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FINAL UPDATE - January 29 - 7:00 p.m.
The Manitoba Junior Hockey League has defended home ice.
Taye Timmerman (Northern Manitoba) and Brett O'Halloran (Kindersley) put on a show for their respect clubs between the pipes, however, it was Team MJHL 18U that got the last shot in as Max Lavoie (Winkler) scored in the 15th round of the shootout in a thrilling 2-1 win for Manitoba.
After Lavoie scored, Timmerman made a game clinching save to give Manitoba its fourth straight win after a tough start. Gavin Nemis was on Team MJHL for this week.
This was the second straight exceptional game for these two teams as they also took part in a shootout on Tuesday, which was won by Team MJHL.
Both leagues will resume league play on Friday, the Dauphin Kings are heading to Virden to play the Oil Capitals. Darnell Duff will have the call of that game, beginning with the Parkland Source for Sports pregame show at 7:20.
What a week it was in Manitoba's capital and now it's time for the MJHL to continue its push to the Turnbull Cup playoffs.
UPDATE #5 - January 29 - 4:00 p.m.
The first two games did not go the way Team MJHL hoped for. They gave up 14 goals and lost two straight. Since the all-stars from Manitoba have been firing on all cylinders.
After a masterful performance from Dauphin Kings goaltender Cole Sheffield on Wednesday morning, Team MJHL picked up their third straight win during the afternoon session as six different all-stars from Team MJHL 20U Red scored in a 6-4 win against Team SJHL 20U White.
Isaiah Peters (Winkler), Brody Beauchemin (Winkler), Quincy Supprien (Northern Manitoba), Adam Vigfusson (Niverville), and Sean Williams (Niverville) all scored a goal apiece. Grandview star and Winkler Flyer forward Jayce Legaarden had the other goal paired with one assist. Austin Dubinsky (Niverville) earned the win in net.
Reilley Kotai (Melfort), Jaron Desnoyers (Yorkton), Dustin Renas (Yorkton), and Jacob Strizzi (Humboldt) responded for Team SJHL and Justen Maric (Battlefords) received the loss in net.
Manitoba will look to win its fourth straight game on Wednesday evening when Gavin Nemis and the 18U all-stars from Manitoba take on the 18U all-stars from Saskatchewan.
UPDATE #4 - January 29 - 1:00 p.m.
All hail King Sheffield.
The Dauphin Kings star goaltender dazzled on Wednesday as Team MJHL 20U Black beat Team SJHL 20U Gold, 5-1, to wrap up their two-game event. Sheffield made 43 saves in the game, 21 of which came in the third. Sheffield made a penalty shot save late in the second period, propelling his team to victory.
Sheffield was named the CCM Star of the Game.
Cayden Glover (Dauphin) also had a great performance with two assists while Cameron Bullinger (Portage) led the way for Team MJHL with two goals. Matteo Speranza (Niverville), Grady Hoffman (Steinbach), and Nolan Nenow (Portage), all scored a goal apiece for Team MJHL. Anthony Piccininno (Flin Flon) responded for Team SJHL.
Sheffield, Glover, Naaman Hofer, and Matthew Thomas will now return to Dauphin, practice on Thursday, and board their charter bus on Friday as the team resumes regular season play at Tundra Oil & Gas Place against the Virden Oil Capitals.
Gavin Nemis of Dauphin will play in the 18U all-star game on Wednesday evening.
UPDATE #3 - 9:00 p.m.
What a finish to day one of the MJHL/SJHL Showcase in Winnipeg.
It took seven rounds and 14 shooters combined, a stop by Mitchell Kathler of the Portage Terriers and Team MJHL 18U earned a win on Tuesday night. The final was 3-2 in a shootout.
After dropping the first two games, Team MJHL was looking to salvage a win and that's what they did. Esteban Cinq-Mars (Northern Manitoba) and Adam Matar (Winnipeg Blues) did the scoring for Manitoba while Ethan Sautner (Kindersley) and Rylan Wieler (Kindersley) responded for Team SJHL 18U.
