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Luke Decorby was off to a fine start with the Parkland U18 Rangers in the 2020-21 season as he posted two goals and two assists in seven games. The Rangers also had won six of their seven games that season before heartbreak set in as the remainder of the campaign was cancelled because of the pandemic.

Decorby decided to switch things up the following year as he moved to high school hockey and joined the Major Pratt Trojans out of Russell and the now 19-year-old, who will turn 20 before Christmas, was in a league of his own.

In just 34 regular season games, Decorby scored 50 times and he added 51 assists as he won the scoring title by 27 points with his 101. Luke averaged nearly three points-per-game with the next closest scorer adding up just more than two per game, with that being Ryan Benson.

Following one of the best seasons in league history for Luke, he was set to begin his junior career as he joined the Virden Oil Capitals of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League, playing eight games and scoring his first junior goal in the process. Luke's time in Virden was ultimately rather short lived as after those eight games, he was dealt to the Red Lake Miners of the Superior International Junior Hockey League last season. Immediate success followed Decorby as he scored 12 times while adding nine assists in just 29 regular season games. He then went on to post a pair of points in five playoff games.

Decorby says the move to Red Lake was seamless and he's enjoyed every minute of being with his new team.

"I really enjoy it out here, it's so beautiful. My billets are actually right on the water and they're amazing people," offered Decorby. "We have a great group of guys and a great coaching staff. I love being a Miner, it's a really special time for me."

From Binscarth, Luke is now back in Red Lake this year playing with the Miners as they're off to a 1-1 start to the campaign. For Luke, he's posted one goal and two assists in those two contests. Luke has always enjoyed putting the puck in the back of the net as all players do, but he continues to look at the bigger picture. That picture is all about winning games and ultimately advancing to a Centennial Cup. Red Lake is projected to be one of the top teams in the SIJHL this year. 

"I'm just here to win a championship, that's what it all comes down to at the end of the day," said Decorby. "I'll do whatever it takes to help this team win, whether that's score goals, set them or up whatever it is."

Luke does have an extra important role with the team this year as he has been named captain for the campaign. Luke found out while in the team's dressing room and his parents called him to give him the news.

"It's a pretty big honour, I didn't have any expectations coming into the season that I would be captain, I'm honestly pretty shocked," ended Decorby. "It was even more special because I found out from my parents. I'm very happy and I look forward to being captain."

Next up for Red Lake is a home-and-home this weekend with Dryden. 

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Contributed by Darnell Duff

Published: Sep 28, 2023 - 10:09 am

Among teams that have played two games in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League this season, no team has scored more and they have given up only two goals, which is matched by only the Winkler Flyers.

The Dauphin Kings got off to a great start with a pair of wins on opening weekend of the 2023-24  season. Starting the campaign on home ice last Friday against Swan Valley, Dauphin scored four times in the opening period as they skated off with an eventual 7-1 win. Blake Boudreau scored twice in the game as did Logan Walker and Gavin Nemis while Gabriel Bugeaud scored Dauphin's other goal in his junior debut.

Cole Sheffield was steady in net as he made 24 saves and he even had an assist on Dauphin's second goal which was scored by Walker. Dauphin also went 2-for-2 on the penalty kill in the contest in front of 912 fans at Credit Union Place.

"When you recruit and bring guys in, you're looking for them to compete and play with speed. Right from the hop, our back end really controlled the game and we had some great speed away from pucks," said Doug Hedley, the team's head coach and general manager. "We were very pleased with the effort, we're going to strive to be more consistent this year."

Making their first trip to play the most northern team in the league on Sunday night, the Kings opened a 2-0 lead against the Blizzard Junior A Hockey Club before holding on for a 2-1 win to complete a perfect opening weekend. Boudreau scored another goal while Naaman Hofer's first as a King stood up as the winner. He received a beautiful pass from Anthony Bax and did the rest. Sheffield turned away another 20 shots in the win as he finished the weekend with a .957 save percentage to go along with a 1.00 goals-against average.

