Kings Unveil Trophy Central

The next time you go inside of Credit Union Place, you'll be able to see some pieces of history that were made by the Dauphin Kings and other awards.

The team has unveiled a brand new trophy cabinet near the bar inside of the rink.

Construction of the cabinet finished just earlier this month and now they're available full-time for the public to view.

"It was important to get this done," said Kings Director of Marketing & Media Relations Christian Laughland. "The trophies have a lot of history and deserve a lot of respect. Until now they weren't getting that respect. Now people can view them at games, tournaments and other events inside Credit Union Place."

Some of the trophies you'll get the chance to see include the Sherwood Division championship trophy. Dauphin won that title in 2014. Also, the team player awards are on display. They'll hand them out during their awards ceremony on March 2.

"I've already seen many people looking at the trophies, reading the names on them, it's nice to see that," concluded Laughland. "The next thing we need to do is get some good lighting in there so the awards can really stand out."

The Kings would also like to thank Parkland Custom Cabinetry and Hometown Auto Glass for donating and helping construct the cabinet.

Details: Contributed by Darnell Duff; Published: Jan 21, 2020 - 1:07 pm

Chantz Petruic is having a season that most junior players dream of, but sometimes, it's not that easy to achieve a dream. For Chantz, clearly, it is.

Playing with the Yorkton Terriers of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, the 20-year-old from Moose Jaw is well on his way to joining some very elite company while his team is also enjoying success.

Petruic, who also spent time with his hometown Moose Jaw Warriors, leads the league with 101 points (54G) through 47 games. That adds up to an average of 2.15 points-per-game. He also has 33 more points than Alec Malo who is second in league scoring.

Chantz has been so dominant that it's very likely he will end up recording the most points in a season dating back more than 20 years.

If he continues on the average he's on right now, Chantz would finish the 60-game regular season with 131 points. That would be tied for the 27th most points in an SJHL regular-season with Scott Burfoot. He recorded 131 way back in the 1987-88 season. As of right now, Chantz is already just outside the top-100 for the most points ever recorded in one season.

"Yeah, it's been going good and a lot of things have been going right. I obviously have to thank my teammates because I can't do this by myself," said Petruic. "Things have been pretty surreal. Personal success is always nice, but with that said, I want to win a title this year, that's what really matters to me and everyone on this team."

"I'm hard on myself and I knew I was capable of doing something special this year," he continued.

The Terriers are third place in the SJHL at 27-18-1-1, good for 56 points which is one back of Flin Flon for second overall. However, the Terriers have played seven more games than Flin Flon and they have played the most games in the league. With the MJHL/SJHL Showcase taking place right now in Regina, no team in the league plays another game until Friday.

Yorkton only plays one more game this month which comes on Saturday on home ice against Weyburn. After that game, the team won't play another game until February 4.

Going into Saturday's game, the Terriers have points in their last three games and they will look to build more momentum leading up to the playoffs. Last season, the team advanced to the semifinals where they fell short. With another solid group this year, Petruic believes this could be an extra special year.

"The guys that are still here from last year know that feeling of losing and it still hurts," continued Petruic. "We have to use that as motivation moving forward this year. We have a good group and we're all working hard to achieve one goal and that's to win a title."

"I think this extra break is going to help us. It will allow some of our players with banged-up bodies to get better," added Petruic. "That can only help us in the long run."

When this season comes to an end, Petruic will be out of junior eligibility. That means he won't return to Yorkton. However, the goal is to play hockey at the next level and there should be no problem achieving that goal.

"I've sent some stuff out to schools so we'll see what happens," concluded Petruic. With that said, I'm not worried about that right now, I just want to live in the present and win with Yorkton."

Yorkton ends their regular season on Saturday, February 29 in Melville against the Millionaires.

Details: Contributed by Darnell Duff; Published: Jan 21, 2020 - 10:00 am

The McCreary Peewee Mustangs are back in the win column.

Playing Brandon tonight, the Mustangs came away with an 8-4 win.

Brody Fayant was one of the leaders for McCreary with two goals and two assists while Liam Kitching also found the back of the net.

