Dauphin native Myles Fee helped guide the Florida Panthers to a Stanley Cup victory, June 24, when th Panthers defeated the Edmonton Oilers, 2-1 to capture first title in franchise history.

Heading into the series, Fee said the team was confident.

“I think the confidence level was always high. You get to that point in the season and you’re the last two of 32, so you’ve got to believe in yourself, or you shouldn’t be there. But we were feeling good about ourselves, no matter what the situation,” he said.

After the Panthers won the first three games of the best-of-seven series, the confidence level was at an alltime high.

“It’s impossible to put into words when one more game and that’s your victory. So confidence was high, hopes were high, expectations were high. Sometimes it works for you and sometimes it doesn’t,” Fee said.

“It’s another four games to figure it out.”

Losing always hurts, Fee said, especially in the playoffs. But after the Oilers came back to tie the series to force a game seven, the confidence level never wavered for Florida.

“It doesn’t hurt your confidence. At some point it turns to anger and motivation, especially when you get to see them the next night or two nights down the road. Everything is attainable and you just get more focused and more driven as the games go on,” he said.

The game seven victory, Fee said, was just a matter of will. The hardest game in the world to win is game four, he said.

“And we had three of those to play. But I think the pressure finally shifted back to an open playoffs type format rather than a pressure-filled format. We just play freely. Played our game. Played with purpose and, obviously, the outcome was good for us. But it was just the freedom to play,” he said.

Read the full story in this weeks Dauphin Herald

The Dauphin Mavericks were seconds away from scoring a victory, Saturday at Kin Field, but ended up settling for a 15-15 draw with the Winnipeg Wanderers.

In the dying minutes,  with the Mavericks leading 15-12, Winnipeg chose to attempt a penalty kick which would tie the game. The initial kick was wide, but the referee allowed a rekick due to a Dauphin player yelling to distract the kicker, who easily made the do-over to tie the game.

Mavericks coach Shawn Sarkonak said it was simply a lack of experience that allowed the Wanderers a rekick.

“One of the guys on the team did not know that you couldn’t yell when a kick was happening. The ball went wide and they were assessed a rekick, which ultimately they scored on, which tied the game and we ended in a 15-15 draw,” he said.

The Mavericks were missing quite a bit of experience on their back line, Sarkonak said, and they used quite a few players recently graduated from the Dauphin Clippers high school program.

“And they made their mark. They did well. We faced a very experienced Wanderers team. But all in all, I’m very happy with the team play,” he said.

The game was chippy at times with tempers sometimes flaring.

“Heat of the day. Heat of the game at times and it got a little bit chippy. Guys were getting a little bit ornery, I guess. But cooler heads prevailed,” Sarkonak said.

Dauphin is back in action, Saturday, when they host the Winnipeg Assassins at 3 p.m.

The Mavericks will be looking for some revenge as the Assassins handed Dauphin its only loss, a 31-24 setback, June 15, in Winnipeg.

“In that game they had eight Premier 1 players playing and, ultimately, it was one of them who rucked in the final nail in the coffin and got the win for them. So we’re looking forward to the rematch, because we take it as a big pat on the back if they have to put that many Premier 1 guys in against a Premier 2 team,” Sarkonak said.

It’s been 35 years since the first Dauphin’s Countryfest and this year’s edition featured a celebration of 1990s country music.

With a lineup featuring some of country music’s best artists of that decade, Canada’s longest running outdoor country music festival proved to be a hit.

Countryfest president Duane McMaster said the weekend was fabulous

“We had the rain on Friday, but, in spite of the rain, we had a great crowd Friday night. They all came out,” he said, adding the crowd was even larger on Saturday.

Walkup ticket sales, McMaster said, went well over the weekend, with a lot of campers filling the campgrounds.

“I really don’t have anything bad to say about the weekend,” he said.

Friday’s crowd, McMaster said, proves that Countryfest fans are a hardy group.

“I remember a few years ago when Florida Georgia Line was playing, everybody in the audience was out there with rain slickers. It was pouring rain and those stands were packed and everybody was singing along and having a great time, the weather-be-darned,” he said.

McMaster had a chance to speak to some veteran Countryfest patrons and past directors who spoke about the changes to the venue since the early years.

“You look back at some of the pictures of what the ampitheater was and what the site was in 1990 and 1991 when Countryfest first started, and it’s a pretty amazing change to now. The roof on the stage, the extra bleachers and the up-top area is paved. It’s fantastic,” he said.

McMaster was surprised at the number of people attending Countryfest for the first time, noting a lot of those first timers were longtime patrons of the Country Thunder festival in Craven, Sask.

“They’re coming over here this year, because they liked our lineup better. And I’m hoping that our facility will sell them on how great Countryfest is compared to Craven. From everyone I’ve talked to, the viewing experience here is so much better than it is out in Craven. The ampitheater is so fantastic here,” he said.

Saturday’s crowd, McMaster said, was larger than the crowd that took in last year’s Sunday headliner John Fogerty.

