Russell's Ziprick Earning His Way

Two seasons ago, Russell's Keaton Ziprick helped the Parkland Bantam Rangers win a bronze medal at the provincial championships. Last year, he made the jump up to U18 hockey. Playing in 19 games, Ziprick was quickly thrown into action for a team that was in a rebuilding phase.

Playing alongside Zach Grouette, Ziprick was given the chance to learn from a veteran and at the end of the day, make saves against the top U18 players in the province.

Now, Keaton's back doing what he loves and there's a good chance he'll play a big role this season. After Zach graduated, Keaton will be the veteran goalie in net and that's a challenge he's looking forward to.

"I feel like I'm playing a lot better than I was at the start of last year," said Ziprick. "I'm hoping I can keep that going for the rest of the year."

"I just feel more confident because it's not my first year anymore," he added. "I trained really hard in the offseason and I want to make this a great year."

Prior to playing any AAA games this year with Parkland, Keaton hit the ice for some junior action. He split the duties with Zach Grouette in the Kings' first preseason game against Swan Valley. It just so happens that the former AAA partners put up a couple of great performances.

Grouette started and made 32 saves. Keaton came in halfway through and he shut the door the rest of the way. Facing 24 shots, Ziprick made 23 saves, several of which were grade-A scoring chances from a Stamps' team that had much more experience than Dauphin.

The Russell native also made four saves in the shootout to preserve the win for Dauphin, their first of the preseason.

For Keaton, it's all about building off that performance and bringing it to the Rangers'.

"The guys in the junior league are better than the guys in the U18 league, so it was a great feeling that I played well," continued Ziprick. "That definitely boosted my confidence."

Since that game, it's been a busy preseason for Keaton and the rest of the Rangers'. They played two games against Yorkton and Ziprick played well in both. In a preseason tournament this past weekend in Souris, Ziprick hit the ice in every game and proved why he'll be the Rangers' #1 goalie this season.

The team doesn't have any more preseason games, so now it's just about getting ready to pick up some real points when the regular season starts later this month.

"I feel like I'm playing pretty strong. I haven't let in many weak goals which is always a good thing," he added. "I just want to go one game at a time this season and play as well as I can."

Parkland is on home ice on September 27 when they welcome the Winnipeg Thrashers to town for the first time. The game will be Parkland's home opener and the first of two-weekend games at Credit Union Place.

As mentioned before, Ziprick will be heavily relied upon up this season. With Odin Church being a rookie and his partner, Keaton will likely play a ton this season.

"It's going to be fun and it's going to be a real eye-opener playing a lot of games in this league," he concluded. "I'm looking forward to it."

Details: Contributed by Darnell Duff; Published: Sep 16, 2019 - 10:33 am

The Parkland U18 Rangers have a lot to look forward to after they wrapped up their Souris tournament on Sunday afternoon.

In their first game against Central Plains, Steven Arp scores the teams lone goal in a 4-1 loss.

Next up was Yellowhead. They’re projected to be one of the top teams in the league and Parkland gave them all they could handle.

The Rangers’ led 3-1 after 40 minutes, but the very strong Chiefs’ came back to win 4-3.

Kevin Chrisp, Garrett Hrechka and Owen McIvor scored the Rangers’ goals.

Parkland begins their regular season in two weeks on home ice.

Details: Contributed by Darnell Duff; Published: Sep 15, 2019 - 9:00 pm

Regan Hedley made an ace last weekend in Clear Lake and now he’s added to his trophy case.

The Dauphinite shot a 71 today to win the men’s windup at the Gilbert Plains Country Club.

Here are the rest of the results.

2nd - Jerron Kyle - 74.

3rd - Barry McKay - 76.

Men’s First Flight:

1st - Dale Murray - 81.

2nd - Scott Lynxleg - 82 cb.

3rd - Cary Fillion - 82 cb.

Men’s Second Flight:

1st - Wayne Bazylo - 89 cb.

2nd - Merv Lynxleg - 89 cb.

3rd - Danny Scott - 89 cb.

Men’s Third Flight:

1st - George Lobert - 94 cb.

2nd - Laurie Vrooman - 94 cb.

3rd - Cal Zatylny - 94 cb.

Ladies Championship Flight:

1st - Pearl Maksymetz.

2nd - Teresa Gulak.

3rd - Gaylene Stoughton.

Junior Boy’s 18 hole:

1st - Jackson Delaurier.

2nd - Luke Myhre.

3rd - Boston Karlson.

Junior Girl’s 9 hole:

1st - Dalayna Tomlinson.

Junior Boy’s 9 hole:

1st - Zak Fillion

Closest to the Hole #9 – John Goran

Closest to the Hole #14 – Gord McKay

Details: Contributed by Darnell Duff; Published: Sep 15, 2019 - 6:16 pm

The Brandon Wheat Kings welcomed back Jiri Patera on Saturday night as they hosted the Moose Jaw Warriors in the back half of a home-and-home at Westoba Place.

The game wrapped up the preseason for both teams and Moose Jaw will head into the regular season with a sense of confidence after a 2-1 win.

