St. Boniface Riels History

St. Boniface Riels

The St. Boniface Riels were founded by 4 people in 1971, Bill Elliot, Charlie Doman, Al Gaudet, and Bill Amundson. They soon found it too big of a project for just 4 people, so in 1973 they approached the Winakwa Community Club for help. A meeting was held at the community club and a 12-man executive was formed. Winakwa was listed as a backer in "name only" as the team was run on its own player-wise and financially.

Bill Elliot was the coach and Dennis Faulkner was appointed manager and also their league representative. In the early years, the Riels were a strong and competitive team. They finished in first place in 1971/72, 1972/73, 1975/76, 1981/82, 1984/85, and 1985/86. They won the league championship in 1971/72, 1972/73,1984/85 and 1985/86.

In 2004, Larry Frykas took over the hockey club. The Riels would not make it past the first round of the playoffs until 2013-14 season as they lost in the final with a remarkable 37-6-2 regular season record. In the 2013-14 season the Riels finished first in the league. In the following 2014-15 Season, the Riels brought the Championship back to St. Boniface!! The Riels regular season record was 29-11-5.