Latest Sports
Dauphin Kings goaltender Cole Sheffield and Winkler Flyers forward Jayce Legaarden have been recognized by the Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL).
After a great weekend between the pipes and a great week offensively, Sheffield and Legaarden have been named Original 16 Stars of the Week.
Sheffield:
The 19-year-old from London entered the Christmas break with eight losses in his last 10 games, but he came into 2024 fresh and it showed.
In a pair of wins over the Freeze and Steelers, Sheffield allowed just two goals across the two starts which included a 24 save shutout on Friday against Winnipeg.
Sheffield's 15 wins this year are the third-most in the league and his 2.08 goals-against average is seventh-best while his .908 save percentage is 10th best.
He has also played 1381 minutes, the fourth-most of any goalie.
Legaarden:
In just three games last week, Jayce lit it up by scoring two goals and adding six assists for eight points. From Grandview, Legaarden continues to sparkle as the Flyers sit third place in the East Division, just five points back of Steinbach for first.
After earning one assist in the team's 5-0 win against the Freeze, Jayce had three helpers in the team's victory against Niverville.
Then in the team's final game of the week, he scored the game tying goal with just 80 seconds left and then in overtime, he scored the winner. He also racked up two assists for a dominant four point game.
Jayce is fourth in team scoring with 11 goals and 18 assists in 25 games played.
- Details
- Contributed by Darnell Duff
The Dauphin Kings once again lit up the shot clock and on the scoreboard, they ended up winning their second straight game of 2024.
Wrapping up a two-game weekend on home ice against the Selkirk Steelers, Dauphin downed the Steelers, 5-2. It was Dauphin's first win of the season against Selkirk after dropping their first two meetings.
Dauphin racked up 46 shots in the game and after two games in the New Year, Dauphin now has 95 shots. The Steelers opened the scoring on the man advantage, but Dauphin then took over as they scored three straight goals.
Logan Walker scored on the power play and then Anthony Bax let go of a beautiful shot from the point that beat Jack Hodgins. Gabriel Bugeaud's goal early in the second would then prove to be the game winner.
Mathieu Moreira scored for Selkirk; however, it wasn't enough. Ethan Williment would then score into an empty-net to seal the game and Bax Senior also scored into an empty-net for his second of the night.
Cole Sheffield turned away 28 shots as he earned his second straight win to start 2024. At 18-11-1, the Kings will now head to Neepawa for a big divisional game against the Titans on Tuesday night. Darnell Duff will have the Parkland Source for Sports pregame show at 7:15.
- Details
- Contributed by Darnell Duff
Trey Sauder is taking his talents from Swan River to the Rural Municipality of La Broquerie.
In a blockbuster deal, the 20-year-old star from Swan River was traded from the Swan Valley Stampeders to the Steinbach Pistons. It has been a very tough year for the Stamps' as they have won only eight of their 33 games.
A rebuild was immiment after the team traded Jakob Jones to Winkler last month and Ashton Fishley to Portage Terriers. Now that Sauder has been dealt, the Stampeders have entered rebuild mode as they turn their sights on playing the role of spoiler for the rest of the season. They're currently 13 points back of a playoff spot in the West Division.
As an assistant captain this season, Sauder has 12 goals and 19 assists. Steinbach, who will look to defend their Turnbull Cup title, are league favourites at this point. With wins in 26 of their 33 games so far, the Pistons are five points up on both Virden and Winkler for first place overall in the league.
Stay tuned in the coming days as Trey Sauder joins Darnell Duff as he chats ahead of his first game for Steinbach.
- Details
- Contributed by Darnell Duff
Josh Thompson will enjoy every second of the next week off from game action with the Blind River Beavers.
On Saturday, the Russell star posted one assist as the Beavers downed the Soo Eagles, 5-1. It was Blind River's 15th win in a row as they're tied with Greater Sudbury for first place in the West Division with 58 points. Blind River has 29 wins in their 37 games.
Thompson, despite missing nearly two months because of a broken hand, has been outstanding in his final year as a junior hockey player. In 23 games, Thompson has 12 goals and 17 assists for 29 points. Josh is proving to be a real powerplay specialist. All of last season in 56 games, Thompson recorded six goals while on the man advantage.
This year, Josh already has that same amount and still two months of the season remain. Blind River has scored the second-most goals in the league with 180, only behind Greater Sudbury who has 183. However, the Beavers have only allowed 87 goals which is 20 fewer than Greater Sudbury and Timmins.
