The Parkland Rangers ended their season with three straight losses, last week, all on the road.

Ethan Stewart scored twice and added a pair of assists and Jaxon Jacobson had a goal and three assists to lead the Brandon Wheat Kings to a 7-0 win, Wednesday in Brandon.

Easton Odut also scored twice and added an assist for the victors, while Cole Lobreau and Owen Wallace had singles. Burke Hood made 26 saves to record the shutout.

Chase Glover got the start for Parkland and made eight stops before giving way to Ethan Myhre, who stopped 23 shots in the final 47 minutes.

On Saturday in Beausejour, the Eastman Selects scored four times in the final 13 minutes to skate to a 9-5 win.

Nathan Forster led the way with two goals and an assist, while Luc De Gagné and Jeremiah Warkentine had a goal and two assists each.

Finley Titterson, Malachi Thiessen, Mario Gagnon, Eric Cote and Hayden Kochen also scored for Eastman. Samuel Fontaine had 39 saves to record the win in goal.

Hayden Seib with two, Cam Sarna, Ethan Carnegie and Ryder Gardner scored for Parkland. Myhre made 34 saves in a losing cause.

Parkland’s season came to an end, Sunday, with a 5-2 loss to the playoff-bound Selects.

Calyb Moore, Warkentine, Cameron Sylvester, Cote and Kochen had the goals for Eastman, while Quentin Fisk and Ryzlie Nepinak replied for Parkland.

Daniel Banman earned the win with 32 saves, while Glover took the loss after stopping 42 shots.

Parkland ends the season in 11th place with a 13-28-2-1 record for 29 points, finishing 12 points out of a playoff spot.

Eastman will now play Brandon in the first round of the playoffs, while the Pembina Valley Hawks will face the Southwest Cougars.

The other series will pit the Interlake Lightning against the Winnipeg Wild and the Winnipeg Thrashers will have home ice advantage in their series with the Winnipeg Bruins.

The Dauphin Clippers hockey team won its final game of the regular season, clinching fourth place and home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs in the process.

Owen Chubka made 55 saves in leading the Clippers to a 3-2 win over the Crocus Plains Plainsmen, Friday in Dauphin.

Jesse Hockridge, Ronin Mouck and Norman Lacquette scored for Dauphin, while Nick Kaczmar and Will Galatiuk replied for Crocus Plains.

Kelsey Dell made 43 saves in the loss.

The win came on the heels of the team’s trip to Las Vegas, where they finished third in the Vegas Jr. Knights Presidents’ Day Tournament.

Clippers head coach Josh Yaschyshyn said the team was a bit shorthanded in the tournament due to injuries.

Get the full recap in this week's Dauphin Herald!

A five-game winning streak has propelled the Dauphin Kings into the playoffs.

Dauphin scored a 7-1 win over the Swan Valley Stampeders, Feb. 20 in Dauphin, before blanking the Portage Terriers, 2-0, Friday in Portage.

On Saturday, back in Dauphin, the Kings beat the Niverville Nighthawks, 4-1 clinching a playoff spot.

At 32-14-1-1 for 66 points, the Kings remain in third place, two points back of the Blizzard Jr. A Hockey Club, with two games in hand.

Kings head coach and general manager Doug Hedley said the team has had a busy stretch lately, which resulted in the players being a bit mentally tired against Niverville, Saturday.

“We found a way to win. That’s the biggest thing. We got patient. We got tough on pucks when we had to,” he said. “And what can you say about Sheff (goalie Cole Sheffield). He’s been rock solid for us. He’s been the guy, that’s for sure. No doubt.”

Hedley felt the Kings played a great road game, Friday in Portage, where Sheffield made 25 saves to record his fourth shutout of the season.

“We were more on our toes (Friday) night. We had some good speed. We were relentless on pucks. Hunted pucks, hunted rebounds. We had a good road game,” he said. “But Sheff made some big saves when he had to toward the end of the game to keep that a 1-0 game.”

After taking an early lead, the Kings took a couple of penalties which put them back on their heels.

“And we weren’t really jumping. They were beating us to pucks. But at the same time, we did keep them to the outside a lot of the times. Didn’t give them a lot of quality chances. But we killed some big penalties and the only goal they got was a turnover,” Hedley said. “We had a lot more than we wanted to tonight and if they had taken advantage of them, we would have been in trouble. But we found a way to get it done.”

In just their second season in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League, Niverville has been struggling since the start of the new year, resulting in the firing of their head coach and general manager Kelvin Cech.

With Dwight Hirst taking over as head coach and Mike McAulay the interim general manager, the Nighthawks are hoping the change will turn things around.

Hedley has seen a difference in their play from earlier in the season.