One night after they were basically dominated in their own rink, Moose Jaw came out with a different intensity in the game, which was good enough to earn their second win of the preseason.

Saturday’s game was one of Moose Jaw’s most complete of the preseason and it was Eric Alarie that started things off right.

On the powerplay, he scored an unassisted goal 17:24 in the game to give the Warriors’ a 1-0 lead after 20.

Moose Jaw also won the shot clock battle in the first, 16-9.

In the second, Brandon seemed to get a little more fire in their step.

Lynden McCallum put the Wheat Kings’ on the board with his second goal in as many games. Nolan Ritchie picked up the second assist while Neithan Salame got the primary one. The goal was scored 6:03 into the frame.

Not long after that equalizer, Moose Jaw struck back with what ended up being the game-winner.

With 8:14 left in the midway frame, Cade Hayes fired home his third of the preseason past Patera, to give Moose Jaw a 2-1 lead.

Calder Anderson and Bryden Kiesman notched the assists.

The goal was on the powerplay as the Warriors’ scored their second on the man-advantage.

Moose Jaw also outshot Brandon in the second, 15-11.

The third was a relatively quiet period. Patera turned away four shots while Bailey Brkin was tested seven times and he made the save each time to preserve the win for his club.

With the win, Moose Jaw ended their preseason at 2-5. Brandon, meanwhile, went 2-2.

The curtain on the 2019-20 regular season raises on Friday. Brandon is home to the Winnipeg ICE.

Moose Jaw begins their regular season with a home-and-home against Regina. The team’s home opener is Saturday night at Mosaic Place.

Details: Contributed by Darnell Duff; Published: Sep 14, 2019 - 11:03 pm

The Parkland U18 Rangers kicked off their final weekend of preseason play today.

They’re playing in the Souris tournament and they came up just short against Southwest in their first game, 2-1.

Steven Arp scored the lone Rangers’ goal in the game.

Parkland plays Yellowhead and Central Plains tomorrow.

Details: Contributed by Darnell Duff; Published: Sep 14, 2019 - 7:23 pm

In just their second tournament of the season, the Gilbert Plains Trojans varsity girls volleyball team are champions.

They defended their home court by coming out on top.

After going 3-0 yesterday, they beat Ste. Rose in the quarterfinals, 25-9, 25-13.

Next up was a semi-final against Swan Valley and the Trojans once again went into cruise mode. They beat them 25-18, 25-16 to advance to the finals.

In the finals, they dispatched of a very strong Major Pratt Trojans team, 27-25, 25-15.

Details: Contributed by Darnell Duff; Published: Sep 14, 2019 - 3:50 pm

Ridly Greig recorded a four-point game, two other players had two points and the Brandon Wheat Kings picked up their second preseason win on Friday night as they beat Moose Jaw, 5-2 at Mosaic Place.

The win moved Brandon to 1-1 on the road in the preseason after they lost to Winnipeg in Portage La Prairie last weekend.

“I thought it was a pretty good effort tonight,” said Mark Derlago, assistant coach. “We came out hard and everyone was ready to play tonight.”

In front of nearly 2500 fans, the Warriors’ fans sure didn’t have much to cheer about early on. Braden Schneider opened up the scoring with his first of the preseason 13:51 into the first. Cole Reinhardt would get the primary assist, while Greig started his phenomenal night with the secondary assist.

At the 8:07 mark of the second period, it was Ridly Greig’s turn. He scored his first of the preseason with Jake Chiasson earning the assist to give Brandon a 2-0 lead.

Brandon didn’t stop there. With 8:55 left in the second, the combination of Jake Chiasson and Ridly Greig struck again. This time, Chiasson netted a puck past Jackson Berry, who made 20 saves on 25 shots. Greig earned his second assist while Logen Hammett also picked up an assist on the goal to make it 3-0.

“You saw that line going from the start and they really took over the game” added Derlago. “It really was fun to watch.”

With just 4:07 left in the second, Moose Jaw finally gave their fans something to cheer about as they got back in the game. Tate Popple scored his second of the preseason with Matthew Benson and Kade Runke earning the assists.

Less than two minutes later with 2:18 left, the Ridly Greig show continued. He scored his second of the game as Cole Reinhardt got the assist. The goal capped off Greig’s two-goal, two-assist performance.

After 40, it was 4-1 Brandon.

“Ridly showed off his skill and really his whole line did tonight,” said Derlago. “Reinhardt also showed what he can do with his speed. He really pushes the defenders back. Things looked pretty impressive tonight.”

Tate Popple would make his presence felt again, this time just 1:41 into the third. That’s when he and Daniil Stepanov set up Cade Hayes, who scored his second of the preseason to bring the game within two goals at 4-2.

With 12:22 elapsed in the third period, Lynden McCallum sealed things. He let go of a shot that beat Berry to give Brandon a 5-2 lead. It was McCallum’s first of the preseason and Nolan Ritchie had the primary and only assist.

