The Gilbert Plains Trojans won the bronze medal at the Manitoba High School Athletic Association’s A/AA Junior Varsity Volleyball Provincials in Winnipeg, hosted by Immanuel Christian School.

The Trojans began the tournament with a 16-25 and 20-25 loss to the Gabrielle-Roy Led Roys of Ile-des-Chenes.

Gilbert Plains then lost to the Warren Wildcats, 23-25 and 13-25 before getting into the win column with a 25-27, 25-23 and 15-7 win over the Wawanesa Warriors.

In the quarterfinals, the Trojans faced their Parkland rivals, Goose Lake Angels, scoring a 25-20, 22-25 and 15-11 victory to advance to the semifinals, where they lost, 17-25, 25-16 and 8-25 to Warren.

In the bronze medal game, Gilbert Plains defeated Wawanesa, 25-21 and 25-20 to win the bronze.

Taedyn Solski was named to the tournament all-star team.

Warren went on to win the provincial title with a victory over Gabrielle-Roy.

Clippers win

The Dauphin Clippers hockey team continued its winning ways, Sunday afternoon, scoring a 3-2 overtime win over the Minnedosa/Erickson Chancellors.

Ethan Carnegie’s second goal of the game, 13 seconds into overtime lifted Dauphin to the victory.

Ronin Mouck had Dauphin’s other goal, while Zachary Lamb and Grady Burton replied for the Chancellors.

Chase Glover made 33 saves to record the win in goal, while Parker Soltys made 23 saves for the Chancellors.

Clippers assistant coach Curtis Yaschyshyn said the Clippers got better as the game went on after a slow start.

“We haven’t skated in a week and it showed out there, today. Hopefully, the boys are learning that we can’t just show up at the rink and go. We’ve got to be ready to play right off the first puck drop,” he said.

The Clippers weren’t skating as well as they have in the past, which led to their lacklustre play at times.

Yaschyshyn said it is always a concern when the team is not playing well.

Read the full story in this week’s Dauphin Herald.

The Dauphin Kings sit alone in first place in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s MGEU West Division after winning two of three games, last week.

The week began with a 3-1 win over the Swan Valley Stampeders, Wednesday in Swan River, followed by a 4-2 setback at the hands of the Neepawa Titans, Friday in Dauphin.

The Kings rebounded with a 5-2 win over the Stamps, Saturday on home ice.

Kings head coach and general manager Doug Hedley said the Kings deserved better against Neepawa, who got the game winning goal with 2:11 remaining in the third period.

“We outplayed them so bad in the third period. I thought our third period was really good (Friday) night. We were in their end most of the night. Most of that period, for sure,” he said.

“We started off fast, got a 2-0 lead and that was kind of a jinx. All of a sudden guys were on their heels and they’re not working as hard as we should be. We had so many opportunities. You’ve got to credit their goaltender, he was real good. But again, we’re still not taking their eyes away and not getting to the greasy rebounds.”

Hedley said the Kings let Neepawa hang around too long instead of putting them away after going up 2-0.

“When you have opportunities to put teams away, you need to do it. We just let them hang around too long and deserved better. But it is what it is. You’ve got to make sure you play 60 minutes,” he said.

The struggling Stampeders played hard, Wednesday in front of an afternoon crowd of 651 fans on the team’s school day game.

But Swan Valley’s netminder Elias Giaccari-Dimitriou kept his team in it, making 46 saves.

The power-play continues to produce, scoring three times in the two games on the weekend.

“We had some good movement. Guys are twisting the box a little bit and creating some seams. We’re getting some big rebounds,” Hedley said.

Overall, Hedley is pleased with the team’s play, noting at five-on-five, they are letting teams hang around too long.

Prior to the loss to Neepawa, the Kings won eight of nine games, going 8-0-1-0 in that span.

“Parts of our game are really good. There’s part of it that it’s a work in progress. Net front, low D zone, that type of thing. When we’re on pucks and we’re tough and we’re competing and winning stick battles, we’re a tough team to beat,” he said.

