The Parkland Rangers and Yellowhead Chiefs are even in their best-of-five quarterfinal series.

Parkland scored three times in the second period en route to a 3-1 win in game one, Thursday in Shoal Lake.

Dru Mushumanski, Rylan Gibbs and Will Munro tallied for the Rangers, while Max Collyer put Yellowhead on the board in the third period.

Parkland’s Brenden Birch-Hayden and Yellowhead’s Jase Wareham both finished the night with 37 saves.

The Chiefs evened the series with a 4-2 win in game two, Sunday in Dauphin.

Ben Roulette scored twice for Yellowhead, with Cole Topham and Foxx McColl adding singles. Kyan Grouette and Carter Zalischuk scored for Parkland.

Nathan Braun had 23 saves in the win, while Birch-Hayden stopped 32 shots.

Rangers head coach Tyler Carefoot said both teams began the series with some jitters in game one.

“But we just wanted to find a way to either tie that period or get out of it not being down and we did that,” he said. “I liked our energy in the first period. A little bit sloppy through the neutral zone. The puck was a little bit of a grenade. We knew Thursday the first goal was going to be very important and we found a way to get it. From there, we didn’t really look back. The momentum was on our side.”

The Rangers also killed off a two-man Chiefs power play in the first period and a four-minute power play in the third.

On Sunday, the Rangers came out flat, allowing the game’s first two goals by the 10:35 mark of the first period. Grouette tallied just seven seconds later and the teams traded goals in the second. Roulette’s second of the game midway through the third iced it for Yellowhead.

Carefoot said Yellowhead is a team that will beat you on hard work.

“That’s their biggest asset. And we knew we had to match that. We had to match their will. We had to match their compete. And tonight we didn’t do that. It was evident. They were all over us,” he said.

After the slow start, the Rangers did make a push in the latter half of the first, but it was not enough.

“We just didn’t have enough guys skating and too many guys were watching. We weren’t tough on pucks. Those scrums inside the blueline, those things have got to get out,” he said, adding the Rangers were not tough enough to play against. “They simply out hustled us and were grittier than us. So we have to hit the reset and it’s a best-of-three now,” he said.

Birch-Hayden gave the Rangers a chance to win in game two, with several big stops.

But the Rangers could not capitalize on their chances when the opportunity presented itself.

“We generated minimal scoring chances. Without those, it’s no recipe for a win,” Carefoot said.

Game three is back in Shoal Lake on Friday at 7:30 p.m. Game four, if needed, will be in Dauphin, Sunday, also at 7:30 p.m.

Dauphin’s J.J. Sutherland grabs a loose puck during the consolation final at the U11 provincials, Sunday morning.

For the first time in two years, Hockey Manitoba is hosting minor hockey provincials across the province, with Dauphin hosting the U11 Rural A Provincials, this past weekend.

Ile Des Chenes won the gold medal with a 9-3 win over Brandon, while Swan River won the bronze thanks to a 9-1 win over Thompson. The host Dauphin Kings beat Carman, 6-4 to win the consolation.

Portage and Stony Mountain also competed in the tournament.

Gary Procyshyn performs during open mic night in the Old Fire Hall at the Watson Art Centre, Friday evening.

With the easing of COVID restrictions, WAC will return to hosting more events.

The next such event will take place this Friday when Clifton and Chris of the Chris Barker Band hit the stage in the Old Fire Hall at 8 p.m.

Regional Connections Immigrant Services hosted a fun in the snow afternoon at Barker School playground, Mar. 5, with sledding and snowshoeing available for interested parties.

For information on other recreation and learning events, check the Dauphin Regional Connections Facebook page or call at 204-647-0693. 

The Dauphin Clippers hockey team won two of three games this past weekend.

Dauphin’s weekend began with an 8-2 win over the Neepawa Tigers, Friday afternoon in Dauphin.

Cole Delamare had a goal and three assists and Logan Chapman chipped in with two goals and one assist to lead the Clippers to the victory.

Austyn Roos also scored twice and Liam Chartrand, Matthew Zurba and Trayden Guiboche added singles. Cody Coombs made 35 saves to record the win.

Lance Murray and Riley Davie scored for Neepawa. Gatlyn Plett was in goal for Neepawa for the first two periods, stopping 18 shots before giving way to Ryder Phinney, who made five saves in the final frame.

On Saturday, Reed Houle scored six times to lead the Sandy Bay Badgers to a 10-6 win over the Clippers in Dauphin.

Bobby Orr-Roulette had a goal and three assists and Riley McBride had four helpers for Sandy Bay, while Everette Beaulieu, Liam Winters and Brayson Richard had the other goals. Keecan Beaulieu earned the win after making 40 saves.

Zurba led the Clippers with two goals and an assist, while Guiboche contributed three assists. Other goals came from Braydyn Paskaruk, Delamare, Jaymen Fee and William Miner. Owen Chubka stopped 10 of 15 shots before he was lifted in favour of Cody Coombs, who made 21 saves the rest of the way.

