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The Virden Oil Capitals earned a dominant victory last week and received some good news.

The Oil Caps and goalie Braxton Burdeny shut out the visiting Swan Valley Stampeders, 6-0, on Nov. 1. The win improved Virden’s record to 9-5-0-0.

“I thought we were good in all areas of our game,” Virden head coach Tyson Ramsey said. “We defended well, our goaltender was good again, and we generated offence in a few different ways. Special teams were also good. It was a good game to build on.”

For area sports fans, it was likely the highlight of a challenging day of athletic competition. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ season ended with a loss to Montreal in the Canadian Football League playoffs. Then, after the Oil Caps’ contest, the Toronto Blue Jays fell in 11 innings to the Los Angeles Dodgers in game seven of Major League Baseball’s World Series. The Oil Capitals had moved up their game time so it would not conflict with the World Series.

Earlier in the week, the Manitoba Junior Hockey League and the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League announced the rosters for the Western All-Star Challenge. Virden’s own Bryce Bryant and teammates Lincoln Black-Greaves and Colten Worthington were all selected for the Nov. 3–5 event.

“We are proud of those three guys,” Ramsey said. “They definitely deserve the recognition by our league, and we are excited for them to take part this week. I know they will represent the Oil Caps, the MJHL and themselves very well and we are looking forward to watching them play.”

On Nov. 7, the Oil Capitals will host the Neepawa Titans. The next day, the Virden team travels to Steinbach to take on the Pistons.

Oil Caps 6, Stampeders 0

Burdeny made 32 saves to record his second shutout of the season. The 20-year-old from Winnipeg earned the First Star.

The Oil Capitals gave their hard-working netminder plenty of offensive support. They fired 50 shots at the Swan Valley net. Stamps goalie Easton Falls stopped 44 of them.

After a scoreless first period, the Oil Capitals scored twice in the second session. In the third period, they put four pucks past Falls.

London Hoilett lit the lamp twice for Virden. He was named the game’s Second Star. Carson Wright, who opened the contest with a power-play goal, was the Third Star. Also scoring for Virden were Bryant (on a power play), Cohen Lewko, and Oak Lake Beach’s Tyson Draper. Worthington and Noel Englot each recorded two assists.

Western All-Star Challenge

In Martensville this week, after the Empire-Advance deadline, the MJHL team took on the SJHL squad at the All-Star Challenge. The event gave Black-Greaves, a 2008-born defenceman; Worthington, a 2007-born forward; Bryant, a 2006-born forward; and their U19 teammates the opportunity to showcase their skills in front of scouts from higher levels of hockey. In addition, the event serves as a pre-selection camp for Team Canada West. The players selected for that squad will compete at the World Junior A Challenge in Trois-Rivières, Que., Dec. 7-13.

Oil Caps shut out Stamps, trio competes in Western All-Star Challenge

By Robin Wark