Edmonton Oil Kings
CityEdmonton, Alberta, Canada
LeagueWestern Hockey League
ConferenceEastern
DivisionCentral
FoundedMarch 16, 2006 (2006-03-16)
Home arenaRogers Place
ColoursRed, royal blue, gold, white
       
Owner(s)Oilers Entertainment Group (Daryl Katz, Katz Group)
General managerKirt Hill[1]
Head coachLuke Pierce
Websitewww.oilkings.ca
Championships
Playoff championships

The Edmonton Oil Kings are a major junior ice hockey team based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, that play in the Western Hockey League (WHL). As of July 2008, they are owned by Daryl Katz's Oilers Entertainment Group, which also owns the Edmonton Oilers.[2] The 2007–08 season was the newest incarnation of the Oil Kings' inaugural season in the WHL. Some NHL alumni include Tomas Vincour, Mark Pysyk, Curtis Lazar, Keegan Lowe, Griffin Reinhart, Henrik Samuelsson, Laurent Brossoit, Tristan Jarry and David Musil. As the 2012 WHL champions, the Oil Kings played in the 2012 Memorial Cup, losing 6–1 against the eventual winning team, the Shawinigan Cataractes, in the playoff tie-breaker. The Oil Kings won the 2014 Memorial Cup, defeating the Guelph Storm in the final game.

Franchise history

Alternate logo introduced in 2013

The newest incarnation of the Oil Kings are the fourth WHL team to play in Edmonton, preceded by the first Edmonton Oil Kings (1951–76), the second Edmonton Oil Kings (1978–79) and the Edmonton Ice (1996–98).

The first Edmonton Oil Kings were a junior hockey team that played in the original Western Canada Junior Hockey League from 1951 to 1956. They then played with the senior amateur Central Alberta Hockey League from 1956 to 1965, winning the 1963 Memorial Cup. They joined the Alberta Senior Hockey League for the 1965–66 season,[3] prior to jumping to the new Western Canada Junior Hockey League (WCHL) in 1966. The Oil Kings were also initially successful in the WCHL, capturing two President's Cup titles. However, with the arrival of the World Hockey Association and the Edmonton Oilers in 1972, the junior club's attendance began to plummet. Approximately 150,000 fans went to Oil Kings games in 1971–72. That number dropped to 90,000 the next year, and 68,000 the following year.[4] The original Oil Kings moved to Portland, Oregon in 1976, becoming the Portland Winter Hawks.

The Oil Kings were revived in 1978, when Bill Hunter purchased the Flin Flon Bombers and brought them to Alberta's capital. However, the juniors were once again unable to compete at the ticket window with the Oilers, averaging about 500 fans per game, and rumours that the team would again relocate began to swirl before the first season was even complete.[5] The second Oil Kings relocated again to become the Great Falls Americans, where the team would only last 28 more games before folding.

Despite the long-held belief that major-junior hockey could not survive against the pros, the WHL returned to Calgary (home to the NHL Calgary Flames in 1995, and Edmonton – as the Edmonton Ice – in 1996. At the time, the Oilers were struggling on the ice, as well as attendance. The Oilers refused to work with the Ice, blocking them from playing in Northlands Coliseum, thus relegating them to the substandard Northlands Agricom. The Ice relocated to Cranbrook, British Columbia, becoming the Kootenay Ice, after two underwhelming seasons.

"Return of the Kings"

The Oil Kings face the Calgary Hitmen in the WHL's Battle of Alberta.

In 2004, with the Flames-owned Hitmen leading the WHL in attendance for the fourth consecutive season, and the Vancouver Giants also proving to be a major attendance success despite the presence of the NHL Vancouver Canucks, the ownership group of the Oilers put out an open offer of $5 million – well over market value – to purchase and relocate any existing WHL franchise.[6] With no takers, and with the 2004–05 NHL lockout looming, the Oilers chose to relocate their AHL team to Rexall Place as the Edmonton Roadrunners. Despite finishing third in the AHL in attendance, and having publicly promised to operate the team in Edmonton for at least three seasons, the Oilers suspended the Roadrunners after only one season rather than have their minor league team competing against themselves. The Oilers then resumed their quest for a WHL team.

When the sale of the Tri-City Americans to Chilliwack, British Columbia failed, the WHL placed an expansion team in Chilliwack, and the door for Edmonton was finally reopened. While the league had previously refused to consider further expansion, believing 20 teams was enough, the addition of the Chilliwack Bruins left the league with an odd number of franchises. Preferring an even number of teams, the league announced its return to Edmonton on March 16, 2006 with the granting of a conditional expansion franchise, named the Edmonton Oil Kings in homage to the former franchise.

The team began play in the 2007–08 WHL season and finished with a record of 22–39–11, good for 55 points, but not enough to make the playoffs.

