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The Dauphin Kings are on top alone of the MGEU West Division.

Paired with a loss from the Blizzard and a massive win by the Dauphin Kings, the Kings sit alone on top by two points.

Portage scored the first goal of the game just 23 seconds in but Dauphin got the last punch and held on late for a 3-2 win over the Terriers, to even their season series with Portage at a game apiece.

Havyril Simchuk scored the game winner for the Kings two minutes into the third and the Kings held on the rest of the way for a huge win against an East Division power.

Cayden Glover scored Dauphin's other two goals in the win as Dauphin picked up their 33rd point of the season.

At 16-6-1, Dauphin welcomes Virden to town next Friday. 

Noah Smigelsky had the Parkland U-18 Rangers up by a pair of goals after 20 minutes, however, it wasn't mean to be on Friday.

The Rangers dropped their second straight contest in a 5-3 defeat against the Winnipeg Thrashers. Smigelsky scored his eighth and ninth goals of the season in the first. Cade Legaarden then put the Rangers up 3-0 early in the second but it was the Thrashers that took over.

They scored five straight goals to secure two points as they moved into a tie for sixth with the win. The Rangers remain in fifth, three points ahead of the Thrashers. The two teams will play on Saturday evening at Credit Union Place. 

The Dauphin Curling Club will be a busy place this weekend.

The Seagram's Whisky Curling Club Men's and Women's West 1 regional qualifiers will take place. On the women's side, two teams from Dauphin are featured.

Tiffany Armstrong and her team featuring Morgan Kropelnicki, Stacy Sime and Tamara Kolida will compete for the one berth available to the curling club provincial championships. They will play on Saturday morning at 10:00 against Team Lach.

The winner of that game will play Team Heather Bartmanovich. Her team features Lisa Hale, Melissa MacQuarrie and Avery Scott. Kayla Gillis serves as the team's alternate.

On the men's side, Team Kyle Forsyth is one of four teams competing. His team consists of Jarvis Whyte, Trent Hill and Cody Hill with Logan Devos serving as alternate. They will play Team Csversko of Neepawa on Saturday morning at 10:00. Butch Mouck and his team from Gilbert Plains are also in the event. Dean Bates, Greg Clark and AJ Zachedniak round out the foursome, Todd Brinkman is the alternate. They play Team Babcock at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday. 

All of the action is free. 

There will be growing pains throughout the season and Thursday was one for the Dauphin Kings.

For the first time this season, the Waywayseecappo Wolverines beat the Kings as they opened up a 4-0 lead and held on for a 4-2 victory as they improved to 7-12 on the season.

With the Wolverines victory, they're now just four points back of Virden for the fourth and final playoff spot and they have two games in hand.

Dauphin (15-6-1) got goals from Matthew Thomas (6) and Ethan Williment (7). Cole Sheffield turned away 13 shots in the defeat.

Dauphin will reset with a practice on Friday before heading to Portage for a big game with the Terriers on Saturday night. Darnell Duff and Jeff Henson will have the call of that game. 

The Dauphin Clippers hosted their season-ending awards banquet on Wednesday night.

Julien Lopez - Most Outstanding Offensive Player / Most Outstanding Player (Playoffs) 
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Ronin Mouck - Most Outstanding Offensive Line / Best New Player (Grade 11-12) 
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Zach Perih - Most Outstanding Player - Offensive Line 
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Robbie Tomkins - Ron Ricketts Family Award / Most Outstanding Coach 
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Sully Fox - Norris Aitken Award / Most Outstanding Defensive Player / Wellborn - Most Dedicated
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Blake Thacker - Coach's Award 
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Colton Miner - Most Outstanding Player - Special Teams
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Nathanial Okanase-Brezden - Most Improved Player from last season
Alex Thompson - Most Improved Player this season
Brenden Higgins - Most Outstanding Defensive Line
Josh Yakielashek - Rookie of the Year (Grade 9-10)

Ryan Gower has made his way back to Prince Albert.

The McCreary native was called up by the Raiders of the Western Hockey League. Gower, who has yet to play a regular-season game with the team that drafted him 32nd overall in the 2022 U-15 WHL Draft, has suited up in eight games with the Kings this season, garnering one assist.

Gower spent last year with Northern Alberta XTreme U-18 Prep where he had 26 points in 30 games. After a slow start, the Raiders have heated up by winning four straight games and they're now in eighth place in the Eastern Conference.

Prince Albert now has two Parkland stars on the team as Gower will join Brayden Dube. 

Later this month, the Gilbert Plains Trojans varsity girls' volleyball team will be looking to capture their fourth straight provincial title. 

The program's run is nothing short of extraordinary. The team will enter the provincials from November 28-30 as the province's top-ranked 'A' team. During the program's outstanding run, they swept Glenboro in last year's final with Hailey Tabak being named the tournament's most valuable player. That was the team's third straight provincial title after players on the team finished on top of the province at the junior varsity provincials the previous two years before that. 

At the 2022/23 season's junior varsity event, Gilbert Plains swept Rosenort to win gold. The year before that, Anika Gulenchin was named the tournament's most valuable player as the Trojans beat Gabrielle-Roy in three sets to claim provincial glory.

