Doug Zywina
Defending the title
The Dauphin Clippers girls 7s rugby team opened defence of its high school 7s rugby title by going 4-0 in their home jamboree, Sunday morning.
Dauphin opened the jamboree with a 25-0 win over their Clippers JV counterparts, followed by a 25-0 win over Crocus Plains Maroon, a 31-5 win over Vincent Massey and completed the undefeated day with a 22-5 win over Rivers.
The JV Clippers also lost to Souris, 22-5 and Crocus Plains Gold, 31-0. The next jamboree will be, Sept. 17, in Souris.
Power of the pedal
MS Bike Riding Mountain made its triumphant post-COVID return this past weekend, but with a twist.
Rather than beginning in Dauphin and proceeding to Clear Lake on day one with a return to Dauphin on day two, the event involved a looped course beginning and ending at Elkhorn Ranch in Riding Mountain National Park.
What did not change, however, is the scenic views and diverse sightings of wildlife that come with a trip through RMNP.
Riders were able to choose from two loops, with a 71-kilometre option featuring a turn around at Moon Lake or a 109-kilometre round trip with a turn around at Northgate Trails.
Whichever ride they chose, riders celebrated their accomplishments with awards, food and fun. This year, the Riding Mountain event had a fund-raising goal of $85,000 with over $53,514 raised to date. MS Bike Riding Mountain is one of 12 MS Bike events happening over a four-month period across Canada with the goal of raising funds to support people living with multiple sclerosis.
Rangers set to host training camp at Credit Union Place next week
The Parkland Rangers are set to hold their training camp ahead of the 2023-24 Manitoba U18 AAA Hockey League season, next week.
The Rangers will practice and scrimmage, Sept. 12 and 13, before hosting a modified intrasquad game, Sept. 14.
The team will then play two games at the annual preseason tournament hosted by the Southwest Cougars in Souris, Sept. 15 and 16.
Rangers head coach Tyler Carefoot said a lot of players are trying out for junior teams in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League, as well as the Western Hockey League.
“That will give everybody a chance to get their feet wet in junior camps. When they come back, they’ll have been on the ice for a good portion and then we’re going to get right into it,” he said, adding there are just shy of 30 players registered for the Rangers camp so far.
Registrations were slow in coming and, at one point, Carefoot said management was wondering why.
“But a few kids have now registered, so things are looking a little bit more positive,” he said.
This time of the year is always exciting, Carefoot said, with graduates from the U15 program coming up and the veterans looking to improve enough to crack junior rosters in the future.
One thing Carefoot is looking for from players trying out is their commitment to the program.
“We want kids that want to be Rangers. We want families to buy in and support the program,” he said. “After that, the kids that are buying into the program, they want to be coached. They want to get better. These are the kids that are willing to sacrifice their high school years to play competitive sport. When you get athletes like that, they’re usually a lot easier to coach. But the number one thing is we want families to buy into the program and, for the most part, the families that are choosing to be Parkland Rangers are all good people. Our role as a coaching staff is to help develop them for the high levels of hockey, but also help develop them to be good human beings.”
Although the last couple of weeks have been stressful, Carefoot is looking forward to getting back on the ice with the players.
Prospects looking good at Kings camp, vets need to step up
Elias Eisenbarth’s goal with one minute remaining lifted Team Hobbs to a 6-5 win over Team Cherepak in the Dauphin Kings’ annual JoFo Cup intrasquad game, Sunday afternoon at Credit Union Place.
Blake Boudreau was named player of the game for Hobbs after he scored twice and added an assist.
Linemate Rylan Gage had a goal and two assists, while Riley Borody and Jordan Bax had the other goals.
Joshua Schmidt was named player of the game for Cherepak with a two-goal effort. Josh Heistad, Sam Boldt and Danylo Dolin also scored.
Austin Siebel and Ethan Fechter combined to make 24 saves in goal for Team Hobbs. Luke Swanson and Piet Mierreau had 30 stops for Team Cherepak.
