The Parkland Rangers snapped a five-game losing skid with a 4-3 win over the Pembina Valley Hawks, Saturday in Dauphin.

The Hawks grabbed an early 2-0 lead four minutes into the contest, but the Rangers tied the game before the first intermission on goals form Tavyn Boychuk and Luke Myhre.

Madden Murray gave Parkland the lead early in the second and extended it to 4-2 midway through the third with his second of the game. The Hawks added a late goal with 3:21 left to play to make it interesting, but Chase Glover shut the door the rest of the way. He finished with 27 saves.

On Sunday, Pembina Valley netted the winner with 1:15 left in regulation to escape with a 3-2 win.

The Rangers trailed 1-0 and 2-1 at the period breaks, with Murray netting Parkland’s goal. They tied the game when Dru Mushumanski scored with 2:24 left on the clock, but a turnover led to the winning goal just 1:09 later.

After falling behind early on Saturday, Rangers head coach Tyler Carefoot said the Rangers rebounded to find a way to get the win.

“They kept fighting and rebounded. And you’ve got to give them credit. We found a way to get the two points, which was huge,” he said. “We did a lot of good things, all the things that we’ve sort of been focusing on. Things are coming together, but the process of it all is a little bit slower than probably we all wanted.”

On Sunday, the message in the third period was to get pucks to the net, which they did leading to the tying goal.

But a turnover at the blueline ended up with the Hawks netting the winning goal with 1:15 left.

After a tough schedule where the Rangers played a lot of the top teams in the league, Parkland now begins to face opponents closer to their skill level, which will, hopefully, lead to better results.

“Guys are starting to feel a little bit better about themselves. And it’s hard. You go 0-6 and players aren’t feeling happy about themselves. Parents aren’t feeling happy about themselves. It feels like we’re in quicksand,” he said. “Overall, I feel like we’re starting to come together. But it’s just we’ve got to find a way to lock some points down.”

The Rangers will look to get back into the win column, Tuesday, when they host the Southwest Cougars at 7:30 p.m., The Dauphin Herald is the game sponsor. 

Southwest, Carefoot said, is well coached, are patient and play with a sound structure.

“So I think if we bring our work ethic and the mindset of trying to execute the little things that help bring the team success, I think we’re going to have success,” he said, adding both goaltenders played well over the weekend. “Both goalies right now have found some confidence, which is good,” Carefoot said.

“It’s exciting. We’re in games right now and so, we just hope to everyday to get a little bit better and that’s the plan.”

The Dauphin Kings remain in second place in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s MGEU West Division after splitting as pair of games with the Selkirk Steelers, this past weekend.

Deepkaran Hans scored twice and Cole Sheffield made 32 saves to lead the Kings to a 5-2 win, Friday in Dauphin.

The next night in Selkirk, the Steelers scored a 2-1 win, netting the winning goal midway through the third period.

Kings head coach and general manager Doug Hedley thought the Kings played well in two of the six periods.

“We played okay the third periods of both games. I didn’t think our push in the second periods was real good in either game. We had a great first period on Friday night,” he said. “It was one of the fastest periods we played with puck movement, with good support, guys attacking the net. And just really tough defence and awareness away from the puck.”

The Steelers are 2-11-3-1 after the split, but Hedley feels they are better than their record indicates.

“They’re a good hockey club. They’ve got speed. They’ve got one line that’s probably as good as any line in the league,” he said. “We got some timely goals on Friday and had a lot of chances on Saturday. We just made some mistakes they took advantage of. You’ve got to give them credit. They out worked us in Selkirk.”

Dauphin’s record sits at 11-7-2-0 for 24 points, seven back of the OCN Blizzard and just two up on the Swan Valley Stampeders, three ahead of the Waywayseecappo Wolverines and four up on the Virden Oil Capitals.

The Kings will host Virden, Saturday at 7:30 p.m., and the Winkler Flyers will pay their first visit to Credit Union Place, Sunday at 4 p.m.

Since the beginning of October, Dauphin is 9-3-1-0 and Hedley hopes to continue that winning trend on the weekend.

Kings court:

Doug Hedley passed former Kings head coach Marlin Murray on Friday to become the alltime leader for games coached in team history. Murray was behind the bench for 556 games. After the two games against Selkirk this past weekend, Hedley sits at 558.

This tree on Eighth Avenue SW couldn’t handle the wet and heavy snow on Sunday, the first snowfall of the season, breaking off and blocking part of the street, adding to the hazardous driving conditions.

