A group of local rugby players traveled to Vancouver for some exhibition rugby last month.

Codi Harrigan, Nick Searle, Willie Budzinski and Jeff Zeiler made the trip out west to play old boys (35-and-older) rugby, as well as to watch an international 7s rugby tournament.

Harrigan said one of the players usually goes every year and former Dauphin Maverick Bernie Dowhan had reached out, asking if they would be making the trip this year.

“And if we would play with them on their team. So that’s how it came about. We offered it up to the team and we got four takers,” he said.

The four Mavericks played a game, Feb. 23, using old boys rules.

People are jacked for the upcoming season. Read more about it in this week's TMC Dauphin Herald, delivered FREE to everyone in and around Dauphin!

After 25 years of officiating in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League, local referee Kerry Fidierchuk is hanging up his skates when it comes to the MJHL.

Fidierchuk started in the MJHL as a linesman in 1995 and worked his first game as a referee in 1997. He worked his final game, Mar. 1, when the Dauphin Kings hosted the Winnipeg Freeze.

Dauphin’s Mitch Drysdale, who started officiating in 2001 and worked his first MJHL game in The Pas in February 2007 with Fidierchuk, also retired from the MJHL after that game.

Fidierchuk decided to get into officiating as a way to stay in the game after his playing days were over.

“I always had a passion for officiating in some sort and I also had a passion for hockey. So put two and two together and I wasn’t playing any more, so that was the next best thing,” Fidierchuk said.

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Four local football players put their talent on display with the Manitoba Selects at a tournament in Orlando, Fla.

Riley Lobert, Sully Fox, Owen Tyschinski and Lars Gudbjartson attended tryout camps after the high school football season ended last fall.

“They got all the guys who wanted to play and just had an open tryout for anybody that wanted to come,” Gudbjartson said, adding he was happy for another chance to play the game after ending his high school career in November. “I love the game. It’s very important to me. And without that, there’s no real options for us to continue during the school year, so I was very grateful for the chance to play,” he said.

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The Dauphin Kings enter the 2023-24 Manitoba Junior Hockey League playoffs riding a four-game winning streak to end the regular season.

Included in that winning streak is a 2-0 victory over their quarterfinal opponents, the Blizzard Jr. A Hockey Club, Wednesday in The Pas, a game in which the Kings sat their top line of Jordan Bax, Cayden Glover and Ashton Paul, as well as starter Cole Sheffield.

The night before, the Kings scored three late power-play goals en route to a 7-3 win over the Portage Terriers at Credit Union Place.

On Friday, Dauphin snapped a 2-2 tie with three third-period goals in skating to a 5-2 victory over the Winnipeg Blues in Winnipeg.

And in the season finale, Logan Walker scored three times and added an assist to lead the Kings to a 6-3 win over the Selkirk Steelers, Saturday in Selkirk.

Kings head coach and general manager Doug Hedley was pleased with how the team played in the final four games.

“I’m really proud of the guys for the way they worked in the last four games. Actually, the last couple weeks. They worked hard. We didn’t get the results all the time, but the compete and being hard on pucks and the speed and playing fast was all back again. I think we’re ready to go for playoffs,” he said. The schedule will begin on Friday in The Pas with the second game of the series in Dauphin on Sunday (4:00pm).

The Kings and Blizzard split the season series with each team winning three games and they each won twice on the road. The Blizzard outscored Dauphin 15-12 in the six games.

Hedley said it will be a tough series.

“We know what they bring. They work hard in five-man units. We have to match their work ethic and compete level. It’s going to come down to two great goaltenders,” he said.

The Kings, he said, have to play fast, get on pucks quickly and move them quickly.

“The longer you hang on to it, the more chance of a turnover with a team that works real hard. We just have to make sure that we’re hard on pucks, we work hard, we protect the middle of the ice and really look after the net front and help Sheff out as much as we can,” Hedley said. “We know he’ll make the first one. We’ve just got to look after rebounds and second shots and make sure we box out.”

