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Swan River's Riley McKay played all of last year with the Saskatoon Blades and now he's back in the City of Bridges. 

The 20-year-old will be heavily relied upon to make a contribution to a team that is projected to be among the top of the league.

"I think it's going to be a really good year. We have a great group of players here," said McKay. "We have a lot of work to do, but it should be a really good year."

McKay and the Chiefs' came out firing in the preseason and they ended up going 4-0-1. That included a two-game sweep of the Winnipeg ICE to wrap up the tune-up season. In his three games, the Swan River native chalked up three points (1G).

"It was a little bit scrambly to start, but we were happy with our second game against Winnipeg for sure," said McKay. "It's always a good thing to win in the preseason to build confidence for the regular season."

After playing the first 120 games of his WHL career with the Spokane Chiefs, Riley played in all 68 of Saskatoon's games last year. He had 12 goals to go along with 15 points. In the playoffs, he added another goal and one assist.

Being a player that has a physical edge to his game, McKay also picked up 149 points, three less than the season prior with Spokane. With another full year under his belt, the expectations continue to rise for the one time Parkland Ranger and Swan Valley Stampeder.

"Yeah for sure. I'm going to try to take on more of an offensive role this season," he added. "I still want to focus on playing in the defensive end as well. I'll go out there and give it my all every shift."

"I'd like to double my points like I did last year," he said. 

In the 2017-18 season with Spokane, Riley had 13 points (4G). His 27 last year were double plus one. 

McKay and the team made the second round of the playoffs last year, where they were bounced by the Prince Albert Raiders, who ended up winning the league. Although that was a tough pill to swallow, it's one that Riley and the team are looking to use in order to have extended success this season.

"We just need to follow the game plan and work our butts off every game," he added. "We also need to stay disciplined and stay out of the box. It's tough to win games when you're sitting in the penalty box."

As the 2019-20 season gets started tonight, Riley will look to make a bang with a team he's enjoyed every minute playing with.

"Seeing the atmosphere in the rink every night and especially in the playoffs last year," he concluded. "That's one of my favourite things about playing in Saskatoon."

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Contributed by Darnell Duff

Published: Sep 20, 2019 - 1:07 pm

The Brandon Wheat Kings begin their season tonight against the Winnipeg ICE and when the puck drops, a new face is expected to be in the lineup.

The club has acquired 17-year-old left-winger Riley Ginnell from the Kamloops Blazers, in exchange for a sixth-round selection in the 2021 WHL Bantam Draft.

Playing last year with the Edge School Prep team, Riley had 19 points (10G) in 24 games. He also was quite productive with the Blazers’ this preseason. He had four points (1G) in six games.

Ginnell was taken in the seventh round, 151st overall at the 2017 WHL Bantam Draft.

“He’s a big body that has really good hands and a really good hockey sense,” said Darren Ritchie, general manager. “He’s always trending in the right direction. We’ve watched him for the past couple of years and he’s really improved.”

“He’s a guy that we’re going to depend on here a lot,” said Ritchie. “He’s going to play some good minutes. We want to work with him and we know he’s going to get better every week.”

Tonight's game will also have plenty of bragging rights up for grabs on a family aspect as well. The newest Brandon Wheat King will face his brother, Brad Ginnell who plays for Winnipeg. Brad, who’s 19 is playing in his fourth year in the Western Hockey League and he had 41 points last year for the ICE (16G).

That won’t be the only brotherly battle out on the ice, however. Jonny Lambos of Brandon will go up against his brother Carson Lambos who suits up for the ICE. Jonny has played in 44 games as a member of the Wheat Kings’ while Carson will play his sixth game as a member of the ICE on Friday.

“I think anytime brothers play against each other they’re looking for some bragging rights,” said Ritchie. “I think all those guys are very excited to play against their siblings.”

In some other Wheat Kings’ news, the team has signed 15-year-old Jesiah Bennett to his first Standard Player Agreement. Bennett was picked in the third round, 52nd overall by Brandon at the 2019 WHL Bantam Draft.

“He’s a right-hand shot and for a big guy he has some really good speed and he shoots the puck very well in stride,” said Ritchie on Bennett. “He has a physical element to his game that you like in a young guy. He had an outstanding training camp and he earned this.”

Jesiah will return to Winnipeg this season where he will play with the Rink Hockey Academy U18 Prep team.

Last year with the Rink Hockey Academy Bantam Prep squad, Bennett had 15 goals and 31 points in 29 regular-season games. He added one goal in two playoff games.