Cold temperatures are expected to move in this week.

The Dauphin and District Allied Arts Council (DDAAC) celebrated its milestone 50th anniversary with an afternoon event, Sunday at the Watson Arts Centre.

The event included exhibits and guest speakers talking about what the DDAAC means to them.

DDAAC chairperson Adrienne Luke said planning for the event began a few months ago.

“And it just sort of came to be. We’ve got a few great volunteers. We had information from the 45th celebration and we just embellished on it,” she said.

Lasting for 50 years, Luke said, is a win for the organization.

“I think it’s very positive. Our mission statement is to foster the arts in the Parkland and surrounding area and I think we’re accomplishing that. And all I can hope for is that we continue on for another 50 years,” she said.

DDAAC works with different groups and partners who operate within the Watson Arts Centre.

“We work with the community. We work with partnering with other entities in the community and rural area. We try to partner with as many people as we can,” Luke stated. “This facility is for the people. It’s for the people of Dauphin, for the surrounding area. If you have a talent, if you paint, if you do pottery, if you quilt, if you sing, play an instrument, have a band, you talk to the centre’s co-ordinator Peter (Nadolny) and we will try to work with you and get a room for you and have an evening for you. So we’re here to promote you, the public.”

Given the weather on Sunday, Luke was pleased with the turnout for the event.

“The turnout is impressive,” she said.

The Dauphin Kings are in sole possession of first place in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s MGEU West Division after a stretch which saw the local junior team win five of six contests.

That stretch includes a 2-1 win over the division-leading OCN Blizzard, Oct. 25, in OCN and a 5-1 triumph over the Neepawa Titans, Friday in Dauphin.

The successful string of games came to an end with a 6-4 loss on home ice to the Waywayseecappo Wolverines, Saturday.

Kings head coach and general manager Doug Hedley said the team has been playing well all month.

“Coming into this game we were playing pretty well. Wayway, you have to give them credit tonight, they skated hard. They had some good speed. We made some mistakes at the wrong times,” he said. “I don’t think Marko (Belak, the Kings goaltender) was as strong as he was in his first two games.”

The Kings had been playing pretty well defensively, allowing just three goals in their previous three games.

“We expected a little bit of a different score tonight (Saturday). I thought we were using our speed tonight. We created a lot of chances. We didn’t get to second shots, didn’t get to the paint a lot. But at the same time, we still had some good speed and created some good two-on-ones,” he said.

The Wolverines scored what proved to be the winning goal just 15 seconds into the third period, which did not make Hedley a happy camper.

“Giving up a goal in the first minute of a period is ridiculous after you talk about winning a period. You’re 4-4 at home, you win 20 minutes and you win the game. We’ve just got to get better,” he said.

The two teams met in Waywayseecappo, last night. Hedley hoped for a better effort and planned to start Cole Sheffield in goal.

“We’ll basically go with the hot hand and he played really well on Friday, so we’ll go back to him on Monday,” he said.

The Kings scored a 5-0 victory, Monday, with Sheffield making 21 saves for the shutout.

Saturday was the first meeting between the Kings and Wolverines and it was pretty much what Hedley expected.

“We knew they had speed. Their forwards have some speed. They work hard in the offensive zone,” he said. “They cycle the puck well, so you really have to be committed to stick-on-puck and controlling hips and get stick independent. Just make sure the battles go to the corners. Whenever they get around the net like that, we lost them a couple of times and didn’t put pucks into the corners where we want battles to take place and they got some good opportunities in front of the net. So we’ve just got to get smarter and stronger on our sticks.”

The Kings are getting healthier as defenceman Anthony Bax returned to the lineup, Friday and rearguard Thomas Stewart is ready to return, while forward Riley Borody is about a week away from returning. Garrett Hrechka is close to returning, as well.

At 9-6-2-0, Dauphin’s 20 points has them seven behind OCN and two up on Virden and Swan Valley.

On the weekend, the Kings will look to sweep the season series with the Selkirk Steelers. The two teams hook up, Friday, in Dauphin, with the rematch, Saturday in Selkirk.

Dauphin won the first two meetings, Oct. 14, 3-2 in Selkirk, and Oct. 15, 7-3 in Dauphin.

