A Look Inside Your 2019-20 Dauphin Kings

In just a few short days, the Dauphin Kings will begin their 2019-20 regular season with a date against their Parkland rival, the Swan Valley Stampeders. The first of a home-and-home will be played at the Centennial Arena in Swan River.

The last time these two teams met in a meaningful game was last year in the first round of the playoffs, where Swan Valley won in four games. With that in the past, it's time to focus in on the upcoming season and six regular-season games between the teams.

Of course, Dauphin will play 54 other games through the season. Below, we'll take a full look at this year's team.

This year's team will feature the same coaching staff as one year ago. Doug Hedley is back as the Head Coach and General Manager while Mitch Topinka is back as the team's Assistant Coach.

Brad Dupasquier has come on as an assistant and video coach while Jayson Argue is the club's goaltending coach. Riley Ferster has joined as the team's strength and skills coach.

Dauphin began their training camp back on August 30. After a rigorous few days, the team began their preseason on September 2. They ended up winning four of six tune-up games.

"We're still carrying 28 games. This week is about getting into our systems and make sure guys are buying in," said Mitch Topinka. "We talked to some guys before camp and they said they're here to win it all. That's our goal as a coaching staff and every player wants that."

2019-2020 Dauphin Kings:

After going just 14-44-1-1 in the 2017-18 season, the team went 29-25-3-3 and they qualified for the playoffs and finished in the top eight of the standings for the first time since the 2013-14 season when they won the Sher-Wood Division with a 40-17-0-3 record.

In a season where the Kings dramatically improved, we'll take a quick look at what went wrong.

What went wrong?

Dauphin allowed the seventh-most goals in the MJHL and their 186 goals for were the seventh-fewest in the league. The team was also the second-most penalized club in the league. Their penalty kill was seventh at 80.5% and their powerplay was successful just 15.1% of the time.

The positives:

The team scored 38 more goals and they allowed 96 fewer goals than the previous year. The team's rookies showed what they could do at a high level. Between Nakodan Greyeyes, Carter Sawchuk and Mitchell Joss, the trio scored 28 times and they racked up 43 assists. Cole DeKoninck also heavily stepped up with 14 goals and 24 assists.

Losses:

Dauphin will be without their top three scorers from last season. Riley Shamray, Riley Buller and Bryon Fobair have all aged out. Shamray led the team with 47 points while Buller had 38 and Fobair notched 37. The three accounted for 44 of the team's 186 goals.

Coming back:

Despite losing their top three point-getters from one year ago, the team is happy to have back a strong core. DeKoninck, Grady Hobbs, Carter Sawchuk, Brendan Arnold, Avery Smith, and Leeam Tivers are all back. You can also toss in Andrew Liwiski who's a hometown boy. That group had 65 goals combined last year. Each of them also had at least 20 points.

In net, Bryan Landsberger is also back. He made 10 wins and he had a solid .907 save percentage.

Additions:

By no means was it a quiet summer for Dauphin. Most notably, they added 20-year-old Baron Thompson. He's played the past three years for the Brandon Wheat Kings of the Western Hockey League. In his first game with Dauphin, he scored a goal and had several more chances.

"He's going to be a leader for us. We're very happy to have him with us," said Topinka. "His size is great and he's very good. It's an exciting addition for us."

Other notable additions include Carter Eha. The big American had three goals in the preseason in three games. Other solid additions include Gavin Wendorf, Austin Lamotte, and Shon Olivier-Roy, just to name a few.

In net, Matthias Smith has looked very solid in his time here and he's expected to play a big part in this year's team. We'll chat more about Matthias next.

Goaltending:

Three goalies still remain on the team's roster. Matthias Smith and Landsberger are two. The third is Dauphin's Zach Grouette. The Dauphinite has made 42 saves during his preseason time for the Kings.

The plan for the team is to remain with three goalies for now. A definite luxury for the Kings here is having three goalies that have the capability of playing Jr. A hockey.

"We'll see how it goes. We haven't made a decision for this weekend yet, that'll depend on how the week goes," said Topinka.

Headline:

Good Start: After a home-and-home this weekend, Dauphin will play seven games on the road through October 16. The two home games are October 4 against Portage and October 8 against Neepawa.

If Dauphin can get off to a good start with a full slate of road games, the team has a good chance of jumping up the standings. From October 19-30, they will play four of their six games at Credit Union Place.

Final thoughts:

Don't forget, Darnell Duff will broadcast 27 of the team's road games right here on 730CKDM. You can check out the schedule at Dauphin Kings on 730CKDM. When you get the chance to watch Dauphin live at Credit Union Place, Mitch says you should be in for a treat.