Josh will look to help Blind River continue with their hot play next weekend when they play a pair of home games at the Blind River Community Centre against the Vikings and the Paper Kings. The Paper Kings are 23-13 while the Vikings are dead last in the 12-team circuit with just five wins in their 33 games.
- Details
- Contributed by Darnell Duff
Once again, the Parkland U18 Rangers showed that they can hang with and beat some of the best teams in the Manitoba AAA U18 Hockey League.
Opening a weekend home-and-home with the Southwest Cougars on Saturday night at Credit Union Place, Chase Glover was nothing short of outstanding as Parkland earned a critical and impressive 2-1 shootout win over the Cougars.
Southwest entered the game with 18 wins in 25 games, but they couldn't solve Glover of McCreary more than once. Landyn Garton scored Parkland's lone goal in regulation while Quinten Fisk scored the shootout winner for the Rangers as they won their 10th game of the season. Glover did not allow a goal in the shootout and he made 42 saves on 43 shots.
With the big win, the Rangers remain just a single point behind both Eastman and Norman for the eighth and final playoff spot. The Rangers will head to Souris for a rematch with the Cougars on Sunday afternoon at 4:30.
- Details
- Contributed by Darnell Duff
The Dauphin Clippers used a great second and third period on Saturday to earn their 15th win of the season.
Playing the Virden Golden Bears, the Clippers scored four times in the final two frames in a 5-3 win against the Golden Bears as they won for the 15th time in 19 tries. The team was coming off a 14-0 thrashing of Sandy Bay on Friday afternoon at Credit Union Place.
The Clippers did face some adversity in the game as they were trailing 2-1 after 20 minutes; however, they played the role of comeback kids to hand the Golden Bears their ninth loss of the season in their 18th contest.
Liam Chartrand continued with his torrid season as he recorded a hat-trick while Layne Wolfenden and Boston Karlson also scored for the Clippers in the victory. Owen Chubka earned the victory in net.
- Details
- Contributed by Darnell Duff
Cole Sheffield made 24 saves and the Dauphin Kings opened up the 2024 portion of their schedule perfectly on Friday night.
On home ice against the Winnipeg Freeze, Madden Murray opened up the scoring and Dauphin didn't look back in a clinical 3-0 win against the Freeze. Dauphin did dominate from start to finish as they opened the game by recording the first 14 shots of the contest and they finished with 49.
Gabriel Bugeaud and Logan Walker also scored for Dauphin in the victory as they snapped their three-game losing streak. With the win, Dauphin improved to 17-11-1 on the season.
The win also sees them move within nine points of the Blizzard Junior A Hockey Club for first in the West Division and they will head north to play them next Sunday.
Dauphin will next hit the ice on Sunday afternoon when the Selkirk Steelers come to town. Darnell Duff will then broadcast Tuesday's game from Neepawa as the Kings play the Titans. Paired with Neepawa's loss on Friday to Selkirk, Dauphin is now four points up on the Titans for third place in the West.
- Details
- Contributed by Darnell Duff
The Dauphin Clippers showed up in a big way on Friday afternoon as they put on a show.
Welcoming the Sandy Bay Badgers to town, the Clippers put up 76 shots while Joe Tabin recorded a shutout in a massive 14-0 win against the lowly Badgers, who have won just two games this year.
Layne Wolfenden, Jayton Kabel, and Norman Lacquette scored two goals apiece for Dauphin in the victory. Boston Karlson, Jordan Height, Ethan Everett, William Miner, Tyron Sweetman, and Cody Zurba scored for Dauphin in the win.
Dauphin has now jumped into first place in the league with 14 wins.
- Details
- Contributed by Darnell Duff
Chris Wolfenden wrapped up what was a very solid professional volleyball career in the 2008-09 season with PAOK Thessaloniki.
PAOK made their first appearance in Greece's top national division in the 1970-71 season and Chris spent one season with them, following a one-year stint with another Greek club in Ethnikos Alexandroupolis the previous year.
Wolfenden's impressive volleyball resume also included playing for the Canadian men's national team at the 2002 FIVB Men's World Championships, an event that features the best volleyball countries in the world. Brazil went on to win the world championships that year while the Canadians ended up in 17th.
