Neepawa Titans season preview:

By Joshua Jackson Neepawa Banner & Press

With the new Manitoba Junior Hockey League season on the horizon, the Neepawa Titans will be yet again looking to push the needle and excel to new heights after last year’s dance with the post-season.

In the 2024-2025 season, the Titans rewrote their own history books after winning 32 games and accumulating 69 points, the most the hockey club has achieved in almost 15 years. The team also managed to punch its way into the MJHL playoffs as they played the Norman Blizzard, who would defeat the Titans in five games. The Titans managed to push the Blizzard, as four of those five games were decided by one point.

Welcome back to Neepawa

This year, the Neepawa Titans squad will see a mix of new faces and old favourites. A total of 15 players who spent time with the club last year are back to make an impact and help grow the club. Be on the lookout for Captain and Neepawa-born player Cooper Kasprick, who has been with the team since 2022, to lead the way and try to set a new career high in scoring. Another returning player to watch is Forward Keenan Skrupa, who led the Titans in preseason points. Also, look for Gladstone, Manitoba, product DJ Meloney to give a boost to this team’s blue-line.

One last hurrah for seven players

The MJHL allows teams to roster/dress a maximum of eight twenty-year-olds. This year’s graduating class of Titans includes newcomer Ty Kirk (05), Logan Paquette (05), Cooper Kasprick (05), Kyle Weisgarber, Dawson Andries, Zac Burleigh (05), and Keenan Skrupa (05).

Meet the new guys

With players graduating, it means that plenty of new faces are vying to become household names for the Neepawa Titans. Here is a look at the new Titans coming to play this season.

Roan Michalchuk -Signed a letter of intent after playing with the AAA Brandon Wheat kings, where he had 12 goals and 16 assists to go along with 72 penalty minutes.

The Titans signed Sebastian Hetterich to a letter of intent in 2024. The Naperville, Illinois, product attended the Titans’ spring development camp and main camp, where he showed very well. Last year, Hetterich was a point-pergame player with Team Illinois U18 AAA.

Grayson Slaney was a round 2 pick in the 2024 MJHL Draft for the Titans. Last year in the Manitoba Under-18 Hockey League (MU18HL), Slaney played with the Eastman Selects, where he got 23 goals and 17 assists (40 points) in 37 games.

Finn Brennan can be considered a walk-on prospect after impressing the Titans’ brass at training Camp. The Naperville, Illinois, product played for Team Maryland AAA U18 last year, where he had 20 goals and 12 assists in 39 games.

Ty Kirk, a Manitoba born prospect, is looking to impress after coming back to his home province. Kirk was traded to the Titans from the Sioux Lookout Bombers of the Superior International Junior Hockey League.

Ryan Harris joins the team after signing a letter of intent during the offseason. The 19-year-old from Burnaby, B.C. played in the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League, scoring 13 goals and 11 assists in 43 regular-season games as a rookie.

Jake Brown makes the Titans’ final roster after signing an Letter of Intent (LOI) in June. The lefthanded defenseman from Flin Flon played in the MU18HL with the Norman Northstars.

Jayden Penner was traded to the Neepawa Titans in the off-season from the newly-named Winnipeg Monarchs in exchange for 2008-born Joshua Shaganya.

Okotoks, Alberta-born Jack Hefferan is another new addition to the Titans. Last year, Hefferan played for the Columbia Valley Rockies of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League. Hefferan had 2 goals and 16 assists along with 104 penalty minutes in 35 regular-season games.

Goaltender Zach Burleigh joins the club after being acquired from the French River Rapids of the NOJHL.

Pearson is excited about this year’s roster and said one player who has stood out during the pre-season is newcomer Finn Brennan.

“He’s a young fellow who played U-18 hockey last year in Maryland, and played for former Neepawa Native, Pete Leboutillier. When Brennan came in, he wasn’t guaranteed anything more than a tryout, and he won himself a spot here with the club after having a good pre-season with us.”

Goalies

The Titans appear to be rolling with Alex Myers and Zach Burleigh, while the team is bringing in LOI signee Matthew Mitcha, who played for the MU18HL’s Brandon Wheat Kings with a .915 save percentage.

Pre-season frenzy

The Neepawa Titans kicked off training camp and the pre-season at their new home away from home - the J&G Holmes Arena in Brandon. The Titans would play a total of six pre-season games, two against the Virden Oil Capitals, two against the Dauphin Kings, and two against the Portage Terriers. The Titans finished the pre-season with a 2-4 record, scoring 19 goals, while being scored on 32 times. GM Ken Pearson said one thing the GM for the 2025/2026 season is the depth the team has amassed on offence and defence.

“Maybe we didn’t score as much as we would have wanted to, but part of that was the lineups we went with. We went with a really young lineup during the last two nights of the preseason to give some guys a last opportunity to make the hockey club,” he said. “They worked hard and stuck together throughout the pre-season. Seeing some of the different altercations (during the games) and seeing guys stand up for each other is something I think is very important going forward.”

Keenan Skrupa led the Pre-season points category with five (2 goals, 3 assists), while Logan Paquette had four (1 goal, three assists), and Cooper Kasprick had three (two goals, one assist).

Home-opener and the season ahead

Now that the pre-season is in the rear-view mirror, the Titans are hungry to start the MJHL pre-season. The season kicks off Saturday, Sept. 20, when the Portage Terriers come to the Yellowhead Centre to take on the Titans. The game starts at a special start time of 6:30 p.m. Other important dates include Nov. 2, when the Turnbull Cup Champions, the Northern Manitoba Blizzard, make their way to town. The newly named Winnipeg Monarchs will first visit the Titans on Nov. 21, and the Titans play their final game of 2025 on Dec. 20, when the Blizzard again comes to town. Neepawa’s first home game of the new year comes on Jan. 14, when the Swan Valley Stampeders come to visit. The Titans’ two final home games are played on Mar. 13 and 14 against the Waywayseecappo Wolverines and the Swan Valley Stampeders.