Defenceman Aiden Murray is out four to six weeks with an upper body injury. Forward Nathan Lenoski left the team to return home to become a firefighter.

“It’s disappointing. We were looking at doing something anyway. But he came in and said his heart wasn’t in it. He was tired of being injured all the time and decided to go back to his hometown and was offered a firefighting job. So he’s going into firefightng and playing in the MM (Manitoba Major Junior Hockey League),” Hedley said.

The Kings are on the road this week.

On Thursday, the Kings face the Waywayseecappo Wolverines at 7:30 p.m., before visiting the Portage Terriers, Saturday, also at 7:30 p.m.

At 15-5-1-0, the Kings are in first place with 31 points, two ahead of the Northern Manitoba Blizzard.

Kings court: The Kings moved up three spots to number 9 on the Canadian Junior Hockey League’s Top 20 national rankings. The Steinbach Pistons sit at number 4, while Portage is number 14.

The Dauphin Clippers are hoping for a wildcard berth to provincials after failing to win at the interzone playoffs, Saturday in Swan River.

The Clippers boys won their semifinal match, beating the host Swan Valley Tigers, 25-11, 25-19 and 25-15.

In the final against the top-ranked Neelin Spartans, the Clippers fell in straight sets, 20-25, 18-25 and 23-25.

Clippers coach Taylor Schmidt said the team played very well in the first match against the Tigers.

“We played very disciplined and played with a lot of energy. Swan River pushed back a couple of times and the team didn’t panic. They kept playing disciplined volleyball and we were able to beat them three straight,” he said.

It was a different story against the Spartans, the number one-ranked team in AAA volleyball.

Schmidt said the Clippers were playing even with Neelin until late in each match.

“The third set, we had them on the ropes and were playing really, really well. Like the team they are, the number-one team, they’re very consistent. Not a lot wavers from them and they pushed back,” he said.

“I believe it was 23-23 at one point. We played them in the final at the Brandon University tournament, our very first tournament of the year, and the boys showed a lot of improvement and a lot of pushback. I was really proud of how they competed in the finals of the interzones.”

Neelin won that Brandon University tournament over the Clippers, 25-13 and 25-18.

The interzones, each match is a best-of-five, while during the season, matches were a best-of-three.

While that may not change a team’s strategy, it does change a team’s mindset going into each match, Schmidt said.

“To beat someone, any opponent, three sets is tough. Because you’ve got to be pretty consistent throughout the whole match. You can’t take a couple sets off or you can’t take a couple points off. You’ve need to be able to play pretty consistently for a longer period of time,” he said.

“It’s more of a different mindset.”

The Clippers, Schmidt noted, likely played their best volleyball of the season in the third set against Neelin.

“The boys, being down two, didn’t stop competing and actually pushed back,” he said.

The Clippers have applied for a wildcard berth to provincials.

Schmidt is confident his team will make an appearance at provincials, which will be held, Nov. 28 to 30, in Winnipeg, hosted by Westgate Mennonite Collegiate.

Over the course of the season, the Clippers compiled a strong record against other AAA teams.

“Now it’s up to the MHSAA (Manitoba High School Athletic Association),” Schmidt said, adding the Clippers did everything they had control over going into the wildcard selection process.

“The hard part is you don’t know who else applied and you don’t know how many teams there are. We’re hoping for at least a shot at a  match to try and earn our spot.”

The Clippers girls lost their semifinal match to the Virden Golden Bears, going to distance in the best-of-five set match.

The scores were 23-25, 25-17, 17-25, 25-21 and 12-15.

It was the only match to go all five sets between the boys and girls’ interzone playoffs.

Neelin also won the girls’ berth, beating Virden in straight sets in the final.

A lifetime of activity in bowling has led to the Manitoba Bowling Hall of Fame for a Dauphin resident.

Ralph Piasta was inducted into the Bowling Hall of Fame of Manitoba for meritorious service, Oct. 27 in Winnipeg.

Piasta, who learned of the honour about a month ago, has been involved in 10-pin for 40 years, serving in various executive positions across multiple leagues. He currently serves as the secretary of the Thursday afternoon Golden Ages League and he has served on the 10-pin tournament committee, currently as treasurer.

