The Parkland Rangers opened the 2022-23 Manitoba U18 AAA Hockey League season with a pair of home-ice losses to the defending league champion Winnipeg Wild.

After a strong start by the Rangers, which saw them take an early 1-0 lead, the Wild took control of game one, which resulted in a 10-3 Winnipeg victory, Saturday.

Tavyn Boychuk tallied the first goal of the season for Parkland, 2:08 into the first period. Madden Murray added a pair in the third period to round out the scoring for Parkland.

Ty Genik led the Wild with three goals, while Cole Robertson had a goal and two assists. Also scoring for Winnipeg were Marlen Edwards with two, Brenden Espenell, Gino Controneo, Aaron Krestanowich and Campbell Epp with singles.

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

The Dauphin Kings snapped a three-game losing streak with a dramatic come-from-behind overtime win over the visiting Swan Valley Stampeders, Saturday.

Dauphin’s week began with a sloppy 8-4 loss to the OCN Blizzard, Tuesday in OCN, followed by a 3-0 loss to the Stampeders, Friday in Swan River.

On Saturday, the Kings trailed midway through the third period, but tied the game with 1:40 left in regulation on a goal from Mason Smith.

Garrett Hrechka then gave the Kings the win when Nicholas Hatton sent him in all alone and the Dauphin native beat Swan Valley’s Loic Mainguy-Crepault.

Dauphin’s record sits at 2-2-1-0 through the first five games.

The game against OCN was one where the entire team did not play well, according to Kings head coach and general manager Doug Hedley.

“It wasn’t just the goaltender. It wasn’t just the d-men and it wasn’t just the forwards. It was everybody. It was a team effort. We didn’t compete. We didn’t stick battle,” he said. “It’s a tough place to play in if you’re not used to it. Whatever energy you have in that building, you have to feed off of it. And we didn’t.”

Get a full recap and more in this week's Dauphin Herald. 

Volunteers Tanya Love and Jennifer Balchen decorate cookies for the Smile Cookie campaign at the local Tim Horton’s store.

The week-long event was a success with Dauphin in the running for most cookies sold nationwide.

Several local businesses matched daily sales throughout the week, with all proceeds going to the Maamawi Park Family Toboggan Run.

A group of mostly American tourists visited Fort Dauphin Museum, Sunday, as part of their tour through Manitoba.

Fantasy RV Tours booked the excursion through the province which takes the tourists north to Churchill to view polar bears.

On top of Dauphin, stops during the 15-day trip will include The Pas, Thompson, Churchill, Fairford and Winnipeg.

Even though it is closed, the museum will book tours for interested groups. To book a tour, call 204-638-6630.

When the Rural Manitoba Football League season kicked off in Dauphin, earlier this month, there was a notable presence missing form the field.

Longtime referee Ken Smaluck has retired after more than 35 years of patrolling the gridiron.

Smaluck began refereeing in the mid-1980s out of necessity, due to a shortage of referees at the time.

“They needed refs and I just (stepped up). That’s basically it,” he said.

After getting his initial certification, Smaluck kept getting recertified over the years.

The game has pretty much been the same since he started.

“Every year, there seemed to be a lot of good athletes going out (to play). I’ve been nine-man throughout, so it’s been pretty consistent,” Smaluck said, adding there were not many rule changes over the years.
As a fan of the sport, Smaluck had to be careful not to get caught up watching the game.

“You’ve got basically the best seat in the house. You’ve got to be careful you’re not watching the game. You have to watch what’s going on. But still, I’ve enjoyed the football atmosphere,” he said.
While he couldn’t pin down any specific moments as his favourite, Smaluck enjoyed meeting and working with other referees.

It's just another great local story from the Dauphin Herald, and you can get the full rundown in this week's paper!

The Kick off Your Roots tour wrapped up with a show at the Watson Arts Centre, Sept. 14.

The show featured Desiree Dorion, Emma Peterson and Quinton Blair telling the stories behind their songs in an intimate setting.

More than 100 people took in the show. The next performance at the WAC will be, Sept. 24, when Route 10 Collective offers the Music of George Harrison with the show starting at 7:30 p.m.

More than 40 people took part in this year’s Terry Fox Run at Vermillion Park to raise money for cancer research.

Participants had their choice of how far they walked or ran the trails at the park.

Organizer Steven Roznowsky hoped to raise $2,000 for the Canadian Cancer Society.

Myles Fee has taken his coaching skills to south Florida after he was recently hired as an assistant coach by the National Hockey League’s Florida Panthers.

Fee started his career as video coach for the New York Rangers and joined the Edmonton Oilers after just one season in New York.

After seven seasons in Alberta’s capital, Fee joined the American Hockey League’s Charlotte Checkers, helping to guide the Carolina Hurricanes affiliate to a Calder Cup championship in 2018-19.

After four seasons with Charlotte, Fee moved on to Buffalo, where he spent the last three seasons.

Fee was also video coach for Team Europe, which won the silver medal in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.

Now Fee is one of several people hired as assistant coaches for the Panthers.

It was at the World Cup that Fee developed a relationship with Panthers coach Paul Maurice, who was coach of Team Europe, and they have stayed in touch since then.

When Maurice was hired by Florida, he asked for and received permission from the Sabres to talk to Fee about joining the Panthers.

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

The Parkland Rangers are set to open the 2022-23 Manitoba AAA U18 Hockey League season against the defending league champion Winnipeg Wild, this weekend.

After Team Black scored an 8-3 win over Team Green in the annual intrasquad game, last Thursday, the Rangers embarked on a trip to Souris for the annual preseason tournament hosted by the Southwest Cougars.

Parkland opened the weekend with a 4-2 loss to the Brandon Wheat Kings, Friday night, and rebounded with a 7-0 win over the Norman North Stars, Saturday morning.

Parkland’s final preseason tilt will be tonight when they host the Yellowhead Chiefs at 7:30 p.m. at Credit Union Place.

While he was pleased overall with the team’s play, Rangers head coach Tyler Carefoot noted the game against Brandon was the first against league opposition for some of the players.

“It’s safe to say a few of the guys were a little nervous. I felt that, for most of the game, it was pretty sloppy. The puck was almost like a grenade. There wasn’t much structure,” he said, adding goalie Chase Glover had a tremendous game.

While he wouldn’t say Brandon was in midseason form, Carefoot noted they moved the puck well.

Read the full story in this week's Dauphin Herald!

The Gilbert Plains Country Club hosted its annual club championships, Sunday, with 57 golfers teeing off.

Gloria Carmichael captured the ladies title, carding a 104 to record a one-shot victory over Jenna Wreggit. Linda Hamilton was three back of Carmichael to finish third.

Boston Karlson ran away with the junior title after shooting a 77, to post an 18-shot win over runner-up Ronin Mouck, who shot a 95. Nolan Dutchek was third with a 99.

Christian Laughland shot a 73 to win the men’s title, finishing one ahead of runner-up Chad Facey. Dale Murray was third, one back of Facey.

Bruce Parker won the first flight on a countback over runner-up Nathan Zadorozny and Ron Chapen who finished third. They all carded an 87.

Wayne Bazylo’s 95 won him top spot in the second flight, finishing one shot ahead of Bill Murray. Tom Hanke was third with a 97.

Closest-to-the-hole winners were Jon Tomlinson on no. 4, Florence Burdeny on no. 9, Laughland on no. 14 and Al Truman on no. 17.