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If you've ever wanted to play golf in the dark, tomorrow night is your chance and it's going to be for a great cause.

The McCreary Golf & Country Club will host their annual Wendy Borne Memorial night light tournament.

It's just $30 and the event is open to players of any age and skill levels.

"Golfing in the dark is a really unique experience," said Nancy Buchanan, McCreary Recreation Director. "It's a lot of fun and it's something that you don't get to do every day."

Golfing will begin tomorrow at roughly 9:00 p.m. Every single golfer will receive a prize regardless of your score. 

If you want to enter by yourself or as a team, give Nancy a call at 835-2673.

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Contributed by Darnell Duff

Published: Sep 5, 2019 - 10:27 am

The town of Russell, Manitoba is by no means a big place, but the hockey players coming out of the community are well on their way to doing some big things. Among those that are well on their way is Ryder Thompson. 

The 15-year-old spent a good part of last month in Portland. After getting drafted in the fifth round, 105th overall by the Winterhawks, Thompson took part in his first rookie camp with the team. 

It didn't take long for Thompson to impress the entire organization. Thompson jumped right into things with the big boys. After a solid rookie camp that took place on August 20, the Russell native took part in main camp from August 21-24.

"My mentality was to just go there and make a good impression and everything," Thompson said. "It really was a great experience. It was definitely a learning experience. Now if I get called up or even next season, I'll know the pace and everything. I'll also be able to prepare better because I know exactly what I'll be going into."

After main camp which included the Neely Cup ended up August 24, Ryder was rewarded for his solid performance through the first days. He signed his first WHL Standard Player Contract. He joined Kyle Chyzowski as the two players that got contracts from camp.

"It was awesome. I didn't expect it so that made it even more special," commented Thompson. "It really means a lot me and it's a moment I won't forget."

That wasn't the end of the memorable week for Ryder, though. He was asked to stay and practice with the team and play in their exhibition tournament. Ryder accepted and the good times kept on rolling. 

The preseason tournament was August 30-September 1 in Everett. The team played in three games and Ryder suited up in two. In a tight 3-2 loss to Tri-City, Ryder was a +1. In their 4-3 shootout loss against Vancouver, Ryder was again a +1

"I didn't really know what to expect with the speed and everything," he added. "Everyone was so fast and skilled, so it was a challenge. With that said, I think I did a good job and I gave it my all."

"I thought I played a strong defensive game," said Thompson. "I also chipped in offensively whenever I could. I tried not overdoing things and it worked out well."

Ryder is now back in the Parkland after he was reassigned. He's set to join the Rink Hockey Academy Elite 15 team this season. Playing for the bantam prep team last year, Ryder had 23 points in 29 regular season games. He also put up one assist in three playoff games.

As he gets set to embark on another academy season, Thompson is looking for even more improved success.

"I'm definitely looking forward to the season. Getting on the ice every day and seeing all my friends," said Thompson. "I have to take things super seriously and not take any days off."

"It's always nice to see your name on the scoresheet, so I'm hoping I can help the team offensively, but that's not my main focus right now," he added.

Ryder is eligible to return to Portland this season if they wish to call him up. If that doesn't happen, he's poised to make next year's team.

"When I went into camp, I was just looking to make an impression and that sort of thing," he concluded. "Now that I'm signed and everything, I want to show them that I belong to be there full-time. If it doesn't happen this year, that's my goal next year."

Ryder also helped the bantam Rangers win a bronze medal at the provincials in the 2017-18 season.

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Contributed by Darnell Duff

Published: Sep 4, 2019 - 2:00 pm

Preparations for the 2019-20 season are well underway for the Parkland Rangers. They open up their preseason on Friday, but now they're looking for your help.

The team is looking for billets for the upcoming season. Parkland currently has players that require a place to stay during the season. These players are coming from across the province to play for the home town Rangers.

"You'll have to make sure the player has healthy food to eat. They know how to cook, you'll just need to supply the food and you can cook for them if you would like," said Tanya Chrisp, Billet Coordinator.

You will receive a monthly payment for housing a player.

As a past and current billet, Tanya says this is a great opportunity for you.

"The kids are absolutely wonderful. It's great bringing them into the family because they become a part of it," continued Chrisp. "It's so great to be around them. It's a great experience."

If you're interested and you want more information, give Tanya a call at 572-5411.