Kings court:

A moment of silence was held prior to Saturday’s game in honour of the late Bob Buchy, who died, Oct. 22. Buchy helped the Kings win the MJHL championships in 1969 and 1970 . . . Former Kings defenceman Scott Gillingham was elected mayor of Winnipeg in last week’s municipal election, with 27.5 per cent of the vote. Gillingham played for the Kings in the 1987-88 season, scoring five goals and 39 points in 45 games, while compiling 157 penalty minutes.

The tough schedule for the Parkland Rangers continued over the weekend with a pair of home games against the Winnipeg Thrashers.

Anytime you play a Winnipeg team, said assistant coach Chris Belhumeur, you know you’re in for a tough weekend.

That proved to be the case as the Thrashers scored a 6-2 win over the Rangers on Saturday and beat them, 4-3, Sunday afternoon.

Belhumeur felt the Rangers struggled in Saturday’s game.

“Saturday’s game was a little bit tough. We weren’t really in the fight. We had a lot of things we could work on,” he said.

It was a different story on Sunday as the Rangers played well and pulled to within a goal after falling behind 4-1 early in the third period.

“We were pretty happy and proud of the guys with their effort. and the compete level and just showing that, if we play the right way, we can play with some of these other teams,” he said.

The team’s play is getting more consistent, Belhumeur said, but there are times when the consistency is lacking.

“But we like what we see in most of our games. But with these kids, there’s going to be some lapses and we’re trying to just make sure that we’re focusing on playing as close to a 60-minute game as we can,” he said.

Some of the young players are still adjusting to the speed of the league.

“But overall, I think the young guys have adapted pretty well,” Belhumeur said.

The 2-10-0-0 Rangers host the 7-2-2-0 Pembina Valley Hawks, Saturday at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday at 1:30 p.m.

“Getting back (to playing) some rural teams should be nice and, hopefully, we can get a couple of points on the board,” he said.

The Bayer Crop Science Parkland Super League of Curling got under way, Sunday, with all six teams in action.

Turko Fertilizer’s Kyle Forsyth beat Dauphion Co-op Agro’s Chad Sahulka, 9-4, Jim Todoruk of Oil Depot needed an extra end to get past Glenn Toews of Nutrient Ag Solutions, 7-6 and Greg Clark of Cross-Town Motors beat defending champion Greg Todoruk of Richardson Pioneer, 5-4.

With Tim Horton’s Restaurant sponsoring the game, local Timbits players hit the ice during the first intermission of the Dauphin Kings game, Friday, at Credit Union Place.

Prior to the game, Tim Horton’s owner Greg Crisanti presented Stacey Penner, co-chair of the Maamawi Park committee, with a cheque for $49,122, which was raised during the store’s Smile Cookie campaign.

The Rural Manitoba Football League season came to a disappointing end for the Dauphin Clippers, Saturday, with a 26-14 loss to the Interlake Thunder in the league semifinal.

Matthew Zurba had one of Dauphin’s touchdowns, as did Joseph Lopez on a 60-yard interception return. Louis Prevot was good on both converts.

Lopez finished with 120 yards on 10 carries, while Oliver Dandeneau had 49 yards on nine carries.

Defensively, Lopez had seven tackles, one interception and a forced fumble, while Will Miner and Sully Fox each recorded a sack.

Clippers coach Jason Zurba said Interlake played well defensively, shutting down the Clippers offence.

“We just couldn’t move the ball on offence. They were solid on defence. They had big bodies and plugged the holes. They were the better team today,” he said.

Defensively, the Clippers had trouble containing some of the Interlake’s running backs, missing a lot of tackles.

“The boys were trying too hard to make the perfect play,” Zurba said. “That was basics on how to tackle. That was a big contributing factor on a couple of their touchdowns.”

Interlake also took advantage of some key penalties on high tackles, which contributed to their victory. But Zurba pointed out two good teams were playing each other and the better team won.

“I’m not disappointed in the season we had. We played well all year. We just couldn’t move the ball on offence today,” he said.

Although the Clippers will lose a number of players to graduation, they will also have a solid nucleus of returning players back next season. Looking back on the season, Zurba was most pleased with how the team played as a family.

“Everyone played together. You can see right now, the emotion everybody has. They were playing as a family, as one unit,” he said.

Interlake will now face the Moosomin Generals in the league final after the Generals beat the Swan Valley Tigers, 33-26.

The consolation final will pit the Neepawa Tigers against the Southwest Sabres after Neepawa defeated the ParkWest Outlaws, 51-28, and the Sabres beat the Virden Golden Bears, 34-26.