The McCallum goal was the final in the game as Brandon went on to win 5-2. Although he didn’t get on the scoreboard, Bode Hagan was perfect in a category. He went two-for-two on the faceoff dot.

“I liked his energy, he’s all over the ice and he plays hard no matter what,” said Derlago. “He does whatever he needs to and it’s good to see.”

Ethan Kruger ended up making 23 saves on 25 shots.

Brandon and Moose Jaw don’t get much rest before they meet one another again. The two clubs will hook up on Saturday night from Westoba Place in the Wheat City. The game will officially wrap up their respective preseasons. Brandon has a chance to go 3-1 while Moose Jaw is now 1-5 on the preseason.

Details: Contributed by Darnell Duff; Published: Sep 14, 2019 - 1:01 am

It was a great day for the Gilbert Plains Trojans varsity girls volleyball team.

They went a perfect 3-0 in day one action at their home tournament.

Against Warren, they won 21-25, 25-20. They easily took care of Swan Valley, 25-18, 25-17.

In their final game, they beat Goose Lake, 25-18, 25-12.

The team continues their tournament on Saturday.

Details: Contributed by Darnell Duff; Published: Sep 13, 2019 - 11:09 pm

In a night where Baron Thompson scored his first goal as a Dauphin King in his first game, the Kings held on to beat the Neepawa Natives, 2-1 at Credit Union Place.

The win wraps up the preseason for Dauphin, who went 4-2 and the last three games have resulted in a win.

"I thought the game was okay. I thought we were a little sluggish at times," said Mitch Topinka, assistant coach. "We're just moving forward now and we'll have a hard week of practices leading up to next weekend's regular-season opener."

After no goals were scored in the first 30 minutes, the 6'5" American scored his first of the season. On an end-to-end rush, Thompson wrapped around the net and walked up to the circle and fired a shot bar down past Dylan Arnold to put Dauphin up 1-0.

Thompson was paired with Austin Lamotte and Nakodan Greyeyes.

"We had a lot of shots and we got the two points. We have some things we need to fix up and we'll get tighter as the group as things go on," said Thompson. "I thought our line played really well. We just need to build some more chemistry and I think games will be less stressful in the end."

Nearly seven minutes later at the 17:30 mark, Neepawa tied things up. The goal was scored on the powerplay as the score was 1-1 after 40.

The game stayed tied with less than six minutes left. At the 14:50 mark, just like Baron's end-to-end goal, this time it was Grady Hobbs turn. He completed a rush by going bar down past Arnold to give Dauphin a 2-1 lead, which they would hold.

Dauphin ended up with 36 shots while Neepawa had just 16.

32 players remain on the roster. That will trim down as the team prepares for their full week of practice.

"We definitely have some tough decisions ahead of us, which is a good thing," Topinka concluded. "Tonight made it tougher on us with some of the guys, they played well."

Dauphin will begin their regular season on Friday, September 20. Darnell Duff will have the call beginning with the Parkland Source for Sports pregame show at 7:00 p.m. The puck on the 2019-20 season drops at 7:30 from the Centennial Arena.

Details: Contributed by Darnell Duff; Published: Sep 13, 2019 - 10:58 pm

The Dauphin Clippers football team is in the win column as they continued their Rural Manitoba Football League season this afternoon against the Moosomin Generals.

Dauphin never trailed in the game. They started up 14-0 and they led 22-12 at halftime. Despite a comeback attempt by the Generals' in the second half, it was too late as Dauphin held on to win, 30-18.

"The team played well. We were happy with a lot of players and a lot of good things happened," said Cam Bennet, general manager. "We were able to distrubute the ball to multiple threats so it's nice to be able to run those offensive sets again an opponent."

Dauphin is back on the field next Friday at the high school field. They welcome the Southwest Sabres to Dauphin. The Clippers' are now 1-1, while the Generals' drop to 0-2.

"It's graet to know that we can compete in this league," Bennet concluded. "We're looking forward to another good battle next week."

Details: Contributed by Darnell Duff; Published: Sep 13, 2019 - 9:02 pm

The Gilbert Plains Trojans varsity girls volleyball team is hosting their tournament this weekend at the Gilbert Plains Collegiate and the Gilbert Plains Elementary school.

Here's the schedule:

All games highlighted will be played at the Gilbert Plains Elementary School.

3:45 p.m. - Gilbert Plains vs Swan River. Grandview vs Warren JV.

4:45 p.m. - Warren vs Roblin. Major Pratt vs Ste. Rose.

5:45 p.m. - Gilbert Plains vs Roblin. Grandview vs Ste. Rose.

6:45 p.m. - Swan River vs Warren. Warren JV vs Major Pratt.

7:45 p.m. - Gilbert Plains vs Warren. Grandview vs Major Pratt.

8:45 p.m. - Swan River vs Roblin. Warren JV vs Ste. Rose.

Playoffs:

Game #13 - 9:00 a.m. 1st A vs 4th A.

Game #14 - 9:00 a.m. 2nd B vs 3rd A.

Game #15 - 10:00 a.m. 2nd A vs 3rd B.