In the past, Piasta has served as president of the Dauphin 10-pin Association board, as well as also serving as a director on the provincial board.

When he found out about the honour, Piasta was surprised to even be nominated.

“And then when it got approved, that was kind of neat,” he said.

Being inducted, he said, is good recognition for the years of promoting the sport and being an active bowler.

“I’m on the tournament committee. I’m vice-president of one of the leagues. I’m secretary in another league. I’m on the board for the Dauphin 10-pin association. I chase down sponsors to keep the sport alive in Dauphin. There’s lots of good stuff,” Piasta said.

Piasta and another senior bowler started a league seniors about 29 or 30 years ago.

“So then we had two senior leagues in Dauphin for a while. And the other league folded after a few years, because we like to chase around. We go to Brandon. We go to Minot to bowl. And it was good. Some of the older bowlers didn’t want to travel that much,” he said.

Piasta continues to be active in the sport because he enjoys it.

“If I bowl good, it’s fine. It’s a bonus. If I just plain bowl, that’s good, too. That’s keeps me going in it,” adding he bowls twice a week, Tuesday in the men’s league and Thursday’s with the Golden Age League.

Piasta was unable to attend the ceremony due to illness, but he was represented by his children.

“They had what they called Flat Ralph there. It was a cardboard cutout of head and shoulders and about a full sized face glued onto this thing. And they put a fancy sport shirt on me. I was probably a bigger hit then than it would have been if I was there,” he said.

“And then my son read my acceptance speech.”

The Dauphin Kings earned three of a possible four points against the top two teams from the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s MGEU East Division, this past weekend at Credit Union Place.

Ty Paisley’s second goal of the game lifted the Steinbach Pistons to a 4-3 overtime win over the Kings on Friday.

Trailing 3-2 early in the third period, the Kings pressed for the equalizer, but Steinbach netminder Christian Green held the Kings at bay until Ashton Paul deposited the puck into the back of the net to send the game to overtime.

On Sunday, Madden Murray opened the scoring with the first of two goals on the night just 14 seconds into the game and the Kings never looked back in a 4-1 victory over the Selkirk Steelers.

Kings head coach and general manager Doug Hedley said the Kings started slow against the Pistons.

“But we got better in the last 40 minutes. Anytime you’re down 3-2 with 16 seconds left and you tie the game, you’ve got to be happy to get a point out of it,” he said.

“But we had some real good opportunities in overtime to win the game.”

The start against Selkirk was much better, Hedley said, resulting in a goal on the first shift.

“And then I thought we were tougher to play against tonight. Tough on pucks. Selkirk has got some great speed and the rush defence has got to be real good. I thought our whole D corps and Sheff (goaltender Cole Sheffield) was really good tonight,” he said.

The Kings did a good job of backchecking in the offensive zone, often stealing the puck as a Selkirk player tried to exit their defensive zone, creating scoring opportunities as a result.

“That’s resulting from guys’ hard work and getting their head down and going hard and catching guys from behind,” Hedley said.

In October, the Kings dealt local product Rylan Gibbs to the Blind River Beavers of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League for a player development fee.

Hedley appreciates the time and effort Gibbs put in during his time with the Kings.

“Rylan played 99 games here. I’d like to thank him for his commitment to the crest. I know things sometimes don’t work out the way you want. But sometimes a step sideways can be a good step forward,” he said.

“And I think that Rylan can play Div. 3 and I really think this is a good step forward for him to get the minutes he needs to get better. It’s unfortunate it couldn’t work out in Dauphin.”

The depth of the Kings, Hedley stated, wouldn’t have allowed Gibbs to get the playing time he wanted, or needs to continue to develop.

The Kings are on the road, Wednesday, for what has become an annual school day afternoon in Swan River as they face the Stampeders at 12:30 p.m.

They are back on home ice, Friday against the Neepawa Titans, and Saturday in a return match against the Stampeders.

Both games begin at 7:30 p.m.

Despite Swan Valley’s place in the standings, Hedley knows the Kings will have to bring their A game.

