Don Starkell hauls up his 19-year-old sea kayak from the Red River . August 24, 2009 (Wayne Glowacki / Winnipeg Free Press)

Michael Manning sits in his hotel room after giving an impact statement at Stony Mountain Institution Wednesday. Manning says the man who killed his daughter in 1994 should never have been allowed an aboriginal-style hearing, since the man is not aboriginal. January 18, 2012 (Ruth Bonneville / Winnipeg Free Press)

Rick Hansen was greeted with applause as his Man in Motion tour left Ontario and entered Manitoba. Glenn Olsen / Winnipeg Free Press Archives Falcon Lake, MB - January 16, 1987

Construction crews install copper sheathing onto the roof of the Fort Garry Hotel in Winnipeg. Dated 1912-13. Foote Collection Manitoba Archives

Westwood Warriors of the Winnipeg High School league prepare to battle Oak Park Raiders for a playoff spot. Westwood allegedly threw a game March 3 by pulling their goalie despite the fact that they were in the lead. Their coach was suspended. March 4, 2011

Photographer's choice - Winnipeg firefighters form a tight honour guard as they take a women overcome by smoke to a waiting ambulance at a downtown apartment fire . The woman later died despite the best efforts of fire and paramedic service. Heavy snowflakes fell during the mid-day fire adding to the surreal moment. Jan 28 2011

Photographer's choice - With our Canadian Forces deployed all over the world, Manitoba has a huge connection with the military community that lives alongside us. I didn't expect much from the assignment since it was only a crew coming back from a refueling mission to Libya. But as we waited and waited, I overheard that this was a special flight for the pilot of the plane, Capt. Paul Faulkner. The flight home was to be his last flight in the C130 Hercules, and 17 Wing had planned a special greeting. When Faulkner came off the plane, he couldn't wait to hug his family. He gave his daughter Mackenzie and wife Sandra big hugs before talking to the media. He said he loved every minute of his time on the C130 Hercules, but he was excited to be moving on to a trainer fighter jet. Along with him on the flight were 20 to 25 members of Winnipeg's 435 squadron of Hercules crewmen. July 14, 2011

The coffin of the late NDP Leader Jack Layton sits under a spotlight during his state funeral at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto on Saturday, August 27, 2011. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

Photographer's choice - Part of our daily duties at the Free Press includes the search for stand alone feature images. Some people call them "daily life photos" and they are the newspaper photographer's bread and butter. This particular image was taken in February of this year and as things usually go I drove right by it while on my way to something else. I remember seeing the owner of the store bringing the sleds out and it stuck with me for a few blocks. It was one of those things I knew would bug me for days, so I told the reporter I was with we had to go back to that store. It took about a half hour of hanging out before this guy walked up and started going through the sleds. February 12, 2011

Six year old grass dancer Daman Proulx is just one of many indigenous dancers that are part of the Tribal Village Artisans Co-op that came out to the Forks to celebrate Aboriginal Day. June 21, 2011

Photographer's Choice - I can’t help but smile looking at this photo. The symmetry of the two “grins” makes the moment hard to resist. Jon’s Golden Run, a thoroughbred born and raised in Russell, Man., stands side by side with Jon Montgomery, another thoroughbred born and raised in Russell, who won gold at the 2010 Olympic Games skeleton event the winter before this image was taken at Assiniboia Downs. The human Jon holds his Olympic gold medal. May 18, 2011