Adam Stuhm was very solid defensively and he also added an assist.

Details: Contributed by Darnell Duff; Published: Jan 20, 2020 - 10:13 pm

The New Holland Canadian Junior Curling Championships are well underway in Langley as teams from around the country battle for the right to call themselves the best junior team in the country.

On the men's side is where you'll find Team Brett Walter, which includes Dauphin's, Lawson Yates. They have now wrapped up their second day of competition and they're 2-2.

The foursome dropped their first game of the tournament before they won two straight. Earlier this morning, the team lost to Jacques Gauthier and his foursome, 9-4. Gauthier's team is the same one that Team Walter beat in the provincial final a few weeks back.

Calvin Edie is the team's coach and he shares his thoughts on how things are going.

"The guys are playing quite well. We got down against PEI in our first game and we just couldn't battle back," said Edie. "It was a matter of half a shot here and half a shot there. We also got down against Jacques and just couldn't battle back. We started making some shots in the second half of the game, but the hole was too big."

"Overall, however, the guys are curling pretty well and we're looking forward to tomorrow," he continued.

Yates and the team now get the rest of the day off. They will resume their round-robin tomorrow afternoon with a game against Quebec. They will play that game at 4:00 p.m. local time. At 9:00 p.m. local time, the team will hit the ice again against Team Northern Ontario.

"If we just pick it up a little bit, we like our chances to keep moving forward," continued Edie.

This competition is Lawson's first on the national stage. After achieving his provincial dream back on January 5, Yates is starting to feel more comfortable game-by-game on the national stage.

"I think he's feeding off the other guys that played in the U18 nationals and he's piggy-backing on their experience," said Edie. "He's playing pretty solid and for the most part, he's putting the rocks where we need him to."

As the team chases a national title, Lawson's cool, calm, and collected attitude could help the team fly over any obstacle they may meet.

"His attitude is fantastic, he's very positive and he loves to help out," concluded Edie. "He supports the other guys and he has the positive attitude that keeps the other guys looking in the right direction and in turn, that helps them make more shots."

On the women's side, Manitoba's lone representative, Team Zacharias are rolling early on. They're 3-0 and are tied for the top spot in Pool B.

Details: Contributed by Darnell Duff; Published: Jan 20, 2020 - 3:51 pm

The Mackenzie Middle School Magic grade eight boys basketball team had a wonderful weekend as they hosted their own tournament.

The team went undefeated which included beating Swan River in the finals, 67-5, to claim the title on their home court.

"It felt pretty good to go undefeated," said Declan Waggoner. "Everyone on the team was super excited about it."

The team also beat the grade 7 boys team, 44-11, and they took care of Grandview, 65-13.

"Our team had great communication and I feel that really pushed us," he continued.

On top of the team's success, Waggoner was recognized for his individual efforts. The 14-year-old from Dauphin was named the Tournament's Most Valuable Player at the conclusion.

"I was not expecting to be named the MVP, I thought someone else on our team would get it," he added. "With that said, it felt pretty amazing, I'm very happy about it."

When it comes to other Magic action, the grade 7 boys beat Grandview for third place while the grade 8 girls finished in second.

Details: Contributed by Darnell Duff; Published: Jan 20, 2020 - 2:30 pm

It was a championship kind of weekend for the Ecole Swan River South School. The grade eight girls team was one of the many that took part in the Magic Basketball Classic in Dauphin.

In the end, the Sabres ended up winning as they beat the Magic grade eight girls team in the final, 24-9. Swan River also won two games previous to the finals win.

"We didn't really know what to expect, we know Dauphin is always very strong at basketball," said Coach, Gary Wowchuk. "We came together really well. We have a ways to go when it comes to offence, but our defence was top-notch, it really helped us succeed."

"We also had a couple of kids that really stepped up and played a big role for us," he continued.

Next up for the team are some practices ahead of two more tournaments. Later this month, they're playing in a tournament in Swan River and they will also host a tournament next month.

As mentioned before, offence will be a big thing moving forward for the group.