“I was really impressed with the amount of day passes we had for John Fogerty, last year. (Saturday) night, we actually outsold that with Alabama. I was really surprised at that,” he said.

The local support, McMaster said, has been fantastic, with great sponsors and volunteers.

Read more in this week’s Dauphin Herald.

The Dauphin Kings made a pair of trades, last week.

In a three-way deal, involving the Selkirk Steelers and Kindersley Klippers of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, the Kings acquired 20-year-old forward Joel Purdom from the Steelers for a player development fee (PDF).

The Kings had acquired forward Dawson Karol from the Flin Flon Bombers as part of the Jan. 10 deadline deal that brought Ashton Paul to the Kings in exchange for defenceman Anthony Bax.

After Karol expressed an interest in playing for Kindersley, where his dad works, a deal was made sending the 20-year-old to the Klippers for a PDF. Dauphin then sent that PDF to Selkirk for Purdom.

In 51 games with the Steelers last season, Purdom scored 16 goals and added 23 assists for 39 points. Included in those totals were 11 goals and 25 points on the power play.

“We’re hoping to add Joel to our roster next year as a top six guy,” Kings head coach and general manager Doug Hedley said on the Kings’ website.

Purdom had been listed by the Kings as a 15-year-old. He was later dropped and listed by Selkirk.

“He’s a kid that’s been on our radar before. He’s definitely going to add some offence to our lineup,” Hedley said.

The Parkland Rangers are turning to a former player to guide the team next season.

Swan River native Josh Tripp will take over behind the bench for the Rangers, replacing Tyler Carefoot, who departed at the end of last season.

Tripp played two seasons with the Rangers from 2013 to 2015, amassing 35 goals and 65 points in 87 games. He began his junior career with his hometown Swan Valley Stampeders, before spending the next season and part of another with the North American Hockey League’s Corpus Christi IceRays.

Tripp rejoined the Stampeders in 2017-18 and led the Manitoba Junior Hockey League in goals (36) and points (84) the following season, winning the league’s MVP award and helping the Stampeders reach the league final, which they lost in seven games to the Portage Terriers.

Tripp said someone from the Rangers had reached out to him about the vacant coaching position.

“Coaching is something I want to continue to do and I’m happy I got into it. So when I heard that the position was open, I was happy to apply. Fortunately, I got it and I’m excited,” he said.

This past season, Tripp was an assistant coach with the Stampeders under head coach and general manager Barry Wolfe, something that was a great learning experience as he begins his coaching career.

“It was a big learning opportunity for me. Barry Wolfe, the head coach, he was awesome in teaching me what it takes and all the stuff you do as a coach. I can’t thank him enough for the opportunity and everything that he taught me. It was a great learning experience,” he said.

Tripp hopes to put together a hard-working team, noting the Rangers don’t have the numbers other teams have.

Read more in this week’s Dauphin Herald.

A drop in fund-raising revenue resulted in the Dauphin Kings reporting a financial loss for the 2023-24 Manitoba Junior Hockey League season.

The local junior A hockey club reported total revenues of $612,018, compared to total expenses of $740,981, resulting in a loss of $128,963.

The deficit was largely attributed to a drop in fund-raising revenues, mainly the tractor lotto, the grow project and the team’s bingo nights.

The tractor lotto, in particular, had 420 single tickets that weren’t sold last year and the lawn tractor ticket sales were down, as well.

Kings team president Ashley Shaw said there are some great individuals who take on the tasks of running each of the various fund-raisers, but, as was mentioned during the meeting, there are always ebbs and flows.

“The tractor lotto is something that we just have to revisit, look at how we can make it better,” she said.

“The grow project is really weather dependant. There’s a whole bunch of factors in there. We just hope that this year, we have a really good crop.

“There’s other things that we can look at, as well. Everything is going up in price right now and so we’re just going to have to really look at our budget close and see where we can tweak a few things and really make sure that next year, we’re not seeing that loss again.”

The board, Shaw said, is always looking at new fund-raising ideas, but the trouble is there are such big fund-raisers that the team is already doing that they don’t want to give up.

“We understand that there’s only so many sponsors in Dauphin. There’s only so many times people can give money or give donations.  So we’ve really got to be strategic in what works for us. Maybe this year we’ll look at tweaking a few things and making some changes for fund-raisers,” she said.

Nick Jewell and Ron Hedley resigned from the board, while Patrick Durham was the only person to join.

The Rural Municipality of Dauphin will terminate its participation in the Dauphin Recreation Services (DRS) Agreement, effective Dec. 31.

According to Reeve Ernie Sirski, the City of Dauphin and its council has stated in the past that the RM has not contributed its fair share to DRS, while the RM has stated it has always been committed to recreation in and around the Parkland.

“The RM maintains and continues to develop recreation in our immediate vicinity - Keld Park, Sifton Beach, Stoney Point, where a new bathroom and shower facility has just been completed,” he said, adding the RM has provided a grant to the Dauphin Derailleurs Cycle Club for the past four years to support the maintenance of its trail system located in the RM.

