After a successful scheduling meeting in Neepawa at the beginning of June, the Manitoba Junior Hockey League officially announced their schedule this morning for the 2015-16 campaign.
A balanced schedule will be in effect once again for all 11 member clubs including 29 home games, 29 away games and two MJHL Showcase games that will be played October 2-3, 2015 at the MTS Iceplex in Winnipeg. The Oil Capitals Showcase opponents will be the Neepawa Natives and Portage Terriers. This means one less trip for Virden to Neepawa this season while the Oil Caps will lose a home game draw to the Terriers.
Virden will open up their schedule on Friday, September 25 against the defending RBC Cup Champions, the Portage Terriers. The two teams will return to Portage on Sunday for the Terriers home opener in what is anticipated to be their banner raising night.
For the Oil Capitals complete schedule, CLICK HERE.
Some notable games to forecast this season; Virden will take part in a “Pink Weekend” this season on October 23-25. The club will wear a new version of their pink uniforms in Portage on Friday, before coming home to play the Winkler Flyers on Saturday and the Terriers again on Sunday. More details of this weekend will be available at a later date.
Virden will play one other Sunday game on the season at home on October 18 against the Steinbach Pistons. This is projected to be this year’s “Skate with the Caps” game. This game, as well as the Sunday pink contest, are slated for 4:30 pm starts.
Closing out October on Halloween night will be the Oil Caps hosting the Selkirk Steelers in one of nine Saturday night match ups on the season.
The Oil Caps will host the Dauphin Kings on Saturday, December 19 for their final game heading into the Christmas Break.
Virden’s final home game of the season will be played on February 27 against the Winkler Flyers. The Oil Caps will close out the regular season schedule on March 1 in Steinbach against the Pistons.
In the end, the Oil Caps’ 29 home games breaks down to this:
Tuesday = 8 games
Wednesday = 2 games
Thursday = 2 games
Friday = 6 games
Saturday = 9 games
Sunday = 2 games
Virden will have four stretches throughout the season where they will play three games in three nights. Their longest home stand of the season comes in December where they will play four games in eight days on home ice. Meanwhile, the Oil Caps will be 17 days between home games through the middle of January.
Stay tuned later this summer for a full promotional schedule including the team’s annual TSL Teddy Bear Toss, hockey card night, and more…