Steinbach Pistons

History

Southeast Thunderbirds/T-Birds/Blades

The MJHL granted an expansion team to the Southeast Tribal Council, a group of First Nation bands in southeastern Manitoba, to begin play in the 1988–89 season. The team was known as the Southeast Thunderbirds and played out of the Notre Dame Arena in Winnipeg. The team was renamed the Southeast Blades in 1992. After taking a leave of absence for the 1996–97 season, the Blades moved northeast of Winnipeg to Sagkeeng First Nation. The Blades played ten seasons in Sagkeeng, the most successful being the 2002–03 season when they advanced to the Turnbull Cup finals which they lost to the OCN Blizzard.

Beausejour Blades

The Beausejour Blades were formed in 2007 following the sale and relocation of the team to the Sun Gro Centre in Beausejour. The move did not improve the team's fortunes; the Blades managed to win only 13 games over the two seasons of their existence. |+ style="background:#FFFFFF00; border-top:#000000 5px solid; border-bottom:#000000 5px solid"| ! style="width:4em; text-align:left;" | Season ! style="width:2.2em;" | GP ! style="width:2.2em;" | W ! style="width:2.2em;" | L ! style="width:2.2em;" | OTL ! style="width:2.2em;" | SOL ! style="width:2.2em;" | GF ! style="width:2.2em;" | GA ! style="width:2.2em;" | Pts ! style="width:10em; text-align:left;" | Season ! style="width:18em; text-align:left;" | Postseason |-align="right" 11th overall||align="left"|Did not qualify |- align="right" 11th overall||align="left"|Did not qualify

Steinbach Pistons

During the 2009 Allan Cup in Steinbach, Manitoba, the City of Steinbach, together with Blades management, announced that the team would be relocating to the T.G. Smith Centre in Steinbach for the 2009–10 MJHL season. The team was renamed the Steinbach Pistons, in recognition of the city's reputation as "The Automobile City". Steinbach was previously home to a MJHL team called the Hawks from 1985 to 1988.

Despite the team's improved record after the move to Steinbach, the Pistons failed to qualify for the playoffs in each of their first three seasons. The team's continued poor performance and strained financial position spurred a group of investors from the local business community to purchase the Pistons in 2012 and convert it to a community-owned organization. The next season, the Pistons ended the franchise's ten year playoff drought and captured their first Turnbull Cup.

The Pistons enjoyed their best seasons in 2017–18 and 2022–23, when the team won Turnbull Cups and advanced as far as the national championship. The team relocated to the Hylife Centre in nearby La Broquerie, Manitoba following the 2022–23 season to allow demolition of their home arena and construction of the Southeast Event Centre, which became their new home in March 2025. |+ style="background:#FFFFFF00; border-top:#2B3856 5px solid; border-bottom:#2270B8 5px solid"| ! style="width:4em; text-align:left;" | Season ! style="width:2.2em;" | GP ! style="width:2.2em;" | W ! style="width:2.2em;" | L ! style="width:2.2em;" | OTL ! style="width:2.2em;" | SOL ! style="width:2.2em;" | GF ! style="width:2.2em;" | GA ! style="width:2.2em;" | Pts ! style="width:10em; text-align:left;" | Season ! style="width:18em; text-align:left;" | Postseason |-align="right" 11th overall||align="left"|Did not qualify |-align="right" 11th overall||align="left"|Did not qualify |-align="right" 10th overall||align="left"|Did not qualify |-align="right" 5th overall||align="left"|Won quarterfinal against Portage (4:3) Won semifinal round against Winnipeg Blues (4:2) Won final against Dauphin (4:2) |-align="right" 2nd overall||align="left"|Won quarterfinal round against Portage (4:3) Lost semifinal against Winnipeg Blues (4:1) |-align="right" Won semifinal against Winnipeg Blues (4:1) Lost final against Portage (4:0) |-align="right" Won semifinal against Winkler (4:3) Lost final against Portage (4:1) |-align="right" Lost semifinal against Portage (4:2) |-align="right" Won semifinal against Winnipeg Blues (4:2) Won final against Virden (4:2) Won ANAVET Cup against Nipawin Hawks (4:2) |-align="right" Lost semifinal against Swan Valley (4:2) |-align="right" |-align="right" 3rd overall||align="left"|Season cancelled |-align="right" 1st overall||align="left"|Won quarterfinal against Selkirk (4:1) Won semifinal against Virden Lost final against Dauphin (4:3) |-align="right" 2nd overall||align="left"|Won quarterfinal against Winkler (4:3) Won semifinal against Swan Valley (4:2) Won final against Virden (4:1) |-align="right" 1st overall||align="left"|Won quarterfinal against Niverville (4:0) Won semifinal against OCN Blizzard (4:3) Lost final against Winkler (4:0) |-align="right" 2nd overall||align="left"|Lost quarterfinal against Portage (4:2)

Head coaches

The following is a list of the franchise's head coaches:

• Wayne Babych, 1988-90
• Rick Buffie, 1990-91
• Bob Cook, 1991-92
• Gord Malinoski, 1992
• Don MacGillivray, 1992-93
• David Roulston, 1993-95
• Dan Gregovski, 1995
• Dan Bourbonnais, 1996
• Bruce Schmidt, 1997-99
• Heavy Evason, 1999-2000
• Kelly Zacharias, 2000
• Steve Brown, 2000-01
• Jamie Leach, 2001-03
• Troy Kennedy, 2003-04
• Lyle Loewen, 2004-05
• Ray Neufeld, 2005-07
• Jamie Watts, 2007
• Kurt Walsten, 2007-09
• Rich Gosselin, 2009-11
• Paul Dyck, 2011-present

Gallery

Image:Beausejour Blades.jpg|Beausejour Blades logo 2007–2009 Image:Steinbach Pistons 2013.jpg|Steinbach Pistons logo 2012–present

References

References

1. (15 April 2009). "Blades cut ties with Beausejour for Steinbach". Winnipeg Free Press.
2. (14 April 2009). "Steinbach welcomes MJHL". [[Manitoba Junior Hockey League.
3. (1 May 2019). "MJHL welcomes the Steinbach Pistons". [[Hockey Manitoba]].
4. (18 April 2013). "Steinbach Pistons pumped". Winnipeg Sun.
5. Jeremy St. Louis. (15 Dec 2011). "Rich Gosselin Resigns From Pistons". SteinbachOnline.com.
6. (8 August 2012). "City Council Applauds Local Ownership Of Pistons". Steinbachonline.com.
7. (8 August 2012). "Steinbach Pistons Sold". [[Winnipeg Sun]].
8. (2023-04-29). "Pistons cap off final season inside T.G. Smith Centre with championship". The Carillon News.