Virden Oil Capitals looking strong so far in the MJHL

The Virden Oil Capitals certainly made a statement last weekend in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League.

The Caps defeated the Niverville Nighthawks in a re-match of the 2026 Turnbull Cup final, out-shooting the defending champions 45-16 in a 3-2 win, then travelled the next night and took down last season’s second-place finisher in the regular season Steinbach 7-5.

Virden had to travel the day after their game, while Steinbach was able to recover and prepare at home, but that didn’t stop the Oil Caps offense from exploding for six non-empty net goals.

Head coach and general manager Tyson Ramsey has some key players returning to the roster, and was sure to shout out forward Tyson Draper and defenseman Lincoln Black-Greaves for setting the tone in practice for their new players.

“We’ve got a really great returning group,” Ramsey said.

“Those guys lead the way… They play fast, and they’re really good kids on and off the ice. We’re really proud of that group and the leadership they’ve shown this younger group so far.”

The Oil Capitals were especially dangerous off the rush against Steinbach, in a carbon copy of how they defeated the Pistons in the playoffs last season.

“Sometimes that up and down isn’t a coach’s dream, but we want to be dangerous off the rush,” Ramsey said.

“We want to have our d-men join. If we’re going to be a team that plays fast, we want to have that as part of our game plan, but you have to have the puck if you want to be fast.”

Virden split an opening weekend back-to-back with Waywayseecappo, which are also expected to be a strong team this season.

“The best teams in this league, we played one of them tonight, they’re hard to break through,” Ramsey said.

“The more you can put pucks on goal and be heavy and have people get there, the better chance you’re going to have to score.”

Since moving to Virden in the 2012/2013 season, the Oil Capitals have made the MJHL finals three times, losing all three times. They’ve only missed the playoffs twice and have advanced to the semi-finals four other times.

“The group is extremely coachable,” Ramsey said.

“You can see all weekend they were trying the stuff we’ve been talking about in practice, and we’ve only had a couple weeks of practice. That’s really satisfying as a coach.”

La Broquerie’s Lucas Laramee could be in a bigger role this year for the Oil Capitals. He saw action in 36 games last year as a 2008-born player, but only made the playoff line-up twice for Virden.

Laramee opened his goal-scoring account for the year in Steinbach, getting rewarded for a good all-around game.

“This was his best (game) tonight in my opinion,” Ramsey said.

“He was heavy tonight, he skates well, he’s a big body so in the second period especially, he turned a lot of pucks over for us just by getting in on the forecheck and finishing checks up ice.”

For more MJHL coverage including game recaps, stats and scores, be sure to check out the print edition of The Carillon