The Dauphin Kings have advanced to the Manitoba Junior Hockey League final after eliminating the Winkler Flyers in five games.
After winning the first two games of the series at home, Apr. 16 and 17, the series shifted to Winkler for games three and four, last Wednesday and Thursday.
Winkler got back into the series with a 5-4 win in game three, but the Kings rebounded to win game four, 5-2.
With a chance to wrap up the series on home ice in game five, Saturday, the Kings scored a 5-1 win, securing a berth in the league final for the first time since 2014.
Kings head coach and general manager Doug Hedley knew the Flyers would come out strong in game three in front of their home fans.
“They came at us. We knew they would in Winkler. They had a full house. They jumped on mistakes,” he said. “They created some odd-man rushes that we don’t normally give up.”
The Kings trailed 3-1 at one point in the first period, but tied the game going into the third, where Winkler tallied a pair early in the frame to regain the lead. Dauphin would add one with more than five minutes left, but could not bury the equalizer.
Hedley was pleased with his team’s response in game four.
“I thought we played very similar to the way we played in Dauphin. Really tough on pucks. We had them in their end. Our forecheck was phenomenal,” he said. “The 50-50 stick battles were outstanding. We got big goals from big guys. A key goal when we were shorthanded from Jayden Jubenvill, who scored a big goal to make it 4-2. Then we scored an empty-netter.”
The Kings won the series four-games-to-one, but Hedley feels the series was a lot closer, noting Dauphin needed an empty-net goal in three of their four wins.
“That’s how tight (the games) were,” he said, adding Winkler losing one of their top players in Jayden McCarthy in game two did not help them. The strength of the Flyers, Hedley said, is their depth. They can roll four lines, he said, and have speed on all four lines, as well. “Our back end is our engine and they definitely delivered,” he added.
The biggest factor in the series win was the team’s compete level. Winkler, Hedley said, is a heavy team and some people thought they would run over the Kings.
“I was really impressed with the way our guys competed. We were maybe lighter than them in certain areas, but we were hard in stick battles, hard on pucks and just didn’t back down,” he said. “The games that we won, two here and one in Winkler, we never quit working and I’m very impressed and proud of the guys for the way they worked.”
The Kings will now await the winner of the series between the Steinbach Pistons and Virden Oil Capitals. Steinbach leads the series three-games-to-two with game six, Monday in Virden. Hedley has no preference as to which team the Kings face.
“It doesn’t really matter who we play. Nobody gets to the league final by not playing well. So I know Virden is pushing Steinbach right now. If it goes seven, that’s great. I’d love to see it go seven. The longer it goes, the better for us, regardless of who we play,” he said.
The Kings took a couple of days off after Saturday’s game five victory and will get back on the ice early this week to prepare for the final.
Kings court:
The schedule for the Centennial Cup in Estevan, Sask., has been released. The MJHL champions will open the tournament, May 20, against the Central Canada Hockey League champion at 11 a.m. The second game goes, May 22, against the Maritime Hockey League, followed by a contest, May 24 against the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League’s Flin Flon Bombers, who gained an automatic entry to the national tournament when they earned a berth to the SJHL final after the Centennial Cup host Estevan Bruins had already advanced to the final. The MJHL’s final round-robin game will go, May 25, against the champions of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League. The final three round-robin games all begin at 3 p.m.