Coming into camp, Kings head coach and general manager Doug Hedley knew the team would be strong on the backend and in goal.
“We’ve had six guys in here and a couple of young kids that are going to be good in the future. There’s three of our guys that are battling for those spots,” he said, noting veteran Cole Sheffield and rookies Siebel, Swanson, Fechter and Mierreau all had good camps.
Mierreau and Chase Glover will likely play in the opening preseason contests, Tuesday against the Neepawa Titans and Wednesday against the Swan Valley Stampeders.
Both games get underway at 7:30 p.m. at Credit Union Place.
Dauphin will travel to Swan River for the rematch, Friday, at 7 p.m.
Newcomer Naaman Hofer, who was acquired in a trade with the Winnipeg Freeze, last week, was one of the best players in camp all weekend.
“And we really like the pairing with (Karson) Raymond and the (Trey) Gnetz kid that we got from the States, they looked really well. So our backend, we like our mobility, we like our speed and we like our first passes” he said. “And I think there’s some real good potential up front with the speed and the youth that we have.”
Most of the veterans in the intrasquad game were being outplayed by the rookies fighting to make the roster.
“Boudreau has been good all camp. Bouds has separated himself, but I think the rest of our guys, the 17 and 18 year olds have looked really good,” Hedley said, adding he liked the speed and work ethic he saw, as well as the plays that were made. "We showed some really good IQ and some creativity. At this time of year, that’s what we have to do as a coaching staff is get that compete level to the intensity that we want,” he said. “But I do like our speed and the skill sets are really good. There’s something to work with, that’s for sure.”
Tonight’s preseason game with Neepawa will feature the team’s draft picks and list players.
Following Tuesday’s game, the Kings will drop to between 25 and 30 players heading into the remainder of the preseason.
Defenceman Marco Bodnarski and Aidan Murray are out with injuries, so the team will likely carry 10 defencemen and 18 forwards, as well as three goaltenders.
For the remainder of the preseason, Hedley would like to see the work ethic and speed to continue.
“We’re looking to really get some good depth with some size, speed and compete. Hopefully, we can get six lines out of there. Six lines and 10 D and three goaltenders to go into the exhibition (games),” he said.
Kings court:
The Kings will end the preseason with a home game, Sept. 15, against the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League’s Melville Millionaires at 7:30 p.m. at Credit Union Place, followed by a game in Virden the next night against the Oil Capitals. The regular season begins, Sept. 22, with the Stampeders in town for the home opener at 7:30 p.m.
Take a book . . . leave a book
Users of the Northgate Trail system will notice an addition to the site, courtesy of a Dauphin student.
Anya Jackson attends university in Saskatoon, where she has seen a lot of free libraries, cubicles in which books are stored for anyone to take and read.
“I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time and I haven’t seen any in Dauphin,” she said. “I just thought it would be a nice addition to Dauphin and the community.”
Jackson spoke with some members of the Rotary Club about helping to restock the mini-library.
“Because the first bunch of books are some of my old books, because I’m a big reader. But I thought that once I’m away at school, I can’t always make sure there’s enough books in it. So they’re going to help me restock it with all of the extra books they have,” she said.
Everyone is invited to take a book and return it once they have read it, or take a book and leave one in its place.
“We thought up here at Northgate would be perfect, because a lot of families that come up. There’s people who stay at the cabins. Now with all this space out here with the picnic tables and the fire, we thought that people could take a book, read it, bring it back. Or, if they want to take it home because they’re not done, that’s the point. That’s the purpose,” she said.
Jackson’s father Terry built the mini-library, while Anya designed and painted the outside.
Now that is it up and filled with books, Jackson is excited to see her idea come to fruition.
“It looks great. I’m really excited for people to see it. I think it’s an exciting thing for people to walk by and see something new is here. Hopefully, they’re as excited as I am. So I’m very excited about it,” she said.
