The Virden Oil Capitals open the 2018-2019 season this weekend with a roster featuring strong returning leaders and many new faces.
Nine regulars are back from last year’s squad that went to the Manitoba Junior Hockey League finals. During the regular season, the team compiled a 40-17-3 regular season, the team’s best since moving from Winnipeg in 2012, to finish second on the league.
“Each year is exciting for different reasons,” said Jamie Hodson, the Oil Capitals’ director of business and hockey operations. “Last year it was exciting to have a veteran-laden team and a lot of returning guys. We knew expectations were there. This year the shoe is on the other foot, but at the same time our expectations are to compete for a championship every year.”
The Oil Capitals open the MJHL season on the road against the Dauphin Kings on Saturday night. The same two teams battle on Sunday at the Tundra Oil & Gas Place.
“What I look forward to the most this season is just getting back onto the ice with yet another great group of guys,” said veteran forward Kolton Kanaski. “Not only do we have the skill to achieve great things this year, we also have the character to play hard night in and night out.”
Hodson said,“Win or lose, we are going to battle every night – making it tough on our opponents.”
The returning players have impressed with their approach to the upcoming season and how they have established themselves as leaders. Up front this includes such players as Kanaski, fourth-year forward Ben Dalke, and second-year men Jack Einarson, Josh Belcher, Hunter Cloutier, and Brayden Pawluk, who can also play defence. Jayden Wojciechowski and Virden’s own Tristen Cross return on the blue line, while Dalton Dosch, who backed up Riley McVeigh last season, is back in goal.
“They all came into camp ready to go and looking to lead by example with such a young team and a lot of rookies and a lot of new faces,” said Hodson, who also praised veteran defenceman Brock Shwaluk,acquired in the offseason. “I feel that our veteran group has led by example and taken the bull by the horns.”
The young players are looking to learn from the veterans as well as the coaching staff led by head coach Troy Leslie and assistant Tyson Ramsey.
“We have a group of kids who are sponges on our hockey team,” Hodson said. “They want to get better and they understand that our culture is we want to win all the time – no matter.”
Among the young players on this year’s squad are Virden’s Tanner Andrew and Oak Lake’s Riley Wallace. Andrew, a forward, played 15 games for the Oil Caps before returning to be a top contributor and key leader for the Southwest Cougars midget AAA team. He was teammates there with Wallace, a goaltender who has earned a spot in the Virden crease.
The former pro goalie believes “it is important for a young team, such as ours, to hold our own for the first 10, 20 games of the year.” He said that if the young players can get comfortable in the first third of the season, the last two-thirds will hopefully be less of a grind.
The Oil Capitals were 3-3 in the exhibition season.
“Camp and the exhibition have been a good learning experience,” Hodson said. “It has allowed us to see our young guys and really put them through their paces. … I know our coaching staff with Troy and Tyson have really hit the ice running with a lot of coaching to do and getting our guys up to speed.”
The Oil Capitals’ exhibition record includes two rookie games. This season the MJHL allowed 15-year-olds, many of which were selected in the league’s draft earlier this year, to play in rookie games.
“I think that is a good thing for our league and our guys who, just out of the draft, maybe weren’t aware what the MJHL is quite as much,” Hodson said. “To get them involved in the game to open their eyes up – I think that was a great experience to start with.”
