The Dauphin Kings are moving on to the Manitoba Junior Hockey League semifinals after surviving a late surge by the Swan Valley Stampeders in the quarterfinals.

After taking a three-games-to-none lead, the Kings dropped two straight games, 6-3 in game four, Apr. 4 in Swan River, and 5-4 in double overtime, Friday in Dauphin.

But Kaden Bryant’s goal 13:15 into double overtime of game six, Sunday in Swan River, put an end to Swan Valley’s season, propelling Dauphin into a semifinal series with the Winkler Flyers.

Kings head coach and general manager Doug Hedley felt Swan Valley’s record was not a good indication of how good the Stampeders really are.

“I don’t think they performed up to their capabilities all season. I think they under achieved all year. They’re a good hockey club,” he said. “They’re an older team. They’ve got as many 19 and 20 year olds as anybody.”

Hedley cited Swan Valley’s two-game sweep over the league-leading Steinbach Pistons in Steinbach in mid-January as an indication of how good the Stampeders really were.

“Wolfie (Swan Valley head coach Barry Wolfe) got the best out of them and they played hard. They showed flashes of this in the regular season,” Hedley said. “We knew they were a good hockey club. The standings sure didn’t reflect how good they could be. It was a good series.”

Stampeders goaltender Kobe Grant was the difference in Swan Valley’s two wins. He made 47 saves in game four and 52 in the game five double overtime win.

“Goaltending in any playoffs in huge and the kid played very well. He kept them in a few games. He played very well. Credit to him. He was outstanding. Kept them in every game they played and it came down to two games back-to-back in double overtime,” Hedley said.

When the Kings got up 3-0 in the series, they got away from paying attention to the little details, Hedley said.

“You’re not as good away from the puck. You don’t work hard to get back on top of the pucks or right sides of battles. And I think it cost us in the end. We started going back and forth and we lost some attention to our rush defence and they scored a couple big goals off the rush, especially in game five in Dauphin,” he said, adding the defensive awareness wasn’t as good as it had been earlier in the series.

“And I thought we got back to it in Swan (in game six) and played very well away from the puck. We limited their rushing chances. And I thought that was one of Carson Cherepak’s best games he played in the series.”

Hedley feels the adversity the team faced against the Stampeders will benefit them heading into the series with Winkler.

“When you get through it, I think it does make you a bit stronger down the road. It challenges your dressing room. It challenges guys to work harder. It challenges guys to stay together and stick to what makes us successful,” he said. “So I do think it creates a bit more strength and a little more comradery in the dressing room. Hopefully it continues on against Winkler.”

The Flyers finished second in the East Division with a 33-16-3-2 record, 12 points behind the Kings. But Winkler won both games against the Kings in the regular season, 6-4 in Dauphin, Jan. 7, and 4-3 in overtime the following day. Cherepak was pulled after 40 minutes of the game in Dauphin and missed the rest of the month with an injury before returning to the lineup in early February. Led by league scoring champion Justin Svenson, the Flyers will present a tough challenge for the Kings.

“It’s going to be a good series,” Hedley said. “Obviously, Svenson and (Jaden) McCarthy and (Troy) Hamilton are all good players. Their top line can score goals. Their backend has (Trent) Sambrook, so anytime you put him into the mix, they’re tough. He’s a very good player. We’re hoping our guys can step up.”

The series is expected to begin this weekend. Tickets for game one in Dauphin are expected to go on sale Wednesday.

Support for the Parkland Ukrainian Family Fund has been tremendous.

The fund has raised more than $100,000 in cash so far.

“Right now we’ve contacted the federal government, the provincial government the Ukrainian Canadian Congress to give us a list of names and contact information of families that are wishing to come,” said Roman Panchenko, adding there are many who have fled Ukraine that have every intention of returning following the conflict.

However, the group’s priority is to fund families that intend to settle permanently in the Parkland

“So if they can identify those that are willing to come to our area with the intentions of settling permanently, then the selection committee will weed those out and make recommendations to the rest of the group, he said.

Committee member Jim Perchaluk added the group is remaining flexible, however.

“This is the first time we’ve done it and let’s just say nobody wants to settle here, but they’re looking for a place to reside for several years. Well then we certainly will review our mandate,” he said. “But our objective is to assist families, hopefully intending to reside in our community.”

Just how many families the group will be able to assist remains to be seen as donations are coming in daily and organizers really don’t know what level of support will be required.

Read the FULL STORY in this week's Dauphin Herald!

From left, Devon Pylypchuk, fire chief Cam Abrey, 2021 Firefighter of the Year Ryan Murray, Fabien Carriere, Brendan Greening and Chris Davidson were honoured at the City and RM’s appreciation dinner, Apr. 6.

The City and RM of Dauphin hosted the Firefighters Appreciation Evening, last Wednesday at the Aspen Lodge in the Parkland Recreation Complex.

