The Manitoba Junior Hockey League announced their monthly awards earlier this week and have recognized a pair of Virden Oil Capitals. Sean Kuehn has been named the MJHL’s MGEU Goaltender of the Month while forward, Dylan Thiessen, has been named the MJHL IBAM Rookie of the Month for the month of November.
In the crease, Kuehn was rock solid for the Oil Caps posting six straight wins in his last six appearances for a 6-2 record on the month. During that time, the native of Flower Mound, TX posted a .918 save percentage to go along with a 2.86 goals against average. He was recognized as the league’s Recycle Everywhere Player of the Week earlier in the month and has also been recognized by the Oil Caps as their MNP Player of the month for November as well.
Thiessen has been equally as impressive during the month as he accumulated nine points (4 G, 5 A) in 12 games en route to earning the Rookie of the Month honours. In 29 games on the season, he now has 19 points (9 G, 10 A) which is good enough for third in the league in rookie scoring and ties him for first for most goals amongst first-year players. Two of his four goals during November were game winners against Dauphin and Winkler as he helped pace the Oil Caps to a 7-3-2 record on the month.
Virden currently sits fifth in the standings with a 14-11-4 record and will face the Dauphin Kings (11-15-4) and Steinbach Pistons (17-7-3) on the weekend.
Saturday night is the team’s TSL Teddy Bear Toss and will be the unveiling of the team’s new mascot. Fans are encouraged to bring a new or gently used stuffed animal to the game to be thrown on the ice after the Oil Caps score their first goal. The team is looking to top last year’s number of 248 stuffed animals that were collected for the Virden Christmas Cheer. Game time on Saturday night is 7:30 pm.
On Sunday, it is a rare 2:30 pm matchup when the Steinbach Pistons come to town in a 4th vs 5th place matchup. Sunday is the team’s MGEU Family Skate Game. Fans are encouraged to bring their skates and skate with the players following the game.