But the biggest thing, Hedley said, is it is going to come down to will, hard work and never quitting.

“We’re going to make mistakes, everybody does. It’s just how you rebound, how resilient you are and how many times you’re going to be pushed,” he added. “It’s the best time of year. You find out about the players in your group and the players find out a lot about their teammates. It’s one of those things that is nothing but a positive experience.”

Hedley feels home ice advantage is overrated, noting they won the Turnbull Trophy two years ago in game seven in Steinbach.

“The only difference is the noise factor and a lot of times that gets you pumped up and ready to play, regardless of whether they’re going against you or for you,” he said. “It’s a matter of the focus, where we’re going and not necessarily who we’re playing. Our goal is to win the series and move on to the next one.”

Winning in The Pas twice will give the Kings confidence heading into the series. Because it’s a small ice surface, the key will be moving the puck quick.

“It’s one-touch. You can’t handle it too long. They come at you hard and they work hard. It’s a small building, things happen fast, so the support for your teammates all over the ice has got to be there,” he said. “So short passes, deep pressure and that’s what we’re going to focus on.”

Kings court:

The Manitoba Junior Hockey League recently named its award winners. Winkler Flyers forward Trent Penner was named Most Valuable Player, while Noah Szabo of the Steinbach Pistons won the Top Defenceman Award and his Pistons teammate Grady Hoffman won the Rookie of the Year Award. Blizzard netminder Tomas Anderson won the Top Goaltender Award and Blizzard coach Eric Labrosse was named Coach of the Year. Josh Lehto of the Virden Oil Capitals won the Hockey Ability and Sportsmanship Award. Penner, Szabo and Anderson were all selected to the first all-star team along with Steinbach forward Leo Chambers and forward Dalton Andrews of Winkler. Tayem Gislason of the Portage Terriers was the other defenceman selected. The second all-star team consists of forwards Sean Williams of the Waywayseecappo Wolverines, Lehto and Nolan Chastko of Virden, defencemen Sebastian Hamming of the Blizzard and Kaycee Coyle of the Niverville Nighthawks and Dauphin’s Cole Sheffield in goal. The rookie all-star team includes forwards Hoffman, Marlen Edwards of the Blizzard and, Nathan Brown of Niverville, defencemen Cole Slobodian of Virden and James Edwards of Winkler and goaltender Raiden Legall of Niverville.

With construction of the Maamawi Park now underway, residents are wondering just what will be included in the facility.

Committee member Stacey Penner said they are excited to see construction of the hill begin.

“I know it has garnered a lot of information,” she said.

The park’s name is Ojibwe, meaning together. Penner said when deciding on a name for the park, the committee was excited to celebrate the rich culture of the local Indigenous population.

“And something that really suits us in our community coming together for free physical activity. It’s just very, very fitting philosophically what we’re shooting for in building this park,” she said.

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After suffering three losses last week, the Dauphin Kings have resigned themselves to a third-place finish in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s MGEU West Division.

Dauphin’s week began with a 4-0 setback at the hands of the first-place Virden Oil Capitals, Tuesday in Virden, followed by a 3-2 overtime loss to the Neepawa Titans, a game in which the Kings led 2-1 until Neepawa tied it with 14 seconds left in regulation, then won it on a power play with two seconds left in overtime.

Saturday, the Kings hoped to make up some ground when they hosted the Blizzard Jr. A Hockey Club, but they were set back on their heels almost right off the start in what turned into a 5-3 Blizzard victory, the team’s 12th win in a row.

Defenceman Aiden Murray was assessed a high sticking penalty 53 seconds into the game and 37 seconds later, defenceman Trey Gnetz was given what was initially called an interference penalty, but was later changed to a cross checking penalty, putting the Kings two men short.

The Blizzard took advantage, scoring twice to build an early 2-0 lead, 3:21 into the contest and they never looked back, building a 5-1 lead less than six minutes into the third period.

The Kings scored two goals 34 seconds apart, but that was as close as they would get.

As a result, the Kings enter the final week of the season with a 34-17-2-1 record for 71 points, seven behind the Blizzard.

