The Dauphin Kings are halfway to the semifinals in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League playoffs.

The Kings rode a 46-save performance from Cole Sheffield to a 2-1 victory over the Blizzard Jr. A Hockey Club in game one, Friday in The Pas.

Joshua Schmidt was the overtime hero, beating Blizzard goaltender Tomas Anderson through the five-hole, 6:21 into the extra period to lift the Kings to a 5-4 win and a two-games-to-none lead in the best-of-seven quarterfinal series.

Kings head coach and general manager Doug Hedley, who missed game one due to illness, credited Sheffield for stealing the game with his performance.

“The biggest thing is we weathered the storm up there. And Sheff stole the game. Let’s face it, Sheffield stole the game for us,” he said. “They had pressure after pressure. But the good thing about up there is that we kept them to the perimeter. They only had 12 prime scoring shot areas and they usually have more than that on us the last couple times we played them.”

After the Kings took a 2-0 lead after the first period, the Blizzard outshot Dauphin, 39-7 in the final 40 minutes. That was when Sheffield took the spotlight, stopping all but one of those shots.

In game two, the Kings, playing with just five defencemen, were able to relieve a lot of pressure by getting pucks out of the zone and moving it as quickly as they could.

“And taking advantage of mistakes on the rush. Their D-men are always pressuring their five-man unit down low, so if we can get in behind them and get pucks in behind them, then we end up with two-on-ones,” Hedley said. “But the biggest thing is we had to relieve pressure and I thought our guys did a hell of a job tonight.”

Forward Jordan Bax also missed game one due to illness, while defenceman Brett Magarrell is day-to-day with an upper body injury and may return for game three, tonight in The Pas.

Defenceman Charlie Sandven is likely out for the remainder of the playoffs after contracting mono.

Schmidt, forward Rylan Gibbs and defenceman Ty Pratte also missed some practices due to illness.

“We went up there with a few guys at about 80 per cent, 75 per cent, found a way to get it done and it was just a good follow up today, that’s for sure,” Hedley said.

Schmidt and Carter Zalischuk, who opened the scoring in game two, are examples of the team effort needed to be successful in the playoffs, Hedley said.

“That’s what playoffs are for. It’s for the guys in the bottom of the order. The bottom of your order are the guys that are going to get it done, because you’ve got to play everybody,” he said. “You have to deposit energy into the bank and you’re going to use it in game five, six, seven, depends on how long it goes.”

Madden Murray and Rylan Gage were both outstanding, Hedley said and Zalischuk played his best hockey of the season in the last two games.

“Since we put him back in the middle, that 200-foot game, he’s been outstanding. The energy level, the work ethic, that’s what he brings. He brings energy, he finishes checks and he kills penalties like a trooper,” he said.

Game three gets underway tonight in The Pas at 7 p.m., while game four will go Thursday in Dauphin at 7:30 p.m.

Despite having the series lead after two games, Hedley knows the series is far from over.

“Every game is as important as the last one. We do enjoy today and get back to work tomorrow,” he said. “It’s great we won at home, but there’s still a lot of work to do. This team is not going to go anywhere. They’re too good of a team to do that. Their goaltender is too good to do that. So it’s a matter of us coming back with a good solid effort and, hopefully, take the next step.”

Game five, if necessary, will go Saturday in The Pas at 7:30 p.m., while game six, if needed in Monday in Dauphin at 7:30 p.m.

Local eye doctor R.P. Ashcroft may have retired but the service he provided for decades continues thanks to a long-time colleague at Ashcroft Vision Care.

Dr. Kara Vanderhayden, who has been seeing patients in Roblin and Dauphin for about a decade now, has taken over the reins. She has rebranded the practice – it is now known as WillowBrook Eye Care – and continues to maintain Ashcroft’s offices in both Dauphin and Roblin.

Read all about it in this week’s Review.

A new committee has been formed to help raise funds for community projects.

