Oil Caps expect tough battle

The Virden Oil Capitals are up against a familiar formidable opponent.

They continue their path through the Manitoba Junior Hockey League playoffs with a second round showdown against the Steinbach Pistons — a rematch of the Turnbull Cup final three years ago when Steinbach downed Virden in five games.

The Oil Capitals are in for a war of attrition compared to their first round sweep of the Neepawa Titans, but if they’ve shown anything all season long, they will be up to the task.

“It’ll be tough, there’s no doubt about it,” said head coach Tyson Ramsey. “Anytime you get to the second round of the playoffs, it doesn’t matter who you play, it’s going to be a tough matchup, and Steinbach has been one of the best teams in the league record wise all season long and they’re pretty balanced. They’ve got a good goaltender, a mobile group of defence that can generate offence and their forward group is pretty deep.

“It’s gonna be a tough matchup, but we’re excited for it and ready to go on.”

Unlike the first round, Virden doesn’t have home-ice advantage this series and will start on the road for Game 1 at the Southeast Event Centre on Friday at 7 p.m., and then is set for the same time and place in Game 2 on Saturday. Games 3 and 4 are at home at Tundra Oil & Gas Place on Tuesday and Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. and if necessary, Game 5 is back in Steinbach next Friday at 7 p.m., Game 6 is in Virden on Sunday at 7 p.m., and Game 7 is April 14 at 7 p.m. in Steinbach.

While the Oil Capitals (39-14-5) grabbed the top spot in the West Division with 83 points, the Pistons (47-9-2) were second overall at 96, behind only the league-leading Niverville Nighthawks (51-6-1). They’re also coming off a fairly short first-round matchup, bouncing back from a 3-2 defeat in Game 1 to beat the Portage Terriers in five games.

In the four meetings between these two clubs, home ice couldn’t have been important with the hosts taking every contest. The Pistons prevailed 5-2 on Oct. 18 and 4-3 on Nov. 18, while the Oil Capitals responded in the second half of the season with a 4-3 overtime victory on Jan. 30 and a 7-4 win on March 12. The margin between them is very thin, so there certaintly wouldn’t be any surprises if this series went the distance.

But, Ramsey believes if his team sticks to their identity and plays the game on their terms, they have a good chance of moving on.

“I think for us we have a certain way that we feel we need to play in order to be successful against anybody we play against,” he said. “That has to be where we start. That has to be our game plan.

Then, if they show us anything that we need to adjust to then then we’ll adjust to it, but we feel like if our game is right to start the series, then then we’re in good shape.

“Just trying to stay with our game plan and make sure we do the things that we need to do and if we get pushed or hemmed in, our game just has to get really simple. Sometimes when you get pushed a little bit, you overcomplicate things and that can lead to frustration or lead to things going in the other direction. Our group knows that when those things happen, we just need to get really simple with our game and get our feet back under us and we feel if we play fast and we’re physical and stay structured, then we can have a chance to be successful against anybody.”

And they proved it beating every team in the league expect for the Winkler Flyers. They’ve consistently proved to be one of the best teams in the league after missing out on the post-season last year, but they’ve also gotten better with time.

The first half of the season Virden was actually trailing Dauphin for tops in the West Division, before it broke out in the second half, which kickstarted thanks to a 12-game winning streak between Jan. 11 and Feb. 10 to power past their division rivals and eventually finish 15 points ahead of them for the No. 1 spot. They’ve been dangerous from the start, but once they really gelled as a group, they haven’t looked back.

“I think as a group, sometimes it takes you a little while to understand how we need to play to be successful and I think we showed parts of that early in the season, but it wasn’t as consistent as we needed to be and credit to our guys, they took that on to be more consistent in their game, and do the things that we were asking them to do,” said Ramsey.

“When we got really consistent is when we had our best stretches of the season. Our game doesn’t need to change a bunch, we just need to stay structured and within our game plan.”