“I think they were a hungry hockey club. They were working hard. They’re in a fight for their life in a playoff spot,” he said. “I thought they might come in with a little bit more urgency. I think they had a pretty good second period. We weren’t very good in the second period and they definitely out worked us. But in the third period, we got better.”

The Kings will have a busy week, beginning tonight when they travel north to face the Blizzard in The Pas at 7 p.m.

On Wednesday, they will be in Swan River for a game at 12:30 p.m.

On Friday, the Winnipeg Freeze are in town for a 7:30 p.m. date, and on Sunday, Dauphin travels back to The Pas to play the Blizzard at 7 p.m.

The Parkland Humane Society was recently forced to take care of six kittens that were in a box that fell off a truck within the city limits.

Denise Penrose, PHS statistics director, explained a female resident was on her way to the city’s waste disposal site and was following a white truck filled with garbage bags, when a box fell out of the truck. When she stopped to pick up the crate to take it to the disposal site, she found six kittens inside.

The resident contacted the city and was told they could not take custody of the animals because the city’s pound is closed.

“She went to Dauphin Vet Clinic, too, and they said they couldn’t help her. And then she came here (to the Parkland Humane Society),” Penrose said. “We really had no foster homes or no room left. But it just so happens that our quarantine room was empty. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have been able to bring them in.”

Of the six kittens, there were four which were about three months old, while the other two were a bit older form a different litter.

Taking in the six kittens put a great strain on PHS’s resources, Penrose said.

“We do have a budget. So for every cat that we take in, or kitten, we have to do everything for them. We have to get them vaccinated. We have to get them spayed and neutered, of course. But it’s just finding space for them, because now we have six cats,” she said. “It’s finding the space, but we did take them in.”

Stories such as this are becoming more and more common, because, as Penrose explains, people think they can just dispose of the animals in their care when they become too much to handle.

The day this happened was a chilly day and, because the kittens were so small, Penrose said they likely would have died if they had not been found.

Penrose advises people who have pets to keep an eye on them and have them spayed or neutered, keeping the population under control so things like this do not happen again.

“It’s so important. Actually with dogs now, we cannot find any shelters to take dogs. So if we take any dogs from the pound, or any dog period, we can’t find a place for them to go to keep on taking more dogs. So once we have dogs in our program, we can’t find anywhere for them to go,” she said. “And it’s getting really bad, because before, we could always find places for them to go and now we can’t. And we have about 30 dogs right now, between puppies and dogs.”

So the question now, Penrose said, is what do people do with the strays that are found when the city pound is closed and PHS cannot take them in because they simply don’t have the space?

“It’s pretty sad. And it seems to be getting worse. People just don’t care,” she said.

The kittens are now ready for adoption.

After losing two of their previous three games, the Dauphin Kings rebounded in a big way.

After killing off a four-minute power-play early, the Kings came back with a solid effort in scoring a 3-2 victory over the league-leading Steinbach Pistons, Friday in Dauphin.

The next night, six different players found the back of the net, including Alex Senf scoring what has become known as a Michigan goal, in a 6-1 win over the Swan Valley Stampeders, in Swan River.

Kings head coach and general manager Doug Hedley liked the team’s work ethic against the Pistons.

“We were hard on pucks. We were relentless in the D zone. Our battles in the corners, they got better as the game went on and we started winning stick battles,” he said, adding the Kings limited Steinbach’s opportunities in front of the net. “They’re a team that really goes to the net and funnels and makes short plays. In fact the play they got to tie the game was a small play in front of the net that they go to hard,” he said. “So I thought overall, our game was good. And then we found a way to rebound, get a goal and really shut it down.”

Just seven seconds into the game, defenceman Karson Raymond was assessed a double minor for high sticking, but the Kings were able to kill off Steinbach’s four-minute power play.

“It’s always tough on a team at the start of a game because you’re not into your rhythm and timing. So if you’re going to be down four minutes, I guess that’s one of the better times to be shorthanded,” Hedley said. “But that was a big kill by our penalty kill units. They did a great job all weekend.”

It took the offence a while to get going on Saturday in Swan River.

After skating to a 1-1 tie after the first period, Dauphin’s offence exploded for four goals in the middle frame, including a highlight reel “Michigan” goal by Alex Senf.

With the Stampeders out of playoff contention, Hedley said it is always tough when playing a team that is loose.

“They want to go out and play for next year. So they’re playing loose, their sticks are loose and they’re working hard. In the first period, we started okay, we just didn’t finish real strong in the first and then got better in the second,” he said, adding the team’s work ethic took over in the latter stages of the game. According to Hedley, the players were all jumping up and down when Senf scored his goal.

“It’s the first time I’ve seen it live. But good for Senfy. It’s a tough thing to do and definitely not easy or a lot more people would do it,” he said. “But he had time. There wasn’t a lot of pressure behind the net, so he had some time and kind of surprised everybody.”

The Kings are home to the Stampeders, tonight, before heading out on the road, Friday, to play the Terriers in Portage.

On Saturday, the Kings are back home to host the Niverville Nighthawks, who recently fired their first-ever head coach and general manager Kelvin Cech.

All three games begin at 7:30 p.m.

Hedley is looking for more of the same kind of effort in the three contests.

“We’ve just got to focus on what we do and our good habits and stay consistent and try to keep that work ethic, that compete level and be hard on pucks up. It doesn’t matter regardless of who we’re playing, we’re focusing on what we do and where we’re going. That’s the key to our success, is the consistency and the work ethic,” he said.

The Parkland Rangers are left to play for next year after they were officially eliminated from playoff contention over the weekend.

The Rangers hosted the Winnipeg Bruins in a weekend twinbill at Credit Union Place, losing both games, 4-1, Saturday, and 6-0 on Sunday.

With little left to play for, Rangers head coach Tyler Carefoot said the players are now playing for pride, with an eye on the future, as well.

“They’re playing for the unconditional support that they got from their families over the last many years,” he said.

Sunday’s game featured several oddman rushes for the Bruins, which resulted in several goals.

“This particular game there was just far too many oddman attacks. I think they had three or four three-on-0s, one four-on-one and then you add up all the other two-on-ones,” Carefoot said.

Although the playoffs are now out of the question, there is still something to play for in the final three games of the season.

“If they aspire to play higher levels of hockey, there’s always somebody watching. But most importantly, as young men, think about the dedication and the commitment you’ve had for the program and, over and above that, the unconditional support that they got from their families,” Carefoot said. “That’s what it’s about. It’s a very hard league to play in, which is very evident. I’ve always said that I respected the grind for the kids from out of town. And I believe in the program. But in saying that, there needs to be some self-reflection from players that you can’t wait for someone else to do your job. You’ve got to go out and do it yourself.”

The Rangers end the season with three games on the road.

On Wednesday, they are in Brandon to face the league-leading Wheat Kings, who have yet to lose in regulation this season with an overtime loss the only blemish on their 40-0-1-0 record.

On the weekend, Parkland are in Beausejour to play the Eastman Selects, Saturday at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday at 1:30 p.m.

The U15 Dauphin Clinic Pharmacy Kings won the Tournament of Champions in Brandon over the weekend.

The Kings began the round-robin with a 5-4 win over Melville, with Josh Beyette scoring twice and Brody Kaminski, Alex Lopez and Dominic Chartrand adding singles.

Dauphin then beat the Minot Wolves, 6-2, with Hayden Billet, Bodhi Bloomer, Riley Durston, Slade Nepinak, Beyette and Lyric Smith providing the offence.

In the semifinals, Dauphin defeated the Regina Blues, 4-2, with Beyette, Chartrand, Lopez and Smith scoring.

In the final, Dauphin faced the Saskatoon North Stars, needing a shootout to score a 5-4 victory to claim the tournament title. Ethan Zalischuk, Lopez, Bloomer and Smith scored in regulation, while Jordan Height had the shootout winner. Ben Miner was in goal for every game.

It was an emotional win for the team, which extends its heartfelt thanks and dearest condolences to the DCP family on the passing of Myles Haverluck.

On paper, it was a good week for the Dauphin Kings.

The local Manitoba Junior Hockey League squad picked up five of a possible six points, actually gaining a point on the second-place Blizzard Junior A Hockey Club.

But the Kings did not make it easy on themselves.

The week began with a 3-2 win over the Neepawa Titans, Tuesday in Dauphin, in a game which they led 3-0 entering the third period.

On Friday, the Waywayseecappo Wolverines came to town and escaped with a 3-2 shootout victory to keep their playoff hopes alive.

On Saturday, the Kings had to overcome a 3-0 deficit versus the last-place Winnipeg Blues, scoring a 4-3 overtime win on Cayden Glover’s second power-play goal of the game, 2:50 into the extra frame.

Kings head coach and general manager Doug Hedley said ever since a 6-1 win over the Winnipeg Freeze, Feb. 3, they have been out worked and out shot and out hit.

“And it’s all a choice. We’ve got a great group in the room and I believe in them. I really think we can do some good things this year, but they’ve got to believe in themselves and they’ve got to be prepared to work,” he said. “When talent works hard, it’s tough to beat you. Hard work is going to beat talent every time, unless talent works hard. We’ve got talent. We know we do, but we’ve still got to work and we’ve got to be tough and hard to play against.”

