The Virden Oil Kings and Miniota C-Hawks are seeking senior hockey success in the postseason.
The C-Hawks went undefeated through the North Central Hockey League regular season. They will open the postseason against fourth-seeded Waywayseecappo this weekend.
The Oil Kings placed third in the Tiger Hills Hockey League’s Western Division. Their playoffs started on home ice Thursday with a 5-4 win against Melita, the West’s No. 6 seed.
Oil Kings
Game two of the Oil Kings/Bisons quarterfinals will be played Friday in Melita. If necessary, the third and final game of the series will be Sunday in Virden. The Oil Kings (10-8-0-0) won the season series against the Bisons (5-13-0-0), 2-1 with both of their victories coming by a goal.
“The Bisons are always a tough team to play, they have always had good commitment and work hard,” Virden coach Tyler Campbell said. “We’re looking forward to the challenge in the first round. Some key points will be that we need to stick to our style of hockey. We have a good record playing at home, we play best in our barn, so that will be a key factor having home ice advantage. We are a fast, skilled team that needs to stick to what we do best.”
The Oil Kings moved from the NCHL to the THHL last season. The squad only played two games, going 1-1, before the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The first real regular season has been fantastic in the THHL,” Campbell said. “We were competitive with every team in the West. … The THHL a is very competitive league and, for our first full season, I think we made some strides in the right direction to establish that we are a respected hockey club and will be for the foreseeable future.”
In the regular season, Drake Bodie paced Virden with 23 points in 16 games. Eric Lemoine led the Oil Kings with 10 goals in 16 games. Goaltender Riley Lamb backstopped Virden to six wins this season.
C-Hawks
After a perfect 12-0-0-0 regular season, the C-Hawks face Waywayseecappo in the four-team NCHL’s semifinals. As of Tuesday, the Warriors were 0-10-0-1.
The C-Hawks host the Waywayseecappo squad in Miniota on Friday. The teams play the next day in Waywayseecappo. If the series goes to three games, it will be in Miniota on Feb. 26.
In regard to the C-Hawks’ success this season, coach Garth Mitchell said, “we are very fortunate to have a really dedicated and talented group of players that play hard and play very well together.”
Jason Bowles led the C-Hawks and the NCHL in scoring with 53 points in 12 games. He was followed in the league scoring race by his brothers Brad (51 points and a league-high 37 assists) and Shawn (50). Teammate Taylor Sanheim led the league with 29 goals in 12 games. With the Bowles brothers, Sanheim (49 points) and Kelsey McLeod (38), Elkhorn boasted the NCHL’s top five scorers. As well, Curtis Gardham was seventh (25), Josh Martin ninth (17) and Devrin Stonehouse 11th (17). Among goalies who played more than one game, Cory Gardham topped the league with a 2.00 goals against average. Teammate Ian Oliver was second with a 2.11 GAA. Including all NCHL goalies, the C-Hawks had the top four GAAs in the league with Josh Peterson (1.00) and Cody Rookes (3.00) playing well when each made an appearance.
