Christian Laughland
Clippers claim Christmas Cup
The Christmas Cup is returning to Dauphin after the Westman High School Hockey League’s Clippers took down the Neepawa Tigers 5-4 at Credit Union Place, Thursday.
Dauphin opened the scoring early when Trayden Guiboche scored his first of two straight in the game but Neepawa tallied three unanswered to grab a 3-1 lead in the second period.
In the second Guiboche and Tyron Sweetman scored to get the Clippers back on even terms before they fell behind 4-3 in the third period.
Dauphin then got goal from Liam Chartrand to even things up and Logan Chapman notched the game winner on the power play.
Head Coach Josh Yaschyshyn said the team had some nerves early on but pushed through them and came back.
“The rink was really full for the game, it was fantastic. Once we got hit a couple times and found our legs we were able to get the teddy bear goal out of the way. It was a really good effort for us.”
Dauphin found themselves in trouble when it came to penalties, especially in the second period but Yaschyshyn credits his team’s defence and penalty kill group for getting them through the turbulence.
“We’ve got a real strong penalty kill, we use lots of players on it and they’re not afraid to block shots, get hit or make a play along the wall. I’d like to say we’re a defence first team,” he said. “We haven’t given up a lot of goals this season so far and we take a lot of pride in that.”
Clipper captain Chapman came up big for his team in the third period, scoring the game winner on the man advantage. Yaschyshyn says he’s been a very dependable guy all season.
“He hasn’t had the greatest puck luck this year, but he sets the tone for us each and every night,” Yaschyshyn said. “We gave up two quick goals in the second to fall behind 3-1 and he really settled us down and led the way for us. Same with Trayden Guiboche, they were awesome for us.”
Between the pipes it was Owen Chubka stopping 32 of the 36 shots he faced for the victory.
Dauphin now heads into its Christmas break and will not return to the ice for WHSHL play until Jan. 7, when they host the Birtle Falcons at Credit Union Place.
The Clippers sit first in the league standings with a record of 14-2-0 on the year, two points ahead of the Killarney Raiders.
Yaschyshyn adds it’s nice to have the Christmas Cup back in the city of sunshine.
“There may not be an uglier trophy, but I would not trade it for the world.”
Kings head into Christmas break in third
The Dauphin Kings are heading into their Christmas break on a five game point streak following an overtime win and a shootout loss over the weekend.
On Friday the Kings opened up a 2-0 lead in their second period with Swan Valley, only to see that advantage evaporate midway through the third when the Stampeders took a 3-2 lead.
Jakob Brook notched his second goal of the night with just three seconds remaining in the final frame to get Dauphin to overtime where Mason Smith tallied his ninth of the year on the man advantage to give his Kings a 4-3 decision and an important two points.
Kings head coach and general manager Doug Hedley called it a key victory, as well.
“I liked our pushback, we came back in the final minute and found a way to get it done in overtime. We can’t keep chasing games like that but at the same time we’re coming back against some pretty good hockey clubs.”
It was more of the same on Saturday night at Credit Union Place when the Kings faced a Waywayseecappo team they are also chasing in the standings.
Dauphin looked like a group that had already checked out for the Christmas break 23 minutes into the contest, but they again pushed back and rebounded from a 3-1 deficit.
The Kings took the lead in the third period on Mathew Gough’s 12th of the season.
However, with just over a minute to play the Wolverines evened things up again when Nolan Grier scored his 11th. The goal was initially called after bouncing off the crossbar despite the goal judge and crowd behind the Dauphin goal voicing their opinion that the puck never did cross the line.
Five minutes of overtime solved nothing. In the shootout both Gough and Jamie Valentino missed for Dauphin while Grier notched the winner for Waywayseecappo.
Hedley says the games right before the Christmas break are sometimes the most difficult ones to play in during the regular season.
“It’s tough. Guys know they’re leaving the next day and Wayway still has a game on Tuesday. They came at us with some good jump and we have to give them credit for that. But at the same time we weren’t skating or battling and we were getting outworked on every part of the ice in the first half of the game. Our goalie, Marko Belak, was outstanding and gave us a chance to get back in it and we did.”
Despite the Kings’ five game point streak Hedley knows his team cannot keep playing three point contests, especially against clubs they’re chasing in the standings.
“We have a really good group this year. There’s guys in the room with a lot of purpose. These last few games have been three point games but at the same time for us we almost didn’t get any and we ended up with two.”
