Winnipeg Sea Bears

Winnipeg Sea Bears
2026 CEBL season
Winnipeg Sea Bears logo
LeaguesCEBL
Founded2022
HistoryWinnipeg Sea Bears
(2022–present)
ArenaCanada Life Centre[1]
Capacity15,321
LocationWinnipeg, Manitoba
Team coloursBlack, teal, white
     
PresidentRhéanne Marcoux[2]
General managerMike Raimbault
Head coachMike Raimbault[3]
OwnershipDavid Asper
Championships1 (2026)
Conference titles1 (2026)
Retired numbers1 (33)
Websiteseabears.ca

The Winnipeg Sea Bears are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, that competes in the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL). They play their home games at the Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg.

History

On November 9, 2022, the Canadian Elite Basketball League announced that its 10th franchise would be in Winnipeg, Manitoba.[4][5]

On November 30, 2022, the Winnipeg franchise officially unveiled their branding, announcing their name and logo as the Winnipeg Sea Bears. It was announced they would be playing at the Canada Life Centre.[6][7]

On December 14, 2022, the Sea Bears announced that Mike Taylor was hired as the team’s inaugural head coach.[8][9]

On May 27, 2023, the Sea Bears played their inaugural game in front of 7,303 fans,[10] shattering the previous league attendance record by nearly 3,000. They won the game 90–85 over the Vancouver Bandits. The Sea Bears finished their inaugural season with a 12–8 record for second in the Western Conference and a home playoff game against the Edmonton Stingers. Winnipeg set another attendance record for their first playoff game with 10,580 spectators.[11]

Prior to the 2024 season the CEBL announced that Winnipeg would host the 2025 CEBL Championship Weekend.[12] The Sea Bears' second season started May 22, 2024 with a loss to the Saskatchewan Rattlers, played in the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon.[13] They finished the season with a 9–11 record, qualifying for the playoffs. The Sea Bears would be eliminated in the play-in round by the Calgary Surge by a score of 84–82.

The Sea Bears retired their first jersey on May 16, 2025 during their opening night of the 2025 season. The jersey that was retired was #33, Chad Posthumus, to remember and honour his legacy on and off the court after he died.[14]

In the 2025 season, the Sea Bears had an 11–13 record in the regular season. As the CEBL Championship Weekend hosts, the Sea Bears received an automatic berth into the semifinals, where they would once again lose to the Calgary Surge, 90–79. Head coach and GM Mike Taylor was let go following the defeat and was replaced by assistant coach Mike Raimbault on August 28, 2025. [15]

In the 2026 season, the Sea Bears went 14–10 in the regular season and finished in 2nd in the West division. Despite losing three key players prior to the playoffs (Emmanuel Akot, Jeremiah Tilmon Jr, and Teddy Allen), the Sea Bears would win their first playoff game in franchise history, beating the Saskatoon Mamba, 99–88, in the West semi-final. In the West final, the Sea Bears went on the road to defeat the Vancouver Bandits, 107–96, to advance to the CEBL Finals against the Brampton Honey Badgers. After game 1 of the best-of-three was canceled due to unplayable court conditions in Brampton, the league reverted the finals to a single-elimination game. In front of a league-record 12,519 fans at Canada Life Centre, the Sea Bears defeated the Honey Badgers, 98–84, to win their first championship in franchise history. With the win, the Sea Bears became the first West division team to win the CEBL title since the Edmonton Stingers in 2021.[16]

Players

Current roster

Source: [4]

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.

Winnipeg Sea Bears roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.Nat.NameHt.Wt.Age
G 1 Canada Walker, David 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 26 – (1999-09-28)28 September 1999
F 4 United States Scott, Trevon 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 29 – (1996-11-25)25 November 1996
G 5 Canada Kraus, Mason 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 24 – (2002-03-22)22 March 2002
G 7 Canada Akot, Emmanuel 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 27 – (1999-03-17)17 March 1999
G 8 United States Allen, Teddy 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 28 – (1998-06-07)7 June 1998
G 9 United States McGowens, Trey 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 26 – (2000-05-15)15 May 2000
G 11 United States Chaney, Armani 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 29 – (1997-04-26)26 April 1997
G 13 Canada Bilamu, Nathan 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 26 – (2000-08-07)7 August 2000
C 14 Canada Filewich, Kyler 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 25 – (2001-07-25)25 July 2001
F 15 Canada Hildebrandt, Simon 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 23 – (2003-03-17)17 March 2003
G 17 United States Moon, Xavier 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 31 – (1995-01-02)2 January 1995
G 23 Canada Osborne, Isiah 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 29 – (1996-12-10)10 December 1996
C 35 United States Tilmon, Jeremiah 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 27 – (1998-11-25)25 November 1998
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
  • Canada Mike Raimbault
  • Canada Ryan Thomson
  • Canada Braeden Floyd
  • Canada Tevonn Walker
  • United States Nick Elam
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (I) Inactive
  • (U) Current U Sports Athlete
  • Injured Injured
Updated: June 6, 2026