Mitchell Kathler made 27 saves in net for the MJHL.
Both 20U teams from the MJHL and SJHL will battle once more on Wednesday and Wednesday night will see these same 18U teams play a rematch.
League play resumes Friday with Dauphin in Oil Country to play the Oil Capitals.
UPDATE #2 - 5:00 p.m.
The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League's biggest guns are on full display, at the expense of Team Manitoba Junior Hockey League.
In the second game of the Showcase in Manitoba's capital, Keenan Ingram (Yorkton), Zac Somers (Melfort), and Jacob Strizzi (Humboldt), all scored two goals apiece while Kristian Coombs (Melfort) turned away 18 shots in a commanding 9-4 win over the Team MJHL 20U Black.
Christian Green (Steinbach) had no answer to a high-powered SJHL roster. Team SJHL opened up the floodgates with six goals in the second period before scoring another three in the third.
Decker Mujcin (Portage) scored twice while Wyatt Witham (Selkirk) and Matteo Speranza (Niverville) scored one goal apiece.
Team MJHL will have one more chance to finish day one with a victory when Gavin Nemis and the 18U all-stars hit the ice at the Seven Oaks Sportsplex.
UPDATE #1 - 3:00 p.m.
Jayce Legaarden notched an assist, however, there wasn't much else going on for Team MJHL 20U Red.
Opening the Showcase at the Seven Oaks Sportsplex, Legaarden assisted on the team's goal scored by Brody Beauchemin as Team MJHL took a 1-0 lead, but they lost 5-2.
Team SJHL, led by a few stars from the Flin Flon Bombers, scored three straight. Anthony Piccininno, Keefe Gruener (both of Flin Flon) and Ethan DeKay (Weyburn)
Niklas Gudmundson (Winkler) brought Team 20U Red back within a goal for Manitoba, but that was as close as they would get. Kent Moors (Estevan) and Jerome Maharaj (Weyburn) scored to seal a 5-2 opening victory for Team SJHL.
Jayce was named his team's Star of the Game.
NEXT: Team MJHL 20U Black vs Team SJHL 20U White. This game features Naaman Hofer, Cole Sheffield, Cayden Glover, and Matthew Thomas.
It's a clash between Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
The Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) is going up against the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) at a Showcase in Winnipeg at the Seven Oaks Arena. 60 of the top players from each league made the cut.
Five Dauphin Kings are at the event. Cole Sheffield, Naaman Hofer, Cayden Glover, Gavin Nemis, and Matthew Thomas. Jayce Legaarden of Grandview is playing on Team 20U Red. Glover, Hofer, Thomas, and Sheffield are on Team 20U Black. Gavin Nemis of the Kings is on Team 18U White.
The event features scouts at all levels including the professional ranks and collegiately. Stay tuned throughout the next two days to find out how Team MJHL did.
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- Contributed by Darnell Duff
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.
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They came home with a pizza that was reserved for champions.
The Dauphin U-11A Kings were in Melville over the weekend for a tournament and coasted to a title. In the final, Dauphin downed the St. Boniface Seals, 5-0. Dauphin also secured wins against Yorkton (16-0), Regina (14-1), and again topped Regina in the semi-finals.
This team has already qualified for the Tournament of Champions later this season.
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After some solid events in the pool, Ena Morrisseau, Holly Marcynuk, and Lauren Lesiuk have plenty to be proud of.
The trio competed in the St. James Invitational as members of the Parkland Gators Swim Club.
Ena Morrisseau:
13th - 50m backstroke
15th - 50m breaststroke
15th - 200m freestyle
19th - 50m fly stroke
21st - 100m breaststroke
31st - 50m freestyle
63rd - 100m freestyle
Holly Marcynuk:
51st - 100m freestyle
59th - 50m freestyle
66th - 50m backstroke
74th - 50m breaststroke
Lauren Lesiuk:
6th - 200m breaststroke
10th - 100m breaststroke
11th - 100m individual medley
13th - 50m breaststroke
15th - 100m backstroke
22nd - 50m backstroke
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The Parkland U-18 Rangers have been through a lot this season.