"I thought we were good away from the puck, we didn't really give up many opportunities and Sheff was very solid when he needed to be," offered Hedley. "Whenever you go on the road in this league, it isn't easy to win. We did create some offensive chances but we have to give the Blizzard goalie some credit, he played very well. We did find a way to get two big points on the road."

Boudreau Rolling:

In his first year in the MJHL last year, Boudreau finished fifth in team scoring with 14 goals and 18 assists. This included one of the nicest goals of the year in a game against Portage. 

Through a pair of games this season, Blake is off to a red-hot start with three goals. He has also had several other chances. He's currently tied with Naaman for the team lead with three points.

Coming back to Dauphin bigger and stronger, Boudreau is primed for a career year in his final year of junior. 

"He's playing well. He has always been a great skater and very creative," offered Hedley. "Now it's about stopping more on pucks and winning those 50/50 stick battles. He's off to a good start, that's for sure."

The Bax Effect

Anthony Bax scored the first two goals of the season last year for Dauphin and he finished the season with five. Anthony is back this year and he's posted two assists so far, including a beautiful one during Sunday's win when he outlasted a Blizzard defender and goalie before sliding the puck in front to Naaman Hofer. 

Anthony will be one of the team's biggest pieces this year and now, his brother has joined the fold and he will be another massive piece. Jordan 'Junior' Bax joined his brother this year and Jordan saw first line minutes over the weekend as he was paired with Boudreau and hometown favourite Carter Zalischuk. With two assists to his name so far, Jordan plays a hard nosed game and he possesses a great skill set as well. If it weren't for the stellar play of Loic Morin on Sunday, Bax would have scored his first as a King as he was robbed on a one-timer shot on the power play. 

Among other players on this very deep Kings roster, Jordan is one of the 'Players to Watch'. 

"I love his compete level, he has a great stick and he moves the puck very well," said Hedley. "When he loses the puck, he stops and he tries to get back. What he is providing the hockey club right now is fantastic. Love his work ethic, his attitude and he wants to get better, he has tremendous upside."

West vs East

Dauphin continues their 58 game regular season Friday night when they head to Stride Place to play the Terriers. Portage is coming off an upset win over Virden last weekend and they are now 1-1 to start the season. On Sunday, Dauphin hosts the Selkirk Steelers at 4:00 p.m. Selkirk is winless to start the season after back-to-back losses. On Friday, they had a 3-1 lead on Niverville before the Nighthawks stormed back to score four unanswered goals in the third period in a 5-3 win. Selkirk then lost 3-2 to Steinbach the next night.

Being so early in the season, Hedley closed his chat with Darnell Duff by saying the focus is on what Dauphin will do, not what their opponents will.

"The focus is on us and how we play," said Hedley. "There are little things that make a difference from the game, including being good away from the puck. We also have to communicate and no one can stand and watch. We will get into the specifics of what other teams are doing as we go along." 

Dauphin will enter the weekend looking for their first goal on the man advantage as they're 0-for-6 to start the season while the team's penalty kill has been perfect, killing off all seven penalties taken. 

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Contributed by Darnell Duff

Published: Sep 27, 2023 - 12:42 pm

Bryce Bryant was born in Red Deer, a city of aboout 105,000 people that recently co-hosted the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships.

After spending the first five years of his life in the community, Bryant and his family moved to Virden, a community with roughly 4,000 people. Bryant would then spend the next few years of his life playing within the Virden Minor Hockey Association and with it, he spent plenty of evenings at Tundra Oil & Gas Place watching Oil Capitals games. 

Then when Bryce first became eligible, he joined the Yellowhead Chiefs U15 team where he played 12 games over the course of two seasons, both of which were ultimately cut short because of the pandemic. In the 2021-22 season, Bryant moved to Winnipeg and joined the Rink Hockey Academy U16 team where he scored 10 times and had 22 points in 36 games which was paired with one playoff goal in three games.