The Kings close out 2022 with a record of 18-12-2-1 for 39 points. Entering the week they sit tied with Waywayseecappo for third in the West Division and are just two points back of the OCN Blizzard for first.
Dauphin is back from their Christmas break, Jan. 6, when they visit the Winnipeg Blues. They will return to Credit Union Place for their first home game of 2023 on Jan. 7, when they play the back end of a home-and-home with the Blues. The CJHL trade deadline looms on Jan. 10.
Mountain View View
By Floyd Martens
MVSD Board Chair
“Budgets expose your priorities.”
If this sounds familiar, it was the opening words of a Mountain View Matters one year ago. At the time the annual funding announcement from the provincial government had been release. It included restrictions on locally-generated funding through property taxes. Instead, of boards being able to set mill rates, an offset grant was sent to school divisions equal to what would be a two per cent tax increase. Rebate checks were sent to ratepayers.
This change in local education funding was coupled with minor increases in provincial funding. It made for difficult budgeting as resources did not keep up with increased expenses.
This provided an even greater need for your local school board to prioritize what matters most.
Fiscal pressures make it imperative to do so.
That was a year ago. What a year it has been. The budget was completed before the release of the K-12 Education Review and prior to the tabling of a piece of legislation infamously known as – Bill 64. So much has happened in the past 12 months.
A year later, the board is in a similar place. boards are still here, thanks to the voice of our communities.
Limitations continue for boards to raise revenue through taxation. However, this year the provincial government has made greater investments to help address some of the budget challenges board’s face, and we appreciate the efforts of government to recognize and address these challenges.
Two one-time investments were provided to school boards to address contractual and inflationary pressures. One to address the current year and one for the upcoming year. These investments are both outside of the current funding formula. The formula provides individual divisions their share of the overall provincial education funding, yet only 5.6 per cent of the $118 million dollars of education funding announced this month will flow through this formula.
However, a new funding formula is in the process of being developed. This new model is intended to simplify the current formula which has increasingly become more complex. The new formula is in the process of being developed and is at least a year away from being implemented.
What is also different this year is Manitoba has a new bargaining model for teacher contracts. The legislation, Bill 45, was passed and proclaimed into law.
The Manitoba School Boards Association will become the bargaining agent for all school divisions and will bargain with all public school teachers in the province. Current Teacher collective agreements come to an end at the end of June. The next contract will be settled through this new bargaining model.
With all that said, the focus of your board remains on determining which areas should be invested in. Which areas matter most when it comes to addressing the educational needs of our students.
Since the announcement, at the beginning of this month, the board is examining the needs of the division. A couple of pressures are squeezing the available resources. As you will know, inflationary pressures are taking their toll. The provincial government recognized this, but with cost of living increases in the 3.3 per cent range, everything from utilities, fuel and insurance have impacted what is needed for the next school year. Not to mention the pressure on staff salaries.
The other pressure is the needs of our aging infrastructure. Maintaining our 16 schools requires investment. While major repairs or replace of systems is supported through government’s central services, aging systems do impact our budgets as we continue to maintain systems that have reached their life expectancy.
As the board prepares the budget for the 2022-23 school year, we need your input, as our draft budget identifies a shortfall of nearly $400,000.
Taxation is no longer an option so decisions on eliminating this shortfall require discussion and debate on school and division priorities.
A draft budget will be presented at an online meeting, Mar. 7. The link and information can be found at www.mvsd.ca.
This will be an opportunity for the board to provide current information on what the funding announcement means for Mountain View School Division, as well as an opportunity for the board to hear from our community in terms of your priorities for next year’s budget.
Hope to see you there.
Economic Development Committee Hits Restart Button
The Dauphin Economic Development Committee has a new identity and is ready to get back to work.
Formerly known as the Dauphin Economic Development and Tourism Board, the committee has new terms of reference passed by city council at its regular meeting, Feb. 14.
“In the past when I was in this office, and even before that when I was on the board, I always had a bit of an issue with the fact that it was called a board, not because I don’t like the word board, but because it isn’t. A board is an organization that has its own governance, its own set of rules and bylaws and documents that defines who they are. They have a budget and all that kind of stuff and this group doesn’t. They really work sort of under the wings of the two councils,” Economic Development manager Martijn van Luijn said
“And nobody ever really defined what that means and who they are. So we cleaned that up.”
In essence the role and responsibilities of the committee stay the same, van Luijn said, as a roundtable discussion group talking about economic growth and opportunities in the community.
