The Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s MGEU West Division is getting tighter with each passing week.

The Dauphin Kings find themselves in a tie for second place with the Swan Valley Stampeders, with 26 points each, five behind the division-leading OCN Blizzard, one ahead of the Waywayseecappo Wolverines and two up on the Virden Oil Capitals. The Neepawa Titans bring up the rear with 18 points, six back of Virden.

The Kings earned a split in a pair of home games over the weekend, dropping a 5-2 decision to Virden on Saturday, before scoring a 3-2 overtime victory over the Winkler Flyers, Sunday.

Virden led 1-0 entering the third period and scored four times to break the game open.

On Sunday, after killing off a Winkler power play in overtime, Owen Wareham scored on a Kings power play to lift Dauphin to the victory.

Considering Saturday’s contest was a four-point game against a divisional opponent, it was a disappointing result, said Kings head coach and general manager Doug Hedley.

Since a 5-0 win over the Wolverines, Oct. 31, Hedley feels the Kings have gotten away from their game.

“And started doing more individual stuff and it carried over into Virden’s game. I don’t think we had the jump. We might have thought it was going to be easier than it was. We didn’t really play fast,” he said.

The Flyers are a big club and have some speed, Hedley stated.

“They can play,” he said.

The Kings were set back on their heels in the first period, thanks in part to four minor penalties. The Flyers controlled the second period, but the Kings, Hedley said, didn’t break.

Get the full rundown in this week's Dauphin Herald!

The Dauphin Kings agriculture project proved to be another success this year.

Project co-ordinator Rae Csversko said a field of 78 acres in the Keld area was donated to the project last year, but because of the wet spring, it could not be seeded this year, leaving the local junior A hockey club with only the land rented in the Industrial Park.

“We just got in the field in the Industrial Park area at the very last date you can to seed land. But it was unfortunate, because we did really well with that land in the Keld area last year,” he said. “So we just had the roughly 126 acres that we leased from the RM and City of Dauphin.”

The canola crop was harvested, Oct. 3, with the help of the three local farm equipment dealerships.

The ag. project, Csversko said, is a group effort with everything that goes into it being donated so the club can maximize its profits.

“Gary and Cory Sydor are the key players with respect to getting things going, as well as Jeremy Knutson,” he added. “These people do an immense amount of work and the input. It’s one thing to harvest the crop, but there’s a lot of people involved in getting the crop in.”

Csversko reported about five to 10 acres were lost due to wet field conditions, but they still managed to harvest 4,606 bushels, which were hauled straight to Cargill elevators. Because of the high commodity prices, the Kings were able to raise about $83,000 through the project this year.

“And that’s because of the extraordinarily high commodity prices and the fact that it costs nothing. All the seed, all the chemical that we use, it’s all donated. And that really makes a difference. It really does,” he said.

With the Kings paying off its debt last season, this money will go a long way to keeping the team financially viable.

Csversko credits all the volunteers and local businesses who contribute their products, time and effort to making the project a success year after year.

“If it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t be doing it,” he said.

The Dauphin and District Allied Arts Council presented its annual Christmas craft sale at the Watson Arts Centre, Saturday.

Various vendors offered their wares to those getting a little early Christmas shopping done.

The Tea Room also offered warm beverages, as well as soup and desserts.

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.