"We're just going to work on basic fundamentals, at this age, it's really all about development," said Wowchuk. "We'll work a lot on shooting and our goal is to implement a basic offensive strategy."

It was also an extra special weekend for Crystal Zamzow. She was named the Tournament MVP and she also showed off her skill on a different court and stay tuned for more on that.

Details: Contributed by Darnell Duff; Published: Jan 20, 2020 - 12:08 pm

The Manitoba Junior Hockey League has entered a temporary pause in its action. That's because, for the next two days, some of the top players from the league will take part in the MJHL/SJHL Showcase which takes place at the Cooperators Centre in Regina.

Entering the break, the Swan Valley Stampeders are right near the top of the league. With a record of 27-13-4, the Stamps' find themselves just three points behind the Winkler Flyers for the second spot and they're just eight back of Steinbach who are in first. Swan Valley helped their own cause by winning their last three games prior to this few day break.

Coming out of the break, things certainly won't be easy for the Stamps'. They are in Portage on Thursday and that's followed with a game against Dauphin for the Kings' Ukrainian Night Game which is this Saturday at Credit Union Place.

Swan Valley will follow that up with games against Steinbach, Winkler, and another game against Dauphin, all in a row.

"I think we're making some strides forward, so that's something we like," said Barry Wolff, Head Coach. "We have a tough schedule coming out of this break, so that will really show us where we are."

Just like for any team that believes they can make a run, the trade deadline provides an opportunity to improve your roster. For the Stampeders, they did make some moves to do just that, however, they also lost a big piece.

Swan Valley dealt Mattias Dal Monte to the Alberni Valley Bulldogs of the British Columbia Hockey League. Prior to the deal, Dal Monte led the Stampeders in scoring with 42 points in 39 games. The 19-year-old has since played two games with his new team.

A blow, no doubt, but that didn't stop Swan Valley from attempting to fill that hole. They added Colton Sun from the Selkirk Steelers and Danny Griffith from the Grand Falls Rapids of the Maritime Junior Hockey League. During his time with Swan Valley, Colton already has two points in two games while Danny has failed to hit the scoreboard in his one game with the team.

"You can't replace a guy like Mattias. It's an unfortunate circumstance because some of his family members back home are having health problems," said Wolff. "We had to do the right thing and get him where his family can be close to him and watch him play."

"Colton has great vision and a good IQ and he can be good on the power play," he added. "Griffith is a tough guy to play against."

Barry Wolff and company then went on to acquire a top goaltender who played the first part of the season with one of the best teams in the country. Parker Rey came over from the Battlefords North Stars. During his time with Battlefords, Rey went 9-3-1 and he sported a 2.44 G.A.A to go along with a .913 save percentage.

At this time, Rey's old team in Battlefords is the only team in the SJHL that has clinched a playoff berth. Since joining Swan Valley, Rey has won a game and he has a .944 save percentage to go along with a 1.50 G.A.A.

The 19-year-old from Grand Blanc, Michigan, joins Mikael Foucher to round out the goaltending duo in the valley. Foucher is 17-9-2 this season with a .914 save percentage and a 2.72 G.A.A.

"There's no real clear cut number one right now, Rey and Foucher are going to battle it out for that spot," said Wolff. "We're hoping both goaltenders are at their best at all times and come playoffs, we'll see which goalie is playing better and hopefully, they'll run with it."

When it comes to the MJHL/SJHL Showcase, the Stamps' have plenty of representation. Josh Maucieri, Ryley Lanthier, Tommy Cardinal, Nathan Carl, John Jebamani, Mikael Foucher, and Luke Beerman have all been selected to take part in the event. All of the action begins tomorrow morning.

"It's something that we're very proud of that they were selected and that they'll get the chance to represent this league and the Stampeders," concluded Wolff. "Those guys definitely deserve to go and we're excited to see how they perform."

Just a reminder, there are two all-Parkland battles between Swan Valley and Dauphin in the next nine days.

The first of which is this Saturday when Swan Valley is in Dauphin. Dauphin will then head to Swan Valley to play the Stampeders on January 29 and Darnell Duff will have the broadcast of that game beginning with the pregame show at 7:15.