"We'll be fast and we're going to compete for sure," said Topinka. "We have a group that is going to stick up for guys all the time. We'll also be coming at team's with size and a lot of heart."

Don't forget to tune into the first Dauphin Kings Powerplay show this Friday with Darnell Duff after the 4:00 p.m. news, weather, and sports.

Details: Contributed by Darnell Duff; Published: Sep 17, 2019 - 2:25 pm

The Dauphin Kings are very happy to announce that their Grow Project was a tremendous success once again.

This year the team planted wheat and they were able to sell it through Cargill. The team sold the crop for $65,000. After paying their dues, the team expects to net roughly $52,000.

"Finding out that we were able to sell the wheat for $65,000 is truly amazing," said Rae Csversko. "We were hoping to gross about $60,000, so we're extremely pleased that we grossed $65,000."

In the end, the money goes towards helping the Kings' pay a portion of their operating costs.

"At this time of the year, the cash flow isn't great, so this comes into play at a great time," Csversko concluded. "It will really help us keep going."

Rae also wants to thank the entire agriculture community and the wait until they begin next year's Grow Project now begins.

Next up for the Kings' as far as big fundraising projects go is the Tractor Lotto.

"You can expect some things to start happening in and around late October," he added. "Without the Tractor Lotto fundraiser, the team would be in financial distress, to say the least. We do our best to raise money and it all goes towards the Kings'."

The Tractor Lotto grosses roughly 35% of the team's budget every year.

Details: Contributed by Darnell Duff; Published: Sep 17, 2019 - 11:33 am

Back in June, Neepawa's Daniel Heschuk finished in fifth place in the Manitoba Half Marathon, in a race that featured more than 2500 participants.

He finished that race in just over 67 minutes and now the University of Manitoba Bison runner is at it again. The 23-year-old took part in the Fort Garry Rotary Club Half Marathon and he made another statement. In the 15-25-year-old age group, Heschuk finished the race in just over 69 minutes. That time was good enough to finish at the very top in an event that featured more than 100 racers.

"Honestly, it felt pretty nice. Securing a win is always a great feeling," said Heschuk. "I haven't really been training for half marathons recently, so it was nice just to get the chance to see where I was at both physically and mentally."

"I just went out there with a goal of keeping a good pace throughout," he continued. "I didn't try to push it really at all, it was just about keeping a good solid pace throughout the race and it worked well."

Before the snow hits, Daniel will be a busy man. He'll compete in the University of Saskatchewan sled dog cross-country race which is an 8-kilometre event. He will also head to Grand Forks for another cross-country race. His final one before the winter will be a cross-country race in Winnipeg.

Daniel will return to train with the Bisons next year.

Details: Contributed by Darnell Duff; Published: Sep 17, 2019 - 10:05 am

Powered by two goals from Tara-Lynn Caumartin, the McCreary Mavericks high school soccer team beat the Alonsa Aces, 4-1.

Chelsea Kieser and Gina Musgrave also scored in the big win.

Scoring for Alonsa was Hanah Dayholos.

Details: Contributed by Darnell Duff; Published: Sep 16, 2019 - 7:21 pm

Dauphin's Darrin Chrisp is back in the same place where he started his junior hockey career. The former Parkland Ranger is with the St. James Jr. Canucks of the Manitoba Major Junior Hockey League ahead of the 2019-20 season.

Darrin started last year with the team before he was traded. Knowing what skill level Darrin provides, the Jr. Canucks went out and made another trade that'll see the Dauphinite suit up for a team that won 29 games last year.

"So far we've got a little bit of a younger team, we lost some guys in the offseason," said Chrisp. "We are a hard-working squad and there is a lot of talent here. Once we get going, I feel we're going to be a strong team."

With the preseason well underway, Chrisp and the Canucks' are off to a tough start. They're 0-2-1. One of their losses came on Sunday night when they put up 54 shots. Knowing full well what the team has to offer, Chrisp believes it's only a matter of time before the wins come.

"Our offensive situation is here, we have the players to score," he continued. "We have to work on our defensive zone but I think every team does. Once we get into our systems, we'll be just fine."

Although the team has struggled to win a game so far, Darrin has been on fire. He's got four points (2G) in the team's three games. His career-high with Parkland was eight points (1G) in the 2017-18 season so it's safe to say that he is well on his way to having a season to remember.

"It's a little bit of a surprise honestly, I've never really been an offensive player," said Chrisp. "I'm just doing what I can in my own end and it's turning into offensive possessions for myself."

After three more preseason games, things get started for real on September 27. That's when the Jr. Canucks head on the road to take on the Ft. Garry /Ft. Rouge Twins. With already four points in his back pocket, the expectation is to rack up several more throughout the winter.

