By  Derek Holtom /
 
The Dauphin Kings are sitting pretty early this year, to no one’s surprised. The scary thing is, they’re not done adding players. Can anyone challenge the Kings in the Sher-Wood Division?

Dauphin Kings
The Dauphin Kings’ roster has remained fluid, as they continue to ship players out while signing more WHL veterans.
The Kings recently shipped 19-year-old forward Logan Gabel to the Trenton Golden Hawks of the Ontario Junior A Hockey League for future considerations.
Gabel, from Chestermere, Alta., had one lone assist in four games with the Kings before he was shipped out of province. Gabel was acquired from the Brooks Bandits of the AJHL earlier in the season.
After the Kings made some room, they brought in two more players with Western Hockey League experience, as they attempt to find the perfect mix of players in their march to the RBC Cup.
The Kings signed 20-year old defenceman Patrick Kozyra and 20-year-old forward Cody Esposito.
Kozyra, a 6-2, 195-pounder started this season with the Prince Albert Raiders. The Sherwood Park, Alta.-product had two goals and 27 assists in his WHL career, which included stops with the Raiders, Medicine Hat Tigers, Spokane Chiefs and Red Deer Rebels over three seasons.
Esposito is even bigger, coming in at 6-3 and weighing 204-lb. The Airdrie, Alta., native spent parts of three seasons with the Spokane Chiefs and Red Deer Rebels before joining the Kings. Esposito recorded nine goals and 20 assists along with 318 penalty minutes in 167 career WHL games.
Adding more WHL players to a team with the likes of Steven Shamanski, the Sher-Wood Hockey Defenceman of the Month, makes the Kings look awfully strong.

Portage Terriers
Like the Selkirk Steelers, the Terriers only played 10 games in the first month of the season.
And like the Winkler Flyers, they’ve been streaky. They dropped their opening game, won three straight, lost four straight, before winning games nine and 10.
The Terriers look like a team still trying to find their identity. Are they a tough team? A defensive squad? Rebuilding? A little of everything?
One constant has been the play of Tyler Moore. The veteran Terrier posted 18 points in the first 10 games. The Terriers are scoring 4.4 goals per game thanks to the play of Moore and other veterans such as Cole Brunet and 20-year-old Jared Whincup, who looks to have found new life playing in his hometown after a rough couple of years with the Swan Valley Stampeders.
If the Terriers can keep the goals-for average one above their goals against, they should see more winning streaks than losing streaks this season.

Neepawa Natives
The Neepawa Natives are no strangers to playing home games on the road. And in October, they had a chance to be part of a special ‘home game’ in Cartwright.
Two years ago, the arena in Cartwright burned down.
The community pulled together, built a new arena, and they officially opened it on Oct. 13 when the Natives lost a close 6-5 shootout game to the visiting Winnipeg South Blues.
The shootout loss snapped a three-game winning streak, but the Natives are close on the heels of the Stampeders and Blizzard for second place in the division.
The improved team play is due in part to netminder Ryan Bembridge. The top young prospect posted the second best GAA at 2.37 a month into the season, along with a 5-1-0-1 record.

Swan Valley Stampeders
After a sizzling 8-3 start, the Stampeders dropped three straight, including both games at the annual MJHL Showcase event.
Head coach Dwayne Kirkup said it’s going to be a battle every night all across the province.
“We just weren’t sharp,” he said after the three losses. “There were a lot of areas we weren’t good at, and with so much parity in the league, when you have a bad night, you know the result.”
The Stampeders have been an early surprise in the Sher-Wood Division. The impressive play of Ryan Marshall, the MJHL’s RBC Player of Month, and the surprise addition of defenceman Paul Bonar from the WHL have the Stampeders thinking this could be a turnaround season for them.

OCN Blizzard
A month into the season and the Blizzard played their way into a tie for second place with the Swan Valley Stampeders. That seems to be the only prize up for grabs in the Sher-Wood Division this year, and it looks as though it’s going to be a real battle for second place all season long.
Strong goaltending seems to be a common theme in the MJHL this year, and the Blizzard can boast the first netminder of the month. David Aime was named the first GDI Prairies Goaltender of the Month. He posted a 1.94 GAA and .937 save percentage in 433 minutes played.
The Blizzard also saw one of their players earn the MJHL Player of the Week award. Jordan Hebert impressed the judges with a five-goals-in-three-games performance.
OCN was an early pick of many to compete for second place, and it looks as though they’re not disappointing.

Waywayseecappo Wolverines
After a couple of entertaining years, the Waywayseecappo Wolverines might be in store for a rebuilding year.
Losing some of their top snipers from last year, the Wolverines have struggled to score, denting the twine only 25 times in 13 games. They are also the only team to fall to the Steinbach Pistons through the first month of the season.
The Wolverines do have assets, though. Netminder Jayme Janzen has an impressive .920 save percentage this year. Any team looking to upgrade their goaltending, and with some blue-chip prospects to offer, might be able to make a deal with the Wolverines this year.