The Dauphin Clippers finished second at the Manitoba High School Athletic Association’s curling provincials, this past weekend in The Pas.

The Clippers, consisting of skip Scott Gower, third Stuart Fisher, second Landon Hadway, lead Owen Tyschinski and fifth Kade Glennie, opened the bonspiel with a 7-5 win over the Gimli Lakers.

Dauphin advanced to the A-side semifinals with a 6-4 win over the Beliveau Barracudas of Winnipeg.

The Clippers dropped to the B-side when they were defeated by the Portage Collegiate Trojans, 7-3 in the A-side semifinal.

Dauphin began its sprint to the B-side final with an 11-3 win over the Springfield Sabres and followed this with a 7-0 win over the St. Norbert Celtics.

This set up a rematch with Portage in the B-side final. With the Trojans having already won the A-side, Portage clinched the provincial title with a 12-7 win over the Clippers.

Clippers host hoops tourney

The Clippers senior boys basketball team finished second in the eight-team Clipper Invitational Basketball Tournament, this past weekend.

Dauphin began the tournament with a 104-38 win over the Helen Betty Osborne Ininiw Education Resource Centre Huskies.

The Clippers then defeated Flin Flon’s Hapnot Kopper Kings, 75-56 to advance to the final where they faced a Gilbert Plains/Grandview co-op team. The Clippers lost a hard-fought contest, 83-76.

The Swan Valley Tigers finished third with an 89-76 win over the Kopper Kings, while the Margaret Barbour Spartans of The Pas won the consolation, with a 91-34 win over the Winnipegosis Lakers. The Ste. Rose Celtics beat the Huskies, 54-27 to finish seventh.

Clippers trail Raiders

The Dauphin Clippers hockey team finds itself trailing the Killarney/Wawanesa Raiders by four points in the race for first place in the Westman High School Hockey League.

Dauphin opened the weekend with a 6-3 win over the REMP Renegades, Friday in Reston.

William Miner scored twice to lead Dauphin to the victory.

Ethan Carnegie, Tyron Sweetman, Logan Chapman and Trayden Guiboche also scored for the Clippers, while Cody Coombs stopped 23 shots to pick up the win in goal, while the Clippers poured 50 shots at the Renegades net.

The Clippers suffered a setback on Sunday when they fell, 8-4 to the Vincent Massey Vikings in Brandon.

Sweetman with two, Guiboche and Jake Kuzmiak scored for Dauphin. Owen Chubka and Joseph Tabin combined to make 30 saves in the loss.

Dauphin has just one game this week when they visit the Glenboro/Carberry/Baldur Wildcats, Wednesday in Glenboro.

The 26-2-0-1 Raiders sit in first place with 53 points, four ahead of the 24-4-1-0 Clippers.

Louis Riel Day celebrations will be taking place throughout the Parkland this coming weekend, hosted by the Northwest Métis Council.

Festivities begin, Friday in Winnipegosis with a barbecue and coffee house from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Winnipegosis Youth Centre.

On Saturday, the Ste. Rose Local will host free skating at the Ste. Rose Arena, entertainment and a cribbage tournament from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Ste. Rose Curling Rink.

The Manitoba House Local will host a pancake breakfast from 10 a.m. to noon and a bannock making contest, swoosh races, leg wrestling, baked bean contest and crib tournament at the Kinosota Community Centre from noon to 4 p.m.

The Shell River Local in Boggy Creek will host entertainment and a bingo from noon to 4 p.m. at the Shell River Métis Centre.

The festivities continue on Sunday in Crane River, where the Crane River Local will host a canteen, free merchandise bingo and best dressed Métis attire contest from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., at the Maurice Morrisseau Memorial Hall.

On Louis Riel Day, Fort Dauphin Museum, in partnership with the Northwest Métis Council, will host a day featuring tug of war, a hotdog lunch, snow shoeing, dog sled rides and more from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the museum.

Meanwhile in Roblin, there will be an open mic, as well as entertainment by Tequila Creek, dancing and socializing at the Roblin Life and Arts Centre from noon to 4 p.m., hosted by the Roblin Métis Local.

And in Duck Bay, the Duck Bay Local will play host to entertainment, cribbage and rummy tournaments, a poker derby and ghost riders, from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., with a free stew and bannock dinner at 5 p.m. This all takes place at the Duck Bay Community Hall.