“Our organization will watch Jesiah play quite a bit. We’re quite fortunate that he’s very close to us,” continued Ritchie. “We’ll always know what’s going on with him and we’ll be in close contact with him.”

With the acquisition of Ginnell who’s expected to be an impact player now and the signing of Jesiah who is expected to be an impact player in the future, it’s time to get down to business.

When 7:30 hits tonight and the puck drops, two points are up for grabs and the first bragging rights of the season will be fought for.

“It’s an exciting time of the year. You’re always wondering how your team will do,” concluded Ritchie. “We’re looking forward to starting the season on Friday.

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Contributed by Darnell Duff

Published: Sep 20, 2019 - 12:40 pm

After months of waiting, the Manitoba Junior Hockey League season has officially arrived. For the Dauphin Kings, they'll be looking to build off making the playoffs last year as the seventh seed.

Tonight, they get the chance to start off on the right foot as they make the short trip up north to challenge the Swan Valley Stampeders.

Tonight's meeting is the first of six meetings between the two clubs throughout the 60-game regular season.

"This is something we look forward to. We brought in some guys with speed, we have some size and weight," said Head Coach & General Manager Doug Hedley. "We have a lot of speed and we feel we have good depth in our forward group."

In the preseason, Dauphin went 4-2. Swan Valley went 5-1. With it only being day one, Dauphin is still holding more players than they will in a short time.

"There's going to be some tough decisions going forward, we still have too many guys in town," added Hedley. "Our first six-game segment is going to be a really good evaluation tool. We'll have some guys rotating in and they'll have their chances to make a difference."

Let's take a look at some of last year's key stats for both Dauphin and Swan Valley:

Record:

Dauphin went 29-25-3-3 while Swan Valley finished in second at 42-13-3-2.

Special Teams:

Swan Valley was 20.3% on the power play while Dauphin went 15.1%. On the penalty kill, Dauphin was 80.5% while Swan Valley killed off 81.4% of the penalties they took.

Key Returnees:

Dauphin - Cole DeKoninck, Grady Hobbs, Carter Sawchuk, Nakodan Greyeyes, Leeam Tivers, Avery Smith, Andrew Liwiski.

Swan Valley - Josh Maucieri, John Jebamani, Michael Davis.

Key Additions:

Dauphin - Baron Thompson, Matthias Smith, Zach Grouette, Hugo Laflamme, Shon Olivier-Roy, Austin Lamotte.

Swan Valley - Cameron McDonald, Josh Beauchemin, Frazer Dodd, Tommy Cardinal, Trevor Schroeder.

When it comes to tonight's game, Doug Hedley knows starting in Swan Valley is never easy.

"They have some good size and they have new guys as well," he added. "We want to compete hard and play with high energy. It's important that we play good off the puck. I'm looking forward to the challenge."

Listen Live:

You can hear tonight's game right here on 730CKDM. The Parkland Source for Sports pregame show with Darnell Duff begins at 7:00 p.m. Puck drop is set for 7:30.

Details

Contributed by Darnell Duff

Published: Sep 20, 2019 - 5:00 am

In the past three hockey seasons, Ste. Rose's Brad Marshall has provided the Neepawa Natives with 81 points (39G). Now, the 20-year-old is ready for his final junior hockey season with Neepawa.

Just like many others, Brad had a very busy summer. On top of him working full-time, he also skated plenty and played in the Parkland Source for Sports 4-on-4 hockey league where he had a lot of success.

"I'm feeling pretty good. I'm getting really excited for the season and I think I'm in pretty top shape," said Marshall. "I'm really focusing on my work ethic this year. Being a 20-year-old, I want to be a leader. I want to show the young guys what it takes to play at this level."

Despite being third in team scoring last year with 35 points, the team was really never able to get things going in a 9-43-4-4 season. But, that's in the past and with a good group of veterans coming back alongside a good core of rookies, Marshall has a different thought process on this season.

"I feel like just taking the disappointment from last season and using it to turn things around will help us," said Marshall. "We can win games if we work hard and play to our systems and I believe that. I think we have a good group here."

As mentioned before, this season will be Brad's final as a junior hockey player. That doesn't mean he'll hang up the skates by any means, but he won't be eligible to return to the team he's played his entire junior career with. Regardless of how things end up this season, Brad has loved every second of his life as a junior hockey player.

"I'm not adding any pressure to myself. I'm just going to go out there and give it my all," he concluded. "Junior A was the top experience I've ever had. I've made so many new friends and being in Neepawa has been so great. I'll always remember my time here for as long as I live."