In the summer of 2008, Wolfenden then traded his playing hat for a coach's hat as he joined the coaching staff for Team Manitoba. It was an opportunity that Chris was very thankful for and 15 years after his debut as a coach, Wolfenden started coaching the Parkland Vipers in January of last year. The Vipers are a women's program based out of the Parkland and it's a program that has several teams at different age levels and over the years, they have done great things on the national stage.
Still in love with the game that provided him with a chance to travel the globe and even represent the country, Chris was approached by Taylor Schmidt and the principal at the DRCSS offered Wolfenden a chance to take over the reins of the varsity girls' volleyball team.
It seemed like a natural fit. Chris had gotten back into coaching and he was already coaching many players on the Vipers that were set to be on the high school team. Wolfenden jumped at the opportunity and his first year as head coach of the Clippers wrapped up last month at Credit Union Place in front of hundreds of fans as the Clippers hosted the Manitoba High School Athletic Association's (MHSAA) AAA Provincial Championships.
"I had such great support from the school, it was such a great program to be a part of," said Wolfenden. "It was a complete team effort from so many people. The girls were great, I knew them very well coming into the season. They were dedicated as well which made it that much more enjoyable."
Feeling the pressure of hosting the best AAA girls' teams in the province, the Clippers used that pressure as motivation to defend their home court and while the team got off to a tough start with three losses in the round-robin, Dauphin caught fire at the most critical time.
Playing the Balmoral Hall Blazers, the top team in Pool B in their first playoff game, the Clippers made quick work of the Blazers with a straight set 25-20, 26-24 win. That put Dauphin in the semi-final match where they came up short against Linden Christian in a hard-fought battle.
After losing the first set in the bronze medal match against Westgate, Dauphin rallied to win back-to-back sets as they won the match and with it, finished as the third-ranked AAA team in Manitoba.
"I'm extremely proud of the girls, they believed in each other and the system we put together," said Wolfenden. "We faced a lot of adversity and pressure and we were able to overcome that, that was pretty special."
So in his first year of coaching high school volleyball, Chris has added a bronze medal to his trophy case, but that's not it. Recently, Chris was named the Payworks Coach of the Month for December.
"We had an incredible group of athletes and that's a big reason that I was able to win this award, it would have not happened without them," offered Wolfenden. "Winning the award motivates me to keep going forward and learning. There is so much to learn as a coach, it's motivating to keep on rolling."
The focus now shifts to preparing for the Manitoba Summer Games as Dauphin will play host to the event from August 11 to 17. Credit Union Place will be the venue for the volleyball event and as Wolfenden says, they're ready to welcome the best age-eligible volleyball players to town.
"Hosting the provincials was a great dry run for everyone, we know Credit Union Place is a perfect facility to host volleyball," ended Wolfenden. "Most 14-year-old kids don't get an opportunity to play volleyball in an arena, so it's pretty great that we can offer that. It's going to be a great event and we will be more than ready to go come August."
- Details
- Contributed by Darnell Duff
The Parkland U18 Rangers played a very solid first period, but struggled in the final 40.
Opening 2024 on the road in Brandon, the Wheat Kings pounded Parkland, 9-0.
The game was scoreless late in the first until Jonah Lemoine opened the scoring to give Brandon a 1-0 lead after 20.
The Wheat Kings went on to score eight goals in the final 40 minutes in the win. Jaxon Jacobson led the way with a hat-trick for Brandon.
Brandon improves to 24-0-1 while the Rangers fall to 9-12-2-1. Parkland is still only a single point back of a playoff spot.
- Details
- Contributed by Darnell Duff
Conor Geekie's dream of winning a gold medal while playing with Team Canada has ended.
Geekie and the rest of the Canadian squad were eliminated from the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships on Tuesday afternoon following a heartbreaking 3-2 loss to Team Czechia.
A very slow start for Canada on Tuesday saw them fall 2-0 after 20 minutes. The Canadians would respond in the second with a pair of goals to tie the game. On the team's second goal, scored by Jake Furlong, Geekie provided a great net-front presence.
Canada sustained great offensive pressure in the third, but they could not find the back of the net while Jakub Stancl scored with just 11 seconds left to seal it. It was the first time since 2019 that Canada failed to medal at the event, hosted this year in Sweden. Ottawa will play host to the 2024 event.
Conor, of Strathclair, finished the tournament with two goals and one assist. He will now head back to Wenatchee to continue his season in the Western Hockey League, one that has been outstanding for the Arizona Coyotes first-round draft pick. He has 20 goals and 29 assists in just 26 games.
- Details
- Contributed by Darnell Duff
