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Friday, March 13, 2026

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The Virden Oil Capitals are headed into the final few contests of their Manitoba Junior Hockey League regular season.

They were slated to host the Winnipeg Blues on March 10 and the Steinbach Pistons on March 12, both after the Empire-Advance deadline. The team takes to the road to play in Waywayseecappo on March 16 and in Winnipeg against the Blues on March 15 to wrap up their regular-season schedule.

The Oil Capitals were 2-2 in their last four games. They fell to the Winnipeg Monarchs, 4-3 in a shootout; shut out the Northern Manitoba Blizzard 5-0; lost to the Dauphin Kings 4-3, and shut out the Blues 8-0.

The team recently announced that its CD Oilwell Player of the Month for February is Colten Worthington. In 11 games, the skilled forward recorded seven goals, five assists and 12 points.

Oil Caps 8, Blues 0

The Oil Capitals were sharp on both ends of the ice at home on March 9. They had 47 shots on goal. Braxton Burdeny stopped 33 shots for his sixth shutout of the season. The veteran netminder leads the MJHL in that category, as of March 9.

Virden led 3-0 at the first intermission and 5-0 at the second. Scoring for the Oil Capitals were Tyson Ulmer (two), London Hoilett (two), Shane Elder, Liam Goertzen, Jett Deschamps and Carson Wright.

Hoilett had three points on the night. As of March 9, he led Virden and was eighth in the league with 29 goals. Eight of Ulmer’s nine goals this season have come since Jan. 1.

Deschamps had three points, as did Cohen Lewko, who had a trio of assists.

Elder and Taylor Lockhart were called up from the U18 AAA Southwest Cougars. Elder scored his first MJHL goal. He is the son of Oak Lake product Brian Elder, who played professionally and for the Western Hockey League’s Brandon Wheat Kings. Lockhart recorded an assist.

Kings 4, Oil Caps 3

While the Oil Capitals continued to battle back on March 7, they were unable to take the lead. Dauphin led 1-0 after the first period and 2-0 early in the second. Virden came back to tie the score at 2-2, but the Kings held a 3-2 lead at the second intermission.

Dauphin increased the lead to 4-2 in the third. The Oil Capitals were able to get one more goal.

Dysen Drake, Lucas Laramee and Oak Lake Beach’s Tyson Draper scored for Virden. Oil Capitals goalie Micky Gross made 14 saves.

Deschamps and Lewko were back in the Virden lineup after stints with the WHL’s Regina Pats and Saskatoon Blades, respectively.

Oil Caps 5, Blizzard 0

With the offence buzzing at the other end on March 6, Gross turned away 21 shots to record his third shutout of the season. Oil Capitals forward Bryan Laing said:

“We all trust Micky back there no matter who we’re playing. He’s been playing really well lately and has been a huge part of our team having success. Micky and I have been on the same team for five straight years now, and I’ve seen him steal games from bantam age to now in junior. We’re very lucky that him and Braxton are our guys back there.”

At the other end of the ice, the Oil Caps had 48 shots on goal. Laing scored twice. Ulmer, Goertzen and Marshall Light also had goals for Virden. Regarding the team’s offensive success, Laing said:

“We went back to playing simple instead of trying to make plays that weren’t there, and I think it helped us play to our best overall through the 60 minutes.”

Monarchs 4, Oil Caps 3 SO

The Monarchs’ Deegan Wapass scored the lone goal in the shootout to lift his team to the win in Virden on March 3. A highlight for the hosts was Virden’s own Christian Pitz, a defenceman, being called from the RINK Hockey Academy and scoring his first MJHL goal.

“Christian played a great game,” Virden head coach Tyson Ramsey said. “He is a very intelligent guy that sees the ice extremely well and moves the puck with confidence. It was great to see him score his first goal in his first game and we are very excited about the potential player that Christian could be. It was an exciting night for us as well as his family.”

Virden’s other goals came from Drake and Wright. The Oil Caps led 3-0 15:43 into the second period. Burdeny made 14 saves for Virden.

Oil Capitals head into final few games of regular season

By Robin Wark