After tomorrow's home opener, Marshall and the rest of the squad conclude their home-and-home with Waywayseecappo on Saturday night.

When asked if Marshall will be emotional tomorrow for his final home opener as a junior hockey player, he had this to say. 

"I just have to block things out. It will be a little emotional, but I can't worry about that," he added. "I just have to focus on helping the team win, that's all that matters."

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Contributed by Darnell Duff

Published: Sep 19, 2019 - 2:00 pm

Nolan Ritchie grew up watching Brandon Wheat Kings games. Whether it was a preseason game, a regular-season game or a playoff game, there’s a good chance that Nolan was at the arena watching it live.

Born in Brandon on May 27, 2002, it didn’t take him long to pick up a stick. The goal was always wanting to play for his hometown team like it is for many Brandonites. However, a very small select group of people get that chance every year and Nolan is extremely happy to say that he’s one.

Playing in the Brandon Minor Hockey Association for his whole life, Ritchie has now made his hometown WHL Brandon Wheat Kings roster.

“It’s a completely unreal feeling. Just growing up and watching them my whole life,” said Ritchie. “Getting this chance is great and it’s going to be a really special honour.”

Prior to this year, Nolan improved immensely every year. For instance, he played bantam two hockey for the Wheat Kings’ in the 2015-16 season where he had 20 points (six goals).

The next season, Ritchie moved up to the bantam one team and he exploded with 89 points (51G). In the 2017-18 season, Ritchie moved up to play U18 hockey with his hometown AAA team. He put together another special season with 84 points (40G) in the regular season. In the playoffs, he had one goal and nine points.

Last year, Ritchie was back at it again with the AAA U18 Wheat Kings’ as he increased his point total to 94 points (39G). He also led the team in the playoffs with 21 points (9G) as they won the league championship.

In all, it comes to no surprise that Nolan will become a full-time WHL player this year, even though he still has one more year of AAA eligibility left.

As the preseason ended with Brandon going 2-2, Ritchie had four points (1G). That was good for a tie for the team-lead.

“I thought things went well. It was a good stepping stone,” said Ritchie. “We played really good on Friday’s, but not so well on Saturday’s, but we’ve definitely learned a lot from that.”

“It’s a lot quicker game than the U18 level and that’s the biggest adjustment,” he continued. “It’s pretty tough at the start, but when you get used to it, it’s not too bad.”

Wheat Kings’ head coach Dave Lowry also had very good things to say about the 17-year-old rookie.

“We’ll keep things in perspective knowing he’s a young player. We don’t want to put too much pressure on our young guys. They need to understand that games get harder every single night as the season goes on,” said Lowry of Ritchie. “He’s a very intelligent player and he has a very good understanding of how to play the game.”

Nolan did get a taste of junior hockey last year. He played four games with Brandon. Picked in the third round, 56th overall in the 2017 WHL Bantam Draft by Brandon, Ritchie scored one goal over the course of the four games.

“The four games helped me out a lot last year,” he continued. “It’s definitely good that I have those regular-season games under my belt.”

A special night is planned tomorrow at Westoba Place as the team plays their home opener.  Well over 3000 people have already purchased tickets and among the things going on in the pregame is the team will be unveiling their brand new HD jumbotron.

Just after 7:30, it’s game time and it’s a moment that Nolan can’t wait for. Being from Brandon, Ritchie will have a ton of family and friends cheering him on.

“There will be a lot of excitement and I’m going to have a lot of jump to my game,” he concluded. “I’ll go out there and give it everything I have and hopefully the team can get the win.”

Details

Contributed by Darnell Duff

Published: Sep 19, 2019 - 12:32 pm

Just more than 20 days ago, the Swan Valley Stampeders hit the ice for the first time as they opened their training camp. Tomorrow, the team will open their regular season campaign as they welcome the Dauphin Kings to town.

Let's take a look at what this Stampeders' team has to offer after making the league final last year.

2019-2020 Swan Valley Stampeders:

There is no doubt there are a ton of passionate hockey fans in Swan River and they love heading down to the rink. Prior to last year, the team didn't have a whole lot to cheer about when it came to playoff success. They made the playoffs in the 2017-18 season, but they were swept by the Steinbach Pistons, who went on to win the MJHL.