Several firefighters were recognized for their many years of service.

Devon Pylypchuk, Fabien Carriere and Mark Bass received recognition for five years of meritorious service to the Dauphin Fire Department and Ray Lofgren was recognized for 15 years of meritorious service.

Daniel McKay, Brendan Greening and Chris Davidson were presented with their department badges for their accomplishments in training for the NFPA 1001 Fire Fighter certification.

Fire Chief Cameron Abrey was presented with the Governor General’s Fire Services Exemplary Service Medal for 20 years of service to public safety.

Due to the pandemic, the Firefighter of the Year Award for 2021 was not presented last year as the Firefighters Ball was cancelled. So the Jack Carey Memorial Firefighter of the Year Award was presented, Wednesday, to Ryan Murray.

Murray was selected by his peers for going above and beyond the normal call of duty. Murray, not once, but twice put his first aid training skills to work at his regular place of employment, demonstrating his commitment to public safety.

Murray was in disbelief after receiving the award.

“Pretty shocked, actually. I didn’t know I was nominated. So I was quite shocked. I’m really speechless,” he said.

Murray moved to Dauphin about two years ago and has been welcomed with open arms. So receiving the award means a lot to the new firefighter.

“It’s a great group of people. A family. I’m still pretty new to Dauphin, so it’s quite nice being recognized. But I feel like everyone on the fire department is deserving. Everyone does a lot of work for the community. So I feel like everyone should get the award,” he said, adding he has been with the fire department for just over a year.

“I’m new to the town, so I wanted to give back to the town.”

One woman has been charged and further arrests are expected in connection with a Dauphin RCMP raid on a city home recently.

On Mar. 31, Manitoba West District Crime Reduction Enforcement Support Team, along with the Emergency Response Team and Dauphin RCMP, executed a search warrant at a residence in Dauphin.

Officers seized two firearms, four machetes, bear spray, approximately 43 grams of crystal methamphetamine, a quantity of cocaine and hydromorphone.

Seven people were arrested at the residence.

A 34-year-old female from Dauphin is facing charges of two counts of unauthorized possession of a firearm and two counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking.

She is scheduled to appear in court at a later date.

The other six people were released without charges at this time.

RCMP continue to investigate and expect to make further arrests.

People are finding creative and inspiring ways to help those in Ukraine during these devastating times.

Former Roblinite, Devon Ungurain, has been using her artistic talents through her small business to help raise funds for the cause.

Check the story in this week's Roblin Review!

There’s a new outdoor market starting up in Roblin this season but it’s going to be quite a departure from the Roblin Farmer’s Market. 

With pandemic restrictions lifted, people are looking to get out more and businesses need the support. It’s expected that tourism will be on the rise after people have been isolating, and it’s a good time to bring business into the community. 

That’s what prompted local business owner Kelcey Harasen to start up the Roblin Local Market.

More details in this week's Roblin Review. 

A long-awaited construction project will finally get underway this spring.

And while the new concession/washroom facility at Currey Park likely won’t be ready for the start of baseball season, it should be done by the fall.

There's lots more in this week's Roblin Review!

If you’re getting a little bored with what’s on TV and are looking for a way to fill four to six hours a month, you might want to consider volunteering to be part of the municipal emergency response team.

The Municipality of Roblin is currently seeking committed volunteers who are interested in undertaking one of the positions within the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC).

Check this week's Review for further details!

Nineteen local artists and three solo exhibits are a part of The Pas Arts Council’s latest on-line exhibit called Just Breathe. According to the Arts Council’s latest news release, the project was created to provide an opportunity for local artists to display their work and also to encourage new artists.
Featured in the Just Breathe exhibit is the work of Patty Constant, Akasha Fletcher, Mary Fletcher, Anita Genaille, Madison Genaille, Holly LaJambe, Frank Lang, Ava Lawrence, Tony Lawrence, Glen McKay, Joyce McLean, Azrielle Mink, Perry Nikolychuk, Lesa Nordick, Mike O’Toole, Shauna Ponask, Shelly Rudd, Kyle Tirschmann, and Shawn Yaremko.
In addition, three solo exhibits were chosen from the entries: the work of Danielle Kreller, Diana Muswagon, and Karli Shepherd.

The spirit of the Ukrainian people and their cultural traditions are alive and well in Canada thanks to people like Angie Esplen.

She drove her children to dance practices and recitals for years and when they graduated from high school, Angie and other mothers decided to form their own group: the M&Ms, which stands for Menopausal Mommas.

“The M&Ms do traditional Ukrainian dances and are known for character dances,” says Angie. “We practice weekly and compete throughout Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Alberta.

We performed at Dauphin’s National Ukrainian Festival in 2020 and feel honoured to be invited back this year. We also host an annual competition in Russell, and I’ve been chairperson of that for a decade.”

For more, check this week's Russell Banner