Tossing in an extra game that was postponed and an already very busy end-of-the-season schedule got a bit busier for the Dauphin Clippers hockey team.
Playing in the Westman League, the Clippers have 12 regular-season games remaining as the push to the championship side playoffs continue. Sitting 15-4-1, Dauphin has put themselves in a great spot as they're in sixth place.
Dauphin also has games on two of the teams they're chasing. The Killarney Raiders are five points ahead of Dauphin, however, they have played four more games than the Clippers. The Virden Golden Bears, meanwhile, are only a single point ahead of Dauphin and the Clippers have six games in hand. Dauphin is also chasing the Huskies who have also played 20 games and are two points ahead of Dauphin while Swan Valley, who has played one fewer game than Dauphin, are three points ahead of the Clippers in an intense Battle of the Parkland.
Dauphin has scored 125 goals this year, the third-most in the league, while their differential of plus-73 is the second-best, only behind the league-leading Vincent Massey Vikings #1. The Clippers have also been outstanding on the penalty kill, only allowing 13 goals, tied for the fewest with the Vikings.
"We're pretty happy with how things have gone, it's pretty hard to be upset with 15 wins already, and we think we could have won two or three more," said Jason Alf. "There are always things that we can clean up daily and that's what we're working on as we look forward to the playoffs. With all that said, it's been a very strong year for our group."
Two of Dauphin's defeats this season have come against the Vikings, who have two teams. The second team is 4-16 while the top team is 24-0, who beat the Clippers twice. Vincent Massey has scored 200 goals, 61 more than Virden and their 30 goals against are 20 fewer than the Huskies.
They've also scored 39 power-play goals, the most in the league and they've only given up 13 goals against while a man down, tied with Dauphin for the fewest. The Vikings are a fine-tuned machine and have been the class of the league so far.
They beat Dauphin in Brandon, 4-2, before returning to Dauphin for a 5-0 win over the Clippers at Credit Union Place. In the team's first meeting, Dauphin led 2-1 before the Vikings took over to earn two points.
Everyone is gunning for the league leaders, and Alf fully believes in his group.
"They're a very good team that can come at you with three or four lines and they're very good defensively," said Alf. "They're certainly beatable. I thought they had more firepower last year, to be honest. We're hoping the next time that we'll meet them will be in the playoffs, so we'll have time to prepare. I believe in our group and our abilities against them."
Dauphin is preparing to hit the road for a trio of games this weekend, starting at Tundra Oil & Gas Place against the Golden Bears on Friday. As noted above, Virden has played six more games than Dauphin and is only a single point ahead of them. After that game, you can stick around the rink to watch the Dauphin Kings play the Oil Capitals at 7:30. So it's a double dip of Dauphin vs Virden in Oil Country on Friday night.
On Saturday, Dauphin challenges the Boissevain Broncos, who are 6-16 on the season and they wrap up a busy weekend against the Renegades on Sunday afternoon, a team that has won eight of their 20 games.
This is Dauphin's final overnight trip of the season and Alf is looking forward to it. Dauphin won three games last weekend and six of their last seven.
"We've got some injuries but we have players that will step up, we know that," said Alf. "Our goal is to get all six points, so we'll see how it goes."
The tremendous trio of Ethan Carnegie, Ronin Mouck, and Julien Lopez has combined to torch opponents. Carnegie leads the way with 24 goals and 49 points, Mouck has 22 goals and 42 points, and Lopez has 10 goals with 25 assists. The three have combined for 126 points and when all in the lineup, they've been nearly unstoppable.
"When those three guys are going, I would say they're one of the best lines in the league," ended Alf. "They can hit you with speed, they have skill, and some grit. They're also great leaders, they get the rest of the guys going."
Dauphin returns to Credit Union Place next Friday when the Huskies are in town before Killarney comes to town the following day.