Thanks to a big push from local producer and councillor Walter Hammond and the Municipality of Roblin’s generous donation of rent-free land as well as the offer to handle the financial aspects and provide seed money, the Roblin & Community Harvest Legacy Project is embarking on the first of what is hoped will be many growing projects over the years.

Find out more and how to help in this week’s issue.

The editors of Canada’s Top 100 Employers have named Fusion Credit Union as one of Manitoba’s Top Employers for 2024. This marks the fifth consecutive year that Fusion has received this recognition, an accolade that CEO Darwin Johns is both excited and honored to have received.

“We’re thrilled to be recognized as a Top Manitoba Employer again this year,” said Johns. “To receive this acknowledgement five years in a row is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our employees, as they are the driving force behind our success.”

More in this week’s Review.

The final bonspiel of the 2022-23 curling season played out Saturday, March 18 with some familiar names battling it out in the finals of the three events.

Taking top spot and winning the Cross Town Motors trophy was the Colton Stadnyk foursome with a 6-2 victory after six ends over Terry Hawryluk.

For a look at the action and pics of the winning rinks, check out this week’s issue.

The Sam Waller Museum is welcoming and eager to introduce their new curator to the community. Kristen Fader started her role as museum curator last Monday. Fader comes to the job with an extensive post-secondary education and bilingualism.
“I hail from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, where I spent the entirety of my childhood braving East Coast winter storms and spending summer days at the beach,” said Fader. “My mother is from Québec, and so my first language and schooling, up until undergrad, was in French allowing me to be bilingual, which I’m continuously grateful for. Like my father, grandfather and as my siblings have now done, we Fader’s have all gone to Saint Mary’s University in Halifax.

Ever wonder what the Dauphin Herald online papers look like? Ever thought about switching from your paper copy to an online edition? 

Now is your chance to check it out and see how you like it with the Dauphin Herald's Total Market Coverage for March 2024.

Read below, enjoy!

Soon northern Manitoba residents will have bus service that travels to western Manitoba. Recently Wuskwi Sipihk First Nation (WSFN) purchased the old Greyhound Bus Depot in Brandon and formed an agreement with Mahihkan Bus Lines to have part of the building as a bus terminal/depot.
The former Greyhound Bus Depot is about 10,734 square feet and located on the southeast corner of Sixth Street and Rosser Avenue. It closed its doors when Greyhound ended service in October of 2018.
Also in that same time frame, First Nation owners of Aseneskak Casino in Opaskwayak Cree Nation, received approval from the Manitoba Motor Transport Board for its Kelsey Bus Lines division to conduct public transportation throughout Manitoba. The Kelsey Bus Lines division was sold and transferred the new partnership to form Mahihkan Bus Lines as of April 1, 2019.
The name Mahihkan, in Cree, means wolf, hence their slogan ‘Travel with the pack’. Currently Mahihkan Bus Lines travels to and stops in Flin Flon, The Pas, Wuskwi Sipihk, Swan River, Neepawa, Dauphin and Winnipeg.
WSFN’s new acquisition will result in not only further expansion for the First Nation community but also expansion of travel and shipping services for northern Manitoba. WSFN also plans to incorporate some economic spin-offs with a VLT lounge, smoke shop and restaurant within the building as well.
“We had a look at this property a while back and had a good opportunity to buy it,” said WSFN Chief Elwood Zastre. “We got it for a good deal. Brandon doesn’t have anything downtown for First Nations, so we are going to convert it into reserve land. Then we will be putting some businesses in there with it being a depot for the Mahihkan Bus Lines, and then some VLTs and possibly a pharmacy, with some space for office or business rentals as well.
“There are several great benefits for our people in this new venture. It’s going to employ our people in Brandon and get the bus line going into Brandon. Now people can take the bus from The Pas to Swan River to Brandon or Winnipeg.
“This will provide affordable transportation for people with medical appointments to go to the city and back home,” said Chief Zastre. “It will also help with freight and having things sent out and arriving to the north.”
“With a trusted partner in Brandon, we will be able to offer services between Brandon to Dauphin, which will connect with our current six days a week, from Sunday to Friday, that travels between Winnipeg and Flin Flon,” Mahihkan Bus Lines Operations Manager Aynsley Smith. “We are in the planning stages, but we are hoping the run will include more small towns that had bus service before the closure of Greyhound.
“The start date for these services really depends on when WSFN finishes their renovations and upgrades to the site. Currently, Mahihkan Bus’s Fleet includes seven motor coaches, four minibuses and 4-15 passenger vans. We will be offering the same six-day-a-week service that is offered on our current routes.”
Meetings have been held between WSFN and the City of Brandon and renovations are expected to commence soon in the very near future.
“We finished the deal and are in the process of starting renovations,” said Chief Zastre. “We met with the City of Brandon last month, and as a result, we have the permits and everything ready to go.
“This venture is all for our people and our future going forward.”