Part of the purpose, Jackson said, is to get more people reading.
“I love reading and I know that lots of people do. But it’s nice to bring light to reading. Now we have so much technology, but it’s nice to bring people back to physical books and hopefully this will bring awareness back to reading,” she said.
Special gathering
The City of Dauphin celebrated the anniversary of Ukrainian Independence, Thursday, with a gathering at city hall.
The evening included the singing of Ukraine’s national anthem, speeches from local dignitaries and poetry recitations by Ukrainian children displaced by the war.
Following the event at city hall, everyone was invited to a special feast at Vermillion Park, featuring traditional Ukrainian dishes.
Recognizing a milestone
Canada’s National Ukrainian Festival celebrated the 32nd anniversary of Ukraine’s Independence with a fund-raising barbecue, Thursday.
Offering kubaburgers, hotdogs, chips and drinks, proceeds from the event will go to CNUF for next year’s festival.
DLGC hosts senior open
The Dauphin Lake Golf Club hosted its annual senior men’s and ladies open golf tournament, Thursday.
Pearl Maksymetz won the ladies tournament ahead of runner-up Shelly Love. Laurie Williams was third and Chris Carefoot was fourth.
Bertha Davis won the first flight, with Irmgard Juce in second place, Sue Leney in third and Jean Sedor in fourth.
Margo Elliott won the second flight, beating out runner-up Leanna Compton, while Pennie Karlson was third and Jackie Thompson was fourth.
On the men’s side, Ron Love captured the men’s title, beating out Dennis McKay, who placed second. Brad Carefoot was third and Ken Benson placed fourth.
Bill Allbutt won the first flight, with Jim Cruise in second place, Dick Kirkpatrick in third and Bruce Hannibal in fourth.
In the second flight, first place went to John Kalechyn, with George Lobert in second, Ron Forgeron in third and Gerry Musey in fourth.
Fred Todoruk won the third flight, beating Garth Turner, who was second. Third place went to Wayne Catcheway and Kent Wiebe was fourth.
John Lesychen won the fourth flight, while Jim Mulligan was second, Tom Cyr placed third and Bill Speers was fourth.
The age category winners were Cathy Cyr and Ted Rea in the 50-59 age group, Shelly Love and Ron Love in the 60-69 age group and Maksymetz and Brad Carefoot in the 70-and-over age group.
Kings ready for training camp
The Manitoba Junior Hockey League season is around the corner and teams will be hitting the ice as training camps get underway.
Prior to training camp, the Kings will host their annual skills and development camp for U9 and up age groups.
Kings head coach and general manager Doug Hedley said they have 68 players registered for the skills camp this year, which will include two on-ice sessions per day and new athletic therapist, strength coach and equipment manager Haley Choma will be in charge of the dryland training.
Assistant coach Brad Dupasquier will be in charge of the personal development, which will consist of a 45-minute session.
“We’re here for basically, most of the day. It should be a fun week,” Hedley said.
The Kings will hit the ice for camp beginning, Friday, with the JoFo Cup intrasquad game slated for Sept. 3, at 1 p.m.
Close to 50 players will be in camp vying for a spot on the final roster.
The 50 players will be divided into three teams, with each team going through a skill session and three games.
Hedley feels there is a good group of young forwards coming in that has some speed and skill, as well as compete level.
“We’re looking at a very competitive camp,” Hedley said.
Defenceman Nicholas Hatton and forward Alex Senf were both drafted by teams in the North American Hockey League and will try their luck south of the border.
To replace the loss of Hatton, the Kings on Friday acquired 19-year-old defenceman Naaman Hofer from the Winnipeg Freeze in exchange for second and sixth round draft picks in 2024.
“We think Hofer is a real good fit to replace Hats, to fill that gap,” Hedley said. “We just think we have real good depth on the back end with (Anthony) Bax, (Aidan) Brook and (Nolan) Wickham coming back. And we’ve added a couple of American kids. Aidan Murray was real good in the prospects camp. So we’re really looking forward to our back end with Sam Boldt coming back. So we’ve got a good backend core to start.”