Bowe, 4, and Easton, 2, in the sled, and three-year-old Willow on the slider enjoyed an afternoon of sledding at Barker School hill, Sunday afternoon.

The unseasonal temperatures had many residents out enjoying the great outdoors, whether it was in the city or at the Northgate Trails.

It may be too late to make a difference in the playoff race, but for the first time this season, the Parkland Rangers have won two games in a row.

The two wins came at the expense of the Kenora Thistles and allowed the Rangers to leapfrog the Ontario-based team into 10th place in the standings.

Havryil Simchuk had three goals and Bo Eisner chipped in with a goal and two assists, while Kyler Swanton made 35 saves in a 6-1 Parkland victory on Saturday in Dauphin.

On Sunday in Dauphin, Madden Murray led the way with a goal and two assists, Luke Myhre had three helpers and Swanton was solid once again with 38 saves in a 6-3 triumph.

Rangers head coach Tyler Carefoot said it was a sweet weekend for the team.

“I’m just so happy for the fellas to be able to just feel good about themselves, really,” he said.

Carefoot was not pleased with the team’s play in the first period of Saturday’s game, though.

“I liked our energy, I just didn’t like our puck management. And we kind of tidied that up and then we didn’t really look back,” he said. “Simchuk, although he doesn’t understand us, he kind of took it upon himself (Saturday) night and he was a difference.”

Murray, Carefoot said, stepped up on Sunday to lead the team.

“It’s pleasing. Two in a row, it feels good, for sure,” he added.

For Dauphin’s Swanton, the wins were just his second and third of the season. Although he hasn’t had much success between the pipes this year, he continues to work hard on his game.

“Good for Swanny. Kyler, I thought, deserved the starts back-to-back and played well. I feel great for him. He’s probably the first guy to admit that his season has been up and down, but to put two good quality games like that feels good,” Carefoot said.

Defenceman Ryan Gower of McCreary had a great weekend, picking up an assist on Saturday and scoring a shorthanded goal on Sunday, while skating well in both contests.

“He’s always just very consistent and just a work horse. We can’t say enough about him,” Carefoot said.

The Rangers hope to keep the momentum from these two wins going as they head into a tilt Tuesday night in Dauphin against the Yellowhead Chiefs, who enter the week in sixth place with 46 points, one point back of the Winnipeg Thrashers and four ahead of the Eastman Selects.

On the weekend, Parkland faces the Interlake Lightning, who sit in the eighth and final playoff spot with 37 points as the week begins. They are just one point ahead of the Southwest Cougars.

“We’ll have lots to be fired up about, because if we can prevent them from getting points, that’s a feel-good story. These next few games will be an opportunity to put some wins together and everybody can feel good about themselves,” he said. “But it’s not going to be easy, because we’re facing teams that are battling for playoff seeding. If we keep bringing the work ethic and just execute, I think we’re going to be in a good spot.”

The Dauphin Kings are alone in first place in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s MGEU West Division after a split in a home-and-home with the expansion Niverville Nighthawks over the weekend.

Niverville surprised the Kings, Friday night in Dauphin, scoring a 5-2 victory in the first-ever meeting between the two clubs.

Ethan Whillans and Luke Schaefer staked the Nighthawks to a 2-0 lead after the opening frame and they increased their lead to 4-1 after 40 minutes, with Desmond Johnson and Brett Tataryn giving the visitors a 4-0 lead before Jayden Harris put the homeside on the board with his 12th of the season.

The teams traded goals in the third period.

Owen Wareham’s power-play goal midway through the frame, his third of the campaign, brought the Kings to within two, but Johnson sealed the win with his second of the game into an empty net.

Chris Fines was called upon to make 28 saves in the win, while Dmytro Kubritskyi stopped 23 shots in the loss.

Dauphin rebounded in a big way in Sunday’s rematch in Niverville, building a 5-0 lead and hanging on for a 5-2 victory of their own.

Myles Yearwood staked Dauphin to a 1-0 lead in the first period with his eighth of the season.

The Kings increased the lead to 4-0 after two, on goals from Nicholas Hatton, his second, Nolan Wickham’s sixth and Mason Smith with his 11th.

Deepkaran Hans tallied his 12th of the year early in the third before the Nighthawks got on the board with a pair of power-play markers from Hayden Wheddon and Josh Paulhus.

Cole Sheffield was stellar in goal for Dauphin, making 40 saves, while Dane Couture was credited with 27 stops.

