Vincent Massey has historic regular season

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 24/02/2025 (207 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Records in sports are made to be broken, but the Vincent Massey Vikings have bettered their own Westman High School Hockey League mark, and they were perfect in doing so.

With Sunday’s 8-2 win over the Neepawa Tigers, the Vikings went a perfect 32-0 in the regular season, improving on their 2017-18 season in which they went 24-0.

For a team that had lofty goals at the start of the season, maintaining perfection is as unlikely as it is improbable, but they also are celebrating the results of their cohesiveness.

“This team is a very close, tight-knit team. They’ve spent a lot of time together. They get together as much as they can and enjoy spending time together. I truly believe that goes a long way in terms of the chemistry on the ice, and they’re just a great group to work with,” said head coach Brent Blaine.

“We had set some goals and thought we were modest in them, and 32-0 was not in that picture, but the guys stepped up in a big way the past week and played just unreal,” Blaine added.

Blaine and team manager Blake Stephens were treated to a water bottle shower in the dressing room from players once the dust settled from the win, meaning they emerged from the room in soaked clothing, but smiles that stretched from ear-to-ear.

Sunday’s score was more reflective of the majority of their season results, as until this past week the team’s closest margin of victory was two goals, which only happened twice all season.

The team was really pushed for the first time in the last week, narrowly edging Minnedosa 4-3 in a shootout on Feb. 17 before a 6-5 victory over Hamiota last Friday.

There was some doubt going into Sunday’s season finale, and not just the doubt of a perfect season on the line, but playing short-staffed as illnesses plagued portions of the roster.

Sunday’s festivities started with Grade 12 defenceman Declan Kyle playing the bagpipes to open the pre-game ceremonies alongside his dad David, before celebrating and recognizing the graduating players in what was their final home game.

It was a special moment, regardless the final score.

“Our manager Blake comes up with some crazy ideas sometimes… and I was kinda on the fence about it at first but then all the guys in the room decided that it was a great idea,” said Kyle.

“It’s certainly something I never thought I’d be doing, but it was really cool to be able do that.”

Kyle and his team then went to work, as Daylan Duncalfe opened the scoring just over three minutes into the game before Brady Wiltsey added a tally on the powerplay five minutes later.

Neepawa got on the board to make it 2-1 thanks to Luke Nicholson’s powerplay marker less than two minutes into the second before Tigers goaltender Austin Michaluk made a dazzling save to keep the deficit at just one goal.

The Vikings opened the floodgates not long after, as captain Josh Romanik scored, followed by four more unanswered goals to take a commanding lead.

Romanik, who leads the league in scoring with 46 goals and 60 assists for 106 points, said it’s never been about individual accolades with this group, but rather finding success as a team.

“The chemistry we have is unmatched,” said Romanik.

“There are a lot of us on this team that have played together for two or three years, even back when we were younger, so that has just carried on to now to how we’ve gelled as a group.”

Romanik and Kyle were two of a large leadership group that celebrated the entire day that started with bagpipes and ended with a remarkable record.

“Just trying to take it all in. It’s emotional, but also Declan and his dad did a great job out there. It was a unique experience and I’ll never forget that,” said Romanik.

Although the Vikings regular season is done and they have the top seed locked up, there are 11 more games in the WHSHL season, meaning the playoff picture isn’t fully set.

The Vikings hold the top seed in the Manitoba High Schools Athletic Association power rankings, and as such, should be going into provincials as the top seed.

That comes with both potential benefits but also targets on your backs. Everyone else is gunning to take you down.

That, and they need to advance out of the WHSHL playoffs, which comes as no guarantee.

“At the start of the season we set some goals and we almost overachieved. It doesn’t get any better than that. All the hard work led up to this, but now we gotta dig in and really keep working hard these next couple weeks,” said Romanik

Crocus Plains was the first Brandon team to ever win the Manitoba High School Athletic Associations’s AAA/AAAA provincial hockey championship in March of 2005.

Massey is hoping to become the latest.

“We have to keep going. We can’t stop now. Going 32-0 is great, but winning the championship in a month is even better,” said Kyle.

It shouldn’t take much convincing to keep working, as they certainly enjoy each other’s company, and the success that’s come with it.

“Off the ice we’re so close. Everyone gets along more than any hockey team I’ve ever seen before. I think that’s what pulls us all together on the ice. We all just click,” Kyle added.

Playoff seedings and schedule will be determined following the conclusion of the regular season on March 2.

The AAA/AAAA MHSAA provincial championship runs March 14-17 in Winnipeg.

» mpackwood@brandonsun.com