Elias Eisenbarth’s goal with one minute remaining lifted Team Hobbs to a 6-5 win over Team Cherepak in the Dauphin Kings’ annual JoFo Cup intrasquad game, Sunday afternoon at Credit Union Place.

Blake Boudreau was named player of the game for Hobbs after he scored twice and added an assist.

Linemate Rylan Gage had a goal and two assists, while Riley Borody and Jordan Bax had the other goals.

Joshua Schmidt was named player of the game for Cherepak with a two-goal effort. Josh Heistad, Sam Boldt and Danylo Dolin also scored.

Austin Siebel and Ethan Fechter combined to make 24 saves in goal for Team Hobbs. Luke Swanson and Piet Mierreau had 30 stops for Team Cherepak.

Coming into camp, Kings head coach and general manager Doug Hedley knew the team would be strong on the backend and in goal.

“We’ve had six guys in here and a couple of young kids that are going to be good in the future. There’s three of our guys that are battling for those spots,” he said, noting veteran Cole Sheffield and rookies Siebel, Swanson, Fechter and Mierreau all had good camps.

Mierreau and Chase Glover will likely play in the opening preseason contests, Tuesday against the Neepawa Titans and Wednesday against the Swan Valley Stampeders.

Both games get underway at 7:30 p.m. at Credit Union Place.

Dauphin will travel to Swan River for the rematch, Friday, at 7 p.m.

Newcomer Naaman Hofer, who was acquired in a trade with the Winnipeg Freeze, last week, was one of the best players in camp all weekend.

“And we really like the pairing with (Karson) Raymond and the (Trey) Gnetz kid that we got from the States, they looked really well. So our backend, we like our mobility, we like our speed and we like our first passes” he said. “And I think there’s some real good potential up front with the speed and the youth that we have.”

Most of the veterans in the intrasquad game were being outplayed by the rookies fighting to make the roster.

“Boudreau has been good all camp. Bouds has separated himself, but I think the rest of our guys, the 17 and 18 year olds have looked really good,” Hedley said, adding he liked the speed and work ethic he saw, as well as the plays that were made. "We showed some really good IQ and some creativity. At this time of year, that’s what we have to do as a coaching staff is get that compete level to the intensity that we want,” he said. “But I do like our speed and the skill sets are really good. There’s something to work with, that’s for sure.”

Tonight’s preseason game with Neepawa will feature the team’s draft picks and list players.

Following Tuesday’s game, the Kings will drop to between 25 and 30 players heading into the remainder of the preseason.

Defenceman Marco Bodnarski and Aidan Murray are out with injuries, so the team will likely carry 10 defencemen and 18 forwards, as well as three goaltenders.

For the remainder of the preseason, Hedley would like to see the work ethic and speed to continue.

“We’re looking to really get some good depth with some size, speed and compete. Hopefully, we can get six lines out of there. Six lines and 10 D and three goaltenders to go into the exhibition (games),” he said.

Kings court:

The Kings will end the preseason with a home game, Sept. 15, against the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League’s Melville Millionaires at 7:30 p.m. at Credit Union Place, followed by a game in Virden the next night against the Oil Capitals. The regular season begins, Sept. 22, with the Stampeders in town for the home opener at 7:30 p.m.

Residents at Kinsmen Villa had a special visitor last week when a wayward black bear decided to use a tree outside the Sixth Avenue Northwest apartment block for a late morning nap.

It is that time of year when bears are on tour looking for that last bit food to build up fat prior to winter.

And with a river running through the middle of the community, the bears are provided with a perfect highway to embark on their adventures. Sometimes those adventures will bring them into the city and in contact with its residents.

If left alone, the animals will usually continue on their way without causing any problems. In fact, problems with bears are usually created by people.

Here are some tips to help you avoid attracting bears to your property:

• Garbage - eliminate odours. Put garbage in containers that have tight fitting lids, and only put it out on the morning of garbage day, not the night before. If possible, store garbage in bear-resistant containers, or indoors (house, shed, garage). Do not store garbage in plywood boxes, old freezers or vehicles. Put meat scraps in the freezer until garbage day. If you do not have curbside pick up, take your garbage to the dump often. Frequently wash garbage cans and recycle containers and lids with a strong smelling disinfectant.

• Bird and pet food - Fill bird feeders only through the winter months. Do not leave pet food outdoors. Feed pets indoors, not outside or in screened-in areas or porches.

• Fruits, vegetables and compost - Avoid landscaping with trees, shrubs or plants that produce food known to attract bears (some examples include crab apple trees, mountain ash, beech and oak). Do not put meat, fish or sweet food (including fruit) in your composter. Remove vegetables and fallen fruit from the ground. Pick all ripe fruit from trees and bushes.

• Smells - Be aware that cooking odours can attract bears. Remove grease and food residue from barbecue grills, including the grease cup underneath, after each use.

Learn about bears, their needs and behaviour. Share your knowledge with others and encourage your neighbours to practice bear-wise habits.

Users of the Northgate Trail system will notice an addition to the site, courtesy of a Dauphin student.

Anya Jackson attends university in Saskatoon, where she has seen a lot of free libraries, cubicles in which books are stored for anyone to take and read.

“I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time and I haven’t seen any in Dauphin,” she said. “I just thought it would be a nice addition to Dauphin and the community.”

Jackson spoke with some members of the Rotary Club about helping to restock the mini-library.

“Because the first bunch of books are some of my old books, because I’m a big reader. But I thought that once I’m away at school, I can’t always make sure there’s enough books in it. So they’re going to help me restock it with all of the extra books they have,” she said.

