With a deep squad that has been entertaining fans, the Virden Oil Capitals are off to their best start in team history.
The Oil Caps, which moved as the Saints to the community from Winnipeg in 2012, are 16-4-0-0 in their first 20 games. With a third of the 60-game Manitoba Junior Hockey League season completed, Virden had six players, including injured Ben Dalke, averaging at least a point a game and three others at 0.92 or above. Virden’s own Tyler Kirkup led the way with 26 points in 20 games.
Fun Team to Watch
“I really think as a lineup, we are set up offensively quite well. We are a fun team to watch,” said Jamie Hodson, the Oil Capitals’ director of business and hockey operations. “That’s the brand of hockey I really enjoy. We’d rather win games 5-4 or 6-5 than 1-0. It’s good for the fans.”
Hodson praised general manager and head coach Troy Leslie and assistant coach Dale Lewis for how they have led the team and developed its young players. He is excited to see what happens the rest of the season.
“We are certainly getting into the meat of our schedule now,” said Hodson, who noted the team has had a fairly favourable schedule early on.
Faithful Fan Base
Fans have been coming out in record numbers to Tundra Oil & Gas Place to support the Oil Capitals.
“We couldn’t be more pleased with the fan base and the increase in attendance this year,” Hodson said.
The team has strived to make games exciting on and off the ice for the Oil Caps faithful and to connect with the community.
Hodson praised the team’s game hosts so far this season and said more excitement is to come. For example, Nov. 30’s game against Waywayseecappo will be Hockey Fights Cancer Night. Special warmup jerseys will be auctioned off with proceeds going to cancer associations.
On Dec. 21, it will be Agriculture Appreciation Night. The special event will include, among other things, auctioning off an ag-inspired third jersey with some proceeds going to local 4-H clubs.
Depth was something that the Oil Capitals were striving for – and have achieved – this season, Hodson said.
“We wanted to be a four-line team and that includes younger guys sprinkled through the lineup. Even on the backend, we have six D who can play on a given night. We don’t rely on two or three D,” said Hodson, who noted that any line can score at any given time.
On defence, the Oil Capitals have a 17-year-old, three 18-year-olds, two 19-year-olds, and a pair of 20-year-old veterans. Hodson said he feels the team has “found a pretty good balance right now” on the back end.
Young Players
In regards to such youngsters as 17-year-old Justin Lee and 18-year-old rookies Brayden Pawluk and Jayden Wojciechowski, Hodson said, “These guys are growing in leaps and bounds throughout this season and it is only going to help moving forward.”
The youth for Virden is not just found on the blue line. The Oil Capitals are carrying five 17-year-olds, including hometown product Tanner Andrew. All, except Lee, are forwards.
“Having that fresh blood and those guys keep pushing our veterans for minutes - they really bring a type of tenacity to the lineup every night because they see it as a small window and they have to play at the top of their game to continue to be in the lineup,” Hodson said. “The competition factor has been really good.”
In net, the Oil Capitals have second-year man Riley McVeigh, 19, and rookie Dalton Dosch, 18. Hodson said that Dosch is hard working and is coming into his own. He stated, “We certainly believe in the tandem that we have to lead us.”
No. 1 Goalie
McVeigh is in his first season as the team’s No. 1 goalie. Hodson, a former Western Hockey League and professional goalie, praised McVeigh for developing on the mental side of the game and learning how to look past a poor goal against.
“I think he really is starting to come into his own the last number of games and starting to find a rhythm. I think he knows he has another year and he’s starting to have the ability to get there more often and more consistently. He has been good as it is. As a team, we know he’s going to get better as the year goes on.”
The Oil Capitals roster has been around 25 players lately. It has paid dividends, Hodson said, with the injury woes and other factors the team has faced. Dec. 1 is the MJHL deadline for teams to get down to 25 players. If teams reduce past that, they gain some flexibility to make moves before the Jan. 10 trade deadline.
While Hodson said the team would like to get down to around 22 or 23 players, he emphasized, “It is not something for the players to focus on. They got to continue to work hard and make these decisions tough on us as a staff.”
Virden Products
This year’s roster includes three Virden products in Kirkup, Andrew and defenceman Tristen Cross. All three played in Southwest Cougars regional system, which includes midget AAA and bantam AAA teams, and so did four of their Oil Capitals teammates.
“We want southwestern and western Manitoba kids to play in Virden. I grew up wanting to be a (Brandon) Wheat King. I want kids to grow up in the local area wanting to be an Oil Cap,” said Hodson, who noted in the future he’d like to see more players the Yellowhead AAA system on the team.
The Oil Capitals are not afraid to scour the continent to get the players they want. This year’s team includes talent from all four western provinces and Ontario. In the past, players have come from such places as Texas and Alaska to play.
“We want to utilize the talent and resources wherever to bring in the players who want to be here to get to the next level and also want to be here to someday lead this team to a championship,” Hodson said.