The new Oil Kings captured the Ed Chynoweth Cup, as victors of the WHL playoffs, in the 2011–12 and 2013–14 WHL seasons, earning berths to the 2012 and 2014 Memorial Cups. On May 25, 2014 the Oil Kings won the franchise's third, first for the reborn team, Memorial Cup after defeating the Ontario Hockey League champion Guelph Storm by a score of 6–3.

In 2022, the Oil Kings won their third Ed Chynoweth Cup as WHL champions, earning them a spot at the 2022 Memorial Cup.

Season-by-season record

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, OTL = Overtime losses, SOL = Shootout losses Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

SeasonGPWLOTLSOLGFGAPointsFinishPlayoffs
2007–0872223947162241555th CentralOut of playoffs
2008–0972293445191252675th CentralLost Eastern Conference quarter-final (Hitmen)
2009–1072164349169285456th CentralOut of playoffs
2010–1172313425249252694th CentralLost Eastern Conference quarter-final (Rebels)
2011–12725015343101931071st CentralWon Championship (Winterhawks)
2012–13725115242781551081st CentralLost final (Winterhawks)
2013–14725019212901791031st CentralWon Championship (Winterhawks)
Won Memorial Cup (Storm)
2014–1572343143217204755th CentralLost Eastern Conference quarter-final (Wheat Kings)
2015–1672293661197238654th CentralLost Eastern Conference quarter-final (Wheat Kings)
2016–1772234351193292525th CentralOut of playoffs
2017–1872224262204315526th CentralOut of playoffs
2018–1968421844259196921st CentralLost Eastern Conference final (Raiders)
2019–2064421264239167941st CentralCancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2020–21232020110441411st CentralCancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021–22685014312951821041st CentralWon Championship (Thunderbirds)
2022–2368105440131338246th CentralOut of playoffs

WHL Championship history

Memorial Cup Final history

Current roster

Updated January 11, 2024.[7]

# Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace Drafted
37 Canada Ismail Abougouche D L 17 2024 Lac La Biche, Alberta Eligible 2024
6 Canada Parker Alcos D R 17 2022 Port Moody, British Columbia Eligible 2024
11 Canada Skyler Bruce RW R 20 2023 Winnipeg, Manitoba Undrafted
3 United States Blake Fiddler D R 16 2022 Nashville, Tennessee Eligible 2025
14 Canada Marshall Finnie (A) RW R 20 2022 Lethbridge, Alberta Undrafted
8 Canada Matthew Gallant D R 19 2023 Langley, British Columbia Undrafted
23 Canada Landon Hanson RW R 18 2022 Grande Prairie, Alberta Eligible 2024
30 Canada Kolby Hay G L 19 2019 Kamloops, British Columbia Undrafted
17 Canada Gavin Hodnett C L 17 2021 Winnipeg, Manitoba Eligible 2024
43 Czech Republic Adam Jecho C R 17 2023 Zlín, Czech Republic Eligible 2024
22 Canada Presley Kerner C R 16 2022 Kelowna, British Columbia Eligible 2026
24 Canada Marc Lajoie (A) D L 20 2023 St. Albert, Alberta Undrafted
47 Canada Ethan MacKenzie D L 17 2021 West Kelowna, British Columbia Eligible 2024
28 Canada Eastyn Mannix D L 18 2023 Wainwright, Alberta Undrafted
15 Canada Cole Miller C R 18 2021 Edmonton, Alberta Undrafted
34 United States Ty Nash (A) RW R 20 2023 Scottsdale, Arizona Undrafted
4 Canada Rhys Pederson D L 17 2021 Stettler, Alberta Eligible 2024
33 Canada Hudson Perry G R 16 2023 Sexsmith, Alberta Eligible 2025
20 Canada Smyth Rebman C R 17 2023 Prince George, British Columbia Eligible 2024
59 Canada Gracyn Sawchyn C R 18 2023 Grande Prairie, Alberta 2023, 63rd Overall, FLA
12 Canada John Szabo LW L 18 2020 Lethbridge, Alberta Undrafted
55 Slovakia Andrej Tomasec RW R 17 2023 Zilina, Slovakia Eligible 2024
9 Canada Roan Woodward C L 18 2023 Nipawin, Saskatchewan Undrafted

WHL awards and trophies

Memorial Cup trophies

NHL alumni

NHL 1st round draft picks

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ "Kirt Hill Named Oil Kings President of Hockey Operations and General Manager". OurSportsCentral.com. June 27, 2018.
  2. ↑ "Oil Kings Welcome New Owner". Official website of the Edmonton Oil Kings. 2008-07-02. Retrieved 2008-08-30.
  3. ↑ "Edmonton Oil Kings Statistics and History [1956-1963 CAHL]". hockeydb.com.
  4. ↑ Official WHL Website ::
  5. ↑ Official WHL Website ::
  6. ↑ Brownlee, Robin (2005-04-16). "What the WHL?". Canoe Inc. Retrieved 2010-12-09.
  7. ↑ WHL Network, Western Hockey League, archived from the original on 2012-06-30, retrieved 2024-01-11
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.