Everyone is invited to take a book and return it once they have read it, or take a book and leave one in its place.

“We thought up here at Northgate would be perfect, because a lot of families that come up. There’s people who stay at the cabins. Now with all this space out here with the picnic tables and the fire, we thought that people could take a book, read it, bring it back. Or, if they want to take it home because they’re not done, that’s the point. That’s the purpose,” she said.

Jackson’s father Terry built the mini-library, while Anya designed and painted the outside.

Now that is it up and filled with books, Jackson is excited to see her idea come to fruition.

“It looks great. I’m really excited for people to see it. I think it’s an exciting thing for people to walk by and see something new is here. Hopefully, they’re as excited as I am. So I’m very excited about it,” she said.

Part of the purpose, Jackson said, is to get more people reading.

“I love reading and I know that lots of people do. But it’s nice to bring light to reading. Now we have so much technology, but it’s nice to bring people back to physical books and hopefully this will bring awareness back to reading,” she said.

The need for some form of affordable, accessible public transportation has long been a topic of debate in Dauphin. And that conversation has arisen once again, prompting the Dauphin Neighborhood Renewal Corporation (DNRC) to take action by way of facilitating a stakeholders meeting.

“From a board’s perspective, and a staff perspective, from clients and stakeholders you work with and just some of the work that we do, it came to our attention that the lack of some kind of public transportation was affecting community members,” DNRC board member Phil Fafard said. “So we took it upon ourselves, as part of our mandate, to help initiate and facilitate a process whereby the stakeholders would come together to, first of all hear from the stakeholders, as to whether or not they saw this as an issue.”

The idea was to explore what kinds of transportation services are being provided in the community, whether those were fully addressing the needs and if not, whether people were willing to work towards a community-based, made-in-Dauphin solution.

“We invited as many stakeholders as possible and that included the City, provincial organizations, service providers, private business owners and non-profit organizations to this meeting to hear from them about whether or not is there an issue,” Fafard said, adding there was a concensus among attendees that there is, in fact, a gap in services around transportation in the community.

“It’s affecting community members in terms of their participation in the community or the economy. Even just being able to get around town, whether it’s for child care, for work, shopping.”

In the end, a group of people indicated their to advance the conversation through participation on a steering committee.

“To look at, and do a little research to find out what is available, what isn’t available, what the need is and maybe look at some potential options that Dauphin could pursue as a community,” Fafard said, adding while DNRC initiated the process, it will not lead the process going forward. “I think at the start of the committee work we’ll certainly be involved in terms of help and support. And we may remain involved, but we may not be the lead in terms of where this goes. That will be determined by the committee and who is able to actually pursue a solution.”

Fafard added the process is in its infancy and there may be many options available ranging from public systems, to private businesses to public-private partnerships.

“We’re reaching out to the other communities in Manitoba to find out what they’re doing. That will be part of the research. So it’s really just the start of a process and I don’t know how long it will take, but we’ll see where it goes,” he said. “I think we have a group of people who know that this issue is holding back and affecting community members. And it’s actually holding back the community of Dauphin from an economic development standpoint. We heard that from business owners and non-profits. So it’s an important issue, that has been an issue for a long time and really needs a solution.”

If you thought campaigning had already begun with all three major parties making all those election promises in recent weeks, just wait to see what’s coming down the road.

The official campaign period for Manitoba’s 43rd provincial election begins today (Sept. 3) with Premier Heather Stefanson requesting Lieutenant-Governor Anita Neville to dissolve the legislature and issue the writ of
election.

Find out more in this week’s Review.

A visit to Russell’s Cancer Care unit turns into an opportunity for locals to get involved in providing special gift bags.

The exercise group at the 50 & Over Club are the latest to get involved.

Check out the Review for more.

Manitoba Health is reporting the first confirmed human case of West Nile virus (WNV) in 2023, along with three other probable WNV cases currently under investigation.

The confirmed case is 40 to 49 years of age and lives in the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.

Read this week’s issue to find out more.

The Skippy L has been a historical part of the community’s history since it was built in 1936. It was built as a riverboat to carry out freight and passengers along the Saskatchewan River. The Skippy L was the longest serving craft of its type and ceased operations in 1977. In 1989, it was designated as a Provincial Heritage Object and put on display in Devon Park.
Since then, the Skippy L has seen better days. Years of neglect have taken its toll and now the Provincial Heritage Object has become an eye sore that is chained up with a fence to keep people out for safety reasons. It’s been the talk of a few town councils, but no decisions have been made in terms of preserving, restoring or demolishing it. It’s a task that the current Town of The Pas Council now faces.

In the summer, many people look forward to different opportunities to dine out, whether it be eating at patio restaurants, drive-ins or food trucks. Now The Pas has another opportunity to get some homestyle cooking from a food truck vendor setting.
“I had been considering opening up a mobile concession booth for some time now and wanted to bring something different to The Pas and area,” said Taste of Home Owner and Operator Ken Johnston Jr. “There have only been a few operations like this in The Pas in the past ten years, and then an opportunity came my way and I was able to purchase this one in Saskatoon.

So far this year there has been a lot of talk about development in northern Manitoba that could creating more shipping and transport opportunities, to job creation and economic development. One of the more recent potential projects that could take place in the northern part of our province is the NeeStaNan Utility Corridor Project, which is Indigenous-led.
The Province of Manitoba has committed to providing $6.7 million over the next two years to study the feasibility of NeeStaNan.
A study by the University of Calgary School of Public Policy has done work on the feasibility and need for a utility corridor. Their work supports that a port and corridor for Liquified Natural Gas (LNG), potash and containers are feasible.