The Virden Oil Capitals made a pair of deals on Saturday night just prior to the CJHL trade deadline.
The first deal saw the Oil Caps acquire Cody Durdle (96, D) from the Estevan Bruins in exchange for Lindsay MacLellan (96, F). The 6’2″, 195 lbs blue liner from Portage La Prairie was in his first season with the Bruins, posting four points (1 G, 3 A) to go along with 14 penalty minutes in 30 games played. Durdle played his midget hockey with the Central Plains Capitals in the Manitoba AAA Midget Hockey League, amassing 58 points (18 G, 40 A) along with 229 penalty minutes in 119 career games.
“Cody is a big, right-handed defenseman with very good puck skills and a big-time shot,” stated Chad Leslie, the Oil Caps Assistant General Manager and Director of Player Personnel. “He plays with a little bit of an edge and thinks the game very well.”
In exchange, the Oil Caps give up Lindsay MacLellan, a 6’2″, 205 lbs forward from Fort McMurray, AB. The sophomore posted 16 points (5 G, 11 A) along with 93 penalty minutes in 41 games during his time in the MJHL. The Oil Caps would like to thank MacLellan for his time in Virden and wish him all the best in his future endeavours.
The second deal of the evening saw the Oil Caps acquire a familiar face in Kurt Johnas (94, F) from the Yorkton Terriers in exchange for future considerations. Johnas was moved to the Terriers during the off-season in a deal that completed the future considerations portion of the Curtis Oliver trade in the fall of 2013. The Winnipeg forward returns to the Oil Caps as the Terriers top scorer. In 37 games with Yorkton, Johnas posted 22 points (9 G, 13 A) to share the team lead in scoring.
“We’re glad to have Kurt back,” added Leslie on Johnas.“Kurt is a big forward with an extremely good shot. He’ll add some scoring depth to our forward group and is another year older and another year stronger.”
The pair of deadline deals leaves the Oil Caps with a full roster heading into the final third of the regular season schedule. Here’s a look at the schedule breakdown down the stretch.
Waywayseecappo - (3) January 13, February 12, @ February 24 (WAY leads season series tied 2-1)
Winkler - (4) January 16, @ February 1, February 15, @ February 21 (VOC leads season series 2-0)
Selkirk - (2) January 20, @ February 20 (Season series tied 2-2)
Dauphin - (3) @ January 23, @ February 7, February 28 (DAU leads season series 2-1)
Swan Valley - (2) @ January 24, January 31 (SVS leads season series 3-1)
Portage - (1) @ February 16 (PTG leads season series 5-0)
OCN - (2) February 25, March 1 (OCN leads season series 3-1)
Steinbach - (1) @ March 3 (VOC leads season series 4-1)
Winnipeg - Done (Won season series 5-1)
Neepawa - Done (Won season series 6-0)
Virden will play the third game of their five-game home stand on Tuesday night against the Waywayseecappo Wolverines. Game time is slated for 7:30 pm at Tundra Oil & Gas Place.