On paper, it was a good week for the Dauphin Kings.

The local Manitoba Junior Hockey League squad picked up five of a possible six points, actually gaining a point on the second-place Blizzard Junior A Hockey Club.

But the Kings did not make it easy on themselves.

The week began with a 3-2 win over the Neepawa Titans, Tuesday in Dauphin, in a game which they led 3-0 entering the third period.

On Friday, the Waywayseecappo Wolverines came to town and escaped with a 3-2 shootout victory to keep their playoff hopes alive.

On Saturday, the Kings had to overcome a 3-0 deficit versus the last-place Winnipeg Blues, scoring a 4-3 overtime win on Cayden Glover’s second power-play goal of the game, 2:50 into the extra frame.

Kings head coach and general manager Doug Hedley said ever since a 6-1 win over the Winnipeg Freeze, Feb. 3, they have been out worked and out shot and out hit.

“And it’s all a choice. We’ve got a great group in the room and I believe in them. I really think we can do some good things this year, but they’ve got to believe in themselves and they’ve got to be prepared to work,” he said. “When talent works hard, it’s tough to beat you. Hard work is going to beat talent every time, unless talent works hard. We’ve got talent. We know we do, but we’ve still got to work and we’ve got to be tough and hard to play against.”

That is something the Kings need to do more of, especially on home ice as Hedley feels the Kings don’t get physical enough when teams come to play in Credit Union Place.

“We don’t make it a tough place to play. And I think once we started being physical and finishing checks all over the ice, we started getting opportunities,” he said. “When you have games like we did against the Freeze, when you don’t play well but you still win 6-1, you’re playing risk hockey, or you’re hoping instead of coming from behind pucks. The best offence is below pucks when you come from behind with speed, in the right place, D side of battles, the right side of pucks. When we do that, we’re a good team. And we started doing that in the last half of the game.”

All three teams the Kings faced during the week are below them in the standings. Hedley said you still have to respect your opponent, no matter where they are in the standings.

“You still have to out work them. You have to come ready to play and it’s not a point night, it’s still a team thing. It’s team buy-in. Short, hard energy shifts. At times we stay on the ice too long and then we wonder why we don’t have energy and we’re changing at the wrong times,” he said. “There’s just little things we can get better at. But I think if we can just stay with that identity that we want by playing fast with our speed, playing physical and be hard on pucks, it becomes habit and we can do some good things this year. We’ve just got to stay more consistent.”

Dauphin improved its record to 27-13-1-1 for 56 points, two behind the Blizzard, with three games in hand.

This week, the Kings travel to Waywayseecappo for a rematch with the Wolverines, tonight at 7:30 p.m.

On Friday, the Kings host the league-leading Steinbach Pistons at 7:30 p.m. On Saturday, they are back on the road to face the Swan Valley Stampeders in Swan River at 7 p.m.

Going forward Hedley said awareness and communication are the two most important things in the defensive zone.

“A lot of times we’ve been really happy with the mobility we have on our backend, but some of the time, our D-men want to jump into the play too soon,” he said. “That consistency and that communicating and awareness is huge. We’ll be okay. We’ll get better and we’ll get back on our toes.”

On the injury front, forward Kyan Grouette is day-to-day with an upper body injury and forward Ethan Williment is not expected back from a shoulder injury until the end of the month. Defenceman Karson Raymond is ready to return from a rib injury.

Kings court: The Kings have signed head coach and general manager Doug Hedley to a two-year contract extension, through to the end of the 2025-26 season.

The Dauphin Kings earned a split over the weekend and remain in third place in the MGEU West Division of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League.

Dalton Andrew scored twice, with both goals coming on the power play to lead the Winkler Flyers to a 3-2 in over the Kings, Friday in Winkler.

The Flyers built a 3-0 lead after 40 minutes and hung on in the third period as the Kings pulled to within one, late in the game.

On Saturday in Winnipeg, the Kings upended the Freeze, 6-1, with Madden Murray, Rylan Gibbs and Sheldon Shyiak each netting a goal and an assist and Gavin Nemis chipping in with a pair of helpers.

Kings head coach and general manager Doug Hedley liked the team’s pushback against Winkler.

“We got down a couple of power-play goals, but really had a solid third period and pushed back. We had a real good chance to tie the game with about 10 seconds left and it didn’t happen. But at the same time, I’m happy with the effort, for sure,” he said.