Honours

Western Conference Champions (1): 2026
Champions (1): 2026

Retired Jerseys

Date Player Jersey No.
May 16, 2025[17] Chad Posthumus #33

CEBL Most Valuable Player

Season Player
2023 Teddy Allen

U Sports Player of the year

Season Player University Team
2023 Simon Hildebrandt University of Manitoba Bisons

Developmental Player of the Year

Season Player University Team
2024 Simon Hildebrandt University of Manitoba Bisons

CEBL Coach of the year

Season Coach W L
2023 Mike Taylor 12 8

CEBL Sixth Man of the Year

Season Player
2023 Jelani Watson-Gayle

All CEBL Teams

CEBL First team All Stars

Season Player Position
2023 Teddy Allen Guard
2024 Justin Wright-Foreman
2026 Teddy Allen

CEBL Second Team All Stars

Season Player Position
2023 E.J. Anosike Forward
2024 Teddy Allen [a] Guard
2025 Simi Shittu Forward

CEBL BUSINESS AWARD WINNERS:

Franchise of the year

Season Team
2023 Winnipeg Sea Bears

Team Executive of the year

Season Name Position
2023 Jason Smith President
2024

CEBL Mascot of the year award

Season Mascot
2023 Churchill the Sea Bear
2024

Season-by-season record

LeagueSeasonCoachRegular seasonPostseason
WonLostWin %FinishWonLostWin %Result
CEBL
2023Mike Taylor128.6002nd West01.000Lost play-in round
2024911.4504th West01.000Lost play-in round
20251113.4584th West01.000Lost Semifinal
2026Mike Raimbault1410.5832nd West301.000Won CEBL Championship
Totals4642.523—33.500

Notes

  1. ↑ Allen Played for the Sea Bears until June 17, 2024 when he was released. He later signed with the Saskatchewan Rattlers and the CEBL recognized him as a Second Team All Star selection from both Winnipeg and Saskatchewan.

References

  1. ↑ "Winnipeg Sea Bears the latest team in evolving Canadian Elite Basketball League". Sportsnet. Retrieved December 14, 2022.
  2. ↑ "Winnipeg Sea Bears Appoint Rhéanne Marcoux as Team President". www.seabears.ca. May 22, 2026. Retrieved August 15, 2026.
  3. ↑ "Sea Bears Name Mike Raimbault General Manager and Head Coach". www.seabears.ca. August 28, 2025. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
  4. 1 2 "Canadian Elite Basketball League Expanding to Winnipeg". CEBL website. Archived from the original on November 9, 2022. Retrieved November 9, 2022.
  5. ↑ "Winnipeg Sea Bears the latest team in growing CEBL". tsn.ca. 30 November 2022. Retrieved December 14, 2022.
  6. ↑ Gibsom, Shane (November 30, 2022). "Winnipeg Sea Bears unveiled as city's entry into Canadian Elite Basketball League". globalnews.ca. Global News. Retrieved December 14, 2022.
  7. ↑ "Winnipeg Sea Bears become 10th Canadian Elite Basketball League franchise". cbc.ca. CBC News. November 30, 2022. Retrieved December 14, 2022.
  8. ↑ Prentice, Amy-Ellen (December 14, 2022). "Winnipeg's new basketball team names first head coach". global news.ca. Global News. Retrieved December 14, 2022.
  9. ↑ "BREAKING: Winnipeg Sea Bears Name First Head Coach". oursportscentral.com. OSC. December 14, 2022. Retrieved December 14, 2022.
  10. ↑ "All Eyes on CEBL as 2023 Season Openers see Record Attendance". www.cebl.ca. 2023-06-06. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
  11. ↑ "CEBL Game Box Score". CEBL. 2023-08-04. Retrieved 2024-07-16.
  12. ↑ "Winnipeg to Host 2025 CEBL Championship Weekend". 2024-04-09.
  13. ↑ "CEBL Game Box Score". CEBL. 2024-05-22. Retrieved 2024-07-16.
  14. ↑ "Sea Bears Retire Chad Posthumus' No. 33 on Opening Night". www.cebl.ca. 2025-05-09. Retrieved 2025-05-28.
  15. ↑ "Sea Bears Name Mike Raimbault General Manager and Head Coach". www.seabears.ca. 2025-08-28.
  16. ↑ "Winnipeg Sea Bears win 1st CEBL title, defeat Brampton Honey Badgers in 2026 final". CBC.ca. August 15, 2026.
  17. ↑ "Sea Bears Retire Chad Posthumus' No. 33 on Opening Night". www.cebl.ca. 2025-05-09. Retrieved 2025-05-28.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.