Cole Sheffield will return in goal and there are several prospects who will be battling for the back up position. Veteran Marko Belak will not return.
“Our goaltending is going to be solid. Our backend is really solid to start. Obviously, we’re happy with our forwards, but they’re going to be a little bit of a younger group that we feel can get better and better. They’re starting with some great speed and skill,” Hedley said.
Much like the past couple of seasons, the offence will be scoring by committee, led by the defence.
But Hedley feels with the players back from last season, the Kings will have a good mix of vets and prospects coming in to complement the vets.
Hedley is looking forward to getting back on the ice.
“Summer never seems long enough, but once you get guys starting to roll back into town, you get the excitement going and the adrenaline running,” he said.
Hedley added to his staff with the hiring of Rick Freese as an assistant coach. Hedley said Freese approached him with a desire to learn.
“And we’re happy to have him aboard. He can basically be used with us in practices during the week. He can make an hour every day. So he’s going to there to help, not only me up front with the forwards, but also Chad (Facey) back on the backend,” he said. “Right now, Brad has got a full-time job in Ebb and Flow. So he’ll be teaching in Ebb and Flow, but he’ll be here two days a week for practices and video. So it will be good having Rick on the ice with us and giving us a hand along with Dan Keeping. The staff is all back and we’re looking forward to having Rick and bringing some energy.”
The Kings open the preseason, Sept. 5, when they host Neepawa at 7:30 p.m.
Clippers prepare for new season on the gridiron
With August drawing to a close, high school sports are beginning to ramp up for another season.
The Dauphin Clippers football team began practicing, Aug. 9, with an average of between 25 and 30 players.
Incoming manager Jeff Micasew, who is taking over from the retired Cam Bennet, said it is always tough when it comes to the number of players in practice in the summer, because of family vacations and other commitments.
“We’re not going to tell kids, don’t go on vacation because you’ve got practice. But the young kids we’ve got, some rookies, have made a bunch of practices. The coaches have done a really good job of focusing our practices to getting conditioning and learning plays and positional aspects of the game. So it’s worked out really well that way,” he said.
Those rookies, Micasew said, seem to be catching on to what the coaches are trying to teach them. But it’s not just the coaching staff doing the teaching.
“We’ve got some vets that are really showing some maturity and helping these young kids along. I know back in the day, the rookies were kind of just off on the side. Our vets have done a really good job of taking these young kids under their wing and saying, ‘look, this is what you need to do.’ Just being more of a hand up instead of being a nuisance and you’re trying to take my spot type of thing,” he said. “It’s really good to see. From a teacher, educator standpoint. It’s good to see that type of thing.”
The schedule has been reduced to six games per team with the additions of the Falcons Football Club and St. Vital Mustangs, both from Winnipeg.
The Clippers will kick off the season on the road against the Falcons, Sept. 10, at 2 p.m.
The first home game isn’t until, Sept. 22 when the Clippers host the Interlake Thunder at 5 p.m.
Micasew expects the Clippers to be competitive this season.
“Just from what I’ve seen in practice, we’ve got some dogs with some bite in them. So I think we’ll be competitive. And that’s all you can ask for,” he said. “You always go into a season gunning for a championship.”
As much fun as it is to watch the players at practice, Micasew is looking forward to getting the season underway.
“The real fun is standing on the sidelines and watching everyone play and seeing the excitement in the kids’ eyes when they make a good play. It’s always good to see,” he said, adding the coaching staff continues to step up and put the work in to get the team ready. “Hats off to the coaches. As anyone who coaches knows, they put in a ton of work that probably never gets recognized. In June we had conditioning camps and guys were talking about getting plays ready and slotting in who do we think we have here and who we have there. They’re thinking about this long before August. So it’s always a good thing. So hats off to those guys.”