Ramsey named Oil Capitals new head coach and GM

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This article was published 28/05/2019 (2569 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Tyson Ramsey has been hired as the head coach and general manager of the Virden Oil Capitals.

The Manitoba Junior Hockey League club announced on Wednesday that the former Brandon midget AAA Wheat Kings head coach would be relocating to the community to lead the team he served as an assistant coach with last season.

“I’m not sure there’s ever a perfect time,” Ramsey said. “It was certainly a big decision for us as a family. We’re going to start the process of moving our family to Virden. I just felt like I was ready and threw my name in the ring and luckily enough for me the board felt I was the right guy.”

Ramsey teaches half-time at Riverheights School, a job he will continue to hold next year. His wife Tracy will also teach in Brandon.

The family, which also includes daughters Emma and Avery, will move to Virden when their house sells.

Ramsey, 42, has already built an impressive resume in hockey.

After playing in the MJHL with the Winkler Flyers, Ramsey came home to play with the Brandon University Bobcats, serving as captain in his final season in 2000-01.

He joined Ken Schneider’s staff as an assistant coach with the midget Wheat Kings in 2011-12. He spent three seasons in that role before taking the helm in 2014-15. In four years as head coach, he compiled arecord of 120-55-1-4 and the team played in the league final twice.

Ramsey said one of the first texts he sent with the Virden news was to Schneider.

“I thanked him because he was really the one, he and Brad Wells, who got me into coaching and mentored me through,” Ramsey said. “I can’t thank them enough for the experience I had with the midget program. It’s such a good organization and a good council, much like in Virden, where we have a really excellent organization and board of directors involved who really have the team in mind. So the two are very similar.”

While coaching, he also served as a scout for the Western Hockey League’s Moose Jaw Warriors.

In 2017-18, he began scouting for the Oil Capitals as well, and last winter joined the staff as an assistant coach to Troy Leslie, whose contract wasn’t renewed in April.

“Being Troy’s assistant was super helpful in helping me feel like I was prepared to take this step,” Ramsey said. “I can’t thank Troy enough for taking me on last year and helping me through that. I hope I can do good things in Virden and help the team and help the organization take the next step towards a championship.”

The Oil Capitals weren’t great out of the gate last season, going 3-8-1-4 in September and October with a young roster. But they steadily improved and finished fifth with a record of 31-24-4-4 before falling in the second round of the playoffs to the eventual league champion Portage Terriers.

“We struggled early but seemed to get things straightened away and understood a little more about how we needed to play to be successful,” Ramsey said. “We only lose five to graduation so we’re happy about the group we’ve got and our prospect group is certainly a group that we’re excited about. We’re looking forward to getting those guys to camp and seeing the progressions they’ve made over the course of the summer.”

He said Portage, which has won eight of the last 12 league titles, has provided a template for success. That involves a competitive, speedy group that plays heavy and works together.

“I think that’s what my teams have tried to be in the past and I think we’ve done a reasonably good job of that,” Ramsey said.

Jamie Hodson, the team’s director of business, hockey operations and player personnel, said the team began a hiring process a month ago, and received a number of terrific applications.

He said nothing was promised to Ramsey if he applied, but ultimately the Brandonite prevailed. Partly it was the familiarity the organization had with him, but Hodson said his intangibles played a big role.

“His character and integrity are hard to find in this business,” Hodson said. “There are a lot of good people in the hockey world and he’s right up there. He’s well respected in the hockey industry in these parts, in Manitoba and beyond, and he’s really had to work for everything he’s got. He started from the bottom and climbed his way up and has done that with hard work and the personality and person that he is.”

The team and Ramsey agreed to a three-year deal.

The new head coach and general manager certainly started quickly in his new role. On Wednesday afternoon, he spoke from his vehicle outside a Winnipeg coffee shop as he prepared to meet some Oil Capitals prospects.

“I’ve jumped right in,” Ramsey said. “Certainly I’m excited about the challenge but understand that it’s a large one. I’m looking forward to just getting started and getting the process going with getting to Virden and working with our players and filling out my coaching staff and working with the scouting group. The draft is coming up in a week.

“There are lots of different emotions, but they’re all good ones.”

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