They won their first four games of the season and eight of their first 10 games to sit near the top of the standings. Then they lost their head coach as Swan River's Josh Tripp became the head coach of his hometown team when the Stampeders parted ways with Barry Wolff.
The team, now led by Tom White along with Matt Kustra, has had to stick with the grind of coming to the rink when things aren't going as planned and they've also enjoyed wins against some of the top teams in the league.
This is a group that has battled plenty of adversity and while things have not always been easy, they're a group that has stuck with the process. They also lost Trace Langan, who was off to a fantastic start to the season, recording eight points in eight games to start the campaign before he joined his hometown Stampeders.
For Cash McCallum, he has taken great pride in staying positive and coming with his work boots to every practice and game. This is his second year with the Rangers and he knows what kind of group they have.
"Losing our coach early was pretty hard for us, but we've bounced back. I think we have a great group," said McCallum. "This is one of the best Ranger teams in years, everyone is playing for one another and pushing through."
Cash is in the midst of a career year. In 37 games, the star from Dauphin has one goal and 11 points. He's also passed last year's total when he scored two goals and had seven points. McCallum is tied for 10th in team scoring with Ryzlie Nepinak.
"Skating with Doug Hedley in the morning has really helped me out," continued McCallum. "I also have that year of experience under my belt and I'm learning the game more. I get the chance to play with a great group of guys."
Overall, McCallum is pleased with what he has brought to the table.
"I think anyone would say the goal is to have more of an impact," commented McCallum. "With that said, I'm pretty happy with my performance. I continue to work hard and push myself to the limit."
Wrapping up a weekend set in Thompson on Sunday, Cash opened the scoring with his first goal of the season 15:46 into the first. He added an assist on Ryder Gardner's goal late in the second period. Cash has two multi-point games this season with his other coming on December 7 against the Winnipeg Bruins.
It was an important goal to give Parkland a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes on Sunday and he was pleased to contribute.
"That felt great to get the monkey off my back and get that confidence boost," continued McCallum. "To sweep Norman over the weekend was massive for us, four huge points for our group. It was a long ride home but it was all worth it after winning both games."
Parkland will look to make it three straight wins when they return to the friendly confines of Credit Union Place on Thursday evening. That's when the Rangers (20-18-1) welcome the last-place Yellowhead Chiefs (7-28-0-1) to town. Parkland has eight of their 20 wins on home ice this season and they'll look to build on that Tuesday.
"We're heading into that game with a lot of confidence," commented McCallum. "We didn't take Norman easily knowing they were lower than us in the standings and we can't take Yellowhead lightly, either. We have to come out prepared to grind and play the way we know we can."
Thursday's game will be Parkland's last this month before playing eight games in 19 days to wrap up the regular season next month. With Parkland only three points up on the Pembina Valley Hawks (16-15-4-2), McCallum understands how important each game is and he's looking forward to the home stretch.
"We believe that we can beat anyone, as long as we play the way that we know we can" offered McCallum. "We have to play Parkland Rangers hockey and if we do so, we can compete with anyone."
Before joining the U-18 team, Cash played with the U-15 Rangers and has now played 81 games with the U-18 program. He grew up in Dauphin watching the likes of Riese Gaber and Bradyn Smelski and now, he's living out his childhood dream of being a Ranger.
"It's an unbelievable feeling to be a Ranger. It's cool to be in those guys' shoes," ended McCallum. "We have a great program and a great dressing room. You can't ask for much more."
Head to Credit Union Place on Thursday night to cheer on McCallum and the rest of the U-18 Rangers as they lock in for a playoff push.
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- Contributed by Darnell Duff
The Neepawa Tigers varsity boys basketball team dominated the court over the weekend.
They played in the Souris Sabres Slam tournament and in a thrilling final that saw both teams light it up from the field, the Tigers came out on top in a 100-94 victory over the host team.