“You know the old saying, that if talent doesn’t work hard, hard work beats talent every time. So you have to work hard. You have to come prepared to play,” he said.

“It doesn’t matter where Swan is in the standings, they’re going to come at us hard. You know that. They always play us tough, no matter where they are in the standings. So we’ve got to be ready.”

Kings court: Cayden Glover still leads the league with 15 goals and seven power-play goals, while Naaman Hofer is tops with 20 assists and leads all defenceman in scoring with 23 points. Cole Sheffield leads the league with 12 wins . . . since starting the season with 10 straight wins, the Selkirk Steelers are 2-6-0-1.

Dauphin improved its Westman High School Hockey League record to a perfect 5-0, Saturday in Dauphin, scoring 49 goals in the process, while allowing just nine goals against.

Ethan Carnegie scored twice and added two assists to lead the Dauphin Clippers to a 9-1 rout over the Vincent Massey Vikings 2 team.

Cody Zurba also scored twice and had one assist. Jesse Hockridge, Will Busby, Ethan Zalischuk, Julien Lopez and Boston Karlson had singles.

Rhett Ryden replied for the Vikings.

Chase Glover earned the win in goal, while Kateri Mills took the loss.

Clippers coach Josh Yaschyshyn said the team was missing some players due to injuries and prior commitments.

“Everybody stepped up. Guys were playing out of position. Guys were playing sick. It was really nice to see everybody was unselfish right to the end today,” he added.

With players getting the chance to move up in the lineup, Yaschyshyn was pleased with the play of everyone on the ice.

“We had D men playing forward, we had forwards playing D. It’s nice to see that everybody knows that everybody is valuable and contributes on the team. It’s nice to see,” he said.

The team’s defensive play limited the Vikings’ chances and has allowed just three goals in their last three games.

“We’ve worked on it a lot in practice to take care of the D zone, so it’s nice to see,” Yaschyshyn said.

The Clippers are on the road next weekend, facing the Birtle/Shoal Lake/Rossburn/Birdtail Falcons, Friday in Birtle at 8 p.m., followed by a rematch with the Vikings 2 team in Wawanesa, Sunday, at 2 p.m.

The Parkland Rangers know how to be a good team. This past weekend, they learned what it takes to be a great team in the Manitoba U18 AAA Hockey League.

After Quenton Fisk’s league-leading 15th goal of the season lifted the Rangers to a 4-3 overtime victory over the Pembina Valley Hawks, Friday, the Rangers faced the Winnipeg Wild, one of the best teams in the league year after year.

Parkland kept it close through two periods on Saturday, trailing 2-0 entering the final period.

That’s when Winnipeg turned on the jets, scoring five times in what turned into a 7-0 rout, with only 14 skaters dressed.

On Sunday, with both teams dressing just 13 skaters each, Winnipeg held a 3-0 lead after the first period, but the Rangers responded with two in the middle frame. And just like the night before, Winnipeg pulled away again in the third period in a 7-2 win.

Rangers head coach Josh Tripp said the team didn’t quite get the start they wanted.

“We found some heart, found some effort and got the job done. That’s what good teams do. They find a way even when we’re not at our best,” he said.

The games against Winnipeg were a good test, Tripp said, to see how the Rangers compare.

“I think we got a little ahead ourselves with how well we’ve been doing. It was probably a good wakeup call. That’s how we have to play,” he said.

“They move the puck quick and skated hard and forechecked hard and backchecked hard and it’s good for our players to see that. they’ve been one of the top teams for years, and that’s what you have to do if you want to be a top team,”

Tripp hopes the Rangers can pick up what the Wild did to be successful.

“And we did it at times, too, and we played them hard when we were doing it. So we’ll watch video and we’ll see those little things that they did that, at times, we didn’t and that’s what cost us the games,” he said.

The Rangers were hit with the injury bug, which tends to happen over the course of the season.

Even though they had five players out of Sunday’s lineup, it gives other players a chance for a bigger role.

“You’re always going to have guys getting injured, so we’ll battle through it. We had some guys tonight that they got more ice than they normally would and it’s good to see what they bring when they get that opportunity,” Tripp said.

