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Oil Caps earn three points on the road

Three players released
OC
Virden Oil Caps head on down the street in the Saturday evening Santa Claus Parade, Dec.7.

The Virden Oil Capitals were pretty happy with their weekend road trip.

The squad beat Winkler, 4-3, and fell to Dauphin, 3-2 in overtime. Head coach Tyson Ramsey said it is “certainly a good weekend when you can pick up three of four points on the road.” After Sunday, the Oil Capitals had a 15-13-2-2 record to sit seventh in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League with 24 points.

On Dec. 4, the Oil Caps started their road swing with a 5-2 loss to the Steinbach Pistons. Tanner Andrew and Hunter Cloutier had the team’s goals.

On Friday, defenceman Jayden Wojciechowski scored two goals and assisted on another in the third period as Virden came from behind to beat the Flyers. The Oil Caps had trailed 2-1 at the second intermission.

“I thought Friday in Winkler was a real good effort,” Ramsey said. “We defended well, got great goaltending and our offence was good. We got some offence from our back end which was nice, and I thought our forward group had lots of energy.”

Kyle Kozma made 35 saves for Virden. Besides Wojciechowski, the Oil Caps’s scorers were Bray Rookes and Hunter Andrew.

On Sunday, Virden led 1-0 in the first period, but Dauphin tied things up in the second. The Oil Caps went up 2-1 in the third, but a late penalty allowed the Kings to tie the contest on a powerplay. Brendan Arnold got the game-winning goal in OT.

“Sunday was a game we felt we let get away from us,” Ramsey said. “We were very good in the early part of the game and we seemed to get frustrated by the fact that we couldn’t capitalize on some chances. We were not the same team in the second and third and allowed them to take the momentum away.” 

Brett Paddock and Kolten Kanaski had Virden’s goals. Oil Caps goalie Ethan Peterson made 43 saves.

Roster Moves

Last week the Oil Capitals announced three players were no longer with the squad as the team maneuvered around the Dec. 1 deadline to cut down to 25 or less player cards. Virden got down to 22.

Oak Lake product Riley Wallace, a 19-year-old goaltender, and 20-year-old forward Bradyn Smelski were released. Twenty-year-old defenceman Jacob Evans was swapped to the Truro Bearcats of the Maritime Junior Hockey League for future considerations.

“Certainly, a tough day to say goodbye to three guys that were outstanding individuals in their time with our organization,” Ramsey said in a statement released by the team. “We would like to sincerely thank Jake, Riley and Bradyn for their time and commitment to our organization. They worked hard, and all three guys were excellent citizens in their time in our community.”

 

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