Brandon Sun - PRINT EDITION
There are plenty of battles for spots on Manitoba Junior Hockey League rosters as teams begin to welcome players for training camps ahead of the 2012-13 season.
Here’s a look at the four teams from southwestern Manitoba:
Virden Oil Capitals
In Virden, the excitement is palpable as the team gets ready to enter its first season in the MJHL after taking over a Winnipeg Saints team that went to the league final last year.
“We hope that the experience of going to the final last year will carry forward this year and that those guys will bring that leadership and knowledge of what it takes to our team,” Oil Capitals head coach Troy Leslie said.
The team will return a veteran group of fowards this year and rely on 18-goal-scorer Jon Gaudet and 14-goal-scorer Patrick D’Amico to carry the load on offence.
Sean Collins, a rookie defenceman last season, will be expected to step up on the back end. Meanwhile, Teagan Sacher, who is currently away at the Regina Pats camp, will be counted on in net, provided he doesn’t make the Pats.
The Oil Capitals will kick off the regular season at home when they host the Dauphin Kings on Sept. 21, and will play the Waywayseecappo Wolverines the following night.
“That first weekend is going to be really exciting around here,” Leslie said.
Neepawa Natives
The Natives are coming off a tumultuous season that included the organization grabbing national headlines following a hazing incident and saw the team flounder to a 12-45-4 record. But head coach Ken Brooks, who took over the team last November, is excited to work with a relatively young group of players in his first training camp with the team.
“We want to build on the work we started last year,” Brooks said. “We had a lot of young guys that got a lot of ice time and different opportunities because of our lack of players last year.”
The team will rely on forwards Derek Brooks, Robby Moar, Justin Dalebozik, Cody Hoy and Landon Thomson to score. The back end will be led by offensive defenceman Troy Hoban, who had 19 points in 54 games last season.
The biggest change for the Natives, however, may have come between the pipes as the team acquired netminder Corey Koop from the Winkler Flyers in the off-season.
After losing a number of games by one goal last season, Brooks said it was important to get a veteran goalie.
“We made a trade for a goaltender who we feel is going to turn a lot of those (one-goal) games around,” Brooks said. “He’s been in the league for a while and should help us stabilize things from the back end.”
The Natives begin the regular season on Sept. 21 when they host the Steinbach Pistons.
Waywayseecappo Wolverines
Last season, the Wolverines finished one game under .500 with a record of 26-27-9, but with a collection of veterans back this season and a strong crop of rookies, head coach Barry Butler is excited about the team’s prospects.
On offence, Curtis Veitch, Brett Pinkerton and Russell Turner will be counted on to shoulder the scoring load. The trio may also have a leg up on the competition after being selected to play with a team that travelled to Sweden to face the country’s national under-18 team this summer.
“They have great chemistry and I know they had a lot of fun in Sweden and learned a lot,” Butler said.
On defence, Butler acquired Matt Miller through a trade with the Winnipeg Blues and returns a young group that will need bigger contributions from Andrew Clark and Scott Gallaher.
In net, last year’s tandem of Riley Feser and Cory Simons will once again share the crease for the Wolverines.
“They are both top-end goaltenders in the league and hoping that together they will do the job for us,” Butler said.
The Wolverines play their first home game on Sept. 21 against the Portage Terriers.
Dauphin Kings
For the first time in the nine years since Marlin Murray took over as head coach of the Dauphin Kings, the team was bounced from the MJHL playoffs in the first round.
“It’s been the most active off-season I’ve had,” Murray said. “We needed to get better and I feel like we have. But on paper is one thing and on the ice is another, so we’ll see how these guys gel.”
Up front, the Kings welcome back the MJHL’s leading scorer last year, Jesse Synatynski, who had 59 goals and 90 points in 60 games.
Murray, who also has overager Taylor Wells of Brandon back, acquired Brendan Hurley, who played parts of the last four seasons in the WHL, and Ryan Luiten, who had 50 points for the Brooks Bandits in the Alberta Junior Hockey League.
From the back end, Tanner Butler will lead a core of defencemen that includes Shamas Graham and Emerson Hrynyk.
Goaltending may be the Kings’ biggest question mark coming into the season.
Brian Archibald, who played last season with the Southwest Midget AAA Cougars, will battle it out at camp against Justin Holder from the Brandon Midget AAA Wheat Kings, and three out of province goalies.
The Kings begin their season on the road in Virden on Sept. 21 and play their first home game on Sept. 28 against the Oil Capitals.
» ctweed@brandonsun.com
Republished from the Brandon Sun print edition August 30, 2012
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There are plenty of battles for spots on Manitoba Junior Hockey League rosters as teams begin to welcome players for training camps ahead of the 2012-13 season.
Here’s a look at the four teams from southwestern Manitoba:
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There are plenty of battles for spots on Manitoba Junior Hockey League rosters as teams begin to welcome players for training camps ahead of the 2012-13 season.
Here’s a look at the four teams from southwestern Manitoba:
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