The club volleyball season is under way and the Parkland Vipers 14U squad opened its season at a tournament in Winnipeg this past weekend.

The Vipers went 0-2 in  their first two round-robin matches on Friday, losing a couple of close games.

A win over Impact put the Vipers in third place in their pool and they advanced to the A-side of the draw with a straight sets win over Taika.

In the playoffs, the Vipers lost to a strong Big Sand Red team in three sets.

The Vipers eventually ran out of gas and finished eighth out of 20 teams.

Vipers coach Taylor Schmidt said the girls have been working hard in practice, leading up to the tournament, which was hosted by the Bandits at the Dakota Sportsplex in Winnipeg.

“We were excited to just go and play. A 20-team tournament, we saw some of the top teams in the 14U division and the girls really played well. They showed improvement in every set and every match as we went along in the tournament,” he said.

“Just by the end there on Saturday, into our fourth match of the day, the girls were working hard and just ran out of gas.”

Seeing an improvement from the start of a tournament to the end is something coaches look for early in the season and that is what Schmidt saw from the Vipers.

“Myself and my assistant coach, Brenda Livingston, before the tournament started, that’s what we talked about as a team. All we want to see for this tournament is continued improvement in individual play and team play. We’ll let the rest come out of that,” he said.

“It’s a long season, but it’s a very promising start for the girls to have a successful first tournament.”

The Vipers will be in Virden this weekend for a tournament hosted by Club West.

The Dauphin Clippers hockey team has won five games in a row, with the fifth win coming, Sunday, against the Minnedosa/Erickson Chancellors.

Hayden Shtykalo scored three times and added an assist and Ethan Zalischuk had two goals and two assists to lead the Clippers to a 9-0 victory over the shorthanded Chancellors, which dressed just 13 skaters.

Josh Yakielashek chipped in with two goals and one assist, with Cale Morrison and Noah Myhre adding singles.

Ben Miner stopped all 19 shots he faced to record the shutout. Parker Soltys made 30 saves in taking the loss.

The game Friday night against the Birtle/Shoal Lake/Rossburn Falcons was postponed due to the extreme cold and has been rescheduled to Feb. 3, at 1:45 p.m.

It was the second game postponed in recent weeks.

Clippers head coach Drew Kulcheski said postponements are to the team’s benefit, because they are always prepared to play.

“We’re ready to go every single game. Like we’ve talked about, we’re a resilient group. I think we show up coming to the rink, whether it’s practice or games, we’ve got our work boots on,” he said.

“I’ve got to praise our leadership group. They keep everybody humble, keep every ready to go on time. We’re just playing with confidence right now and we’re buzzing.”

The Clippers scored four goals in the opening frame, taking advantage of the shortened Minnedosa bench.

“I think when we have character wins like this, when we play our style, we play north and south. We play heavy when we need to play heavy, but when we need to play with skill, we play with skill,” Kulcheski said.

“The boys are really confident right now and it shows on the ice.”

The Clippers host the Reston/Melita/Hartney/Souris Renegades, Friday at 7:30 p.m., before the Hamiota/Rivers Huskies pay a visit to Credit Union Place, Saturday at 3 p.m.

On Sunday, the Sandy Bay Badgers visit the Clippers at 12:30 p.m.

The Parkland Rangers sit in seventh place in the Manitoba U18 AAA Hockey League after a successful weekend.

The Rangers began the week with a 5-2 loss to the Yellowhead Chiefs, Jan. 13, in Shoal Lake.

Parkland then earned a point in a 4-3 shootout loss to the Interlake Lightning, Friday in Dauphin.

On Saturday and Sunday, the Rangers were in Morden for a pair of games against the Pembina Valley Hawks, with the two teams sitting tied with 37 points.

After a 3-2 overtime win on Saturday and a 5-3 victory, Sunday, the Rangers are now three up on the Hawks and tied with Southwest for sixth place.

Rangers head coach Rick Freese was pleased with the team’s play against the Hawks.

“We showed up with that fire and that work ethic and we worked. We worked and we didn’t watch. Our neutral zone was real good, because we worked. And we worked in that containment mode. I was real happy with the weekend. The players played extremely well,” he said.