Neepawa also beat Frontier, 92-79, and Prairie Mountain, 93-57. A co-op team between Gilbert Plains and Grandview finished fifth after losing their final match against Killarney, 75-72.
Jeral Belarmino of Neepawa was named the tournament's most valuable player.
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It was a winning weekend for the Grand Plains U-9 Hazlewood Hawks.
Playing in Russell, it was an undefeated weekend for the group who went coast-to-coast to win the A-side championship and bring a banner back to Gilbert Plains.
In the final, the Hawks downed the Team Jones from Russell, 6-5. It was a thrilling back-and-forth game that came down to the wire. Grand Plains also beat Birtle, Swan Valley, and Russell VanDamme.
The U-9 McDonald Hawks also competed in the tournament and ended with a title win. They beat Russell VanDamme in an outstanding game that needed overtime to decide the winner.
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Adam Bighill made an emotional announcement on his social media pages over the weekend when the Winnipeg Blue Bombers announced that he wouldn't be signing a new contract with the team.
His message read, in part.
Unfortunately, I won’t be coming back to the Blue and Gold this coming season. I’m not mad, I understand the way the business goes. Sure it’s disappointing when things don’t work out the way you want them to, but I knew this was a possibility and by no means was caught off guard.
First off, thank you to all of the fans who have been nothing short of AMAZING. From the day I arrived here, there was nothing but love, and it’s a major reason why we live full-time here.
Secondly, thanks to the Bombers organization bringing me in, the football experience is top-notch. I’ve been around for a while and sometimes players don’t know how good they have it. Winnipeg takes care of their players and I’m very thankful to have been part of helping this organization bring back the Grey Cup to the Province of Manitoba.
On Monday, it was announced that the team parted ways with Drew Wolitarsky.
Wolitarsky was selected in the 2017 CFL supplementary draft out of the University of Minnesota. Over seven seasons in the CFL and 89 regular-season games with the Blue & Gold, Drew had 227 catches for 2,954 yards and 18 touchdowns.
He helped Winnipeg win the Grey Cup in 2019 and 2021. He was limited to just 10 games this past season because of injury. He had 33 catches for 403 yards and a touchdown.
On Winnipeg's team website, general manager Kyle Walters said this was a very tough decision.
"He was a solid contributor for the team, was popular in the dressing room and instrumental in two Grey Cup championships," said Walters.
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They lost their only game of the week and as a result, dropped in the weekly Canadian Junior Hockey League's Top 20 rankings.
Following a 4-2 defeat against Virden on Ukrainian Night, the Kings are ranked 17th this week, a drop of five compared to their 12th spot last week. Dauphin is still on top of the MGEU West Division with 53 points, six more than Neepawa and Northern Manitoba. The Kings have two games in hand on the Blizzard and four on the Titans.
Dauphin continues to try to chase down three East Division powers who occupy the top three spots in the league. Winkler and Steinbach both have 63 points while Portage has 59. The Kings return to game action on Friday when they're in Virden to play the Oil Capitals. Darnell Duff has the call of that game, opening with the Parkland Source for Sports pregame show at 7:20.
Before that, five members of the team are in Winnipeg for the Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) - Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) Showcase that opens on Tuesday at the Seven Oaks Arena.
Cole Sheffield, Gavin Nemis, Naaman Hofer, Cayden Glover, and Matthew Thomas will look to showcase their elite skills and represent the Kings crest with great pride.
Cayden Glover has been named an MJHL Star of the Week. The 20-year-old from Brandon had three goals and five points in two games last week.
Glover leads the league with 33 goals and he's tied for second in league scoring with Adam Vigfusson of the Niverville Nighthawks, who Dauphin will play four times moving ahead.
Cayden has 11 multi-goal games this year, one of which came over the weekend against Virden.
Around the league, Jayce Legaarden and the Winkler Flyers remained in the seventh spot while Steinbach improved one ranking to ninth. The Portage Terriers are honourable mentions.
In the SJHL, Will Munro and Bo Eisner of Swan River have helped the Melfort Mustangs to the third spot. The Mustangs are on top of the SJHL standings while the Flin Flon Bombers, who have points in 25 straight games, 22 of which have been wins, are ranked 15th nationally.