Back in the Yellowhead region last year, Bryant joined the U18 Chiefs and he produced a season that earned him a spot on the first all-star team. The sharpshooter finished third in league scoring with 67 points, 28 of which were goals. The now 17-year-old would also go on to make his Manitoba Junior Hockey League debut as he played one playoff game with the Virden Oil Capitals. Virden made the league final last year before coming up short against Steinbach. 

It was Bryce's first taste of the junior lifestyle and it's a lifestyle that he is now fully a part of. Heading into the season with some high expectations as a team, Bryant cracked the opening day roster as he officially achieved his lifelong dream of playing with his hometown junior team.

"I find it really cool, I watched this team growing up," said Bryant. "Now to get the chance to actually wear the jersey and play for them is really special, I'm really enjoying it."

While Bryce is still inexperienced when it comes to playing games in the MJHL playing just four so far, he is not letting that stop him. With just one game across the league Wednesday night between Swan Valley and Waywayseecappo, Bryce is second in league scoring with two goals and three assists. His five points are only fewer than his teammate Josh Lehto who leads the league with eight.

Bryant was no stranger to scoring at the AAA level and that success is translating directly to the junior level.

"It definitely gives me a lot of confidence, I have to build on it now," said Bryant. "I don't want to get overconfident. I'm very pleased about the start and I want to keep it rolling here."

Bryce had a pair of assists on Tuesday night as Virden downed Neepawa, 7-3, for their first win of the season. While they currently sit 11th in the MJHL Weekly Rankings after two straight losses to open the season, this Virden team is for real. They showed that on Tuesday and they will only get better. 15 players on Tuesday's roster were on last year's Virden team that made the league final so they know what it takes to win when times get tough.

Sitting at 1-2 early, Virden can even up their record Friday night when they play Selkirk in Oil Country. They entered the season projected to make another run for the Turnbull and Bryce believes they have the group to do just that.

"We knew that we needed that win on Tuesday after our first two losses," ended Bryant. "We learned from those losses and we were way better, we found our groove. We need to stick with it and continue to work hard, we love the group that we have in the dressing room."

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Contributed by Darnell Duff

Published: Sep 27, 2023 - 11:26 am

The 2022-23 Swan Valley Stampeders roster included Kobe Grant.

The goaltender of the year won a league-high 26 games for Swan Valley last year, compiling an outstanding .933 save percentage with a 2.69 goals-against average.

Grant is not back in the valley this year as he graduated from the Manitoba Junior Hockey League and he is now set to begin his collegiate career at the University of Wisconsin-Superior next month.

Last year's roster also included Justin Keck. He was a part of a line that included Trey Sauder, Jakob Jones and the trio combined for 195 points. 63 of those points came from Keck and he also had 15 points in 12 playoff games.

The roster also included Collin Jennings, a player that has now signed a contract to play professionally in Sweden. He was among the league leaders with 41 regular season points on the back end and he had another 14 points in 12 playoff games.

The deletion of those three was a massive loss for a Stampeders team that is just a few years removed from making their first league final in team history.

Despite that, Barry Wolff is tasked with putting together another elite group of players. With opening weekend now come and gone, this year's Stampeders team is a much younger and inexperienced group compared to last year.

Only six of the team's everyday players are 20-years-old while Riley Fequet, who is only 18, is tied for second in team scoring. Many players on the roster had never played an MJHL regular season game heading into Friday and it showed at times in a 7-1 loss against a much more experienced Dauphin Kings team.

When you do talk about experience; however, you think of Ashton Fishley. The 20-year-old from Balcarres was with the team last year and this year, he has been named the club's captain.

"It's an honour and it's a priviledge," said Fishley. "With that said, this is a team sport. We have 20 guys on the ice and 25 guys in the dressing room. We all have to play together and we all have roles. It's about coming together, we're all leaders."

