After posting a big 2-1 win over the Winkler Flyers on Sunday, the Dauphin Kings remain as honourable mentions this week in the Canadian Junior Hockey League's Top 20 rankings.
Dauphin earned three of a possible six points over the weekend, which saw the team lose in a shootout against Steinbach before being blanked by Niverville on Saturday. Dauphin stormed back from three goals down twice on Friday en route to what goes down as a successful weekend for the club.
Dauphin continues to lead the MGEU West Division at 29-12-1-1. They're seven points ahead of Northern Manitoba, with one game in hand. The team's busy February continues on Wednesday when the Swan Valley Stampeders are in town. Dauphin then plays Friday (Neepawa), Sunday (Niverville), and next Tuesday (Northern Manitoba), before heading on the road for three games next weekend against Steinbach, Niverville, and the Blues.
The next broadcast is on February 18 with Darnell Duff and Jeff Henson, starting with the Parkland Source for Sports pregame show at 7:20.
The Trenton Golden Hawks of the Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL) remain on top of the rankings. They've won 12 straight games and are 41-5-2-0. The Greater Sudbury Cubs of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL), Rockland Nationals of the Central Canada Hockey League (CCHL), Edmundston Blizzard of the Maritime Hockey League (MHL), and Leamington Flyers (OJHL) round out the Top 5.
In Manitoba, Jayce Legaarden and the Flyers are ranked seventh. Dating back to November 8, Winkler earned points in 26 straight games before Dauphin snapped their streak on Sunday night. Led by Brody Beauchemin's 49 points and Legaarden's 47, the Flyers lead the league with 70 points, three more than Steinbach. Liam Ernst also leads all goaltenders with eight shutouts.
The Steinbach Pistons are ranked 10th. The second-ranked Pistons survived a scare against Dauphin on Friday and beat Winkler in a shootout on Saturday night. Six of their next 11 games will come at the HyLife Centre. At this time, they're scheduled to play their final two regular-season games at the Southeast Event Centre, their brand-new facility that is currently under construction.
Steinbach is led by league leader Connor Paronuzzi who has 66 points while Christian Green has been a workhorse between the pipes, playing 2091 minutes, only behind Cole Sheffield and winning a league-leading 26 games.
Dauphin will play the Pistons next Friday at the HyLife Centre.
Blake Spiller and the Portage Terriers are ranked 13th, down three spots from last week. Portage has won four straight games, two of which came against Steinbach last weekend. Portage is third overall in the league with 32 wins and 65 points. Cameron Bullinger (53) and Nolan Nenow (49) lead the way offensively for Portage. They play the Blues on Wednesday and Steinbach on Friday.
Bo Eisner, Will Munro, and the Melfort Mustangs of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) are ranked sixth. With 36 wins and 72 points, Melfort is the lone team in the SJHL to have clinched a playoff spot as they're six points ahead of Flin Flon. Melfort is looking to defend the championship they won last year.
Flin Flon, meanwhile, is ranked 14th this week. Their 26-game point streak was recently snapped, but they still have a strong grip on second place, eight points ahead of Weyburn, while still being in a spot to catch the league-leading Mustangs.
