Carson Cherepak made his first start with the Dauphin Kings on Saturday, September 18, 2021.
He was outstanding as the then 19-year-old from Winnipeg turned away 45 shots in a 1-0 win against the Neepawa Titans. It was the first of three straight wins for Carson in net and he ended up winning 30 regular season games for Dauphin, racking up six shutouts along the way.
Entering the playoffs, Cherepak helped punch Dauphin’s ticket to the second round as he made 40 saves in 83:15 minutes in a thrilling 3-2 overtime win for Dauphin. In their series against Winkler, Carson made 27 saves in the series-clinching 5-1 win that sent Dauphin to the finals.
In that series against Steinbach, Cherepak came to play as expected and his biggest save ended up being a series saver it saw Dauphin lift the Turnbull Cup as MJHL champions.
Carson ended up being named the playoff’s most valuable player. Moving ahead to the Centennial Cup, Cherepak was incredible as he posted a tournament-best 1.19 goals-against average to go along with a .961 save percentage. He was named both the Centennial Cup MVP along with the top goaltender at the tournament.
Cherepak is now south of the border playing NCAA Division 1 hockey with Rensselaer Polytech Institute (RPI).
“Things are going very well here at RPI,” offered Cherepak. “I’m really enjoying it and I’m learning every day.”
While it’s been quite some time since Carson has been in Dauphin since helping the team advance to last year’s national semifinal, that wait is about to come to an end. He will be in town on Saturday for the team’s final pre-Christmas game against Waywayseecappo.
He will also be joined by Logan Calder and Cordell Coleman who will also be in town. That will bring the total of players on last year’s championship team to 10 and they will all spend a great time together.
“I’m really excited, I have been looking forward to this for quite a while, to come back and see everyone,” said Cherepak. “It’s going to be a great chance to remember everything that we accomplished, it’s going to be really cool.”
Champions will be in the building on Saturday and you’re invited to join them as Dauphin hosts Waywayseecappo in a critical West Division matchup.
Cherepak Question & Answer:
What is one thing you remember from last year’s run? That Stampeders series that we won in six games was super fun, overtime playoff hockey, it doesn’t get much better than that
What about the championship final against Steinbach? Couldn’t cap it off in a better way. Steinbach was the favourite, we had a bunch of guys that were sick. We just came together and overcame it, there wasn’t any amount of adversity that was going to stop us and that was amazing to be a part of