When it came to last year, you were pressed to even find a seat inside the Centennial Arena as the season continued to a point that was farther than any other previous year in franchise history. The team made it all the way to the league final where they would eventually fall to Portage. None the less, to say it was a good year would be an understatement. Led by hometown boy Josh Tripp, Swan Valley officially put themselves fully back on the junior hockey map and proved that they weren't going anywhere.

Now the question this year is can they keep it going? The team has lost seven players from last year's club. This isn't a surprising number as there is turnover every single year in junior hockey. But, it's the players that did graduate that make it noteworthy. Josh Tripp, Brad Goethals, Matt Osadick, Quintin Sudom, Brian Harris, Campbell Balk, and Dane Hirst are all gone. With the exception of Osadick who's now playing in the BCHL, the other six have graduated.

The seven players combined for 145 goals last year and 274 assists.

So where will this year's offence come from? The team has returned Josh Maucieri who had 39 points last year. In this year's preseason, he had four points. Also, this preseason, offseason pickup Frazer Dodd had four, while Trevor Schroeder, Callum Fortin, and John Jebamani had three.

"I don't want to discount this team, there is still quite a bit of talent here," said Suneil Karod, associate general manager and coach. "It's going to be a different kind of skill compared to last year. You don't come across years like Tripp had last year very often. With that said, we have skill here. It's not going to be the same as last year, but we're still going to have a lot flavour."

When Swan Valley does hit the ice for their first regular-season game tomorrow, there sure won't be a lack of effort.

"We want to work hard. That's going to be our identity, we want to be one of the hardest-working teams in the league," said Karod. "We're looking forward to getting this season going and everyone is super pumped up."

The club will be very busy to start the season. After their home-and-home this weekend, they get right back at it on Tuesday against Virden. They then welcome Waywayseecappo to the Centennial next Friday.

The team takes part in the MJHL Showcase on September 30 and October 1. In October, they'll play 12 games. 

With two very experienced coaches in Geoff Grimwood and Suneil Karod leading this team and a solid group of veterans alongside the rookies, there is no doubt that Swan Valley has the capabilities of winning hockey games. Their first goal is getting win number one tomorrow night.

Don't forget, you can hear that game with the Voice of the Dauphin Kings right here on 730CKDM, beginning with the Parkland Source for Sports pregame show at 7:00 p.m.

Details

Contributed by Darnell Duff

Published: Sep 19, 2019 - 9:53 am

Each fall, players from all over Canada and the United States come to Dauphin in hopes of making the city's junior hockey team, the Dauphin Kings'. For some, it doesn't work out, but it does for a select amount of players and one of those players that it has worked out for is Avery Smith.

The Texas native is in town for his second season with the club. During the summer, Avery runs his own landscaping business and plays golf as much as he can. In the winter, his mindset switches to hockey and that's just about it.

"I'm here to play hockey and that's my main focus," said Smith.

The preseason for the team began on September 2 and they played six games. Smith played in four and he was extremely productive. He led the team with four points (3G). 

"I feel very confident in the way I'll be able to play with the team and the way the guys will be able to play with me," said Smith. "As long as we keep playing with the same speed and intensity as the preseason, we'll be ready to go for sure."

This year also provides Avery with one last chance to show what he's got. As a 20-year-old, he is set to graduate after this season. With playing at the next level being a goal of his, the pressure is on, which Smith is okay with.

"Everyone at the junior level is trying to get to the next level," said Smith. "With one last season, I have to make something happen this year. I want to help this team win games."

"I'm working hard and I feel I'm in my best shape," he continued.

The regular-season will get going on Friday. That's when Smith and the rest of the team heads to Swan Valley to take on the Stampeders. It's the first of six meetings between the Parkland rival. Avery was on the team last year when they fell four straight to Swan Valley in the first round. 

"I think everyone on this team wants to show that we're going to be a force to be reckoned with this year," continued Smith. "We want to be bigger, faster and stronger than every opponent we face."

As Avery embarks on his final junior season, let's take a minute to get to know the Texas native.

Would you rather be a movie director or an actor? I'd definitely rather be an actor. I'm a little bit of an attention hound so if I get to be seen, I would love it.

Would you rather be too hot or too cold? Too cold. You can always wear more clothes.

Would you rather live in a cave or a treehouse? Treehouse.

Would you rather have x-ray vision or bionic hearing? x-ray vision.

Would you rather be attacked by a giant snake or an angry piranha? I think a piranha because maybe I can try and fend it off with a hard punch to the head or something.

Would you rather be able to fly or be invisible? Fly.