Although disappointed not to get the win against Interlake, Freese noted the Lightning’s record does not reflect how well they can play.

“And I know for a fact that if we played against Interlake the way we played against Pembina Valley, that we would have gotten those two points, for sure,” he said, adding the Rangers were missing several key players from the lineup and dressed four APs for Sunday’s game.

“We had five of our top players out of the lineup on Sunday and some of those young kids really stepped up and were working. So it’s good to see,” he said.

“We’re going to go with the guys that want to work and the guys that want to do what we want them to do.”

Sweeping the two games against the Hawks will show the Rangers how successful they can be when they work hard, especially in the defensive zone.

“I think that they see when we don’t watch in the D zone and we’re anticipating and our neutral zone is plugged up and we’re steering properly, I think that these guys see what we’re capable of,” Freese said.

“We’re tied for sixth place. Everything is so tight in our league right now, one hiccup weekend puts you down in eighth. We want to stay up in that five, six area and I think we’re on our way to playing that way.”

Freese added he is pleased with the fire and passion the players displayed in the two wins over Pembina Valley.

“We out worked them, plain and simple. That’s how we won those games,” he said.

“Our goaltending, too. Carter Sigurdson played real well on the weekend. When we’ve got 20 guys playing a team game, from the goaltender out, it just makes that much of a difference.”

The Rangers hit the road this weekend for a twinbill in Teulon against the Lightning, Saturday at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday at 1 p.m.

Freese said the team is looking forward to these two games with an eye on winning both.

“We want to keep climbing. We’ll do some video here on Tuesday, three practices this week and then we’ll get back to it this weekend,” he said.

The Dauphin Clippers are riding a four-game winning streak after posting three wins last week.

After scoring a 6-2 win over the Roblin/Grandview/Gilbert Plains Raiders, Tuesday in Dauphin, Hayden Shtykalo scored both goals in a 2-1 overtime victory over the Sandy Bay Badgers, Wednesday in Sandy Bay.

On Saturday, Dauphin made it four straight wins with an 8-3 triumph over the Crocus Plains Plainsmen.

Sunday’s home game against Sandy Bay was postponed due to poor travel conditions and has been rescheduled to Feb. 1 at 12:30 p.m.

The Clippers now sit in fourth place in the Westman High School Hockey League, with an 11-5-0-1 record for 23 points. They trail the third-place Virden Golden Bears by one point, with three games in hand.

Clippers head coach Drew Kulcheski said the players got their confidence back after struggling coming out of the Christmas break and it showed on the ice.

“We’re all kind of gelling together right now and I’m pleased with how we’re playing. We’re playing as a five-man unit every time we’re our on the ice and it’s bringing us some success,” he said.

The offence produced 14 goals in two of the games, and won a close game against Sandy Bay. Being able to win playing any style of game is something that pleases Kulcheski.

“It’s really nice to know that no matter what the situation we’re in, we either have a chance to come back and win one late or tie one up late or take the lead late or we can start the offence off early,” he said.

“There’s not a lot of quit in this group. It’s quite the resilient group we have here. So it’s very comfortable knowing my team can play any style of hockey throughout 60 minutes.”

The Clippers have two home games this week, hosting the Birtle Falcons, Friday at 7:30 p.m., before the Minnedosa/Erickson Chancellors visit Credit Union Place, Sunday at 7 p.m.

Kulcheski is confident the Clippers can continue it’s strong play of late.

“Hopefully we can keep playing confident. When we’re playing with confidence, we seem to have our success. So just trying to let the boys know to play our game, play with confidence and we’ll be alright,” he said.

The Rural Municipality of Dauphin council held its first regular meeting of the new year, Jan. 13.

Accounts and finances

Council approved 37 cheques, including a voided cheque which had the wrong amount, as well as payroll and online payments in the amount of $256,518.03.

CAO report

CAO Grady Stephenson told council he met with Environment and Climate Change staff, where some concerns were expressed. Some improvements are coming for some things, he said, along with clarifications on other issues.

Stephenson added staff is starting to work on some budget items.

Transportation

Public works foreman Ryan Jenkins informed council graders have been busy keeping roads open during the recent snowfalls and in between plowing, they have been out ridging to protect against winds.