Following a 7-1 loss to open the campaign, Swan Valley responded very nicely the following night as they played their home opener in front of a great crowd at the Centennial Arena.

Swan Valley opened up a 3-0 lead, they capped things off by scoring two empty-net goals and after 60 minutes, they earned their first win of the season in a hard-fought 6-3 victory over the Blizzard Junior A Hockey Club.

When asked how the team got the job done, Fishley said they used a more simple approach.

"We just used simple plays, getting pucks deep and chipping pucks off the wall," offered Fishley. "That allowed us to get the puck to the net, drive the net, and pucks ended up going in. We were very pleased with our work ethic on night two and it paid off for us."

Led by captain Fishley, the Stampeders will look to keep the good times rolling at home as they continue a three-game homestand on Wednesday when they welcome Waywayseecappo to town and that's followed up with a game against Niverville on Friday.

The Stampeders won the West Division last year with 78 points and while they aren't focused on what the future may look like, Fishley is confident in the group and he knows they will continue to get better everyday.

"We know we have aways to go and so do other teams around the league," said Fishley. "We have a great group that comes to work everyday ready to get down to business and that's key, we believe in what we have here and I love being a Stampeder."

The next all Parkland battle isn't until January 16 when Dauphin welcomes Swan Valley to Credit Union Place. 

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Contributed by Darnell Duff

Published: Sep 26, 2023 - 10:00 am

The Parkland U18 Rangers preseason consisted of three games at the annual Souris tournament.

While the team went winless over those three games, Tyler Carefoot alongside his coaching staff had a great chance to evaluate players ahead of naming an opening day roster which has now been confirmed.

Ethan Myhre and Chase Glover will be between the pipes this season. It will be Ethan's first year with the team while Glover returns for a second season after winning seven games last year. 

Andrew Pidskalny, Maddox Shindle, Sam Swanton, Quinten Fisk, Nathan Miller, Ethan Carnegie, Landon Garton, Cam Sarna, Hayden Seib, Alex Campbell, Cash Clarkson, Ryzlie Nepinak, Linden Smigelski, Cade Legaarden, and Ryder Gardner make up the remainder of the roster. 

The team will open the 2023-24 campaign on Friday night at Credit Union Place as they welcome the Yellowhead Chiefs to town. Both teams met at the Souris tournament with Yellowhead coming out on top in a 6-3 win. Cam Sarna, Cash Clarkson, and Hayden Seib scored for Parkland in the game. Myhre made nine saves on 11 shots. 

The coaching staff this year will be the same as last year with Tyler Carefoot returning as head coach, alongside assistants Chris Belhumeur, Colton Robak, and Alex Lytwyn. Jason Gibbs is the team's manager.

"It's been an eventful September to say the least, stressful at times," said Carefoot. "With that said, we have a very good group here that want to be Parkland Rangers. Together, we're going to find a way to be competitive and to play a hard brand of hockey. It's always exciting when a new season starts and everyone is ready for Friday."

Ahead of Friday night, Parkland has named the starting of their leadership group.

Captain Swanton:

With a Western Hockey League rookie camp already under his belt, Sam Swanton is primed for an all-star season on the back end with Parkland. From Dauphin, Swanton scored once and added 10 assists in his rookie season last year with the club.

A hard worker with a passion for the game, Carefoot says it was an easy decision naming Sam as their captain.

"I've had the pleasure of coaching him for many years and every coach would be grateful to coach a player like Sam," said Carefoot. "I don't think him being named captain was a surprise to any of his teammates or parents. He plays hurt and he's an ultra competitor. He's one of those guys that will do anything for his teammates, I can't really say enough good things about him."

While the team has yet to name assistant captains, Carefoot notes that those will come with time. 

"A leadership group at this level is very important," offered Carefoot. "We're going to take a few more weeks to figure it out. We don't really have a timeline, we will take our time and announce them when we're ready."