Would you rather be able to go to the moon or get an all-expensive paid vacation anywhere in the world? Definitely the vacation. I'd love to go to New Zealand or Australia.

Details

Contributed by Darnell Duff

Published: Sep 18, 2019 - 12:40 pm

In case you missed it, it was a great weekend for the Ebb and Flow Thunderbirds varsity girls volleyball team.

Playing in their home opener tournament, the team went undefeated to finish on top.

In their first game, they beat the Ebb and Flow junior varsity girls. That was followed by wins against Sandy Bay, McCreary and Pine Creek.

In the finals, they beat the junior varsity Thunderbirds, 25-14, 25-20.

Details

Contributed by Darnell Duff

Published: Sep 18, 2019 - 10:32 am

September 20, the night many coaches of WHL teams, fans of the league, general managers and so many more have been waiting for. The curtain on the 2019-2020 regular season will rise with seven games across the league.

One of the games is the newly created "Manitoba Battle" as the Winnipeg ICE make their first trip to Brandon for game one of 68.

As we inch closer to puck drop on Friday night at Westoba Place, I'll take a look at how Brandon did over the course of their four preseason games.

Game #1 vs Winnipeg:

The short preseason really couldn't have gotten off to a better start for Brandon. Ty Thorpe scored more goals than all of last year in one game, Connor Ungar and Ethan Kruger combined for a shutout and Brandon handily beat Winnipeg 5-0.

Nolan Ritchie who will be one of the team's rookies also had two points (1G, 1A). Stay tuned later this week to hear from Nolan ahead of Friday.

The only thing that didn't go perfectly for Brandon on this night was the arena wasn't sold out. But, it's the preseason and that's not realistic. All in all, it was a dream start for the club from the Wheat City.

Game #2 @ Winnipeg (Portage La Prairie, Manitoba):

One night later, the two teams met at a neutral site in Portage at Stride Place, the home of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League's Terriers. Fun fact if you enjoy Jr. A hockey, the Terriers will host this year's Centennial Cup from May 9-17.

With that out of the way, the Wheat Kings looked poised to complete a home-and-home preseason sweep. They had all the momentum from the night previous and several of their top players were still in the lineup. The game also featured our first look at Tyson Zimmer, Rylen Roersma and Nate Danielson, who were all picked in the top 16 at this past May's WHL Bantam Draft.

But, as you know, one day can bring a drastically different result in the WHL and that's exactly what happened.

Cole Muir and Logan Danis got the ICE out front 2-0 and they never looked back in a 5-1 win.

13 Brandon players were at least a -1 while two players were -2. So the club's record was 1-1 after their first weekend of preseason hockey.

Game #3 @ Moose Jaw:

After a week of practicing and working out, the team hit the road for their first trip to Saskatchewan. They played the Moose Jaw Warriors' on Friday, September 13 at Mosaic Place.

Just like seven days before, Brandon dominated the majority of the play and Ridly Greig was a menace. He had four points (2G) as Brandon went on to win 5-2.

Jake Chiasson also had a multi-point game (1G) and Cole Reinhardt had two assists. Ethan Kruger was also good making 23 saves on 25 attempts pushing Brandon to 2-1 on the tune-up season.

Game # 4 vs Moose Jaw:

If you haven't noticed yet, there's been a mini-trend in the first three games. Brandon won their first and second and that was the top of the bun and the bottom and the meat in the middle turned out being a loss.

With one last opportunity for players to show their stuff, Brandon was outplayed for the majority of the game, but Jiri Patera was fantastic. He ended up making 33 saves on 35 shots in his first game back with the team.

In the end, it came in a 2-1 loss, but as the game went on Brandon improved and that's what you'd hope for. At the end of the day, winning or losing really doesn't matter in the preseason, but the effort certainly does.

Dave Lowry, head coach of the Wheat Kings joined to share his thoughts on how things went.

"Well I saw a couple of games that we really liked. We did a lot of good things in the first game of the back-to-backs," said Lowry. "The second nights didn't yield the result but we have to factor in a lot of young guys played and it's new to them. Going forward, our group will be better because of what happened during those two losses."

"The biggest thing is we have to stay level. We can't be too high and we can't be too low. Especially when you're playing the same team, when you play them on Friday you know they're going to come out different," said Lowry. "They're going to adjust and we have to prepare for those adjustments. We need to expect those teams to come out harder on the back-to-back sets."

As mentioned before, Brandon gets things going on Friday when they welcome the Winnipeg ICE to town. That's the first of 68 games during the regular season. Last year, Brandon missed the playoffs narrowly after going 2-7-1 in their last 10 games.