The Billy Beal Classic Ice Fishing Derby had another successful year at Whitefish Lake on Saturday (March 16), with a 14 pound, two ounce Northern Pike earning Kevin Frank $10,000 at the event, which raises money for Valley Lions Medical Assistance Fund...

While it would be easy to assume that unseasonably warm weather would be good for construction projects, in the case of the Main Street South redevelopment, it is having the opposite effect.

In fact, warm daytime temperatures have caused crews to change gears and work through the night instead, said Dauphin’s director of Public Works and Operations Mike VanAlstyne.

“Because of the soft conditions during the day, it just makes more of a mess than it would be if the weather was normal. It slows production down to almost a halt with trucks being stuck and material being stuck and everything else,” VanAlstyne said. “So by working through the night they have colder weather and they can travel on that semi frozen ground.”

Progress on the Main Street South project has been consistent, he added, with the contractor Russell Redi-Mix, completing approximately 65 per cent of the City’s portion of the project to this point.

Work on the western retention pond is all but complete with just some final grading work to do. That work will have to wait for drier conditions, VanAlstyne said. The eastern retention pond is about 80 per cent complete and installation of storm sewers is wrapping up, while Manitoba Hydro and its contractor are working to complete the relocation of gas lines on the west side of the roadway.

VanAlstyne expects the City’s portion of the project to be completed soon.

“I would imagine we will be done most of it by the end of the month,” he said. “This week will be critical with the colder weather.”

At that point service roads will be completed and at which time the focus will shift to reconstructing the main roadway.

“There’s a traffic management plan in place. So once the service roads are constructed the main roadway will be closed to traffic and traffic will be diverted onto the new roadways,” Alstyne said. “The city’s involvement will definitely be a lot less at that point.”

He added the project continues to be on schedule with a completion set for later this summer.

“They’re really pushing to be done by the end of August. Which is the original project completion date,” he said, adding the contractor has been diligent in making sure work progresses. “We’ve had some challenging snowstorms that have put in a couple of hiccups, but nothing that’s been crazy. And really the warm weather has probably been the biggest challenge so far, but they’ve done a good job of working and doing what they can when they can.”

On top of the drainage work and Main Street reconstruction, there will be intersection improvements at Dauphin Marketplace Mall and at Riverside Road.

Plans call for the entrance to the mall parking lot to be moved to the south and the intersection to be controlled by traffic signals.

All direct access to businesses along the stretch of road will be blocked with the entrance coming off the new service roads.

The plan also calls for expansion of the street to four lanes all the way to Triangle Road and the installation of a raised centre median starting just south of Whitmore Avenue.

As an added bonus, milling and overlay work will take place on Main Street from Whitmore Avenue to Fourth Avenue South.

“I can’t predict their the timeline, but I could guess that they may do that sooner rather than later,” VanAlstyne said. “Because they want to make sure their asphalt plant is up and running and working properly so I could see them doing that earlier on.”