Photographer's choice - At the beginning of my career I was honoured to work alongside my friend, photojournalist Shaun Best. In the 1990s, Shaun freelanced for Reuters, and snapped thousands of photos of the original Winnipeg Jets. Shooting the team was one of his greatest passions. In time, that passion would take him to Montreal, from where he launched an international photojournalism career. One year after he left, Winnipeg lost its Jets to Phoenix. Shaun was one of the few that always believed they would return. So perhaps it was kismet that Shaun and the Jets returned to Winnipeg at the same time. In the spring of 2011, Shaun was back in Manitoba to cover the flood that spread across the province when news broke in Winnipeg that the NHL was coming back. Within minutes, he was at the heart of Portage and Main to photograph the celebrations. Two weeks later, Shaun suffered a heart attack, and passed away in Montreal. He was 43 years old. Flash forward to Oct. 9, 2011. Photojournalists from across Canada gathered at MTS Centre to shoot the first NHL home game in Winnipeg in 15 years. In the deafening roar of that historic moment, Shaun was with us. He would have been overjoyed to be there; he would have wanted to capture the most iconic image of the Jets' return. After over 40 minutes of play, Jets forward Nik Antropov slid the puck past Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price, and that image finally came. I was lucky to have caught it. Shaun would have liked that. October 09, 2011

Photographer's choice - On a cold and cloudy day last January, I had finished my daily assignments and was driving down Nairn Ave. An unmistakable silhouette in one of the trees along the Red River near the Louise Bridge grabbed my attention. I set up my camera with a telephoto lens and waited about 30 minutes until the bald eagle finally turned its head. Anyone walking along the busy street seemed to also stop and admire the unexpected encounter in the city. When I got back to the office, I found out that columnist Gordon Sinclair was working on an article about the spiritual presence of an eagle in the area of the search for the body of six-year-old Nathaniel Thorassie, who fell through the thin river ice the month before. The nearly black and white image was published along with Gord's moving account of the Winnipeg Police Dive Unit's long difficult search for Nathaniel. January 18 2011

Lightning strikes over the Puyehue volcano, over 500 miles south of Santiago, Chile, June 6, 2011. (AP Photo/Francisco Negroni, AgenciaUno)

About 40 to 50 inmates at a time attend the school in Stony Mountain penitentiary, classes of 10 to 12 men studying their core subjects -- math, science, English, social studies. (Phil Hossack / Winnipeg Free Press)

Winnipeg Blue Bombers' Buck Pierce congratulates B.C. Lions' Travis Lulay on the Lions win of the 2011 Grey Cup Sunday in Vancouver November 27, 2011. (John Woods / Winnipeg Free Press)

Winnipeg Blue Bombers' Buck Pierce (4) during practice for the East Division Champions in Vancouver Friday, November 25, 2011 ahead of the 2011 Grey Cup. (John Woods/Winnipeg Free Press)

The striking statue of an angel carrying a fallen WW1 soldier up to heaven, commissioned by the Canadian Pacific Railroad to honour employees killed during WW1, WW2 and the Korean war, sits on the grounds of Deer Lodge Hospital.

Geordie Rae Jr. hugs his wife Rose and their son Lucas, 3, in their newly-renovated kitchen. The family didn't have running water, a kitchen sink or a proper bathroom before. (JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS)

The L'Auberge Clémence bed and breakfast in Elie is said to be inhabited by spirits from a past life as a convent. Owners Jean and Linda Aquin say they have experienced strange and wonderful things. (Ruth Bonneville / Winnipeg Free Press)

Friends gather to watch a large industrial fire in Point Douglas Wednesday night along the Red River off Archibald Street. (Ruth Bonneville / Winnipeg Free Press)

A fan looks for tickets for the Jets inaugural game against the Montreal Canadiens at the MTS Centre on Sunday. (Jonathan Hayward / The Canadian Press)

A young fan cheers during the NHL Face-off party at The Forks. (John Woods/Winnipeg Free Press)

Firefighters chop through the roof of a house at 557 Larsen Avenue yesterday morning. The blaze was quickly extinguished, but brought firefighters back when it rekindled in the afternoon. No one was hurt. Dave Johnson / Winnipeg Free Press December 4, 1986.

The Winnipeg Jets vs. Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Second Period action. First goal of the new Jets scored by #9 Evander Kane. Sept. 20, 2011 (BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS)