The Parkland Rangers ended the 2022-23 season with wins in five of their last seven games.

The week began with an 11-0 loss to the league-leading Brandon Wheat Kings, Wednesday in Brandon.

Luke Lepper recorded five assists for Brandon in their win, while Ethan Stewart had two goals and an assist.

Nine other players recorded two points each, including Kaeson Fisher, Keenan Skrupa and Cole Temple who had two goals each. Brady Turko, Declan Hoad and Skylar Ramsey added singles.

K.C. Couckuyt made 26 saves to post the shutout. Kyler Swanton and Chase Glover combined to stop 31 shots in goal for Parkland.

The Rangers rebounded in a big way in their season finale, Saturday in Swan River.

Cash Clarkson scored three times and added a pair of assists to lead Parkland to a 12-4 win over the Norman North Stars.

Tavyn Boychuk and Dru Mushumanski each had a goal and three assists and AP callup Trace Langan had two goals and an assist, while Connor McKay chipped in with a goal and two helpers.

Andrew Pidskalny, Havryil Simchuk, Hayden Seib and Wesley Gryba-Smith added singles and Swanton made 31 saves in recording the win.

Daylin Monias scored three times for Norman, with Logan Marr adding a single. Paxton Moore made 39 saves in the loss.

Parkland finishes the season with a 12-25-7-0 record for 31 points, 11 points out of a playoff spot

Five players - Gryba-Smith, Bo Eisner, Madden Murray, Skyler Carriere and Swanton - graduate from the Rangers program.

The Dauphin Kings and Steinbach Pistons split a home-and-home weekend with each team winning on home ice.

On Friday in front of 770 fans at Credit Union Place, the Kings scored a 6-4 victory, sparked by a two-goal performance from captain Owen Wareham.

Hunter Degelman opened the scoring 2:36 into the game, giving Steinbach an early lead.

It didn’t last long however, as the Kings scored three straight off the sticks of Wareham, with his fourth of the season on a power play, Myles Yearwood with his ninth and Blake Boudreau with his 12th.

Landon Roberts made it a one-goal game just 13 seconds after Boudreau gave the Kings a 3-1 lead.

Dauphin then increased its lead in the second period with Jakob Brook netting his seventh and Deepkaran Hans finding the back of the net for his 13th of the campaign.

Travis Hensrud and Dawson Milliken scored 40 seconds apart in the first five minutes of the third to make it interesting, but the Kings kept the Pistons at bay the rest of the way with Wareham netting his second of the game and fifth of the season into an empty net with 55 seconds left to seal the Kings victory.

Cole Sheffield made 26 saves for the Kings, which chased Pistons starter Dominik Wasik with their fifth goal of the game in the second period. He was credited with 17 saves, before giving way to Cole Plowman, who stopped all 14 shots he faced.

On Saturday in Steinbach, the Pistons scored four goals in the third period, including three in a span of 1:36 to escape with a 5-4 win.

The teams traded goals in the first period, with Mathew Gough scoring his 21st of the season for Dauphin, while Davin Griffin replied for Steinbach.

Alex Senf’s 15th of the season with 15 seconds left in the second gave the Kings a 2-1 lead entering the third period, where Nolan Wickham’s power play goal, his seventh of the season, increased Dauphin’s lead to 3-1.

The Pistons began their comeback at 6:13 when Ian Amsbaugh scored to make it a one-goal game. Brett Kaiser tied the game at 7:02 and Steinbach took the lead at 7:49 when Warren Clark beat Kings netminder Dmytro Kubrytskyi.

Dauphin’s Marco Bodnarski’s second of the season tied the game at four at the 12:01 mark, but Steinbach scored what proved to be the winner 24 seconds later when Hensrud scored.

Wasik earned the win in goal with 22 saves, while Kubrytskyi stopped 29 shots in taking the loss.

The Kings have another home-and-home weekend ahead of them, this time with division rivals, the Virden Oil Capitals.

The two teams hook up, Friday in Dauphin, with the rematch, Saturday in Virden. Both games begin at 7:30 p.m.

The Kings enter the week tied for fourth place with Virden in the MGEU West Division with 57 points each.

The OCN Blizzard hold down top spot with 61 points, followed by the Waywayseecappo Wolverines with 59 and the Swan Valley Stampeders with 58. The Neepawa Titans are still alive, but fading as they are sixth with 49 points.

Dauphin hosted its final two minor hockey tournaments over the weekend, with 13 teams joining the host Dauphin Kings Gold and Silver teams.

The Swan Valley Stampeders won the Dauphin Home Hardware Gold Showdown, while the Carman Cougars won the Dauphin McDonald’s Silver Division.

Two-time world champion and Olympic champion Jill Officer was on hand to lend her expertise, Saturday, to local junior curlers as part of Curl Manitoba’s Junior High Performance Program.

Here, Officer watches video of each junior curler’s delivery technique.

Chief David Ledoux of Gambler First Nation was the guest speaker at the second Parkland Chamber of Commerce luncheon series, Feb. 14.

Chief Ledoux spoke about economic development and the changes that follow as a result.

The next luncheon will be the Chamber’s Appreciation Dinner, Mar. 14.

The leader of the People’s Party of Canada, Maxime Bernier, was in Dauphin Friday morning to speak with local supporters, followed by a pancake breakfast.

Bernier shared his thoughts on the pandemic restrictions, the political divisiveness created by the Liberals and Progressive Conservatives, immigration, the growth of the PPC and the war in Ukraine.

Students at Ecole Macneill celebrated French Canadian culture with Voyageur Days, last week, culminating with a tug-of-war, Friday.

The week was filled with activities, song, dance, games and bannock.

The Parkland Vipers 14U girls club volleyball team swept a five-set exhibition match with South Mountain, Sunday at the DRCSS.

The Vipers won the match, 25-0, 25-10, 25-11, 25-12 and 25-16.

Also on Sunday, the Roblin Predators beat the Vipers 15U team in five sets, 25-15, 19-25, 25-20, 13-25 and 25-21.

The team plays again, this Sunday at 12:30 p.m., with the 16U team on the court, Feb. 20, at 1 p.m.

The Parkland Rangers played the role of spoiler over the weekend at the expense of the Interlake Lightning.

The Rangers began the week by scoring an 8-5 win over the Yellowhead Chiefs, Tuesday in Dauphin, keeping Yellowhead from moving ahead of the Winnipeg Thrashers and into fifth place.

On Saturday in Dauphin, Parkland beat the Lightning, 3-1, while the Southwest Cougars defeated the Norman North Stars, 7-2. This resulted in the Cougars moving past Interlake into the eighth and final playoff spot.

The Lightning got a measure of revenge on Sunday, beating the Rangers 8-4, while Southwest stayed one point ahead of Interlake with a 6-1 victory over Norman.

Sunday’s loss snapped a four-game winning streak by the Rangers.

Overall, Rangers head coach Tyler Carefoot was pleased with the team’s play in the three games.

“When you start winning games, the expectations change. We won, Tuesday. We found a way to win (Saturday) and then now it’s no more moral victories. You’re disappointed when you’re not winning,” he said, adding he was proud of Kyler Swanton, who was the difference in Saturday’s win with 43 saves.

“Our first period, we were absolutely just flat. No energy whatsoever. I didn’t know if the players even had a pulse,” he said. “But Swanny held us in there. And again, you win a few games and you feel better about yourself and you find ways to grease some one out and we did that (Saturday). I was very pleased with the way Kyler played to give us a chance to win that game and we found a way.”

Carefoot and the Rangers knew Interlake would be desperate on Sunday after getting knocked out of the final playoff spot.

In the end, it was too many unforced errors that cost the Rangers.

Interlake scored 18 seconds into the second period and added another 1:07 later to take a 4-1 lead. And it took them just 29 seconds to find the back of the net in the third.

“You can’t have that. You’ve got to eliminate that. I just think, overall, today we were just too easy to play against. And when you’re playing against a team that’s desperate, we were easy prey and that’s what happened,” Carefoot said.

Carefoot was especially pleased with the play of forward Hayden Seib, who is second in team scoring with 34 points, including 15 goals. He has points in each of the last seven games.

“He’s been consistent all season, just trying to focus on the details,” he said, adding Dru Mushumanski has also shone of late, with seven goals and 22 points in his last 12 games to take over the team scoring lead.

The Rangers end the season with a final road trip to Brandon to take on the Wheat Kings on Wednesday, before hosting Norman, Saturday in Swan River at 7:30 p.m.

Carefoot hopes the team can finish the season strong, noting they are looking at the Brandon contest as their Mount Rushmore game.

“We’re going to treat that game like it’s the championship final. I want to make sure the boys are ready to go. We’re going practice on Tuesday, leading into Brandon. All that I want that night is just energy and just the spirit of being the best that they can be, whatever the result may be,” he said. “Regardless of the result, that will lead us into the weekend against Norman to wrap up the season.”

In the ever changing landscape of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s MGEU West Division, the Dauphin Kings find themselves tied for second place after losing two of three games last week.

Dauphin dropped a 2-1 decision to the Virden Oil Capitals, Tuesday in Virden, before Marko Belak made 28 saves in leading the Kings to a 4-0 win over the Winnipeg Freeze, Friday in Dauphin.

On Saturday, a pair of second-period power-play goals lifted the OCN Blizzard to a 2-1 victory over the Kings in Dauphin.

Kings head coach and general manager said the team has been getting good goaltending, but not the effort to match.

“It’s one of those things where we’ve got to be ready to play. If they’re thinking about what they’re going to do when the season is over, then it won’t be long before it’s over,” he said. “When we play on our toes and we play fast, we’re a really good hockey team. We’re probably a first-place hockey team. But when we watch and be spectators and watch what other guys do, it’s frustrating.”

The offence has been hit and miss of late. But Hedley said that is what happens when you don’t attack the blueline with speed or don’t go to the net for second shots or throw the puck at the net.

“The little things. We know what to do and when we do it, we do it well. It’s just frustrating, because I know we’re a lot better than this,” he said.

Hedley pointed out the Kings are 8-5 since the Christmas break and still have their destiny in their own hands.

Things will not get any easier for the Kings as they face the Steinbach Pistons in a home-and-home this weekend, beginning, Friday in Dauphin with the rematch the next night in Steinbach.

Eight of the remaining 12 games are on the road, including six of the final eight games, so now is the time to start playing consistently, Hedley said.

If there is one area the Kings need to improve upon, Hedley said it is puck management and competing for pucks.

“When we stand and watch and spectate, we’re not a very good hockey club. When we’re first to pucks and compete and win stick battles and guys are on their toes, we’re real tough to beat,” he said, adding the team also has to be more disciplined.

The Kings enter the week tied with Virden for second place with 55 points, two behind Waywayseecappo’s 57 points. OCN sits in third place with 53 points and Swan Valley is now on the outside looking in with 52. Neepawa is starting to fall by the wayside, with 45 points.