Kings Undefeated In Round Robin Play

May 5, 2010

Dauphin Kings are now one game away from advancing to the RBC Cup final. All that stands between the MJHL/ANAVET Cup champions and a national title is Saturday’s semi-final game.

The Kings’ semi-final opponent will be decided Thursday when Brockville Braves take on La Ronge IceWolves. The winner will finish third in the round-robin tournament, facing second-place Vernon. Thursday’s loser will take on the Kings Saturday night.

Kings finished the RBC Cup unblemished after four starts, thanks to a 5-4 victory over Oakville Blades, who went 0-4 at this year’s RBC. The Kings’ victory was a historic one, marking the first time since 2002 when a host team - Halifax - went undefeated in round-robin play. (To see game photos click here.)

“This is a real exciting time for us” Kings’ GM/Head Coach Marlin Murray told CKDM-Dauphin. “We’re now only two wins away from a national championship. We’ll be ready on Saturday.

“We’re never going to have an easy game, but I thought our guys battled hard tonight against Brockville. We knew we had first place. It was also our third game in three nights and fourth in five nights….I thought we played well.”

Murray was particularly pleased with his veteran leadership.

“Ryan (Dreger), (Zeanan) Zeimer and (Shane) Luke are outstanding at this RBC Cup,” said Murray. “They are elite players. Ryan had a real good game and found openings offensively, giving him an opportunity to score. I like his work ethic and his forecheck.”

Kings’ sparkplug Ryan Dreger had one of those “can’t believe it” kind of games, scoring the game-winner midway through the third period and chipping in three assists to the giddy delight of more than 2,000 fans at Credit Union Place.

“Our line was really working well,” said Dreger. “We were getting pucks deep and putting the pressure on. The game winner wasn’t that pretty, but it still counts.”

Dreger admitted that physical and mental fatigue played a factor in Wednesday’s game.

“Definitely fatigue came into play,” he said. “We were a little tired and we kind of took our foot off the gas pedal for a bit….couple of bad shifts.”

It was during this time when the Blades scored three goals to deadlock the game in the third period. But Dreger scored the game winner midway through the period thanks to a pass from his buddy Luke.

Kings’ special teams, a key component to winning championships, were once against potent Wednesday chipping in with two powerplay goals and another when killing off a penalty.

Kings, who led 3-1 and 4-3 by periods, were led by Shane Luke and Bryce Lamb who scored a pair of goals apiece.

EXTRA POINTS: Kings’ Player of the Game was awarded to Dauphin native son Ryan Dreger...Winkler Flyers are expected to make an offer to the leading candidate for the vacant Head Coach/Director of Hockey Operations. "We are entering the final stretch now,” Flyers GM Henry Siemens stated on the Flyers’ website. “We have had a lot of very qualified applicants come forward. We've talked to eight different people, some of them a number of times. Right now we are down to our last one or two.

“We are preparing an offer and will make an offer to our choice in the next several days and hopefully that offer will be accepted and we can start moving forward.”