Momentum was tough to come by with the number of penalties called in the game. The two teams combined for 13 power plays.

“At times I thought we were playing in the Federal League. There was a scrum just about every time, two or three guys jumping guys. And for some reason, the officials allowed a lot of it, not giving 10’s (misconducts) or anything,” Hedley said. “It was a playoff type atmosphere. I was really happy with the way the guys responded and pushed back. We were on our heels for a bit at the start. They came at us hard. But the good thing is we hung tough and almost got a point out of that game.”

It took a while to get going against the Freeze.

Hedley said those are tough games when you’re up to face one team in a playoff-type of atmosphere and then face a team that is out of the playoffs.

“It wasn’t our greatest effort, but we found ways to score and we found ways to get it done when we had to,” he said.

This week, the Kings have three games, all on home ice, against teams below them in the standings.

The week gets underway, Tuesday, when the Neepawa Titans come to town, followed by a Friday night date with the Waywayseecappo Wolverines. On Saturday, the Winnipeg Blues visit Credit Union Place.

All three games begin at 7:30 p.m.

Hedley said this is an important stretch for his team.

“There’s time in March there towards the end of the season where there’s a lot of road games. So we’ve got to take advantage of being at home,” he said. “Neepawa is a tough test. They’re playing real well. They’ve beat some good teams lately. They’re fighting for their lives in the playoffs, with Wayway right on their heels. They’ll be coming in hard. We’re going to have to bring our A game and make sure we’re ready to play,” he said.

At 25-13-1-0, the Kings have 51 points and are three back of the Blizzard, with four games in hand.

The Parkland Rangers are doing what they can to stay in the playoff hunt, but they need some help if they are to reach the postseason.

The Rangers won two of three games in the Manitoba U18 AAA Hockey League, last week.

Tavyn Boychuk’s goal 1:35 into overtime lifted Parkland to a 4-3 win over the Yellowhead Chiefs, Tuesday in Dauphin.

On Saturday, in front of a crowd of 1,462 on Ukrainian Night at Credit Union Place, the Rangers erased three one-goal deficits and went on to beat the Interlake Lightning, 5-4.

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

Kyle Forsyth of Turko Fertilizer and Glenn Toews of Nutrien Ag. Solutions track an incoming shot during the final of the Bayer Crop Science Parkland Super League of Curling, Sunday.

After Forsyth clinched first place with a 6-3 win over Toews in a makeup game, Jan. 29, the playoffs took place, Sunday. In the quarterfinals, Greg Todoruk of Richardson Pioneer beat Chad Sahulka of South Fork Ag Services, 7-5, and Rob Fisher of Hrychuk Yard Solutions beat Jim Todoruk of Oil Depot, 8-3.

In the semifinals, Toews beat Greg Todoruk, 8-4 and Forsyth beat Fisher, 7-4. Forsyth and his team of Jarvis Whyte, Trent Hill and Cody Hill then clinched the $1,500 first prize with a 9-5 win over Toews in the final. Toews took home $750, while Fisher and Greg Todoruk each received $500.

Dauphin’s Julien Lopez (13) and Raiders goalie Jordan Svaboda watch the puck slide past the goal post in high school hockey action, Saturday at Credit Union Place.

The Dauphin Clippers hockey team lost two of three games over the weekend. With 15 players dressed, the Clippers beat the Birtle Falcons, 9-1, Friday in Birtle.

William Miner led the Clippers with a goal and three assists,while Ronin Mouck had two goals and an assist.

Sully Fox, Jaxon Bodnar, Jackson Buchanan, Josh Yakielshek, Ethan Everett and Tyron Sweetman also scored for Dauphin and Joe Tabin made 41 saves to pick up the win.

On Saturday, with just 13 players dressed, the Clippers fell 8-3 to the Killarney/Wawanesa Raiders. Sweetman scored once and assisted on both of Everett’s goals, while Owen Chubka and Tabin combined to make 31 saves in goal.

Things did not get any better on Sunday as the shorthanded Clippers lost 9-3 to the Neepawa Tigers in Dauphin.

Sweetman again had a goal and two assists to lead the Clippers. Julien Lopez and Mouck had the other goals. Chubka stopped 42 shots in taking the loss.