The committee acts as eyes and ears in the community, keeping a pulse on what’s happening and providing input for consideration or review, van Luijn said. Ideas, issues, and input brought forward through the committee are taken into consideration for municipal planning and projects and shared with relevant community groups.
“And some great ideas come out of it and great projects have come out of it in the past,” he said, adding the committee has not been active recently. “This is a great opportunity to do a little bit of a refresh and a restart, but the job that this group does kind of really stays the same.”
David Bosiak has volunteered to chair the committee and is currently its only member. It is his job, van Luijn said, to recruit committee members outside of municipal representation.
The committee will have appointed representation from the city and RM of Dauphin councils and the Parkland Chamber of Commerce.
“We really want to spread the net wide. We talked long about who should be on this group, should it be representation for certain sectors or not,” van Luijn said. “And in the end, we came back to the same thing, we’re looking for good people that want to contribute to the composition. And it doesn’t really matter where you come from and who you are, as long as you have that invested interest in making Dauphin economically successful.”
Applications will be accepted until Mar. 15. Completed application forms can be emailed to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or dropped off at City Hall, to the attention of the Economic Development manager.
For more information, call van Luijn at 204-622-3229 or or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
MCA Gets Funding
The Manitoba government is providing $750,000 in funding to the Manitoba Camping Association (MCA), to support a COVID-19 economic recovery plan for eligible overnight camps throughout the province.
The one-time funding grant will be used to offset financial impacts experienced by camps due to COVID-19. This includes financial strain due to closures and implementing services under conditions of public health orders. It will also help support future recovery efforts. Eligible costs will include fixed operating costs such as taxes, utilities and insurance.
Each year, the MCA sends around 600 children to various camp programs throughout Manitoba and northwestern Ontario through its Sunshine Fund.
For additional information on MCA activities and to inquire about funding support, call 204-784-1130 or visit www.mbcamping.ca.
Memorial Fund Growing
From left, Al Gray of the AIRPORTMEMORIAL80 Project committee accepts a cheque for $1,000 from Johnston and Company partner Doug Deans, while committee member Jack Bay looks on.
The local law firm is the latest to support the construction of a memorial for the men and women who took part in the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan at the local airport.
Those wanting to get involved in the project can e-transfer their donation to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or send a cheque to AIRPORTMEMORIAL80 Box 275 Dauphin MB R7N 2V2.
Back On Top
Greg Todoruk of Richardson Pioneer holds his broom offering a target for his teammates during the final of the Bayer Crop Science Parkland Super League of Curling.
Todoruk and his team of Darcy Todoruk, Barret Procyshyn and Rob Fisher, beat Kyle Forsyth of Turko Fertilizer 9-7 in the championship game.
Todoruk reached the final with a 6-3 win over Chad Sahulka of Dauphin Co-op Agro, while Forsyth defeated Greg Clark of Cross-Town Motors, 6-1.
Forsyth was the defending champion, having won the title in 2020, while Todoruk last won the league in 2019.
Back On The Court
Kendel Gibbs of the Parkland Vipers is set to bump a serve in the final of the Vipers U16 Volleyball Tournament, Saturday.
After finishing second in the round-robin, the Vipers lost to the first-place Club West U17 team from Virden in the final.
Other teams competing in the tournament included the Parkland Vipers 15U team, the ACC Cougars and Brandon Cats.
Dauphin will host a 15U tournament, Mar. 12 and a 14U tournament, Mar. 19.
Kings Widen Gap Over Wolverines
The Dauphin Kings opened a five-point lead over the Waywayseecappo Wolverines with a pair of wins over their West Division rivals.
Cordell Coleman recorded his first career hat trick and Brayden Dube added a pair in a 5-2 Kings victory, Friday in Waywayseecappo.
On Saturday in Dauphin, Luke Morris netted the winner with 26 seconds remaining to lift the Kings to a 3-2 win.
Kaden Bryant scored seven seconds in when he intercepted a pass and skated in on a breakaway, deking to his forehand. Nick Braun made it 2-0 just 35 seconds later when he rang a shot in off the goalpost.
The Wolverines tied the game with a pair of goals 50 seconds apart early in the third, setting the stage for Morris’s late-game heroics.
Kings head coach and general manager Doug Hedley liked the way his team played on the road, Friday night.