With a new head coach and general manager in place, Brandon is ready to make a move back to the WHL playoffs.

"We have a hungry group and a group that's looking for redemption," said Lowry. "We have guys here that know they can win and they want to prepare so that happens."

One of the players that did shine in the preseason was Nolan Ritchie, as he was mentioned previously in this article. He ended up with four points (1G) in three games. That was tied for a team lead with Ridly Greig and Cole Reinhardt.

Ritchie has been a player who has tore it up previously in Brandon. Being from the city, he played for the Brandon U18 Wheat Kings beginning in the 2017-18 season. In his last season with the team during the 2018-19 campaign, Ritchie put up 94 points (39G) in 47 regular-season games. He added another 21 points (9G) in the playoffs and the team won a league title. He also scored one goal in four games with the WHL team last year.

This year, he'll be an everyday player and if he does anything close to what he did in the preseason, it's going to be a special season for the Brandonite.

"We'll keep things in perspective knowing he's a young player. We don't want to put too much pressure on our young guys. They need to understand that games get harder every single night as the season goes on," said Lowry of Ritchie. "He's a very intelligent player and he has a very good understanding of how to play the game."

Another big headline in the preseason ended up being between the pipes. Jiri Patera played against Moose Jaw as previously noted and he made 33 saves. Patera will be Brandon's number one goalie this season and the Vegas Golden Knight draft pick could be exactly what the team needs to push them back to the playoffs.

"He gave us a chance to win a hockey game that night, we weren't very good early," said Lowry. "He's going to play a lot of hockey and he's going to give us a chance to win."

Lowry was also very high on Connor Ungar and Ethan Kruger.

"We're not worried about our goaltending situation, they will battle and that's what we want," he added.

Friday's game will also be very exciting before the puck even drops. The organization will unveil a brand new jumbotron at Westoba Place. When the puck does drop, Lowry expects to compete and do it now.

"We want to be a fast team. We want to transition pucks and go from defence to offence," concluded Lowry. "Our goal is to be an exciting team to watch and a team that can win."

Details

Contributed by Darnell Duff

Published: Sep 18, 2019 - 9:53 am

Five of the best junior hockey teams across Canada will be coming to Manitoba in May for the National Championships. The Portage Terriers are one of those five as they will host the event at Stride Place from May 9-17. 

There is a little bit of a change to this year's event, however. Last year, it was called that National Jr. A Championship. As the tournament will celebrate its 50th anniversary, Hockey Canada, in partnership with the CJHL, has announced that the tournament will return to its original name, the Centennial Cup, beginning in 2020.

Portage also hosted the event five years ago, when they were crowned champions. Kim Davis, MJHL Commissioner talks about the Centennial Cup being played with an MJHL team being the host.

"It's really exciting. We had that same experience five years ago at Stride Place," said Davis. "Any time you have a national championship in your back yard, I think that adds to the excitement."

Portage could be joined by another MJHL team. For that to happen, someone other than Portage would have to win the league and the Anavet Cup which pits the best in the MJHL against the best in the SJHL in a best-of-seven battle. The winner of that series goes to the big dance.

If Portage wins the MJHL, that means the SJHL winner would get an automatic berth to the Centennial Cup, with an Anavet Cup still being played as well.

"I think that'll push teams even more. Everyone wants to play in the nationals," said Davis.

The Manitoba Junior Hockey League season gets underway Friday with 10 of the team's 11 leagues hitting the ice. The defending MJHL Champion Portage Terriers are home to the Winnipeg Blues. Waywayseecappo heads to Neepawa, Selkirk is home to Virden, Winkler heads to Steinbach and Dauphin is on the road in Swan Valley. 

Davis provides his thoughts on what he thinks the year will provide.

"It certainly appears to me based on the preseason that we're going to have a very similar year compared with the past several years, close and tight throughout the year," said Davis. "I think we're going to have a very competitive season with a lot of hard-fought games. The players seem ready to go. We're all anxious to get things going."

The last time Dauphin hosted the nationals was nearly 10 years ago. After two successful events in Manitoba, Kim knows a third is on the way.

"Portage did a great job in 2015 and I can say without hesitation that Dauphin did a fantastic job as well," concluded Davis. "Both were top-notch and we expect the same will happen in Portage in May."

You can also secure your tickets for the event by heading to the 2020 Centennial Cup.

Details

Contributed by Darnell Duff

Published: Sep 18, 2019 - 5:00 am