Virden forward and Bemidji State University commit Bryce Bryant led his squad offensively in the regular season with 28 goals and 81 points — which ranked second highest across the league — and did the same in Round 1 after racking up three goals and eight points. Behind Bryant, Ramsey’s lineup held nine players with at least 30 points and 13 with 20-plus.

In Round 1 against Neepawa, forwards Dysen Drake and Marshall Light both hit the back of the net four times, while Colten Worthington, Tyson Draper, Bryan Laing, Austin Osiowy, Ty Plaisier and Brooks Siemens all notched at least four points.

Their defence corps, led by captain Plaisier, allowed just six goals through their four games and gave up 156 in the regular season, which was the third best in the league. They play big, fast, and heavy — a style that perfectly compliments that of playoff hockey. One of the biggest question marks is if they will be able to hold off Steinbach’s talent and depth up front over a best-of-seven series, though.

And if they do, goaltending will have played a big part. Starting netminder Braxton Burdeny got into his first post-season action in junior hockey in Round 1 after spending a few seasons with the Winnipeg Monarchs (formerly known as the Freeze) prior. He played all four games for Virden and was astounding, earning himself a 1.50 goals against average and a .933 save percentage.

And despite his inexperience in playoffs, Ramsey was quite happy with what he saw from him.

“It was the first playoff hockey that he’s seen in his junior career, so we were excited about that and he was excited about it and I thought he did a good job of managing the emotions of that and he was a big part of that first round series,” Ramsey said.

Heading into their matchup with the Pistons, Burdeny’s play on the penalty kill was also be crucial. The Oil Capitals managed an 81 per cent success rate while down a man, which ranked second in the West Division, but fifth overall. The Pistons’ power play on the other hand, clicked at 26 per cent, good for third best in the league.

In the first round, Virden’s PK held up at 89 per cent and power play at 12 per cent against Neepawa, while Steinbach’s power play registered at 22 per cent and PK at 93 per cent. So off first glance, the Pistons hold the advantage on special teams, but goaltending could certaintly change that.

Ramsey is hoping that’s the case.

“Your penalty kill has to come up big and your goaltender is a big part of that,” he said. “They both have to be good in the playoffs if you’re going to be successful. First of all you got to stay out of the penalty box and be disciplined and I thought we did a good job of that in the first round.

“Anytime you can capitalize on the power play, it just adds some momentum to your group and could be a factor, so we understand that both our penalty killing our power play have to be ready for those opportunities.”

It won’t come easy, though, as their opponents on the other side of centre easily have one of the most complete teams this season.

Up front forwards Jack Greenwell and Brett Kaiser led their team in points with 61 and 59 respectively, with Sam Noad and defenceman Liam Doyle not far behind with 55 and 54. After those four, they still have 10 more players with at least 30 points and 15 with at least 20.

They get scoring from anyone and everyone, helping them to 278 goals during the season, which proved to be second best and only two shy of the high-flying Nighthawks and 21 more than the Oil Capitals.

On the blue-line, Doyle is supported by Zhenya Miles, Rory Gilmour, Luke Bogart, Evan Kabel, and Charlie Velner, all big-framed bodies that can also move the puck up north in a hurry. They won’t be easy to penetrate, which was proved during the season after they allowed just 131 goals, so Virden will have to establish its forecheck immediately to begin its wear and tear.

Doyle led the Pistons in offence during their Round 1 victory over the Terriers with four goals and 10 points, while Jackson Kostiuk lit the lamp the six times, which was the most out of anyone in the playoffs thus far.

Between the pipes, Steinbach will rely on six-foot-three, 190-pound Chris Quizi, who chalked up all four wins against Portage thanks to a 2.01 goals-against average and .938 save percentage.

Overall, the Oil Capitals have the X-factor in Bryant and the edge in goaltending with Burdeny, but the Pistons are more well-rounded up front and on defence, so it will make for a highly entertaining series.

The other semifinals bout is between the Waywayseecappo Wolverines, who are coming off a stunning sweep of the Dauphin Kings, and Niverville.

Read Thursday’s edition for a Wolverines-Nighthawks preview.

» mdelucataronno@brandonsun.com