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 move did not improve the team's fortunes; the Blades managed to win only 13 games over the two seasons of their existence.

[1][4] 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.

[5] 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.

[6][7] The next season, the Pistons ended the franchise's ten year playoff drought and captured their first Turnbull Cup.