Last week the Virden Oil Capitals split their home and home series with the OCN Blizzard.
The Manitoba Junior Hockey League squads tangled Friday in OCN with the hosts prevailing 4-1. Back in Virden on Saturday, Roux Bazin scored twice as the Oil Caps won 2-1. Virden goalie Owen LaRocque made 33 saves.
“Obviously huge points for us to pick up after playing in OCN the night before and not getting home until 3:45 am,” Virden head coach Tyson Ramsey said. “It was a gutsy effort by our group. Owen kept us in the game when we sagged a bit at times and on the (penalty kill) and Roux is starting to find the net with some consistency. It was a huge win.”
After a collision in that contest, LaRocque was transported by ambulance to hospital. He was treated, released, and will make a full recovery, the team stated online. Eric Reid came on to play the last 15 seconds.
Before playing OCN, five members of the Oil Caps organization participated in the MJHL/Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League Showcase Jan. 31-Feb. 1 in Winnipeg. Three MJHL squads featuring the league’s top players competed against their SJHL counterparts in front of scouts from various higher levels of hockey.
The MJHL 18U White team included Nolan Chastko and Josh Lehto. Chastko scored in each of the two games he played. Lehto recorded an assist during the Showcase. Dana Warrener of the Oil Caps served as the team’s athletic therapist. The squad fell 5-4 and 8-2 to SJHL 18U Blue.
Oil Caps defenceman David Bielik helped his MJHL 20U Black team shut out SJHL 20U White, 4-0. The MJHL squad fell to SJHL 20U Gold, 6-0. As the MJHL 20U Red head coach, Ramsey led it to a 4-2 victory over SJHL 20U White. The team lost 4-1 to SJHL 20U Gold.
“It was a great event for players specifically to showcase their talents to scouting groups,” Ramsey said. “For me, I enjoyed the competitiveness as well as working with coaches and players from other teams.”
LaRocque was named the MJHL Goalie of the Month for January. In five games played, he earned five wins, had a 1.80 goals against average, and a .943 save percentage.
On Saturday at the Tundra Oil & Gas Place, Riley Zimmerman gave OCN a 1-0 first period lead. Bazin then lit the lamp in the second and third periods. After the opening stanza, LaRocque and the Virden defence kept the Blizzard at bay. For OCN, Chase Hamm stopped 33 shots.
In OCN on Friday, the hosts led 2-0 and 3-1 at the intermissions. OCN added an empty net marker in the third period. Bazin scored Virden’s goal on a powerplay. He had four goals over his last three games entering this week.
Reid made 29 saves. Hamm had 16 for OCN. Scoring for the Blizzard were Zimmerman, Michael Hlady, Alex Bernauer, and Ashton Paul.
The Oil Caps hosted the Dauphin Kings Tuesday after the Empire-Advance deadline. On Friday the Winnipeg Blues visit. Saturday night the teams play in the Manitoba capital.
