For the third time in five years, the Winkler Flyers will take on the Virden Oil Capitals in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League playoffs. This time, the third place Flyers will play the sixth place Oil Capitals in one of four, best of seven quarterfinal series beginning with game one Friday night in Winkler.

If their six game regular season series was any indication, this playoff round should prove to be a tight, high scoring affair. During the 2019-2020 regular season, the Flyers had two wins, two regulation losses and two shootout loss against the Oil Capitals with five of the six meetings being decided by a single goal. Winkler's success against the Oil Capitals this season came on the road as they went 2-0-1 in their games played at Tundra Oil & Gas Place, compared to a 0-2-1 record in their three games played at the Winkler Recreation Complex. The Flyers have lost just three games at home since the start of December (18 total games), with two of those three losses coming against the Oil Capitals.

The Oil Capitals and Flyers, who were second and third in the MJHL in goal scoring respectfully, scored a combined 49 goals against eachother in their six regular season contests. Of the top eight goal scorers in the MJHL this season, the Flyers and Oil Caps occupy four of those top eight spots (Virden – Hunter Cloutier (29), Kolton Kanaski (29) | Winkler – Sulivan Shortreed (29), Jayden McCarthy (28).

Winkler had the edge in the goals against department throughout the season, allowing the third fewest goals in the MJHL (185), while Virden allowed the fifth most (218). Winkler goaltender Dorrin Luding will also be key to stopping the Oil Caps’ offensive attack. In his last three starts of the regular season, he picked up three wins, two shutouts and allowed just one goal combined in those three starts. He finished the regular season second in wins (27) and second in minutes played (2543). He also started all six games against Virden this season.

As is always the case in playoff hockey, special teams will be key in this series. The Flyers sported a 19% power-play throughout the regular season which was eighth best in the MJHL. Against Virden, their power-play was successful on just three of their 24 opportunities (12.5%), compared to Virden’s power-play which was efficient 35% of the time against Winkler (7-for-20). The Flyers had the second fewest power-play opportunities this season, with Virden giving up the second most power-play chances of all 11 teams in the MJHL. The Flyers did lead the MJHL in one special teams category this season and that was shorthanded goals. They finished the regular season with 11 of them with the Oil Capitals right behind in that category with eight.

If the Flyers are to be successful in this series, scoring first and finding a way to win the special teams battle will be key. Against Virden this year, the Flyers gave up the first goal of the game four times but did outshoot them in four of the six meetings. Winkler’s record this season when scoring first was 23-4-2, they were 27-6-3 when they outshot their opponent and 28-3-2 when they scored at least one goal on the power-play.

Success in the playoffs can always come down to a number of factors. Your best players need to be your best players, solid defensive play and goaltending is a must and special teams need to be there when you need them the most. But often times there is that unsung hero who comes out of nowhere and out-performs what may have been expected of them during the regular season. Which ever team can check more of those boxes than their opponent, and get a little bit of a boost from their passionate fan bases should get the upper hand in the series, and punch their tickets to the second round.


Winkler Flyers vs Virden Oil Capitals
Manitoba Junior Hockey League Quarterfinal Schedule

Game 1 Friday, March 6th @ Winkler, 7:30 p.m.
Game 2 Sunday, March 8th @ Virden, 7:30 p.m.
Game 3 Tuesday, March 10th @ Winkler, 7:30 p.m.
Game 4 Thursday, March 12th @ Virden, 7:30 p.m.
Game 5 Saturday, March 14th @ Winkler, 7:30 p.m. (if necessary)
Game 6 Monday, March 16th @ Virden, 7:30 p.m. (if necessary)
Game 7 Tuesday, March 17th @ Winkler, 7:30 p.m. (if necessary)


All games can be heard live on the radio on your Voice of the Flyers – Country 88.9FM or online at www.pembinavalleyonline.com. You can also video stream all games with a subscription to www.hockeytv.com.


photo courtesy Ryan Sawatzky