On Sunday, the Clippers traveled north to Swan River to battle the Tigers, scoring a 3-1 victory.

Allee Hrechka, Landon Brown and Jake Kuzmiak provided the offence in support of Chubka, who made 26 saves to record the win.

Kash Henkelman had the Swan Valley goal and Kristin Moshenko made 27 saves in taking the loss.

Dauphin’s record sits at 18-9-2-2 for 40 points, good for seventh place in the Westman High School Hockey League.

Twenty teams hit the ice for the Royal Canadian Legion Mixed Bonspiel, this past weekend at the Parkland Recreation Complex.

Chris Todoruk and his team of Mark Graham, Brandi Graham and Kelli Gancher won the first event over Nick Ogryzlo. Tom Vanbuekenhout was third and Dan Scott was fourth.

In the second event, Jim Todoruk, Doug Fisher, Carla Mayuk and Terri Todoruk took top spot, beating Keith Pottle in the final. Steven Michaleski was third and Tom Messinbird was fourth.

Darcy Todoruk, Janelle Todoruk, Jamie Hogue and Brett Crowe won the third event, defeating Norma Johnson in the final. Third place went to Mike VanAlstyne and in fourth place was Glenn Rozak.

The Parkland Rangers finally know who they will face in the Manitoba U18 AAA Hockey League quarterfinals.

The Rangers clinched fifth place, thanks to the Winnipeg Wild’s 5-2 win over the Southwest Cougars on Sunday, setting up a first-round match up with the Yellowhead Chiefs.

Game one of the best-of-five goes Thursday in Shoal Lake, with game two in Dauphin, Sunday at 7:30 p.m.

Rangers head coach Tyler Carefoot is expecting a gritty, in-your-face type of series.

“The Chiefs have proven to be a tough out all season. They are used to playing tight games, 2-1 and 3-2, so we have to be prepared to get greasy,” he said.

Carefoot added the Rangers have the edge offensively with more scoring depth and he really likes his team’s defence.

“And if we get goaltending like our last game, we are going to be tough to play against,” he added. “This group of Rangers have put pride back in the jersey. Hopefully, we can go on a run to generate even more excitement for the program. We’re just happy to not only be in the playoffs, but I think it’s safe to say that we’re mostly happy to be facing our arch rivals.”

Yellowhead is a gritty team that is tough to play against. What they lack in offence they make up for with strong goaltending and defence.

“They’re always in your face, so we have to match that. I like our D. I think we’re a little more offensive minded than they are. But once you get into the playoffs, it’s about sand paper and grit and minimizing turnovers. So we’re going to have to do a better job of that,” he said. “I think it’s going to be close. I think they’re going to be close games and we have to expect that. Hopefully we find ways to score more goals than them.”

The rest of the best-of-five series has yet to be scheduled.

Dauphin’s Safeway store has been a boon for the Dauphin and District Food Bank since joining the Second Harvest Food Rescue program in November.

On Friday, the local store presented a cheque for $7,200 to the food bank.

Safeway store manager Dale Gawryluik said a lot of the store’s fund-raising goes to the Second Harvest program, which they began participating in last November.

“Currently, we have 21,247 meals donated. So for every $2 that is donated, it feeds one person, which is great. And we’ll continue to do this program,” he said.

Gawryluik said giving back to the community is important.

“Personally, myself, I like to give back to the community, which we’ve done today. And we’ll continue to support the food bank, as well as the friendship centre.”

Some of the food collected through Second Harvest is shared with Parkview Lodge and Happy Haven, as well as the Dauphin Friendship Centre’s Food for Thought program.

“So we’re not just supporting the food bank. We’re supporting anybody that is in need of food today. Especially with the rising cost of merchandise today, it goes a long way for these individuals to be supported,” Gawryluik said. “And we’ll continue to support right until the program is done. But I can’t see the program ever being done. We’re happy to help the community as much as we can.”

The Christmas holidays is always a busy time of year for the food bank, but thanks to the generosity of area residents, the food bank has been able to answer the demand of those in need.

“Dauphin is a very, very giving city and we have no trouble getting donations in whether it be food or monetary. They’ve been helping us for years, keeping our shelves stocked,” said the food bank’s Robin Gambler, adding Safeway has been a big help, as well.

Tom Monson said local residents always answer the call, especially around Christmas.

“They seem to want to give money. And it really goes to a good cause. It goes to help us and all of the other people in the community. And it’s just not Dauphin. We get some of the surrounding area, too, that are struggling,” he said.

Now that the holidays are over, Gambler said the shelves are still stocked in some areas and they have started purchasing needed items.

“To make sure we have all the food groups in our hampers that we give out,” she said.

Monson visits the local Safeway store every day to pick up food through the Second Harvest program. On Friday, he picked up 88 pounds of meat, 140 pounds of produce, 30 pounds of prepared food, 15 pounds of bread and about 18 pounds of baked goods.

“That was this morning only. And this goes on seven days a week in this store. It’s a real benefit to us,” he said.