“This is over and beyond the funding that has been provided to DRS since an agreement signed with the City of Dauphin in 2017,” Sirski said.

As per the current funding agreement, the RM has contributed $218,350.50 to DRS operations in 2022, $303,890.50 in 2023 and $313,309.76 in 2024.

In 2022, the RM also contributed $16,155, along with $29,942 in 2023 and has committed to $106,800 this year to capital repairs and replacements, as requested by DRS, Sirski said..

In total, the RM is contributing roughly 15 per cent of the budgeted net expenses this year, while the City will pay approximately 85 per cent.

“As you can see, we have contributed to the overall funding of DRS,” Sirski said, adding they have attempted to reach a new agreement with the City in a collaborative manner, not through ultimatums.

“The funding of the DRS has been an ongoing discussion since the agreement was signed in 2017. We are prepared to negotiate an agreement that benefits both of our municipalities if the city so chooses,” Sirski said.

However, the RM, he added, is not prepared to accept a per capita funding model.

Read more in this weeks edition of the Dauphin Herald.

The Dauphin Lady Mavericks returned to the pitch for the first time in more than 20 years, Saturday, when they traveled to Winnipeg to face the four-time defending Women’s Premier League champion Winnipeg Assassins in a game of 10s.

Fielding a team with experience, the Lady Mavericks played well in a 19-10 loss, with Ruth Evans scoring both tries for Dauphin.

Player-coach Cassandra Kostelnyk said the team was expecting to put up a fight, which is exactly what they did.

“But only a nine point difference between us and them and that’s the closest game that they’ve had this year,” she said.

Keeping the score close against the four-time champion Assassins will give the team confidence going forward.

“We held our own and we’re all really proud of ourselves. We played a really good game,” Kostelnyk said, adding the ladies played together as a team.

“And communicated in everything that we’ve been working on in the last couple of months now leading up to the game just really came together,” she said.

But there is still plenty to work on, notably, building their numbers.

The Lady Mavericks only had one substitute, which made for a long, hard game for everyone.

“A lot of us didn’t get a break,” Kostelnyk said.

For anyone interested in joining the Lady Mavericks, they practice, Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7 p.m., at Kin Field.

The Mavericks men’s team got a rude awakening when they faced the Assassins men’s squad, falling 31-24.

Nick Searle had two tries for Dauphin, while Joseph Lopez and Ryan Dreger had singles. Dreger also had converts.

Mavericks player-coach Shawn Sarkonak said it was a completely different game than the 70-0 win over the Winnipeg Wasps, May 25.

“There wasn’t much defence required in that game (May 25), but the guy definitely got a rude awakening being on the other side of the ball a lot more than they’re used to,” he said.

The loss was a learning experience, Sarkonak said, especially for the younger members of the team.

“Seeing what it takes to play a full 80 minutes. And when you’re exposed on the defensive side or having to be on the defensive side of the ball, you exert far more energy than you’re used to, or probably want to,” he said.

“But with the two differences in the two games, we can now look to fine tune things and find a middle ground. So we can play high level on the offensive side, but also have a very good defensive structure, so we don’t end up on the losing side of it again.”

The Mavericks will play their home opener, Saturday, when they host the Winnipeg Wombats at 3 p.m. It is a game the team is looking forward to.

“We weren’t originally supposed to have our home games start until July. But now we can put on a bit of a show for the residents around the Parkland area and get them excited, because July is going to be home field-heavy and we’re looking to get a lot of support out,” he said.

The Dauphin Clippers rugby teams held their awards banquet, June 10.

Megan Thompson won the girls 15s MVP Award, while Mai Maguet was named the girls 7s MVP.

Victoria Carter won the Pack Player of the Year Award, while Bree Walker won the Back Player of the Year Award.

Other winners included Scarlett Ruiz as the 7s Rookie of the Year and Kiersten Vandekerkhove as the 15s Rookie of the Year, Ashley Korney and Mila Heschuk shared the Playoff MVP Award, while Ruth Dandeneau won the Most Improved Player Award, Felicity Sahulka and Paityn Bourgouin shared the Spirit Award and Raylyn Koshowski won the Maverick Award.

Owen Tyschinski won a pair of awards, including Rookie of the Year and the Spirit Award.

William Miner won the MVP Award, Noah Chartrand won the Most Improved Player Award, Sully Fox was named the Forward Player of the Year, Alex Thompson won the Back Player of the Year Award, Colton Miner was named Playoff MVP and Rhett Tkachyk won the Maverick Award.

Get the party started

Canada’s National Ukrainian Festival held its kickoff party, Saturday at Obsolete Brewing Company. The evening entertainment included dances by both Bratstva Studios Ukrainian Dance and Zirka Ukrainian Dance Ensemble, as well as a fund-raising barbecue, CNUF merchandise for sale, raffles and a live band. The festival itself will be held, Aug. 2 to 4, at Selo Ukraina, south of Dauphin.
- Doug Zywina/Herald