Lucas Laramee was excited to get back on the ice this week with the Virden Oil Capitals.  The Manitoba Junior Hockey League team held its annual Comfort Inn & Suites Fall Training Camp at Tundra Oil & Gas Place on Sept. 1-3. The camp took place after the Empire-Advance deadline. Last season, Laramee, a rookie forward from La Broquerie, learned the ropes of the Junior A league while helping the Oil Caps make it all the way to the league finals.

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   “What I’m most looking forward to is getting back in town and re-connecting with the amazing people, along with getting back in that rink with teammates from last year, and seeing all the new talent and players coming in to join the team,” he said.  Tyson Ramsey, the Oil Capitals’ head coach and general manager, said the team expected to have about 55 players at fall camp. He said he is looking forward to “seeing guys back from last year’s team, and it’s always really interesting to see how much some of the players have developed physically over the course of the off-season, especially some of our younger prospects.”

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    With camp over, the local team now jumps into preseason competition. The Oil Capitals open their exhibition schedule Sept. 4 against the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League’s Yorkton Terriers at Tundra Oil & Gas Place. They travel to Yorkton the following night before travelling to Weyburn on Sept. 7 to face the SJHL’s Red Wings. The Oil Capitals then visit the MJHL’s Portage Terriers on Sept. 8, with Portage coming to Virden the next day for the exhibition finale at Tundra Oil & Gas Place.

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  “Playing the SJ teams just gives us and our fans a different look for the preseason,” Ramsey said. “We obviously play the teams in our league quite a bit during the regular season, especially teams in our division, so it's exciting to see some different teams and different arenas. We are fortunate in that geographically we are real close to some of the eastern MJ teams.”

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    The Oil Caps will start the regular season on the road Sept. 18 against the Waywayseecappo Wolverines. The next night, the teams clash again in Virden for the Oil Capitals’ home opener.