September 1st
Virden, MB – The Virden Oil Capitals open the MJHL pre-season tonight in Portage against the defending National Champion Terriers.
The game is being called a “Rookie Game” and both teams are expected to ice a young lineup.
After three days of camp and two days of practice, both the players and the coaches are excited to get things going for real.
“When you start rolling into pre-season games and playing other teams, it’s nice to see the level of compete go up” Head Coach Troy Leslie told CKLQ.
The Oil Capitals youngsters will have some time to prove themselves as they face a seven game exhibition schedule.
The way the coaching staff sees it, it will be interesting to see how the roster shapes up.
”We think we’ve got solid goaltending and a solid backend,” added Leslie
“We have a lot of depth up front, just a matter of seeing which guys are going to score for us. We might be scoring by committee a little bit.”
Game time at the PCU Centre in Portage is 7:30pm.
The Oil Caps will return home on Saturday for an inter-provincial battle with the Estevan Bruins. Game time at TOGP is 7:30.
ROOKIE GAME ROSTER vs PORTAGE TERRIERS
1. Nathan Cvar (98) Interlake Lightning
2. Morgan Magwood (97) Southwest Cougars
3. Tristen Cross (97) Southwest Cougars
6. Evan Armstrong (97) Swift Current Legionnaires
9. Kyle Salaway (97) Battlefords Stars
10. Ben Dalke (98) Pembina Valley Hawks
11. Tony Haley (97) Grand Forks High School
12. Carson Ransom (98) Vincent Massey High School
13. Elisha Bambridge (97) Antler River High School
15. Tyler Dereniwski (97) Yellowhead Chiefs
16. McCullough Park (99) Deloraine High School
17. Kyle Braybrook (97) Southwest Cougars
18. Will Middleton (98) Interlake Lightning
19. John Patmore (99) Southwest Cougars
23. Brayden Pawluk (99) Interlake City Lightning
25. Tanner Gaudry (99) Vincent Massy High School
27. Keesin Richard (97) Vincent Massey High School
29. Derek Cross (97) Yellowhead Chiefs
31. Mike Newberger (96) Vegerville Junior B Rangers