The Road Ahead:

Following Friday's game, Parkland won't play another game until eight days later when the team opens a two-game home set against Eastman on October 7 and 8. Darnell Duff will have the broadcast on October 8.

The Rangers are then off on their first road trip of the season starting on October 14 in Winnipeg against the Wild before making their way to Teulon to play Interlake the following day. The Rangers then play Brandon once, Norman twice and Kenora twice to wrap up the first full month of the regular season.

The Rangers regular season ends with a pair of games at the Sun Gro Centre in Beasujour against Eastman on February 24 and 25. Throughout the season, keep it tuned to 730CKDM for everything Parkland U18 Rangers.

You can also hear Tyler's full chat with Darnell Duff during the Dauphin Kings Powerplay Show on Friday afternoon right after the 4:00 p.m. news, weather, business, and sports. 

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Contributed by Darnell Duff

Published: Sep 25, 2023 - 10:30 am

Opening night was a breeze, Sunday night wasn't exactly that, but it ended in the same result. 

Playing their first road game in the regular season, Dauphin opened up a 2-0 loss on the Blizzard and they held on.

Cole Sheffield made some solid saves down the stretch in a 2-1 win.

Blake Boudreau scored his third goal of the season as he was awarded a penalty shot early in the third. 'Showtime' undressed Loic Morin as Dauphin opened a 1-0 lead. Early in the second, Dauphin opened their lead as Anthony Bax made an incredible play.

He outlasted a Blizzard defender and goalie before sending the puck out from to Naaman Hofer and he did the rest as Dauphin took a 2-0 lead. The Blizzard would bounce back with a goal scored on a shot from the goal line to trim the deficit in half.

No goals were scored the rest of the way as Dauphin earned their second straight win to start the season. Dauphin will look to make it three straight when they head to Portage to play the Terriers on Friday night. 

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Contributed by Darnell Duff

Published: Sep 24, 2023 - 10:19 pm

The Dauphin Kings came out with a mission on Friday and they handed it to their Parkland rivals.

On opening night across the Manitoba Junior Hockey League, the Kings opened things up on home ice and gave their fans plenty to cheer about in a 7-1 win over the Swan Valley Stampeders.

Logan Walker and Blake Boudreau led the way for Dauphin with a pair of goals each. Both of Logan's came as he got away on breakaways. Gavin Nemis, playing his first-ever MJHL regular season game also was very impressive as he scored a pair of goals.

It took Dauphin just 8:46 to strike as Nemis scored his first and less than 90 seconds later, Logan Walker scored his first of the season. Then just 26 seconds later, Blake Boudreau scored his first of the season. Before the period ended, Gabriel Bugeaud potted his first of the season with a great shot from the left circle.

Logan Walker would then get himself on another breakaway early in the first period as Dauphin went up 5-0. Swan Valley did get some life when Truman Boettiger would beat Cole Sheffield with a shot from the high slot. Ultimately, that was it for Swan Valley.

Gavin Nemis would restore Dauphin's five goal lead at 6-1 and Blake Boudreau would make it 7-1, the score that the game ended up at.

Dauphin finished 2-for-2 on the penalty kill while they went 0-for-2 on the power play. Next up for Dauphin is their first trip up north of the regular season as they'll play the OCN Blizzard on Sunday night.

You can hear the game live in progress at 7:00 p.m. with Darnell Duff. 

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Contributed by Darnell Duff

Published: Sep 23, 2023 - 12:24 am

It was a tough day on the gridiron for the Dauphin Clippers football team.

The team's offence failed to get anything going in a 32-0 loss against the Interlake Thunder as Dauphin remained winless after three games. Will Miner led the way offensively with 62 yards on the ground while Tristan Fidierchuk had 25 yards on the ground.

On the defensive side of the ball, Colton Miner had seven tackles. Taylor Adcock, Blake Thacker and Lars Gudbjartson all had five tackles apiece, with Lars adding a sack to his tally.

