The Oil Caps are moving on to the second round of the MJHL playoffs. Below are a few players’ thoughts after their series win over the Selkirk Steelers.
Question: What’s going through your head knowing you’re a step closer to winning a league title this year?
Morgan Magwood – “It’s very exciting, but that’s just step one to our journey here. We just need to regroup and get ready for the next series as we still have lots of work to get done.”
Kirklan Lycar – “Obviously there’s a lot of excitement heading into round two. We know as each game goes by and with each win, we’re a step closer. I think we just need to appreciate where we are and stay in the moment. It’ll be important to try and keep things as normal as possible. We just need to play our game, but at the same time, I think it’s important we recognize how special of a team we have here.”
Kolten Kanaski – “A lot of excitement and anticipation comes to my mind now that we’re one step closer to a championship. If this was the year to bring a league title back to Virden, these are the guys I’d want to have by my side.”
Tyler Kirkup – “It’s an awesome feeling, everybody in the room was happy about the series win and we’re all eager to move on and get playing some more.”
Jeran Knorr – “It was a good first series for us as I felt we played consistently throughout the five games.”
Graeme Hore – “It’s a pretty good feeling. The team is obviously really happy, but we know we got lots more hockey left to play. I’m excited to keep going.”
Question: Is it good knowing the club now has a few days off to mend the wounds so-to-speak as you gear up for round two?
Magwood – “It’s obviously nice to get that series done and be able to get some rest and get healed up as this next series is going to be even more tough.”
Lycar – “I think anytime you can get some rest it bodes well for a team especially gearing up for a deep playoff run. We’re happy to have a few days off here, kick back and get ready for round two.”
Kanaski – “It’s good having these couple extra days to heal up, catch up on sleep and work on some of the kinks.”
Kirkup – “Yes, some guys need a couple days rest to get healthy again and hopefully we can get everybody back into the lineup by the start of the next series.”
Knorr – “It’s always nice to get out of a series as quick as you can. It gives us more time to rest up and prepare for our next opponent.”
Hore – “Yeah, it’s nice to have a few days off to find out who we’re going to play and to get some rest for the next round.”
As of of this article being published, the Oil Caps still don’t know who they’ll be facing in round two. If the Portage Terriers come back in their series and defeat the Blues (Winnipeg currently leads series 3-2), then Virden will battle Portage. If the Blues end up winning, the Oil Caps will battle the Winkler Flyers.
Game 6 between the Blues and Terriers takes place tonight in Winnipeg.