"Based on how I'm playing right now, I want to see myself get to at least the 20 point mark," said Chrisp. "I really don't think that's a stretch."

After travelling across the province while playing with the Rangers', Darrin's furthest trip with St. James is just outside of the city when they play Pembina Valley. Travel lots or minimal travel, Darrin is loving the Jr. lifestyle.

"The whole experience is great. When I left Parkland, I thought that was it for hockey," said Chrisp. "Just seeing the guys every couple of days and playing the sport I love is fantastic."

Details: Contributed by Darnell Duff; Published: Sep 16, 2019 - 3:11 pm

The curling season is underway and this season brings on a family reunion of sorts on the ice. For the past few years, Dauphin's Emma Jensen has been leading her previous foursome to several titles and appearances at the national championships.

This year, Emma is now living in Winnipeg as she pursues her post-secondary studies. That's not the only change, however. Emma has joined the Alexandra Friesen foursome. That includes Rebecca Friesen who plays second and the team's third is someone that Emma knows just about everything about. Her sister Hanne Jensen will play third on the team and Emma rounds out the squad at the lead position.

The foursome started their season over the weekend at the CanAm Spiel in Grand Forks. The spiel featured all Manitoban teams as the Manitoba Junior Curling Tour goes south of the border once every season.

They ended up going 1-2 in their three games. Their lone win came against Team Beaudry as they hammered them 8-1. That Beaudry rink ended up going to the finals.

"We played well. We only played with three people because Hanne didn't play because of an injury," said Emma. "I think we played pretty well, the results didn't go our way but I'm happy."

"It's a cool feeling curling with Hanne," she continued. "It's different because we've never curled together before, but it's definitely a cool one. I'm enjoying it."

With the team change also came a position change for Emma. She's primarily always been a skip, but she's now the team's lead. Instead of closing ends, she's setting them up.

"It's definitely a new experience going from skip to lead," said Jensen. "I like to give my input when our skip is asking for it and that works with me."

"At the end of the day, I still have to make my shots and that's what I plan on doing," she continued.

The foursome will play in a berth bonspiel later this season. Up for grabs is a spot to the Canola Growers Junior Provincial Championships that will be played right here in Dauphin early next year. If successful, that mean's Emma will get to play in the city where she had so much success in.

"If we get the spot, it's going to be such a great experience to play in front of all my family and friends," Jensen concluded. "My sister and I have already been talking about it. It would be such a great thing."

Stay tuned for coverage on this foursome all winter long.

Details: Contributed by Darnell Duff; Published: Sep 16, 2019 - 2:03 pm

Two seasons ago, Russell's Keaton Ziprick helped the Parkland Bantam Rangers win a bronze medal at the provincial championships. Last year, he made the jump up to U18 hockey. Playing in 19 games, Ziprick was quickly thrown into action for a team that was in a rebuilding phase.

Playing alongside Zach Grouette, Ziprick was given the chance to learn from a veteran and at the end of the day, make saves against the top U18 players in the province.

Now, Keaton's back doing what he loves and there's a good chance he'll play a big role this season. After Zach graduated, Keaton will be the veteran goalie in net and that's a challenge he's looking forward to.

"I feel like I'm playing a lot better than I was at the start of last year," said Ziprick. "I'm hoping I can keep that going for the rest of the year."

"I just feel more confident because it's not my first year anymore," he added. "I trained really hard in the offseason and I want to make this a great year."

Prior to playing any AAA games this year with Parkland, Keaton hit the ice for some junior action. He split the duties with Zach Grouette in the Kings' first preseason game against Swan Valley. It just so happens that the former AAA partners put up a couple of great performances.

Grouette started and made 32 saves. Keaton came in halfway through and he shut the door the rest of the way. Facing 24 shots, Ziprick made 23 saves, several of which were grade-A scoring chances from a Stamps' team that had much more experience than Dauphin.

The Russell native also made four saves in the shootout to preserve the win for Dauphin, their first of the preseason.

For Keaton, it's all about building off that performance and bringing it to the Rangers'.

"The guys in the junior league are better than the guys in the U18 league, so it was a great feeling that I played well," continued Ziprick. "That definitely boosted my confidence."

Since that game, it's been a busy preseason for Keaton and the rest of the Rangers'. They played two games against Yorkton and Ziprick played well in both. In a preseason tournament this past weekend in Souris, Ziprick hit the ice in every game and proved why he'll be the Rangers' #1 goalie this season.

The team doesn't have any more preseason games, so now it's just about getting ready to pick up some real points when the regular season starts later this month.

