The Dauphin Kings skate into the Manitoba Junior Hockey League McMunn and Yates Building Supplies Turnbull Cup playoffs riding a four-game winning streak.
After wins over the Waywayseecappo Wolverines and Virden Oil Capitals last weekend, the Kings clinched second place in the MGEU West Division with a come-from-behind 2-1 overtime victory over the Northern Manitoba Blizzard, Mar. 10, in The Pas.
Dauphin then made it four straight wins with another comeback, this time a 4-3 triumph over the visiting Winnipeg Blues.
Kings head coach and general manager said it was a nice way to end the regular season, noting the Kings won 10 of their final 14 games.
“In the process the guys stuck to it. Our compete got a lot better. Our defensive awareness got a lot better. Our D-zone got a lot better and goaltending was really solid. Things are going in the right direction, for sure,” he said.
In Saturday’s season finale, forwards Forrest Karlson, Noah Smigelsky, Landyn Garton and Tryp Klassen dressed as APs and did not look out of place.
Smigelsky opened the scoring Dauphin’s only power play of the game and Karlson had the only assist on Sam Swanton’s third-period goal, which gave the Kings a lead.
“For the first five shifts I thought they were outstanding,” Hedley said, adding Karlson had a real good chance to score.
“Smigs (Smigelsky) drove the net and scored on the power play. Tryp Klassen was good and Garton was serviceable. So all four of them showed real well, I thought,” he added.
The Kings finish the season with a 33-23-2-0 record for 68 points and will face the Waywayseecappo Wolverines in a rematch of last year’s first-round matchup.
The Wolverines, Hedley said, are a good team with some skilled players.
“We’re going to have to look after them. We’re going to have to be aware. I think in the last three weeks or a month, we’ve gotten a lot more comfortable in one-goal games. We started locking games down,” he said.
“I think it’s going to be a great series. There’s some good skill.”
For the full story, read this week’s edition of the Dauphin Herald.
