Bazin makes impact in return to Virden

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This article was published 05/04/2023 (583 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s been a successful return to the Virden Oil Capitals for forward Roux Bazin.

After spending last season in the United States, the 19-year-old forward from Treherne returned to the Manitoba Junior Hockey League club in November and immediately felt at home in the place where he started his junior career in 2020.

“It honestly felt like I never left,” Bazin said. “The players have all been great and everyone from the coaching staff, the trainers, the equipment manager and all the people upstairs help us out whenever we need them.

“There’s a ton of top-tier people here in Virden and I think that’s what makes this a great organization.”

After playing two games as an affiliated player in 2019-20 when he was suiting up on a regular basis for the Pembina Valley Hawks under-18 AAA program, Bazin made the jump to the Oil Capitals the following fall.

He had two goals and three assists in eight games before the 2020-21 campaign was brought to a halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bazin journeyed south of the border for the 2021-22 season to join the United States Hockey League’s Cedar Rapid RoughRiders, but he only suited up for three games with the team.

He ended up in the North American Hockey League with the Jamestown Rebels and the Chippewa Steel, where had a combined two goals and nine assists in 43 games.

While he enjoyed his time in the States, Bazin admits that he learned a lot along the way.

“It’s been a bit of a wild ride these last couple of years, but you can’t take anything for granted at this level, because you can get moved around at any moment,” said Bazin, whose uncle Norm is the head coach for the UMass-Lowell River Hawks men’s hockey program.

“You have to be good at a lot of different things on the ice and you need to keep working all the time in order to get better.”

Bazin has used some of those lessons to become a key factor in the Oil Capitals success.

He recorded 32 points – 17 goals and 15 assists – in 38 regular season games and had six points in the team’s quarterfinal round win over the OCN Blizzard.

“Roux’s certainly been a big addition for us since coming back,” Oil Capitals head coach and general manager Tyson Ramsey said.

“He’s a good player in so many different ways. He’s one of the best skaters in our league in my opinion and he’s got a tremendous shot.”

Bazin credits much of his success to his linemates. He spent most of the year with Brett Sabel and Davis Chorney but has spent the last few weeks alongside Nolan Chastko and Dean Gorchynski.

“All four guys are hard workers and we all seem to play pretty well with each other,” Bazin said.

“When you look at our entire team, we’re a pretty versatile group and all of us can play with anybody. I think that kind of stems from always buying into the same systems and structures.”

That bond is what Bazin believes has allowed the squad to become arguably the hottest in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League since the Christmas break.

After a 14-16-1-0 start to the campaign, the Oil Capitals rocketed up from the basement of the six-team West Division with a 21-6 record to finish third and then upset the Blizzard in six games.

“Playing must-win games for the last couple of months was probably the best thing that could have happened to us,” Bazin said. “It got us into the mentality that we need to be once you get to the post-season.

“When you get to the playoffs, everything is different. There is a little less skating around and skill play. It really comes down to who wants it more and we were able to do that against OCN by wearing them down during the course of the series.”

The Oil Capitals are now preparing to take on the East Division champion Portage Terriers in the semifinal round, which gets underway Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Stride Place.

The Terriers – who are hosting the Centennial Cup next month – took three out of four meetings from the Oil Capitals this season and outscored them by a 22-10 margin.

“I feel like puck management is going be very important in this series,” Ramsey said. “They are a little bit deeper up front than OCN and we need to make sure that we keep those unnecessary turnovers down so that they are spending as little time as possible in our end of the rink.”

“It’s all about finding a way to win at this time of the year,” Bazin added. “More often than not, it’s the hardest-working team on the ice that comes out on top and we’ve been able to get wins when we can do that.”

Following Friday’s opener in Portage la Prairie, the series shifts to Tundra Oil & Gas Place for Game 2 on Sunday at 7 p.m.

Game 3 is set for 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Stride Place, with Game 4 taking place in Virden next Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

The Terriers would host Game 5, if needed, on April 14, with a sixth game set for April 16 at Tundra Oil & Gas Place at 7:30 p.m.

A seventh and deciding contest, if required, would be held in Portage la Prairie on April 19 at 7:30 p.m.

ICINGS: The Terriers and Oil Capitals have faced off in two previous semifinals, with Portage sweeping both in 2015 and 2019 … Former Oil Capitals Bryden Kiesman and Bailey Monteith are part of Portage’s roster, as are Dauphin’s Hayden Lacquette, Decker’s Jordan Murray and Rapid City’s Slade Stanick … The other semifinal matchup begins Friday night between the Steinbach Pistons and the Swan Valley Stampeders. The Pistons reached the final four with a Game 7 win over the Winkler Flyers on Tuesday, while the Stampeders eliminated the defending Turnbull Cup champion Dauphin Kings in six games.

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