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Contributed by Darnell Duff

Published: Sep 4, 2019 - 12:39 pm

The push to the 2019-20 preseason continues for the Brandon Wheat Kings. After wrapping up their camp over the weekend with the Canad Inns Intrasquad game, the team will play the Winnipeg ICE in a home-and-home this weekend.

Leading up to that game, the team will take part in several off-ice activities throughout the week, and they’ll spend plenty of time on the ice as well.

After Cole Reinhardt scored three times in the intrasquad game, the organization trimmed its roster to 32.

Of the 32 still in Brandon, there is a ton of experience. Jiri Patera, Connor Ungar, and Ethan Kruger combined to play 74 games in net last year for Brandon. Patera, of course, saw the bulk of that with 48 games played.

Defensively, Zach Wytinck is back for his final season, and he will be relied upon to play in the most important situations. Last year, he played in 65 games. In all, seven of the nine defencemen still with the team played in Brandon last year, combining for 331 games played.

When it comes to the forwards, Luka Burzan played 68 games last year, and he’s back. Caiden Daley, who also played a team-high 68 games, returns as well.

In all, 13 forwards combined to play 611 games last season with Brandon.

When it comes to Burzan, Brandon will be looking for much of the same this season. He had 78 points (40G) in 68 games last year. That was second to only Stelio Mattheos, who had 96.

Besides Burzan’s and Reinhardt’s success during the annual game, a few other household names got on the scoreboard.

Caiden Daley, who scored nine goals last year, scored once. Connor Gutenberg had 16 goals last season, and he had one tally during the intrasquad game.

That means that not only were the young stars shining, but the veterans were chipping in as well, and that’s something head coach Dave Lowry is thrilled about.

“I thought the game was really competitive,” said Lowry. “The young kids played with a lot of poise and confidence. You also love to see the veteran guys putting the puck in the net. Something that really stood out was how hard everyone worked.”

After four preseason games, Brandon begins their regular season on September 20 on home ice against the Winnipeg ICE. The two teams complete their “Manitoba Battle” home-and-home the next night in Winnipeg.

Brandon missed last year’s playoffs by two points. They went 2-7-1 in their final 10 games to fall just short. That’s a feeling Burzan doesn’t want to feel again.

“It was really disappointing last year missing the playoffs,” said Burzan. “We want to come in this year and be one of the best teams in the league; that’s our goal.”

Chad Nychuk is among the 32 still in Brandon. He should be a big part of the Wheat Kings back end this year.

After a 13-point campaign last year, the Rossburn native is ready to get back at it.

“I’ve just been trying to keep it simple, and I’m working hard on my game,” Nychuk added. “I’m helping the young guys out, and I’m looking forward to getting started.”

Nychuk also echoed Burzan when it came to being a top team.

“We’re focused on playoffs. It starts right now,” he concluded. “We have a new coach and he’s going to expect nothing but the best, so it’s time to work hard.”

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Contributed by Darnell Duff

Published: Sep 4, 2019 - 11:24 am

The Parkland U18 Rangers will begin their preseason schedule on Friday. They'll make the short trip to Yorkton to play the Maulers, as they do every season.

Arnie Caplan will return for his second season as the team's head coach. Joining Caplan on the bench is a guy who played three seasons with the Dauphin Clippers and he helped the team make the league final once.

Dylan Storey will be joining the Rangers organization after coaching the Roblin high school team last year. Dylan played with the Clippers from 2011-14. In his second year (2012-13), the team made it to game three of the league final against Crocus Plains, where they came up just short.

"It's pretty exciting. It's going to be a lot different than it was coaching Roblin," said Storey. "I'm excited to see some of the really good young hockey players in the Parkland and around the province. It's going to be a great season."

Parkland has already held several practices. For the players that are still on the team and will remain on the team, it's all about them.

"I would define myself as a players coach, I want what's best for them," he continued. "My goal is to win every single game that we play, but I really want to help develop these kids. I want to not only make them better hockey players but better people as well."

The team this year features players like Brayden Kohlman, Rylan Gibbs, Drake Pahl, and Keaton Ziprick, just to name a few. 

"I'm actually very impressed with things so far. There is a lot of these kids coming up from the bantam program and Tom White is doing a great job getting the kids ready for the next level," said Storey. "We're going to be a really young team but I think we'll be just fine."

After Friday's tilt in Yorkton, Parkland will play host to Yorkton on Saturday night at Credit Union Place. Although these two games are just preseason affairs, they don't mean any less to Storey.