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It was their first year curling together as a foursome and their goal was to advance to the Rocky Mountain Equipment (RME) provincial championships that concluded over the weekend in Pilot Mound.
Their spot wasn't guaranteed as they needed to qualify and had the opportunity to do so early in December. In a back-and-forth opening game at their qualifier, they scored a four in the seventh end and held off Team Panagapko, 10-9.
They followed that up by stealing a point in the 11th end to down Team Calvert, 8-7, and with a provincial berth on the line in their next game, it was more of the same. Leading 6-5 heading into the 10th without the last rock, they manufactured a steal of three to earn a 9-5 win and with it, Team McFarlane was heading to the big dance. Featuring a 26-year-old star from Gilbert Plains, the foursome had only played a few events before the qualifier.
Stacy Sime delivered three great performances to help the team consisting of Sime, Hailey McFarlane, Janelle Lach, and Hallie McCannell, qualify for the RME provincials, giving Sime her third chance to compete in the women's provincial championships.
"It felt amazing to qualify, it's always such an incredible feeling to get that chance to play in the provincials," said Sime. "We played two very good teams and came together. We stuck it out and rallied to win the qualifier."
Sime of Gilbert Plains and her team arrived in Pilot Mound early last week alongside 11 other rinks. Team Kerri Einarson and Team Lawes, both powerhouses from Manitoba, did not have to play in the event as they had already qualified for the national championships later this year.
Sime and her team opened the event with a 7-5 loss against Team McLeod. That loss fired the team up and they caught fire, winning five straight games and scoring 44 points. They had jumped atop the standings in their pool and clinched a spot in the championship round, something only five other teams were able to achieve.
"We came out on a little bit of a slow start," commented Sime. "It was a great accomplishment for the group to go on that winning streak and qualify for the championship round. It felt really good, we executed our shots and got on a roll."
Entering the event as the ninth seed, the week's highlight for Sime and her team was beating the top two seeds. They downed the top-ranked Team Cameron, 9-5, and the second-ranked Team Peterson, 9-8.
With a spot in the semi-finals on the line, Team McFarlane opened up a 2-1 lead after two ends in a tiebreaker and rematch against Team Peterson. Down 6-5 entering the 10th without hammer, Sime and her team came up short in a 7-5 defeat.
It ended the team's tournament and while it wasn't the ending they were hoping for, Sime has so many reasons to be extremely proud of herself.
"We were very proud of our fourth-place finish, we were underdogs entering the event," commented Sime. "It was a great feeling for the group and we look forward to getting the chance to qualify for next year's event and improving on this year."
Sime also wants to give a big shoutout to her family and friends back home in the Parkland for their support. The Dauphin Curling Club made several posts on Facebook and Sime was feeling the love.
"It's amazing to have all that support, they were proud of me for even making the provincials," ended Sime. "It's a special feeling knowing everyone was supporting me. Thank you to everyone for your messages and love."
Team Cameron beat Team Peterson in the final to earn their spot in the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, which will be played from February 14-23 in Thunder Bay.
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Jesse Hockridge scored two goals as the Dauphin Clippers completed a perfect weekend.
It was three wins in as many days for Dauphin as they downed the Birtle Falcons, 11-1. Dauphin scored six times in the first period and they never looked back to win their 15th game of the year. Noah Hanneson, Riley Durston, Samson Bourgoin, Ethan Carnegie, Kenai Mouck, Wil Busby, Lyric Smith, Jorden Braun, and Julien Lopez all scored a goal apiece for Dauphin in the win.
Dauphin opened the weekend with a thrilling 6-5 win against Crocus Plains with Ethan Carnegie leading the charge, scoring three times. Lyric Smith, Noah Hanneson, and Ronin Mouck also scored.
Then on Saturday, Dauphin beat the Glenboro Wildcats, 6-2. Carnegie scored twice as did Ronin Mouck. Julien Lopez and Hockridge also scored.
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