"I feel like I'm playing pretty strong. I haven't let in many weak goals which is always a good thing," he added. "I just want to go one game at a time this season and play as well as I can."

Parkland is on home ice on September 27 when they welcome the Winnipeg Thrashers to town for the first time. The game will be Parkland's home opener and the first of two-weekend games at Credit Union Place.

As mentioned before, Ziprick will be heavily relied upon up this season. With Odin Church being a rookie and his partner, Keaton will likely play a ton this season.

"It's going to be fun and it's going to be a real eye-opener playing a lot of games in this league," he concluded. "I'm looking forward to it."

Details: Contributed by Darnell Duff; Published: Sep 16, 2019 - 10:33 am

The Parkland U18 Rangers have a lot to look forward to after they wrapped up their Souris tournament on Sunday afternoon.

In their first game against Central Plains, Steven Arp scores the teams lone goal in a 4-1 loss.

Next up was Yellowhead. They’re projected to be one of the top teams in the league and Parkland gave them all they could handle.

The Rangers’ led 3-1 after 40 minutes, but the very strong Chiefs’ came back to win 4-3.

Kevin Chrisp, Garrett Hrechka and Owen McIvor scored the Rangers’ goals.

Parkland begins their regular season in two weeks on home ice.

Details: Contributed by Darnell Duff; Published: Sep 15, 2019 - 9:00 pm

Regan Hedley made an ace last weekend in Clear Lake and now he’s added to his trophy case.

The Dauphinite shot a 71 today to win the men’s windup at the Gilbert Plains Country Club.

Here are the rest of the results.

2nd - Jerron Kyle - 74.

3rd - Barry McKay - 76.

Men’s First Flight:

1st - Dale Murray - 81.

2nd - Scott Lynxleg - 82 cb.

3rd - Cary Fillion - 82 cb.

Men’s Second Flight:

1st - Wayne Bazylo - 89 cb.

2nd - Merv Lynxleg - 89 cb.

3rd - Danny Scott - 89 cb.

Men’s Third Flight:

1st - George Lobert - 94 cb.

2nd - Laurie Vrooman - 94 cb.

3rd - Cal Zatylny - 94 cb.

Ladies Championship Flight:

1st - Pearl Maksymetz.

2nd - Teresa Gulak.

3rd - Gaylene Stoughton.

Junior Boy’s 18 hole:

1st - Jackson Delaurier.

2nd - Luke Myhre.

3rd - Boston Karlson.

Junior Girl’s 9 hole:

1st - Dalayna Tomlinson.

Junior Boy’s 9 hole:

1st - Zak Fillion

Closest to the Hole #9 – John Goran

Closest to the Hole #14 – Gord McKay

Details: Contributed by Darnell Duff; Published: Sep 15, 2019 - 6:16 pm

The Brandon Wheat Kings welcomed back Jiri Patera on Saturday night as they hosted the Moose Jaw Warriors in the back half of a home-and-home at Westoba Place.

The game wrapped up the preseason for both teams and Moose Jaw will head into the regular season with a sense of confidence after a 2-1 win.

One night after they were basically dominated in their own rink, Moose Jaw came out with a different intensity in the game, which was good enough to earn their second win of the preseason.

Saturday’s game was one of Moose Jaw’s most complete of the preseason and it was Eric Alarie that started things off right.

On the powerplay, he scored an unassisted goal 17:24 in the game to give the Warriors’ a 1-0 lead after 20.

Moose Jaw also won the shot clock battle in the first, 16-9.

In the second, Brandon seemed to get a little more fire in their step.

Lynden McCallum put the Wheat Kings’ on the board with his second goal in as many games. Nolan Ritchie picked up the second assist while Neithan Salame got the primary one. The goal was scored 6:03 into the frame.

Not long after that equalizer, Moose Jaw struck back with what ended up being the game-winner.

With 8:14 left in the midway frame, Cade Hayes fired home his third of the preseason past Patera, to give Moose Jaw a 2-1 lead.

Calder Anderson and Bryden Kiesman notched the assists.

The goal was on the powerplay as the Warriors’ scored their second on the man-advantage.

Moose Jaw also outshot Brandon in the second, 15-11.

The third was a relatively quiet period. Patera turned away four shots while Bailey Brkin was tested seven times and he made the save each time to preserve the win for his club.

With the win, Moose Jaw ended their preseason at 2-5. Brandon, meanwhile, went 2-2.

The curtain on the 2019-20 regular season raises on Friday. Brandon is home to the Winnipeg ICE.

Moose Jaw begins their regular season with a home-and-home against Regina. The team’s home opener is Saturday night at Mosaic Place.