

Breakey — a 2008-born forward — played for the Central Plains Capitals U18 AAA team last year. He scored 21 goals and added 28 points, ending the season with 49 points in 48 games. He also played one game as an aphiliate for the Stonewall Jets in the Manitoba Major Junior Hockey League.

While there will be questions up front with so many vacated spaces on last year’s team, there is a corps of players who will be able to carry the mail for Neepawa. With a younger group, the team seems poised to build towards the future.

DEFENCEMEN

Not a single defender graduated, which should have resulted in a very strong and very experienced group coming back this year.

“It’s funny, we could have returned eight (players) and a couple of guys have chosen to go to different leagues,” said Pearson.

The biggest loss in terms of points is Owen Durigan, who signed on with the Amarillo Wranglers in the North American Hockey League.

There are four returners from last years squad who will act as the backbone of the D-corps this season. Jackson Kohut, Jack Hefferan, DJ Meloney and Ryder Heaphy are all 2006-born defenders, meaning this will be their final MJHL season.

“Jackson Kohut, I thought he’s come back and played really well,” said Pearson. “Ryder Heaphy has also played well for us. Jack Hefferan, who suffered a bad injury last year, has really come back and surprised and played well in the pre-season.”

Two thirds of the starting spots are dealt with by returners, leaving room for some new blood on the blue line. One player to watch will be Simon Preston who is a 2008-born player from Regina.

Preston scored four goals and added 15 assists while playing for the Estevan Bears U18 AAA program last season.

“He kind of reminds of Jackson (Kohut) when he came here as an 18 year old,” said Pearson.

2008-born defender Jacob Reimer made some noise in the pre-season with a goal and an assist to lead the backend in points. He scored six goals and 10 assists with the Eastman Selects U18 AAA group last year and could be another name to watch.

All told, things are pretty solid on defence for Neepawa. They will be able to lean on their returners until the new faces get used to the style of play required in the MJHL.

GOALIES

Goaltenders KC Couckuyt of Brandon and Zach Burleigh graduated at the end of last season after splitting the net in the opening round of the playoffs against Virden. The Titans have elected to go with a pair of newcomers in net for the 2026-27 season.

Conner Nicolson played 36 games for the Providence Capitals of the Eastern Hockey League where he maintained an impressive 2.76 goals-against average and a .924 save percentage.

In pre-season action for the Titans, things were a bit rougher on the scoreboard for the 2007-born goalie, who allowed eight goals in two starts losing both contests he played in.

“(He’s) played really well throughout all of camp and his two games,” said Pearson. “Unfortunately, he didn’t get a win last night but was just outstanding for us the first 40 minutes.”

During the game in question, Dauphin outshot Neepawa 26-9 in the opening two periods to take a 2-1 lead after 40-minutes of play. Nicolson was a big reason why the team wasn’t further behind and he ended up making 36 saves on 39 shots during the contest.

The other new face in the crease this season will be 2008-born Wyatt Nelson who played 24 games for the Prince Albert Mintos U18 AAA team last year. His 4.57 goals-against average and .884 save percentage aren’t fantastic, but he won both of the pre-season games he played in against Portage.

When it comes to the regular season, Pearson expects his team to play hard and put their best effort forward every night.

“We’re going to be a team that’s going to work hard,” said Pearson. “We’re not going to be able to play in a track meet with teams. We’re going to have to play hard, be tight checking … and just be a team that as a group we trust each other.”

A lot will depend on how the veteran players start and the messages they can impart to the newcomers. A team like Neepawa has a large range of outcomes to start the season and Pearson is mostly focused on the process.

“We’re not expected to come out and win 10 in a row or anything. I think that if we can hover around .500 or maybe just above, that will be something we’re happy with.”

While the coaching staff will be taking a slow approach to the season based on Pearson’s comments, the team on the ice is anything but slow.

In their final game against Portage on Saturday, their speed was on full display. The Titans were quick to transition off of turnovers and take advantage of odd-man situations. It’s a simple style of play, but it can lead to great results.

With the pres-eason over, Pearson will have a lot of time to work with this group and mold them into the kind of team that can find success in the MJHL, something he’s looking forward to.

“We’ve got a different leadership group, a different mentality … and I’m just looking forward to this group growing together,” said Pearson.

» rmccarthy@brandonsun.com