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.