“It’s a tough arena to play in. They’re a good team. They work real hard. Well coached. They’ve got the record they have for a reason. They play real well,” he added. “But I thought we played fast. We pushed them and definitely got some pressure on the forecheck. We got to the net, got to the paint and got some second shots. I thought it was one of our best 60-minute efforts that we’ve had in a while. We’d rate it up there with the 3-0 win up in Swan (Feb. 2.).”
As for Saturday’s quick start, Hedley said it was nice for the opposition to chase the game for a change.
“Obviously, the first shift we got two goals in the first minute of the period. It would have been nice to continue. We had some chances later on in the period and even in the second. We got back on our heels after some penalty kills,” he said. “You’ve got to give Wayway credit. They came hard at us. They pushed us, tied the game. The good things about it is we bent a little bit, didn’t break and found a way to get a big win.”
With the season winding down, the Kings cannot take anything for granted. As Hedley pointed out, every team they play is desperate to make the playoffs.
“We’re obviously, in a good position. It doesn’t mean anything. We’re looking forward to the challenge. Our guys are focused in now. They’re focused on the little details and playing well away from the puck. And they’re looking forward to the challenge this week, for sure,” he said.
After playing Neepawa on Monday, the Kings and Wolverines will hook up for two more games, this weekend, beginning Friday in Dauphin with the regular season finale in Waywayseecappo on Saturday.
Rangers Turn To Scoreboard Watching
The Parkland Rangers did their part and now they play the waiting game before they learn who they will face in the first round of the Manitoba U18 AAA Hockey League.
After a 5-2 loss to the Southwest Cougars, last Tuesday in Dauphin, the Rangers split a pair of games in Teulon against the Interlake Lightning, losing 6-0 on Friday and winning 7-4 on Saturday, before capping off the season with a huge 2-1 win over the Winnipeg Bruins, Monday at Credit Union Place.
On Monday, Madden Murray put the Rangers in front in the first period before Winnipeg tied it in the second on a goal from Jonas Woo.
Will Munro tallied the winner when he broke in all alone and beat Winnipeg goaltender Dimitri Fortin with 2:31 remaining in regulation to lift Parkland to the victory.
Brenden Birch-Hayden was outstanding in net for the Rangers, making 40 saves. Fortin finished the night with 26 stops.
Rangers head coach Tyler Carefoot said the Rangers let one slip away on Friday against Interlake, despite a good first period. The Rangers, he added, were a lot better on Saturday, a game which he felt should have been 7-2.
Monday was a character win for the Rangers, Carefoot said, noting the Bruins controlled much of the play in the second period, outshooting Parkland 21-8.
“Their second period they were all over us. We had a little adjustment in the defensive zone. We didn’t give their D as much room going into the third,” he said. “You get in a game like that, it’s just a lucky bounce. Willy made a nice play and broke away and I had a good feeling when he got that puck that a good thing was going to happen. So we feel good and we’re moving on, so it’s exciting.”
Monday was much like a playoff game and it was the kind of effort Carefoot hopes to see his young charges continue into the postseason.
“I thought the energy from the beginning of the game right to the finish, we were buzzing,” he said. “As high as our energy was, you still have to think. And I thought in the first period, there were too many turnovers, putting the puck through the middle. We made that adjustment.”
Winnipeg has a mobile defence, Carefoot said, and the Rangers made another adjustment to get within a stick length of the Bruins defence.
“And I thought it worked. And every shift I kept telling guys to get pucks to the net. Don’t force things. And we’re the ones that got the lucky bounce.”
Carefoot said it has been a while since one of their goaltenders stole a game, but Birch-Hayden did just that, with his 40-save performance.
“If we can get that effort, get that goaltending, I don’t know if there’s any team in the league that wants to face us, for sure,” he said.
Parkland finishes the season with a 18-17-2-3 record for 41 points. They currently sit in fifth place, but they could drop down to sixth if Southwest (18-19-1-1) pulls off an upset with a win over the Winnipeg Wild (30-4-1-2) on Wednesday.
If the Rangers finish fifth, which is likely, they will face the Yellowhead Chiefs in the best-of-five quarterfinals, starting in Shoal Lake. The Chiefs, Carefoot said, are a gritty club and are well coached.
“They don’t quit and we’re going to have to match that. I think we’re a little bit deeper offensively, but they’ve got some good goaltending. They’re just a group of guys that play hard and they’re tough to play against. And we’re going to have to match that if we’re going to have any success against them,” he said.