The municipality, Jenkins added, is currently training seasonal staff to plow snow in keeping with succession planning.

Public works staff has been planning projects for the upcoming construction season.

Staff are also currently monitoring and dealing with a natural spring run that is starting to flood a ditch in the south and threatening to go over the road making for dangerous driving conditions.

Read the full story in this week’s edition of the Dauphin Herald.

The Dauphin Clippers JV girls basketball team used home court to their advantage, winning the Clipper Classic this past weekend.

After opening the tournament with a 69-9 win over the Swan Valley Tigers, the Clippers defeated the Neelin Spartans, 52-21, in the semifinals, before beating Brandon’s Vincent Massey Vikings, 29-28 in the championship game.

Neelin went on to place third, beating Yorkton, 52-18. Gladstone beat Swan River to win the consolation.

Clippers coach John Marshall said the players showed a lot of grit and determination, especially in the final.

“The first two games, as indicated by the scores, we didn’t have a very difficult time defeating those teams. And that’s no offence to them. But they couldn’t match us.”

Dauphin’s next tournament will be the Nighthawks Invitational, Jan. 30 and 31, in Winkler.

Until then, the Clippers will work on offence.

“Our offence is inconsistent. We need to be much sharper executing and not panicking so much under man-to-man defence,” Marshall said.

Marshall wishes to thank everyone who helped to organize the tournament and run things behind the scenes. He also thanked teacher Don Sheldon, who spearheaded the construction of the announcer’s table, which adds to the atmosphere at Clippers’ home tournaments.

“It really helps to support school spirit. I look at that and I’m so proud of what they did. It just makes our tournaments so much better,” he said.

The JV boys were in Winkler for the Nighthawks Invitational, where they went 1-2, losing out in the consolation final.

Read the full story in this week’s edition of the Dauphin Herald.

It was a weekend to forget for the Parkland Rangers.

The Rangers dropped a pair of games to the Winnipeg Bruins, 7-1, on Saturday, and 8-1 on Sunday.

Both games were in Dauphin.

Rangers head coach Rick Freese said penalties were costly as the Bruins scored six power-play goals in 19 chances.

“You’re not going to beat the best team in the league when you’re shorthanded for 26 minutes. You’ve got to stay out of the penalty box,” he said.

“Five-on-five, we’re right there with them. But we’ve got to be unselfish and stay out of the box. Our penalty killers can only do so much.”

Now riding a three-game losing streak, Parkland sits in eighth place with a 16-11-4-0 record, but they are one point behind the Pembina Valley Hawks and three back of the Southwest Cougars.

The Rangers embark on an important week, where they face teams around them in the standings, beginning Tuesday in Shoal Lake against the Yellowhead Chiefs.

On Friday, the Rangers host the Interlake Lightning at 7:30 p.m. Then they hit the road for a pair of games against Pembina Valley in Morden, Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 1:30 p.m.

Freese said this is a big week coming up for the Rangers against teams they need to play well against.

For the full story, read this week’s edition of the Dauphin Herald.

The Coldest Night of the Year is set for Feb. 28, so there is plenty of time for people to put together teams to take part in the fund-raiser for the Dauphin Friendship Centre’s Food for Thought program.

According to Jarri Thompson, DFC events co-ordinator, there are currently more than 800 students registered for Food For Thought across the Dauphin school catchment, with approximately 750 students accessing meals consistently each week. Each participating student receives two meals per week, resulting in roughly 1,500 meals served weekly.

As a result, the average grocery cost is approximately $5,000 per week. Thanks to the dedicated volunteers making these meals from scratch that works out to about $3.33 per meal, per child.

As of Sunday afternoon, there are six teams registered, involving 16 walkers, which have raised $7,630 or 30 per cent of the walk’s goal of $25,000.

“We would like to see at least 10 teams of five. And then that way, they don’t have to raise as much,” Thompson said, adding the number of teams so far is about on par with what they usually have.

“Because of the rise in food costs, if we can get more teams registered sooner, that would be ideal,” she added.

To register, people can go to the DFC to see Thompson and she will walk them through the process, or they can log on to cnoy.org/location/dauphin.

Thompson said the walk is one of the bigger fund-raisers for the Food for Thought program, adding there is no deadline to register.