The Parkland Rangers are falling out of the playoff picture in the Manitoba U18 AAA Hockey League after three straight losses, last week.

The Brandon Wheat Kings scored a 4-2 win over the Rangers, Jan. 23 in Dauphin.

On the weekend in Thompson, Parkland lost 8-1 to the Norman North Stars, Saturday, and on Sunday, Norman skated to a 6-0 victory.

Last week was one of mixed results for the Dauphin Kings.

Six different players had two points each in a 6-2 win over the Swan Valley Stampeders, Jan. 23, in Swan River, extending Dauphin’s winning streak to seven games.

The streak came to an end, Friday at Credit Union Place when the visiting Blizzard scored a 4-2 victory.

Dauphin rebounded with a solid effort in a 5-2 win over the league-leading Steinbach Pistons, Saturday in front of 1,943 fans on Ukrainian Night.

Kings head coach and general manager Doug Hedley said good teams find a way to rebound from tough losses and that is what the Kings did.

“Resilience is part of our covenant. We were fast tonight. We played fast tonight. We were relentless on pucks. We stopped on pucks. We won stick battles. Took hits to make plays. It’s just something we didn’t do enough of (Friday) night to start,” he said. “We weren’t on our toes. We weren’t using our speed. We weren’t playing fast. So we got what we deserved.”

Hedley felt the Kings played well in the third period, but failed to play for a full 60 minutes.

The Blizzard, to their credit, played a strong road game and were the better team for most of the night.

“They worked their butt off, just like they did last time, only we found a way to win. This time, I thought their goaltender was really solid. He made some big saves, because we had some pretty good looks there at the end, when it was 4-2 and we got some power plays and had some good looks and some chances and he made some good saves,” Hedley said.

The Kings power play was clicking, scoring three times against the Stampeders and twice against Steinbach.

With changes to the roster at the trade deadline, it meant changes to the power play, with new players stepping into the roles of players no longer with the team.

“When you have changes like that, you’ve got different guys on the power play, you’re trying to get some chemistry. I think we can still get a lot better, especially our top unit. We can get some speed going and we’ll find different ways,” Hedley said. “Steinbach is a good hockey team. They really put pressure on you on the PK and sometimes we didn’t get set up quick enough. But we’ll get better.”

After a tough December, goalie Cole Sheffield made some highlight reel saves against the Pistons and has been a big reason for the Kings success in the new year.

The win against the top team in the league gives a big confidence boost to the Kings. Hedley said Saturday’s game was the best the team has played on Ukrainian Night since his return to the team.

“It was one of our best efforts,” he said.

The league will take a break for the annual MJHL-SJHL Showcase, Jan. 30 and 31, before games resume on Friday.

The Kings will be in Winkler, Friday, to take on the Flyers, before heading to Winnipeg to face the Freeze, Saturday.

Kings court:

Saturday’s win evens Dauphin’s record on Ukrainian Nights at 4-4 and they have won the last three Ukrainian Nights in a row. . . The Kings remain in third place in the MGEU West Division, with a 24-12-1-0 record for 49 points. They sit three back of the Blizzard, with three games in hand.

The Parkland Rangers are doing what they can to stay in the playoff race, earning a split with the second-place Southwest Cougars, this past weekend.

Cam Sarna had two goals and an assist and Maddox Shindle also scored twice to lead Parkland to a 7-4 win, Friday in Dauphin.

On Saturday in Souris, the Cougars got two goals late in the last five minutes of the game to escape with a 3-1 win, despite a 44 save effort from Rangers netminder Chase Glover.

Rangers head coach Tyler Carefoot said it was a real good weekend for his squad. He said Friday’s game was the best overall team game that they have played all season.

“One of the things that we’ve been working on the last two weeks in practice is zone entries and just trying to get pucks to the net. And all of the work in practice paid off and we were able to put up seven against a team of Southwest’s caliber. So I was very pleased with Friday’s performance,” he said.

The Rangers were competitive in Saturday’s game despite having to kill off seven Southwest power plays through the first 40 minutes.

Although they did give up the opening goal on a power play four minutes into the game, Parkland was able to tie it less than three minutes later.

Spending so much time in the penalty box meant the Rangers were unable to get any momentum going.