"I would love to beat Yorkton. It's that rivalry with Saskatchewan, we all would love to take them down," he continued. 

No stranger to Credit Union Place, Dylan will make his regular-season coaching debut on home ice on September 27. That's when the Winnipeg Thrashers are in town. The lights will be bright, but they won't be bright enough to distract Dylan from doing his thing.

"I feel comfortable behind the bench. I'm not really nervous, I'm just really excited," he concluded. "I'm passionate about coaching, I really enjoy doing it and I can't wait to get things going here."

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Contributed by Darnell Duff

Published: Sep 4, 2019 - 10:14 am

The Dauphin Kings scored twice, but it wasn’t enough to pick up their second preseason win of the season tonight.

Swan Valley opened up a 3-1 lead in the third and they held on to win, 3-2 at the Centennial.

Tommy Cardinal, who was recently picked up by Swan Valley, put them up just over seven minutes into the contest.

At the 11:35 mark, Dauphin tied it. Avery Smith scored his first of the preseason with Jaxon Heeney earning the assist.

The rest of Swan Valley’s offence was owned by Trevor Schroeder. He scored once in the second and once in the third, and his second goal was the game-winner.

Mitchell Joss would score with 10 seconds left, but it was too little too late for Dauphin.

The Kings’ will be back on the ice on Thursday. Melville is in town for preseason game number three.

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Contributed by Darnell Duff

Published: Sep 3, 2019 - 9:49 pm

The golf season is slowly coming to a close for the summer. Although it was cool and breezy over the weekend, the conditions didn't seem to bother Benito's Dustin Sas.

He played in the 57th Annual Rosebowl tournament at the Neepawa Golf & Country Club and he won the 2nd Flight title. Playing in the quarterfinals, Sas rolled to a 4&2 win and he did the same thing in his semifinal match.

In the finals, Dustin really came to play. He won 7&5 in the winner take all final.

"It feels pretty good to finally win. Last year I was up and I sort of crumbled near the end and lost," said Sas. "To finally win feels great."

"I played really well for the most part," he continued. "If I struggled, the guy I was playing would struggle so it evened itself out."

Dustin is right back at it this weekend. He'll play in the Blue Owl Men's Open at the Deer Park Golf Club in Yorkton. Playing against some of the top golfers now from Yorkton, Dustin is ready for the challenge.

"It's really important that I keep it in play and safe," said Sas. "It's going to be colder, so that plays a factor. I just want to have fun and I guess we'll see what happens."

Dustin also hopes to use the momentum he built in Neepawa to have success in Yorkton.

"I think anytime you do well, you'll have confidence going forward that you can do it again," he concluded. "I've played a few good rounds at Deer Park this year, so hopefully, I can make it happen this weekend."

Dustin also played in the Manitoba amateur early this summer where he just missed the cut. He will be back at that event next summer.

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Contributed by Darnell Duff

Published: Sep 3, 2019 - 2:00 pm

The Dauphin Kings used a phenomenal goaltending performance from two Parklanders last night to earn a 3-2 shootout win in their preseason opener.

Zach Grouette and Keaton Ziprick made a combined 56 saves in the game for the home team.

Dauphin opened the scoring when Drayden Kurbatoff found the back of the net 15:18 into the game.

After holding that lead into the intermission, Swan Valley tied it in the second. Owen Harris beat Zach Grouette on the power play just 1:17 into the second. 

16 minutes later, Owen Wareham regained the lead for Dauphin on a shot from the point. 

With just 4:10 left in the third, Parker Johnson scored a beautiful goal on an end-to-end rush to tie the game. 

Despite getting a late power play, Swan Valley couldn’t find the winning goal as Ziprick shut the door. 

Overtime also solved nothing, so the game was shootout bound. 

Drayden Kurbatoff and Brayden Stevenson scored for Dauphin in the shootout. Only Josh Olson beat Ziprick, which gave Dauphin the two preseason points.

Grouette, who started the game, made 33 saves. 

“I thought I played pretty well, the boys played well in front of me,” said Grouette after the game. “I worked really hard this summer because I want to make this team. It’s really important to me.”

Ziprick from Russell came in and made 23 saves. He ended up earning the win. 

“I let one weak goal in, but other than that, I think I played solid as I should,” he said. “I’m looking forward to having a solid season.”

Assistant coach Mitch Topinka also shared his thoughts on how Grouette and Ziprick played. 

