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They call him the ICE KING.
Raymond Mekish understands the deep significance of lacing up skates for the members of the Minegoziibe Anishinabe First Nation, whether it's for an organized practice, a game, or just a casual game of shinny. From the youngest to the oldest, the community has a wealth of hockey talent, and Raymond is at the heart of it all.
In the late 1980s, Raymond became a certified Level One Ice Technician, marking the beginning of a longstanding commitment. For the past 38 years, seven days a week, he has been dedicated to resurfacing the ice at the Minegoziibe Anishinabe First Nation Multi-Plex, ensuring the rink is always ready for anyone eager to lace up their skates and take a few shots.
"I love doing what I'm doing," said Mekish. "I had my boys that loved to skate and when they had kids, my grandchildren began skating and now great-grandchildren. It's a family affair and it means so much to me."
Rarely has Raymond missed a day over the past 38 years. When he needs to head to an appointment in Dauphin during the day, he will work the morning shift and then head back to the rink at night to make sure it's ready to go for any players who want to get a late skate in.
Ray isn’t just a gifted ice maker, he is also a fixture at the arena helping little ones tie their skates, sharpening skates, and spreading joy with his infectious smile and humour.
"I want to make sure the kids have clean ice to play on every evening," continued Mekish. "We have had three groups for the past few years which is very exciting for our community."
One of Raymond's most memorable moments over the years includes watching Junior B when the community had a team.
"We had that team for about three or four years and the arena would always be packed," said Mekish. "That was special, you could feel the excitement in our community and the fans loved it."
Raymond has been going strong for 38 years at the Multi-Plex and while he is 70-years-old, there's no end in sight.
"People ask me when I'm going to retire and I don't know the meaning of that word," ended Mekish with a laugh. "I love what I do and I don't plan on stopping anytime soon."
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Madden Murray scored a goal that dropped the jaws of fans on Wednesday night.
His first of two goals on the night was an absolutely gorgeous one which he tucked a short side shot just under the bar and over the glove of Alex Reedy as the Dauphin Kings held off their West Division rival Northern Manitoba Blizzard, 5-4.
Murray also scored the game-winning goal in the third period as Dauphin got back on track after a tough loss on Tuesday. Matthew Thomas, Daniel Helary and Sheldon Shyiak also scored for Dauphin in the game.
Dauphin (21-7-1) is now 10 points ahead of Norman for first place in the West and they next play Sunday when Swan Valley comes to town.
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His home rink until December 10 was 50 minutes from his McCreary home.
His new rink beginning December 11 is 10 minutes less than that. The Dauphin Kings have traded Ryan Gower to the Neepawa Titans. With a deep back end and Aiden Murray set to return from an upper-body injury in the coming weeks, the playing time that Gower needs just wasn't there.
The 17-year-old from McCreary played 11 games with Dauphin this season, nabbing one assist. He was also called up to the Prince Albert Raiders of the Western Hockey League (WHL) where he played two games, notching one assist.
Gower should be a force on the Titans' back end as they continue their chase down of the Northern Manitoba Blizzard for second place in the West Division. Neepawa is just a single point behind the Blizzard for second while being 10 points up on both Virden and Waywayseecappo.
Neepawa has five more games before the Christmas break, the first of which is on Thursday night when they're in Virden to play the Oil Capitals. They also play Waywayseecappo (December 13) and the Winnipeg Blues (December 17) before wrapping up their first-half schedule with a pair of home games against the Blizzard (December 20-21).
In exchange, the Kings acquired the MJHL playing rights of Shea Chornley. An assistant captain with the Winnipeg Bruins U-18 team, Shea has 10 goals and 22 points in 18 games. Dauphin also received a player development fee.
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The Parkland Rangers mustered 29 shots in the second period and scored three times to snap their three-game losing streak.
Liam Chartrand scored twice and had one assist as the Rangers beat Yellowhead, 6-4. Nathan Miller had three assists in the win for Dauphin as they won their 13th game and increased their lead over the Thrashers to five points.
Forrest Karlson also had a goal in the game with two assists while Alex Campbell also netted as did Carter Moncrief. Quinten Fisk also scored for the Rangers, his 19th of the season.
Parkland (13-12) also moves into seventh place, ahead of Pembina Valley and they're just a point back of Eastman for sixth.
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The Dauphin Kings made it close late, perhaps closer than it should have been but they still came up short.
The Waywayseecappo Wolverines held on as Griffin Ayotte scored an empty net goal with 30 seconds left as the Wolverines jumped into a tie for fourth place in the MGEU West Division with a gutsy 7-5 win over the division leaders at Credit Union Place.
It was Dauphin's second win against Dauphin this season with Jaxon Grosdidier and Sebastian Hicks leading the way with two goals each for the Wolverines in the victory while Jase Wareham turned away 36 shots in the win. Cam Sarna and Lucas Perry also scored for the Wolverines in the victory.
Dauphin was trailing 6-3 with just more than four minutes left before Gabriel Bugeaud and Cayden Glover scored two goals in quick form to trim the deficit to one. Dauphin continued to push in the final minute but it wasn't mean to be as Ayotte scored his eighth of the season with half a minute left to seal it.
With the loss, the Kings failed to jump into first in the MJHL while Steinbach is favoured to do so on Sunday when they play the Freeze. Dauphin (20-7-1) will need to forget about the loss quickly as they head to The Pas on Wednesday to play the Blizzard.
The Wolverines are tied with Virden for fourth in the West.
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It was an outstanding weekend for the Roblin Stars Minor Hockey Association.