“Gaining some serious opportunities because we felt like we were killing the whole (second) period,” Carefoot said. “One thing Southwest does so good is they put pucks on net and get second and third chances. They do a really good job of that and that’s how they got the second one.” Glover, Carefoot said, was outstanding on Saturday, adding it was probably his best performance as a Parkland Ranger.

“Obviously, he kept us in the game when we were going through all the penalty trouble and gave us a chance,” he said.

Things won’t get any easier for the Rangers as they host the league-leading Brandon Wheat Kings, tonight at 7:30 p.m.

Brandon enters the contest having won 31 of their 32 games with the only blemish being an overtime loss to Southwest, Nov. 10.

Parkland then makes the long trip north to face the Norman North Stars, Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 1:30 p.m.

Carefoot feels this weekend could seal Parkland’s fate when it comes to the playoffs.

“Norman has been playing well. The way we’ve been putting everything together, all the stuff that we talk about on a game-by-game basis, if we bring that focus for the weekend, I think we’re going to be a tough out,” he said. “For us, the playoffs start in January, not February and we need to have that mentality. I think we’re up for the challenge. So I’m expecting us to be ready and make a big push.”

The Dauphin Kings have started the new year red hot, having won six games in a row to move to within three points of second place.

Newcomer Ashton Paul paid immediate dividends in his first game, scoring the game winner on a power play with less than two minutes remaining in a 4-2 win over the Swan Valley Stampeders, Jan. 16 in Dauphin.

Then, after scoring in regulation, Paul netted the winner in the shootout, lifting the Kings to a 4-3 win over the MGEU West Division-leading Virden Oil Capitals, Friday in Virden.

On Saturday in Dauphin, Madden Murray scored twice including the game winner just 2:44 into the game as the Kings beat the Niverville Nighthawks, 6-0, with Cole Sheffield making 28 saves for his third shutout in the new year.

Kings head coach and general manager Doug Hedley said the team is positive and working hard during the current win streak.

“I don’t think we’ve had any better back-to-back efforts. The game in Virden was outstanding. The puck pressure, our forecheck, our back pressure coming back in the D zone, guys are on their toes and they’re working hard. The dressing room is really good right now,” he said.

The game against Swan Valley saw Dauphin outshoot the Stampeders, 69-33.

“We had the puck a lot. A lot of shots at the net. And that’s what we’re starting to do is we’re driving the net. We’re getting second shots, we’re going low to high, we’re getting some pucks through from the point. Yeah, we put a lot of pucks through on the net,” Hedley said, adding the Kings used their speed to create a lot of opportunities against Virden on Friday.

Hedley thinks the struggles the team experienced in December may be attributed to the Christmas break.

“Maybe with the Christmas break, guys were thinking about Christmas. The focus, the attention to detail wasn’t there. You just see the difference now,” he said. “In December, some of our players, they didn’t know if we had the team. We were trying to get better. But when that doubt enters the room it’s tough and you really have to battle hard. And it takes a special group to battle through it. The group we have in the room now, they believe in each other, they work for each other and go to war. That’s the difference.”

As well as they are playing now, Hedley would like to see things tighten up in the defensive zone.

“Sometimes we break down and give up real good chances. Sheff made some good saves when he had to tonight. In tight, there were a couple guys all alone a couple times. We’ve just got to clean up the D zone a little bit,” he said. “I really like our neutral zone right now. We’re controlling team’s speed, we’re getting pressure on the forecheck and we’re making some smart reads. But the D zone is going to have to get a little bit cleaner and getting tougher on pucks.”

Dauphin trails the second-place OCN Blizzard by three points with four games in hand.

The Kings are in Swan Valley tonight at 7 p.m.

On Friday, they host the Blizzard at 7:30 p.m., while Saturday is Ukrainian Night with the Steinbach Pistons in town for a 7:30 p.m. game.

Kings court: For the second straight week, Kings goalie Cole Sheffield was named one of the Original 16 Stars of the Week, after posting a 3-0 record with a .1.62 GAA and .950 save percentage . . . The British Columbia Hockey League announced over the weekend that five teams from Alberta - the Blackfaulds Bulldogs, Brooks Bandits, Okotoks Oilers, Sherwood Park Crusaders and Spruce Grove Saints - will join that league next season. As a result, the Alberta Junior Hockey League cancelled this weekend’s games involving those teams.