“It’s great to see that the local talent in between the pipes is there for us,” he offered. “It was fun to watch and it was nice that we picked up the win.”

Dauphin heads to Swan Valley today.

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Contributed by Darnell Duff

Published: Sep 2, 2019 - 10:57 pm

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers defence showed up in Regina, but their offence proved to be their downfall in a tight loss to Saskatchewan.

Brett Lauther kicked a short field goal as time expired for the Riders’ as they won the Labour Day Classic, 19-17.

Cody Fajardo continued his great play for Saskatchewan, as he threw for 300 yards.

Chris Streveler, meanwhile, threw for 161 yards in the loss.

Saskatchewan has now won six in a row and 14 of the last 15 Labour Day Classic’s.

Winnipeg is now just one game ahead of Saskatchewan. The two teams will battle next weekend in the Banjo Bowl.

A win from Winnipeg would restore their two-game lead. A loss would mean the prairie rivals would be tied atop the West.

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Contributed by Darnell Duff

Published: Sep 1, 2019 - 7:23 pm

Brendan Arnold has done something no other Dauphin King main camp attendee has ever done. For the fifth time, he was on the winning squad for the JoFo Cup. Arnold helped Team Trotz win the annual intrasquad game, 5-4 over Team Goring today at Credit Union Place.

In a game where Team Goring got out to a 4-1 lead, Arnold and Team Trotz battled all the way back thanks to a three-goal second period, which tied the game at four. Avery Smith would eventually score the game-winner on a nifty backhand in the third period.

"It's a pretty awesome feeling that I won this again," said Arnold after the game. "I think it's going to be pretty hard for anyone to come close to that. I love coming to camp every year to put my best foot forward."

Owen Wareham opened up the scoring for Team Goring in the first. Koby Morrisseau then went coast to coast and finished off a gorgeous play to give Team Goring a 2-0 lead. 

Jonah Fleischer would cut into the deficit on a hard-working play, also in the first. Dauphin's Garrett Hrechka picked up one of the assists on the goal.

The goals kept on coming after that. Parker Fofonoff and Carter Eha would put up Team Goring 4-1 after 20.

In the second, it was all Team Trotz. Mitchell Joss, Jonah Fleischer, and Mattie Boonstra would score three straight to tie the game at four after 40.

That set the stage for Avery Smith, who scored the game-winner in the third. Last year for Dauphin, Smith scored 13 goals.

Three fights also set the tempo in what was a very physical game. Brayden Pawluk dropped the gloves with Auston Kerridge, Koby Morrisseau challenged Brendan Arnold and Mitchell Joss took on Jaxon Heeney.

Mitch Topinka shared his thoughts on the game after 60 minutes.

"We were impressed by today. The coaching staff and scouting staff are happy with how it went," said Topinka. "We had great overall speed all weekend and things went well."

American Carter Eha scored once today. He also dropped the gloves yesterday with Avery Smith. 

"I love what Carter brings to the club. He's a big guy and he skates well and he doesn't shy away from anything," offered Topinka. "His presence is definitely a big thing for us."

Carter had this to say postgame.

"I thought the weekend went pretty well," he said. "I got into a good fight yesterday and made a good connection with some of the boys. I was pissing some people off yesterday and someone stepped up and asked me to go, and I had to answer the bell. He got the best of me, but it worked out well for me."

Brendan Arnold also spoke after the game and he mentioned he's more ready this year than any other season.

"I stayed in Dauphin this summer and I worked out a lot harder than I have in the past," he said. "I'm really prepared for this season to make it a big one."

The preseason officially starts for Dauphin tomorrow. They're at Credit Union Place, as they welcome Swan Valley to town at 7:30. It will be a rookie game between the clubs. Topinka and the rest of the staff are looking for a few things from the young guns as they look to stay around.

"Speed and compete, that's huge for us," said Topinka. "These kids need to have the pride to wear the crest. As long as they have speed and play with a little bit of an edge, that's what we want. We want that win."

Swan Valley and Dauphin will complete their home-and-home on Tuesday night. That game will be played at the Centennial Arena in Swan River. Dauphin welcomes Melville to town on Thursday before they head to Neepawa on Saturday. Dauphin ends their preseason with a two-game homestand. Melville is in town once again on September 9 and Neepawa pays a visit to town on September 13.

Dauphin opens up their regular season on September 20 in Swan Valley.

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Contributed by Darnell Duff

Published: Sep 1, 2019 - 4:47 pm