Cayden Glover and Matthew Haun have been recognized by the Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) as the Dauphin Kings prepare to host Carter Zalischuk and the Selkirk Steelers on Tuesday night.
Glover was named the league's player of the month. In eight games last month, the 20-year-old from Brandon scored 10 times while collecting 15 points. Glover leads the league with 33 goals and is fourth in league scoring with 52 points. Unfortunately for Glover and fans of the team, he won't be in the lineup for a while.
After suffering an upper body injury on Friday in Virden, Glover is considered week-to-week.
While Glover was the player of the month, Matthew Haun grabbed the league's defenceman of the month award. The 20-year-old American was outstanding in his own end while finding his groove offensively, posting two goals and eight points in eight games. Haun continues to quietly go about his business and is 10th in team scoring with three goals and 20 points. He recently committed to play Division III hockey at the College at St. Scholastica.
Following Tuesday's game against Selkirk, Dauphin heads on the road for three games in three nights this weekend, Friday against Steinbach, Saturday against Niverville, and Sunday against Jayce Legaarden of Grandview and the Winkler Flyers.
The Kings have dropped to honourable mention status in the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL) Top 20 rankings.
The drop is likely because of Dauphin's 8-0 loss against Virden on Friday night. They did respond on Saturday and put together an outstanding performance in a key home victory against the Northern Manitoba Blizzard.
The Kings are on top of the West Division, leading both the Blizzard and Titans by eight points. They have one game in hand on Northern Manitoba and four on Neepawa. Their 153 goals are the fourth-most while their 103 against are the second-fewest.
The Trenton Golden Hawks of the Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL) are the top-ranked team in the country. They are first place in the Eastern Conference and second overall with 78 points and a record of 38-5-2 in the OJHL.
Jayce Legaarden and the Flyers stayed pat at seventh in the rankings. With points in 17 straight games, Winkler is on top of the standings by two points over Portage and Steinbach, with three games in hand on each of those teams.
Steinbach moved up one spot to eighth. Somehow the Pistons gave up nine goals in two games, both losses, and still moved up a single spot. Trailing Winkler by two points, the Pistons welcome the Kings to town on Friday night.
Kyan Grouette and the Portage Terriers made the biggest jump of any team in the country as they went from honourable mentions last week to the 10th-ranked team in the country this week. With wins in four straight, including two straight against Steinbach, the Terriers have cemented themselves as championship contenders. Mitchell Kathler is outstanding between the pipes.
Over in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, Bo Eisner, Will Munro, and the Melfort Mustangs are ranked sixth, down from three last week. They're two points ahead of Flin Flon, with three games in hand, for first place in the league. While Melfort has lost two straight, they will look to defend the championship they won last year and are certainly favourites to do so.
The Flin Flon Bombers, who have points in 26 straight games, are ranked 12th, up three spots from last week.