The Dauphin Kings moved into sole possession of first place in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s MGEU West Division, with a 4-1 win over the visiting Winnipeg Blues, Saturday.
Sunday’s game against the Northern Manitoba Blizzard, who are now two points behind the Kings, was postponed due to transportation issues and will be rescheduled to a later date.
Cayden Glover and Havryil Simchuk each scored twice to provide the offence, while Cole Sheffield made 26 saves to earn his 19th win of the season.
Evan Gradt replied for Winnipeg. Kyle Beilman started in goal and stopped 11 shots before giving way to Samuel Couture, who made 21 stops in the final 28:13.
Kings head coach and general manager Doug Hedley was pleased with the team’s play, considering they haven’t seen any game action since, Dec. 17.
“We practiced a couple of times, but we knew the timing was going to be off a little bit. I think the first period-and-a-half, two periods were a little sluggish. But I thought we played a very good third period and did what we had to do to win the game,” he said.
Even though their play was sluggish at times, Hedley said the players were excited to come back.
“It’s a good break. The guys were real excited to get back. And that’s half the battle, is you get away from it. You’re mentally fatigued a little bit. You’re physically tired and we had a few injuries to heal in (Gabriel) Bugeaud and (Aiden) Murray,” he said, adding their return is like making a trade.
“The 10, 12 days that we had were really good for the guys. They came back real excited and ready to work,” Hedley said.
The Canadian Junior Hockey League trade deadline is on Friday. At this point, Hedley said there are some players on the wire he is interested in. But he is not going to make a trade just for the sake of making one.
“We’re not looking to do many changes. It’s got to make our club better. So we’re not just out there looking to make a trade. We’re really happy with our group right now. We really like our group. We think we can do some good things in this second half and if we can add to our forward group or our backend, we’ll look at doing it,” he said.
“Right now our wish list would be somebody that could play in our top six or a couple forwards that could maybe help us.”
Forward Luke Myhre returned to play for the Prairie Hockey Academy, based in Moose Jaw, Sask., to get more ice time.
“I think it’s a good move. It gets him a lot of puck touches, gets some go-to minutes back at Prairie. We’re recruiting there now for next year. They have a real good hockey club. They should be playing some real good competition,” Hedley said.
“He’s going to be their main guy. He’s got to get those puck touches, get some confidence back and just be ready to work hard. He’s real excited about coming back here next year and contributing.”
Hedley was recently suspended for eight games by Hockey Manitoba’s maltreatment committee. He is expected to return behind the bench, Jan. 17, when the Kings visit the Winkler Flyers.
Hedley did not want to comment on the suspension at this time.
The Kings visit the Portage Terriers, Wednesday, at 7:30 p.m., before hosting the Winnipeg Freeze, Jan. 11, also at 7:30 p.m.
Kings court: Kings captain Ethan Williment was named an RBC Community Ambassador for his work in the community. RBC will donate $1,000 in his name to Whitmore School. One player from each team is selected to the RBC Ambassador Team. Each player has displayed outstanding citizenship and sportsmanship both on and off the ice and a commitment to volunteerism. RBC Community Ambassadors are recognized for making a difference and giving back to their communities where they play . . . Defenceman Naaman Hofer, who recently committed to the University of Alaska Anchorage, was named the Safe Work Manitoba Defenceman of the Month for December. In five games, Hofer recorded nine assists. Connor Paranuzzi of the Steinbach Pistons is the RBC Player of the Month after tallying four goals and 19 points in just eight games. Winkler’s Liam Ernst is the Original 16 Goaltender of the Month after posting a 4-0 record with a 0.50 GAA and .978 save percentage with three shutouts in four games. The Chevrolet Rookie of the Month is Taye Timmerman of the Northern Manitoba Blizzard. In seven games, Timmerman posted six wins, a 1.71 GAA and .945 save percentage. His Blizzard teammate Miguel Bouvier is the Manitoba Pork Peak Performer after scoring seven goals and 12 points in nine games.