At 25-15-2-1, the Kings sit alone in first with 53 points. Waywayseecappo, Swan Valley and OCN are tied with 51 points, while Virden is two points back with 49. Neepawa brings up the rear with 45 points.

This week, the Kings travel to Virden, Tuesday, for a 7:30 p.m. face off, before hosting the Winnipeg Freeze, Friday, and the OCN Blizzard on Saturday. Both games at Credit Union Place get underway at 7:30 p.m.

Kings court:

Kings head coach Doug Hedley enters the week only two wins behind former bench boss Marlin Murray for most coaching wins in team history. If the Kings beat Virden on Tuesday and Winnipeg on Friday, Hedley will have a chance to become the alltime winningest coach in Kings history against OCN on Saturday. Murray finished his tenure as Kings head coach with 348 wins, while Hedley has 346.

The Dauphin Derailleurs Cycling Club hosted the HYPERThermia Fun Time Trial Race, Saturday, starting from Selo Ukraina Hall.

More than 20 cyclists, including some from Brandon and Winnipeg, took to the surrounding trails as part of the For the Love of Nature Celebration series, which included a Full Moon Group Snowshoe on Sunday.

There will be a free fat bike group ride, Feb. 11, a Relationship with the Land Walk, Feb. 20, and a mini fun snowshoe and fat bike race at Fort Dauphin Museum as part of the Louis Riel Day celebrations. Check the Derailleurs Facebook page for more information.

Skate Dauphin held a dress rehearsal for its upcoming ice show, Feb. 20, at Credit Union Place.

Local skaters will present Skating Through the Decades, with special performances by provincial champion and Canadian nationals competitor Breken Brezden.

The event gets underway at 3 p.m., with a silver collection at the door.

No team has been able to pull away in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s tight MGEU West Division.

With four straight wins, the Dauphin Kings are tied with the Waywayseecappo Wolverines and Swan Valley Stampeders atop the division with 51 points each, while the OCN Blizzard are just two points back and the Virden Oil Capitals are creeping up, sitting two back of OCN for the final playoff spot and only four points out of first place.

The Kings swept a weekend twinbill over the Blizzard, winning Friday’s Ukrainian Night game, 5-2, before scoring a 2-1 win, Sunday.

Kings head coach and general manager Doug Hedley pointed out the Kings have the most wins of any team in the division with 24.

“How crazy is that. Three at 51. One at 49. One at 47. Four points between first and out of the playoffs,” he said.

Friday’s Ukrainian Night contest provided the best atmosphere Hedley has ever seen at a Kings game.

“Sold out seats and standing room. It was really good,” he said.

After the first 10 minutes of Friday’s game, Hedley felt the Kings started using their speed to get pucks up ice.

“Before that, we were trying to beat somebody, carrying the puck instead of moving it up ice and then using our speed. After the (media) timeout, we settled in and got on our toes,” he said. “We were first to pucks a lot on the forecheck. And then created some great chances. Our power play was good on Friday. We had some net-front presence, unlike tonight (Sunday).”

Hedley was pleased with the patience the team showed in Sunday’s win.

“We weren’t giving up many chances. Our power play could have stepped up a little bit, especially in the second period, but they did in the third and we found a way to get it done,” he said.

Twenty-year-old goalie Dmytro Kubritskyi made his Kings debut, Friday, making 30 saves in the victory. Sunday’s starter, Cole Sheffield, picked up his third straight win in which he only allowed one goal.

“He’s definitely a guy that we’re happy with. And then what can you say about (Kubritskyi’s) first start. He was outstanding. He made some good saves and made it look easy,” Hedley said.

The Kings will face the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s newest franchise, the Niverville Nighthawks, Friday in Dauphin at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday in Niverville at 3 p.m.

“They’re fighting for a playoff spot, as well. They’re seven ahead of the Blues,” Hedley said. “I know they’re a hard working team. They play very well, with good structure. They’re well coached. And we know they’re going to come at us hard. They’ve got some good talent there. It’s going to be a hard weekend.”

With so much video now available, teams are familiar with their opponents even without playing each other. So the Kings will familiarize themselves with Niverville and how they play.

“The biggest thing for us is to focus on what we do well. When we play fast, use our speed and separate guys from pucks and our back pressure with guys standing up, and just focusing on transition and using our speed to go on two-on-ones and odd man rushes, if we stay structured through the neutral zone, we’re a tough team to beat,” Hedley said.