Last year's junior varsity team did not qualify for the provincials, but they're back this year and ready to make some noise. The junior varsity program has had an incredible season led by head coach Renee Minshull. 

"We have a super strong group of girls that are great teammates," said Minshull. "They encourage each other all the time. We had a super busy season and they battled through some injuries. We played a lot, it has been a great season to date.

The team's roster includes Paige Hanke, Tiana Sanko, Tori Luhowy, Connelly McDonald, Taedyn Solski, Kolby Kuzuchar, and Peyton Ash. 

"Watching them play well and be on top of their game is very impressive," continued Minshull. "At our last practice before heading to Winnipeg, we focused on staying positive and moving forward with the momentum that we've built."

The Trojans played in five tournaments this season, capturing titles in Elton, Ste. Rose, and Hamiota. In tournament play this season, Gilbert Plains won 44 of the 57 sets it played and 65 of the 86 sets it played overall. 

Needing to put together a string of solid performances at the zone championships, the Trojans beat Glenella, Ste. Rose, and Goose Lake of Roblin, all in straight sets. Those performances clinched the team's return to the provincial event.

The team is off to Manitoba's capital to compete in the A/AA event at Immanuel Christian School. Being one of the top teams in the province, the Trojans have been placed in a power pool alongside Gabrielle-Roy, Wawanesa, and Warren. 

The tournament opens Thursday and a provincial champion will be crowned on Saturday afternoon.

"Our round-robin will be very challenging but we have a strategy and plan of attack," offered Minshull. "Once we get into the playoffs, I know the girls will be able to keep it going. We're looking forward to competing, I'm very proud of the group and know how much they want this."

It was a magical weekend for the MacKenzie Middle School Magic grade 8 girls' volleyball team.

Playing in a tournament in Neepawa, the Magic put together a dominant weekend to win the championship. The final against Portage came down to the wire as the Magic won the match in three sets, 25-27, 25-23 and 16-14.

The Magic won their first six sets in the round-robin against Killarney, Carberry and Ochre River. They split with Neepawa to head into the playoffs with seven sets won and just one lost. They dispatched Neepawa in straight sets in the semi-final before downing Portage to take home the title. 

For the first time this season, the Dauphin Kings are ranked inside the Top 10 as the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL) released its Top 20 rankings on Monday.

The Kings have earned points in nine of their last ten games (eight wins) and are ranked ninth this week. Sitting at 15-5-1 ahead of a week that will feature the team playing two road games, Dauphin is atop the MGEU West Division and they're just two points behind Steinbach for first place overall.

By the Numbers:

  • Dauphin's 78 goals are the fourth-most in the league;
  • The team's 49 goals against are the third-fewest;
  • Dauphin has earned the second-most points on home ice (8-3-1 = 17), only Portage has more with 20;
  • The team has two players inside the Top 10 in league scoring. (Cayden Glover (3rd) 17 goals, nine assists) and Naaman Hofer (9th) with three goals and 21 assists);
  • Cole Sheffield's 13 wins are tied for the most in the league; and
  • Dauphin has the fewest road losses (two).

The Kings are coming off a 5-2 win against Swan Valley and are now preparing for a game on Thursday in Waywayseecappo against the Wolverines. That leads Dauphin to a marquee game on Saturday when they head to Portage to play the Terriers.

Portage has won 12 of its last 13 games and is a single point ahead of Dauphin. You can hear both games on 730CKDM with Darnell Duff beginning with the Parkland Source for Sports pregame show on both nights at 7:20. 

Steinbach is ranked fourth this week while Portage is 14th.

The Ste. Rose Celtics volleyball program will be well represented on the provincial stage later this month.

At qualifiers over the weekend, both the varsity girls and boys qualified for the provincial championships. 

Girls:

They were expected to earn a spot in the big dance, and that's exactly what the team did. Hosting the qualifier in Ste. Rose, the Celtics won all six of their sets, only giving up more than 20 points in one set. 

The provincial tournament is November 28-30 at Baldur and Cartwright School. 

Boys:

Their lone loss in the round-robin was against the Elm Creek Cobras, the first team to qualify. With two wins, the Celtics advanced to the playoff round where they needed to beat the Morweena Raptors.

After the two teams split the first two sets, Ste. Rose came out on fire in the third set and decisively won it 15-4. The win booked themselves a trip to the big dance.

The provincial tournament is November 28-30 at Glenboro School. 

The Parkland U-18 Rangers are back home after a weekend split in Kenora.

On Saturday, Piet Mierau made 37 saves as the Rangers downed the Thistles, 5-2. Dayson Martin led the way with two goals while Colton Knox, Noah Smigelsky, and Landyn Garton also scored for Parkland.

Cade Legaarden and Quinten Fisk scored for Parkland on Sunday but it wasn't to be in a 3-2 defeat. The Rangers outshot the Thistles, 31-21, in the defeat.

At 11-6 on the year, the Rangers are in fifth place, three points ahead of Interlake and three points behind the Winnipeg Bruins. They host the Thrashers on Friday and Saturday nights.