“You can actually register all the way up until the day that you walk and we actually collect donations all the way up until March. But again, the sooner you register, the better for us to know where we’re at and to prepare for the meal and the welcoming,” she said.

Participants will gather at the Dauphin Friendship Centre between 3:30 p.m. and 4 p.m., where organizers will make sure all the forms are properly filled out, as well as collect money raised.

“We will do a little thank you, a presentation as to where the money will be going and how the community has helped,” Thompson explained.

The event will begin at 4 p.m., with two options for participants, either a two-kilometre or five-kilometre route.

“Once walkers are finished with their walk, they come back to the friendship centre and we have a meal,” Thompson said.

Thompson said anyone who wishes can make a donation to the Food for Thought program, adding it doesn’t have to be monetary.

“We take in-kind donations. We take food donations. And we always take new volunteers,” she said.

For the second straight year, Dauphin’s Julien Lopez was named Junior Male Athlete of the Year by Rugby Manitoba.

Lopez was just as surprised and grateful this time around as he was last year.

“It’s always an honour to win that,” he said.

Winning the award means a lot to Lopez, who noted rugby is a growing community in the province.

“So it’s cool to win that and, hopefully, it will push other kids to try and win that, as well,” he said.

Lopez recently played for the British Columbia-based MacDowell Rugby Academy at the Global Youth 7s in Auckland, New Zealand.

Lopez said the tournament went pretty well, though he ended up with an injury.

“I still learned a lot with that team as the coaches know what they’re doing and everyone there just helps each other,” he said.

Lopez feels his game has significantly improved over the course of the past year.

“Not just the body growing part, but the smarts, as well. After playing with so many good athletes, you just pick up their skills along the way,” he said, adding he hopes to play college rugby in Victoria.

Lopez thanks all of the teammates he has had and is looking forward to his final year of high school rugby with the Dauphin Clippers.

The Dauphin Lady Mavericks were the recipients of the 2025 Dave Barnes Spirit of the Game Award.

Awarded annually by the Manitoba Association of Rugby Referees, this award recognizes the commitment to the values of rugby and fair play both on and off the pitch.

Cassandra Kostelnyk, who spearheaded the return of the Lady Mavericks learned of the award in early December.

“I was surprised. Not because I didn’t think we deserved the award by any means, but because we played the least amount of games of any league in Manitoba, between women’s, men’s first and men’s second divisions,” she said.

Noting it was voted on by the referees, Kostelnyk felt that made winning the award pretty special.

“And showed how we worked together well as a team on the field. For us to have only played five games and the refs picked us out of everybody,” she said.

The award will boost the team’s confidence as they prepare for next season.

“All of the girls were super, super excited that we won this award,” Kostelnyk.

“It’s going to give us good momentum for years going forward.”

2025 was a busy year for sports in Dauphin and the Parkland.

The Dauphin Kings ended the 2024-25 regular season in first place in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s MGEU West Division with a record of 37-18-2-1 for 77 points, fourth best overall.

Dauphin dispatched the fourth place Waywayseecappo Wolverines in five games, before eliminating the Portage Terriers in six games.

The Kings then faced the Northern Manitoba Blizzard in the final.

The Blizzard, which finished in second place, six points behind the Kings in the regular season, had beaten the Neepawa Titans and swept the defending league champion Winkler Flyers to earn their berth in the championship round.

After the Blizzard took a three-games-to-one lead, the Kings won games five and six, forcing a seventh and deciding game on home ice.

In an epic battle, Quincy Supprien scored off a faceoff at 14:03 of the third overtime period to give the Blizzard their first league championship since 2003 in front of 2,246 fans at Credit Union Place.

Goaltenders Taye Timmerman of the Blizzard and Cole Sheffield of the Kings shared the Playoff MVP Award, the first time that happened in league history.

Naaman Hofer won the Brian Kozak Memorial Award as Top Defenceman, while Hofer and teammate Cayden Glover were both selected to the first all-star team. Sheffield was named to the second all-star team along with Grandview’s Jayce Legaarden of the Winkler Flyers.

Dauphin’s Breken Brezden finished fifth overall at the Skate Canada National Championships, Jan. 14 to 19, in Laval, Que.

Read the full story in this weeks Dauphin Herald.