The Virden Oil Capitals will look to get back on the winning track when it faces the Swan Valley Stampeders this weekend.
The Manitoba Junior Hockey League team fell twice last weekend to the Neepawa Titans. The 12-11-0-0 Oil Caps play a home-and-home series with Swan Valley (13-9-1-1) this weekend. The first game is Friday in Swan River. The second tilt goes on Saturday in Virden.
“Our focus will be to get back to our game and structure,” Virden head coach Tyson Ramsey said. “Our compete level needs to be good and we need to be better in terms of our execution and play with pace.”
In Virden last Friday the Oil Caps and Titans entered the final period knotted up at 3-3. The visitors outscored the Oil Caps 4-1 in the final frame on their way to a 7-4 win. Two of Neepawa’s third period goals came on the powerplay. The Titans were three-for-four on the powerplay.
The Oil Caps scored half their goals with the man advantage as they went two-for-three on the powerplay. Virden got three goals from its blueline with Trevor Hunt lighting the lamp twice and David Bielik once. Captain Brody Wilson also scored. Virden goalie Eric Reid made 29 saves.
Carter McLeod and Parker Korman both scored twice for Neepawa. Fellow Titans Briley Wood, Connor Thompson and Brayden Michalchuk also had goals. Gavin Renwick had 25 saves.
McLeod and Hayden Stocks of the Titans were the first and third stars, respectively, of the game. Stocks had three assists. Hunt was named the second star. The Oil Caps’ Dean Gorchynski was named the Gardewine Hardest Working Player.
On Saturday night, the host Titans shut out the Oil Caps, 7-0. Special teams played a huge role in the contest. Neepawa was six-for-14 on the powerplay while Virden was zero-for-one. The Oil Caps were whistled for 16 infractions for 51 penalty minutes. It was an unusual number of penalty minutes for a Virden squad that enters this week with the third lowest PIMs in the MJHL – 314 in 23 games for an average of 13.6. Owen LaRocque made 21 saves for Virden. Neepawa netminder Mason Lobreau stopped all 23 shots he faced.
Wood had two goals for Neepawa. The other Titans’ scorers were Ewan Poirier, Stocks, Thompson, McLeod, and Michalchuk.
The Oil Caps were to tangle with the Terriers Sunday but earlier in the week it was announced that the contest in Portage would be rescheduled to Jan. 11.
Plaisier joins team
Last week hometown product Ty Plaisier joined the Oil Caps from the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League. The son of Shawn and Debra Plaisier saw action in seven games for the Pats. The 6-foot-1, 168-pound defenceman played both games for Virden last weekend.
Oil Caps sign Wuerfel
The Oil Capitals team received its first commitment for next season in 2005-born forward Aidan Wuerfel. As of Monday, the 5-foot-11, 170-pound forward had four goals and 14 assists in 16 games for the U18 AAA Winnipeg Wild. He serves as an assistant captain for the team.
“We are very excited that Aidan has committed to us for next season,” Ramsey said. “He is a very good player who will bring so many great things to our group. He plays a hard, gritty game and has the ability to score. He also brings exceptional character, so we are very happy to have him join our team.”