The U-13 Stars hosted their tournament and came out as champions. They captured a banner to raise to the rafters with a dominating 11-3 win over Tri-Valley in the final. It was a coast-to-coast victory for the Stars who also pounded Thompson by scoring 20 goals and 19 goals in a victory against St. James.
Thompson went on to win the B-side final over Selkirk.
The U-9 Foxon team earned themselves a banner with a great weekend as they captured the title at the Grand Plains tournament.
They beat Dauphin 14-7 and then downed Russell in a tight affair, 7-5. They then beat Russell in an overtime thriller, 10-9. In the final, they beat Swan River, 9-8. The team showed a great ability to battle adversity and found a way to get the job done.
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Several local curling stars are heading to the provincial championships.
Team Todoruk (Greg Todoruk, Darcy Todoruk, Rob Fisher, and Terron Stykalo)
Competing at a Viterra Championships qualifier over the weekend, Team Todoruk played the role of comeback boys to start the event.
They stole a single point in the eighth, ninth and 10th ends to secure a thrilling 6-5 win over Team Anderson. In their next game, the Parkland foursome scored four in the second end and never looked back in beating Team Gregory, 13-6.
The 2025 Viterra Championships will be held at Stride Place from February 4-9, 2025.
Team Forrester (Hayden Forrester, Reece Hamm, Cyrus Brandt, Lawson Yates)
Dauphin's Yates and his foursome needed a win in their final game and that's what they did.
Playing lead on Team Forrester, the team scored a single in the 10th to beat Team Siwicki, 6-5.
The team won three of their four games and is now Portage-bound for the big dance.
Team Dundas (Cassidy Dundas, Lauren Evason, Eryn Czirfusz, and Tessa Terrick)
Team Dundas stole a single point each in the seventh and eighth ends followed by a steal of two in the ninth to beat Team Terrick, 6-3.
Tessa, who plays on Team Dundas, got the best of her sisters Zoey and Jaycee.
Dundas, Tessa and the rest of her team are off to Pilot Mound for the Rocky Mountain Equipment women's provincial championships from January 21-26, 2025.
Team McFarlane (Hailey McFarlane, Janelle Lach, Stacy Sime, Hallie McCannell)
Stacy, of Dauphin, joined Team McFarlane and they were perfect over the weekend.
They scored 27 points in three games and solidified their provincial berth with a decisive 9-5 win over Team Calvert.
Team McFarlane, featuring Stacy Sime of Dauphin, will join Team Dundas in Pilot Mound.
Good luck to those from the Parkland and around the province at the provincial championships.
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Fans may be surprised the Dauphin Kings have dropped in the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL) Top 20 rankings.
Spending last week as the 11th-ranked team in Canada, Dauphin has dropped to 13th this week. Dauphin opened last week with a solid road win over the Northern Manitoba Blizzard and they followed that up with a 5-2 win over the Steinbach Pistons.
Steinbach was ranked sixth last week and they couldn't handle what the Kings had to offer. Cole Sheffield made 34 saves in the game as Dauphin won their fifth straight contest to jump eight points ahead of the Blizzard for first place in the West Division. Dauphin also has two games in hand on the Blizzard and will play them twice before the Christmas break.
The Kings have points in 14 of their last 16 games and are tied with Steinbach for first place in the league. Steinbach also dropped in the weekly rankings, however, they're still eighth.
The Winkler Flyers, who were honourable mentions last week, are ranked 20th this week.
The 'Sheff' Is Cooking:
After two marvellous performances, Cole Sheffield was named one of the MJHL's Stars of the Week.
The 20-year-old from London, who leads the league with 16 wins, sparkled in two performances against the Blizzard and Steinbach. In a 4-2 win against Norman, Sheffield turned away 33 shots. He then made 34 saves in a 5-2 win against Steinbach.
Cole is near the top of the league in every major statistical category and his 1377 minutes played are far more than anyone else. Jase Wareham (1133) has played the second-most. Wareham and the Wolverines come to Dauphin on Tuesday.
Sheffield is 16-5-1 this season with a .925 save percentage to go along with a 2.31 goals-against average.
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A nine-round shootout was needed to decide a champion as the Dauphin Minor Hockey Association hosted its Dauphin Clinic Pharmacy U15A tournament over the weekend.
In the wild back-and-forth game, it was the Swan Valley Stampeders that prevailed as they beat the Yorkton Terriers, 3-2. It was a game that had fans on the edge of their seats.
In the bronze medal game, the Dauphin Kings easily got past Souris, 4-1. The consolation final saw Brandon beating St. Boniface, 4-1.
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For the first time in league play, the Dauphin Clippers have lost two straight games this season.
After losing 2-0 against Killarney on Friday, the Clippers held a 2-1 lead but fell 4-2 against the Vincent Massey Vikings. Layne Wolfenden and Ronin Mouck had Dauphin's two goals as they led after 40 minutes.
Vincent Massey scored twice to take the lead and sealed the game into an empty net late. Dauphin's game on Sunday was postponed because of poor weather conditions so their next game will be on Wednesday at 1:45 when they host Roblin at Credit Union Place.
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The Dauphin Kings stayed red hot and won their 20th game of the season on Saturday night.
The Kings opened up a 3-1 lead and never looked back as they cruised to a 5-2 win over the Steinbach Pistons. Dauphin played an outstanding defensive game and Cole Sheffield was brilliant when he needed to be.
Gavin Nemis led the way for Dauphin as he scored twice in the win, as the Kings moved to 20-6-1 on the season and are currently tied with the Pistons for first overall.
Cole Sheffield made 34 saves while Declan Hoad, Ethan Stewart, and Matthew Thomas also scored for Dauphin.
The Kings welcome Waywayseecappo on Tuesday.
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