That is something the Kings need to do more of, especially on home ice as Hedley feels the Kings don’t get physical enough when teams come to play in Credit Union Place.

“We don’t make it a tough place to play. And I think once we started being physical and finishing checks all over the ice, we started getting opportunities,” he said. “When you have games like we did against the Freeze, when you don’t play well but you still win 6-1, you’re playing risk hockey, or you’re hoping instead of coming from behind pucks. The best offence is below pucks when you come from behind with speed, in the right place, D side of battles, the right side of pucks. When we do that, we’re a good team. And we started doing that in the last half of the game.”

All three teams the Kings faced during the week are below them in the standings. Hedley said you still have to respect your opponent, no matter where they are in the standings.

“You still have to out work them. You have to come ready to play and it’s not a point night, it’s still a team thing. It’s team buy-in. Short, hard energy shifts. At times we stay on the ice too long and then we wonder why we don’t have energy and we’re changing at the wrong times,” he said. “There’s just little things we can get better at. But I think if we can just stay with that identity that we want by playing fast with our speed, playing physical and be hard on pucks, it becomes habit and we can do some good things this year. We’ve just got to stay more consistent.”

Dauphin improved its record to 27-13-1-1 for 56 points, two behind the Blizzard, with three games in hand.

This week, the Kings travel to Waywayseecappo for a rematch with the Wolverines, tonight at 7:30 p.m.

On Friday, the Kings host the league-leading Steinbach Pistons at 7:30 p.m. On Saturday, they are back on the road to face the Swan Valley Stampeders in Swan River at 7 p.m.

Going forward Hedley said awareness and communication are the two most important things in the defensive zone.

“A lot of times we’ve been really happy with the mobility we have on our backend, but some of the time, our D-men want to jump into the play too soon,” he said. “That consistency and that communicating and awareness is huge. We’ll be okay. We’ll get better and we’ll get back on our toes.”

On the injury front, forward Kyan Grouette is day-to-day with an upper body injury and forward Ethan Williment is not expected back from a shoulder injury until the end of the month. Defenceman Karson Raymond is ready to return from a rib injury.

Kings court: The Kings have signed head coach and general manager Doug Hedley to a two-year contract extension, through to the end of the 2025-26 season.

The Dauphin Kings earned a split over the weekend and remain in third place in the MGEU West Division of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League.

Dalton Andrew scored twice, with both goals coming on the power play to lead the Winkler Flyers to a 3-2 in over the Kings, Friday in Winkler.

The Flyers built a 3-0 lead after 40 minutes and hung on in the third period as the Kings pulled to within one, late in the game.

On Saturday in Winnipeg, the Kings upended the Freeze, 6-1, with Madden Murray, Rylan Gibbs and Sheldon Shyiak each netting a goal and an assist and Gavin Nemis chipping in with a pair of helpers.

Kings head coach and general manager Doug Hedley liked the team’s pushback against Winkler.

“We got down a couple of power-play goals, but really had a solid third period and pushed back. We had a real good chance to tie the game with about 10 seconds left and it didn’t happen. But at the same time, I’m happy with the effort, for sure,” he said.

Momentum was tough to come by with the number of penalties called in the game. The two teams combined for 13 power plays.

“At times I thought we were playing in the Federal League. There was a scrum just about every time, two or three guys jumping guys. And for some reason, the officials allowed a lot of it, not giving 10’s (misconducts) or anything,” Hedley said. “It was a playoff type atmosphere. I was really happy with the way the guys responded and pushed back. We were on our heels for a bit at the start. They came at us hard. But the good thing is we hung tough and almost got a point out of that game.”

It took a while to get going against the Freeze.

Hedley said those are tough games when you’re up to face one team in a playoff-type of atmosphere and then face a team that is out of the playoffs.

“It wasn’t our greatest effort, but we found ways to score and we found ways to get it done when we had to,” he said.

This week, the Kings have three games, all on home ice, against teams below them in the standings.

The week gets underway, Tuesday, when the Neepawa Titans come to town, followed by a Friday night date with the Waywayseecappo Wolverines. On Saturday, the Winnipeg Blues visit Credit Union Place.

All three games begin at 7:30 p.m.

Hedley said this is an important stretch for his team.

“There’s time in March there towards the end of the season where there’s a lot of road games. So we’ve got to take advantage of being at home,” he said. “Neepawa is a tough test. They’re playing real well. They’ve beat some good teams lately. They’re fighting for their lives in the playoffs, with Wayway right on their heels. They’ll be coming in hard. We’re going to have to bring our A game and make sure we’re ready to play,” he said.

At 25-13-1-0, the Kings have 51 points and are three back of the Blizzard, with four games in hand.