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Oil Caps pick MacKenzie, seven others in MJHL Draft

“It was a good day for our organization,”-Tyson Ramsey

Pipestone’s Luke MacKenzie could soon be playing close to home in a Virden Oil Capitals jersey.
The son of Gavin and Cheryl MacKenzie was selected in the second round, 23rd overall, last Sunday in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League Draft. He was one of squad’s eight 2006-born selections. 
“What excites me the most about being selected by the Caps is just how close to home Virden is for me,” said MacKenzie, a forward. “I have gone to my fair share of Oil Caps games in the past and I am very familiar with the town and the rink for sure. It is very exciting that the Oil Caps are giving me a chance and that they believe in me, I am very thankful for that, and I can’t wait to get to work this summer.”
Prior to draft, the Oil Caps auto-protected hometown forward Bryce Bryant. On draft day, the team picked five forwards, two defencemen and a goalie.
“It was a good day for our organization,” Virden general manager and head coach Tyson Ramsey said. “Our scout group, led by our head scout Brian Elder, put together a great list as always and we were able to make selections that were high on our list. We addressed some things we thought we needed to focus on in terms of some size and skill and we also got some depth at each position. It was a great day, and we are looking forward to getting these guys on the ice for our prospect camp in August.”
MacKenzie was selected by the Oil Caps after being tabbed in the eighth round of the Western Hockey League Prospect Draft by the Kelowna Rockets last year. The 5-foot-11, 170-pounder had 14 goals and 32 points in 41 games for the Southwest Cougars.
“Luke is a big body forward that does a lot of things very well,” Ramsey said. “He can skate, he can be an offensive threat and he can play a grinding, heavy game. He has a good hockey IQ and he can be very hard to play against as he showed in this year's playoffs and the Telus Cup Regionals here in Virden. We were very happy to see that Luke was available to us when we picked in the second round. We can see Luke becoming a very, very good Oil Cap.”
The Oil Caps started their draft day by picking Brandon’s Cole Slobodian with the seventh overall pick in the first round. The 5-foot-11, 160-pound defenceman recorded two goals and 16 assists in 43 games for the Brandon U18 AAA Wheat Kings this past winter.
“Cole is a smooth skating two-way defenceman,” U18 AAA Wheat Kings head coach Curtis Brolund said. “He uses his legs to escape pressure situations and makes a great first pass. He is equally effective away from the puck where he uses his size and a very good stick to close on opponents quickly. Cole is a great young man that comes from a wonderful family, he plays the game hard and the right way every night. The Oil Caps gained a very good young prospect.”
The team’s other selections were:
Jeremiah Warkentine
Round 2, 25th overall
6-foot, 170 pound forward
Linden
Eastman Selects U17 AAA (20 games, 7 goals, 19 assists, 26 points)
Eastman Selects U18 AAA (18 games, 5G, 2A, 7PTs)
Oil Caps Comment: Big body with great work ethic, physical presence, puts up numbers.
Jaxson Fillion
Round 3, 35th overall
6-foot-1, 160-pound forward
Winnipeg
Winnipeg Bruins U17 AAA (25 games, 14G, 20A,    34PTs)
Oil Caps comment: Great energy guy. Willing to go to the net, competes shift in and shift out.
Rhylan Baxter
Round 4, 51st overall
5-foot-10, 141-pound defenceman
Winnipeg
Winnipeg Wild U17 AAA (30 games, 11G, 10A, 21 PTS)
Oil Caps comment: Plays a very effective defensive game, good first pass, extremely high ceiling.
Ethan Simcoe
Round 6, 79th overall
5-foot, 150-pound goalie
Lac du Bonnet
Rink H.A. Winnipeg U16 Prep (19 games, 0.910 save percentage, 3.5 goals against average)
Oil Caps comment: Agile, aggressive, great at tracking the puck
Campbell Epp
Round 6, 84th overall
5-foot-10, 169-pound forward
Winnipeg
Winnipeg Monarchs U15 AAA (5 games, 1 G, 0A,     1PT)                        
Westwood Collegiate (23 games, 14G, 12A, 26PTs)
Oil Caps comment: Big body, goal scorer, high end character.
Parker Rolston
Round 8, 106th overall
5-foot-7, 125-pound forward
Winnipeg, MB 
Winnipeg Wild U17 (30 games, 10G, 6A, 16PTs)
Oil Caps comment: Great character, loves to compete, willing to play in the hard areas.

    
 

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