Landyn Garton was a good example of a player taking advantage of a bigger role as he scored his first goal of the season on Sunday.

The Rangers enter an easier part of their schedule with only one game over the next couple of weeks. That will be a road game, Wednesday in Souris against the Southwest Cougars at 8 p.m.

Parkland enters the week in fifth place with a 9-5-0-0 record, trailing the first-place Winnipeg Bruins by three points, with the Cougars, Wild and Brandon Wheat Kings in between.

The Dauphin Kings got a measure of retribution this past weekend.

Two weeks ago, the Kings suffered losses at the hands of the Selkirk Steelers and Winnipeg Freeze.

This weekend, the team got its revenge, beating the Freeze, 4-3 on Friday night in Winnipeg, before handing the Steelers a 6-4 defeat, Saturday in Selkirk.

The Kings have now won five in a row and have moved into sole possession of first place in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s MGEU West Division.

Kings head coach and general manager Doug Hedley said the Kings got off to a slow start in Friday’s game and trailed 3-1 at one point.

“But then the response and the way we kind of took control of the game. We felt there were a couple of goals that Sheff (goalie Cole Sheffield) would like to take back,” he said.

“We found a way in the third period to get it done. A couple of power-play goals by some guys that have had good seasons so far in (Cayden) Glover and (Gavin) Nemis. It was a good response. All the guys we expect to lead us did a good job.”

Madden Murray led the way on Saturday with two goals and an assist.

Hedley said he has been one of the team’s best players right from day one of training camp.

“There’s times where you’re in the learning process and you’re getting better and you’re making some mistakes. But in general and overall he’s been one of our best players since day one in camp,” he said.

“It just continues on. He’s getting better and better. His speed, his work ethic, his compete level. Now he’s starting to score. He’s been one of our best players game in and game out. And that continued on the weekend.”

The Kings’ special teams were featured in both wins, with the power play connecting three times against Winnipeg and twice against Selkirk, while the penalty kill allowed just one goal in seven chances.

Overall, Dauphin has the third best power play in the league, clicking at 27 per cent, while they are tied with Niverville for tops in penalty killing at 86.2 per cent.

Hedley said the addition of Matthew Thomas has made a big difference on the power play.

“He moves the puck really well. Shoots well. Has good IQ and makes some solid plays,” he said.

“There’s a couple of guys we need to get going and scoring and helping us. Right through our lineup, the depth is there. On the backend, (Naaman) Hofer has been outstanding with his puck movement. And go right down to (Declan) Hoad and (Luke) Myhre and (Ethan) Stewart. The young kids with (Joey) Kubas, they’ve all contributed and they’re all working hard.”

One player who has stepped up his game from last year is forward Rylan Gage, who is one of the team’s assistant captains this year.

“He practiced hard, he got better. He had a great summer in training. Rylan Gage has been one of our best players, too, game in and game out. He had a big power-play goal (Saturday) for us,” Hedley said.

The Kings continue to battle the injury bug. Kubas and Brett Magarrell are in concussion protocol, but Hedley hopes they can start practicing this week.

Sheldon Shyiak and Ethan Williment are both out, as well.

The Kings released goaltender Victor Larin, acquiring Bryson Yaschyshyn from the Winkler Flyers to replace him. Winkler gets a player development fee in exchange.

“He had a real good year in U18 last year. When he became available, we just felt he was somebody we’d like to have in our organization,” Hedley said, adding he has family ties to the area.

“He’s good kid, works hard. A great athlete and somebody that Dan (goaltending coach Keeping) is willing to work with.”

Kings court: The Kings signed five prospects to letters of intent, last week. They include Dauphin product Quenton Fisk, of the Parkland Rangers, Shea Rollason and Sage Dela Cruz, who both play for the Winnipeg Bruins, Brady Bell  of the Winnipeg Wild and Brody Wytinck of the Pilot Mound Hockey Academy . . . defenceman Matthew Thomas and forward Gavin Nemis were selected to play for Team MJHL at the 2024 MJHL/SJHL Showcase, Nov. 4 to 6, in Warman, Sask.