Kings head coach and general manager Doug Hedley felt the second penalty was unwarranted as it was a play which occurs several times a game.

“We do it all year. Everybody does it. Every PK unit does it. The guy has the puck, he dumps it in, he gets hit. And all of a sudden we’re down five-on-three. I didn’t agree with the call. It is what it is. It was a tough start,” he said.

Hedley felt the Kings were better the rest of the period, but gave up a goal just 1:13 into the second period to fall behind 3-1.

“And then, for some reason, the start of every period, we’re back on our heels,” he said.

To the Kings credit, they didn’t give up and scored twice to make a game of it.

“We wanted to send a message that they have to go through us. If you have a bad shift, it’s the guys on the bench that are responsible for having a better shift. They’ve got to get out and work with five guys on the ice,” Hedley said.

The Kings started throwing pucks at the net and creating opportunities, but failed to close the gap.

Now the Kings will end the season with four games this week, beginning with the final home game of the season, tonight, against the Portage Terriers at 7:30 p.m.

On Wednesday, the Kings travel north for a rematch with the Blizzard at 7:30 p.m.

On Friday, Dauphin is in Winnipeg to face the Blues, before ending the season in Selkirk against the Steelers on Saturday.

Hedley plans to give some players some rest to make sure everyone is healthy and ready to go for the playoffs.

Morgan Kropelnicki won the Dauphin Ladies Bonspiel, Sunday at the Parkland Recreation Complex curling rink.

Kropelnicki and her team of Leanne Urbanovitch, Tamara Kolida and Andrea Smelski beat Avery Scott in the final of the first event.

In the second event, Bev Hess and her team of Linda Kitching, Gail Tycholiz and Joan McKinnon needed an extra end to beat Therese Deah in the final.

Heather Bartmanovich and her team of Nadine Soloway, Wendy McDonald and Carmen Rodgerson beat Courtney Van Alstyne to win the third event.

Only 13 teams took part in this year’s bonspiel.

Morley Bourns, with Dwight Bottrell throwing skip rocks, won the Dauphin Men’s Bonspiel, Sunday.

Bourns and his team, which also includes Steve Soloway and Nick Ogryzlo, beat Rob Rempel in the final of the first event, sponsored by Embroidery by Design.

Chad Sahulka was third and Barrett Procyshyn placed fourth.

Jeff Campbell and his team of Seth Gares, Blaine Johnson and Bart Michaleski won the second event, sponsored by McMunn and Yates Building Supplies, beating Jared Nimegeers in the final. Third place went to Cory Toews and in fourth place was Greg Thompson.

The third event, sponsored by Parkland Source for Sports, was won by the team of Kyle Forsyth, Jarvis Whyte, Trent Hill and Cody Hill. They beat Chris Belhumeur in the final. Mark Hadway was third and Brian Freiheit was fourth.

Rob Fisher and his team of Dave Campbell, Danny Scott and Brent Stykalo won the fourth event, sponsored by Baker Computers, beating Logan Devos in the final. Third place went to Luke Michaleski and in fourth place was Terron Stykalo.

Next up is the Dauphin Ladies Bonspiel, Mar. 8 to 10, which will feature a 1990s theme.

Julien Lopez battles for the puck behind the Killarney/Wawanesa net in game one of their best-of-three quarterfinal series, Feb. 27 in Dauphin.

Lopez scored twice and added an assist to lead the Clippers to a 4-2 victory, with Josh Yakielashek and Ronin Mouck adding singles.

Owen Chubka made 37 saves in picking up the win in goal. Tyron Sweetman scored four times to lead Dauphin to a 5-2 win in game two, Feb. 29, in Killarney.

Liam Chartrand had the other goal for the Clippers, which scored in the first minute of each period. Chubka made 31 saves in the win.

The Clippers will now face the regular-season champion Neepawa Tigers in the semifinals, with game one, Mar. 6, in Neepawa at 7:30 p.m.

Game two will be back in Dauphin, Mar. 13, at 7 p.m.