Dauphin will look to win their first game of the season next week when they welcome Parkwest to town. 

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Contributed by Darnell Duff

Published: Sep 22, 2023 - 7:19 pm

Ahead of their home opener which is set for Friday night at Credit Union Place, the Dauphin Kings have announced that a veteran from the Jewel of the Parkland will serve as the team's leader this year.

For the first time in his junior career, Aidan Brook of Roblin has been named captain. Brook is set for his second full season with Dauphin after beginning his junior career by playing four games with the team, followed by a tenure in the Western Hockey League.

Brook re-joined the team in the 2021-22 season and helped the club win the Turnbull Cup and they ultimately advanced to the national semi-final where they came up short against the Pickering Panthers of the Ontario Junior Hockey League.

Prior to the season, Brook had this to say on being back with his home region junior team.

"Being back in Dauphin has been awesome, it's also nice to see how hard we all worked this summer," offered Brook. "That first round exit last year clicked our brains to a championship mindset like we had the previous year. We are looking forward to playing extra deep into the playoffs this season."

Brook will don the 'C' for the first time on Friday when the Swan Valley Stampeders come to town. You can hear the game with Darnell Duff beginning with the Parkland Source for Sports pre-game show at 7:20. 

The organization has also announced the remainder of their leadership group. Logan Walker, in his second season with the team, will serve as an assistant captain. Nolan Wickham, who also was a part of the championship team two seasons ago, will also serve as an assistant captain. Anthony Bax, the man who scored Dauphin's first two goals of the season last year, rounds out the leadership group.

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Contributed by Darnell Duff

Published: Sep 21, 2023 - 4:10 pm

The Rural Manitoba Football League season is well underway and so far it's the St. Vital Mustangs on top.

The Mustangs have allowed a league-low 12 points against this season while their 68 on the offensive side of the ball are the second-most in the league. The Swan Valley Tigers have been the best offensive team with 121 points for and they're also 2-0 while also sitting with a perferct 2-0 record are both the Southwest Sabres and Interlake Thunder. 

The top six teams at the end of the regular season battle for the Doug Steeves Trophy while the remaining four teams go to battle for the Murray Black Cup. The Dauphin Clippers are among four teams that have yet to win a game; however, that's not for lack of effort. The Clippers showed signs of great play in an opening loss against the Winnipeg Falcons, 35-13.

Then in their next game going up against a very solid Sabres team, the Clippers battled right until the end before ultimately coming up short, 36-28. 

Jeff Michasaw is one of the team's coaches and he continues to see improvement with every practice and game.

"We're constantly getting better, guys are starting to understand the systems more now," said Michasaw. "We're a young team and football is a complicated sport. We're trying to put everything together here."

Michasaw said the coaching staff are preaching taking care of the small things. This includes arm tackling and staying discipline, among other things.

"That's really what has been our downfall in the first two games," offered Michasaw. 

After starting their season with back-to-back road games, it's time for some home cooking for the Clippers. Dauphin welcomes the Interlake Thunder to the high school field on Friday with kick off set for 4:30 p.m. As noted above, the Thunder are one of four teams in the league that are undefeated and it's the same Interlake team that eliminated Dauphin from the playoffs last year. 

While the Thunder have lost some firepower from last season, Jeff knows it will be another great test for his team.

"Everyone is very excited to play a home game," said Michasaw. "We're going to be down five guys on defence which isn't ideal. With that said, our guys that will step in are ready to go and they will do whatever it takes to help the team win."

Jeff says he is very proud of each and every player on the team and he's looking forward to Friday's game and every one the rest of the way. Dauphin's next game following Friday will be next week as they welcome Parkwest to town. Dauphin then heads on the road to play Neepawa before wrapping up their regular season on home field against Swan Valley. 

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Contributed by Darnell Duff

Published: Sep 21, 2023 - 9:47 am