Dauphin’s Breken Brezden recently skated in her first senior international competition in Nice, France.

Brezden was one of two senior skaters representing Canada at the Challenger Series Trophy Metropole Nice Cote d’Azur, Oct. 16 to 20, where she finished 10th overall.

She was 20th after the short program, but Brezden’s free skate pushed her up to 10th.

Brezden had just finished a practice her coaches were still on the ice when she opened her phone, finding an email from Skate Canada informing her of her selection to represent Canada in France.

“I immediately went to go tell them. It was pretty exciting, because it’s just a nice pay off for all the hard work I put in during the summer,” she said.

“And then I called my parents after, because they were at home in Manitoba.”

After a successful summer in which she won two gold medals and a bronze, Brezden new she was on Skate Canada’s radar from international competitions.

“And in skating for Skate Canada, they have this benchmark score that you need to achieve before you can be sent out internationally. And I got it, so I knew it was something that could potentially happen, but you wouldn’t be sure until they actually contected you about it,” she said.

Brezden was “super excited” to be selected.

“It was very motivating to know I would be having my first international competition. And that just makes training all the more exciting every day to come to the rink and work hard in preparation for that,” she said.

This was the first time Brezden traveled to Europe for a competition.

“The flights were long. But they were worth it, because it was a very good experience overall,” she said.

Brezden admitted her short program wasn’t very strong, but she was able to use it as a learning experience.

“I’ve taken a lot away from the competition and I learned a lot of lessons. And I’m very happy with my come back in my long,” she said.

Brezden’s next competition will be the Skate Canada Challenge at the end of November in Winnipeg.

Brezden was grateful her parents were able to make the trip to France to support her.

“I’m very, very thankful for them. I’m just glad I was able to get this exposure to international competition,” she said.

Several awards were handed out at the 123rd annual Firefighters Ball, Saturday.

Jesse Shuttleworth, Ryan Murray, Samantha Horvath and Nicholas Shmon all received their badges and were sworn in as firefighters.

Four people were recognized with Years of Service Awards.

Daniel McKay was recognized for 15 years of service, Greg Acevedo for 30 years of service, Wayne Wells for 35 years service and Alvin Bogoslowski for 40 years of service.

Wells also received the Manitoba Association of Fire Chiefs Long Service Award for 35 years of service, while Bogoslowski received the Governor Generals’ Exemplary Service Medal for his 40 years of service.

Shuttleworth was named the winner of the Jack Carey Memorial Firefighter of the Year Award winner.

In his remarks introducing Shuttleworth, Dauphin fire chief Cam Abrey noted Shuttleworth joined the Dauphin Fire Department as a cadet firefighter through the partnership program with Dauphin Regional Comprehensive Secondary School. At the age of 18, he became a recruit member and he has grown through many challenges as a recruit.

Through all of this, Shuttleworth is always the first one to get truck checks done, showing up at 6 p.m. before anyone else arrives, when he knows that the number of available firefighters islow and there is other training to get done that night. Everyone is able to see that he is dependable around the station when it comes to duties on the floor.

As one of the nominations written for Shuttleworth stated, “as an officer I can always count on the job getting done.”

Recruits are issued yellow helmets to identify them on the fire ground, but the running joke is that Shuttleworth has done enough primary entry into structure fires that it has turned to a brown helmet. He regularly is on the first truck and has been one of the new A-Team, which is a nickname for the initial attack firefighters.

Shuttleworth’s extra effort has not gone unnoticed by the fellow members.

Shuttleworth was surprised to be recognized and was not expecting to receive the award.

“I did put the work in, but I didn’t expect to get the recognition for it,” he said.

Shuttleworth became a firefighter because he has always had a passion for helping people.

“I took advantage of it once I became of age to be able to provide for the community,” he added.

Shuttleworth will celebrate his fifth anniversary of becoming a firefighter in February 2025. It is the comraderie that he enjoys most about being a firefighter.

“Having such a great team to work with and being able to give back to the community,” he said, adding he sees himself as a role model for younger members of the fire department.