Edmonton Oil Kings

Edmonton Oil Kings
City Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
League Western Hockey League
Conference Eastern
Division Central
Founded March 16, 2006 (2006-03-16)
Home arena Rogers Place
Colours Blue, red, gold, white
                   
Owner(s) Canada Oilers Entertainment Group
(Daryl Katz, Katz Group)
General manager Randy Hansch
Head coach Steve Hamilton
Captain Brandon Baddock
Championships Ed Chynoweth Cup
2 (2012, 2014)
Memorial Cup
1 (2014)

Website
www.oilkings.ca

The Edmonton Oil Kings are a major junior ice hockey team based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada that play in the Western Hockey League. As of July 2008, they are owned by Daryl Katz's Oilers Entertainment Group, who also own the Edmonton Oilers.[1] The 2007–08 season was the newest incarnation of the Oil Kings' inaugural season in the Western Hockey League. To date NHL alumni are Tomas Vincour, Mark Pysyk, Curtis Lazar, Keegan Lowe, Griffin Reinhart, Henrik Samuelsson, Laurent Brossoit, 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 2014 Memorial Cup final game.

Franchise history

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 Oil Kings (1978–79) and the Edmonton Ice (1996–98).

The original Edmonton Oil Kings were a junior hockey team that played in the 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,[2] prior to jumping to the new Western Canada Junior Hockey League 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 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.[3] The original Oil Kings moved to Portland, Oregon in 1976, becoming the Portland Winter Hawks.

An attempt at reviving the Oil Kings in 1978 lasted only one season, as the juniors were once again unable to compete with the pros. Bill Hunter purchased the Flin Flon Bombers and brought them to Alberta's capital. However, the team only averaged about 500 fans per game, and rumours that the team would again relocate began to swirl before the first season was even complete.[4] 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 in 1995, and Edmonton in 1996. At the time, the Oilers were struggling on the ice, as well as attendance. The Oilers refused to work with the Edmonton 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.

With the Flames owned Hitmen leading the WHL in attendance the past four seasons, and the Vancouver Giants also proving to be a major success at the gate, the Oilers ownership group had spent the last three years attempting to purchase a WHL team, even going so far as to put out an open offer of $5 million - well over market value - for any WHL franchise in 2004.[5] 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. They have recently enjoyed more success, reaching the WHL playoffs four times in the last 5 years.

The Oil Kings most recently captured the Ed Chynoweth Cup twice as victors of the WHL playoffs for 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.

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

Season GP W L OTL SOL GF GA Points Finish Playoffs
2007–08 72 22 39 4 7 162 241 55 5th Central Out of playoffs
2008–09 72 29 34 4 5 191 252 67 5th Central Lost Eastern Conference quarter-final
2009–10 72 16 43 4 9 169 285 45 6th Central Out of playoffs
2010–11 72 31 34 2 5 249 252 69 4th Central Lost Eastern Conference quarter-final
2011–12 72 50 15 3 4 310 193 107 1st Central Won Championship
2012–13 72 51 15 2 4 278 155 108 1st Central Lost final
2013–14 72 50 19 2 1 290 179 103 1st Central Won Championship
Won Memorial Cup
2014–15 72 34 31 4 3 217 204 75 5th Central Lost Eastern Conference quarter-final
2015–16 72 29 36 6 1 197 238 65 4th Central Lost Eastern Conference quarter-final

WHL Championship history

Memorial Cup Final history

Current roster

Updated January 10, 2016.[6]

# Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace Drafted
13 Canada Baddock, BrandonBrandon Baddock (C) C L 21 2010 Vermilion, Alberta 2014, 161st overall, NJD
25 United States Bauer, LaneLane Bauer C L 19 2013 Anchorage, Alaska Undrafted
11 Canada Bertolucci, LukeLuke Bertolucci (A) RW L 21 2010 Montrose, British Columbia Undrafted
22 Canada Carroll, BenBen Carroll (A) D L 20 2012 Sherwood Park, Alberta Undrafted
7 Canada Dawson, JordanJordan Dawson D R 18 2014 Delta, British Columbia Eligible 2016
1 Canada Dea, PatrickPatrick Dea G R 19 2012 St. Albert, Alberta Undrafted
33 Canada Dillon, AlecAlec Dillon G L 19 2015 Victoria, British Columbia 2013, 150th Overall, LAK
28 Russia Elizarov, AnatoliiAnatolii Elizarov D L 17 2015 St. Petersburg, Russia Eligible 2016
34 Canada Gable, KoleKole Gable LW L 17 2015 Fort McMurray, Alberta Eligible 2016
3 Canada Gorda, BraydenBrayden Gorda D L 17 2015 Edmonton, Alberta Eligible 2017
10 Canada Gruninger, TysonTyson Gruninger RW R 17 2014 Drayton Valley, Alberta Eligible 2016
24 Canada Irving, AaronAaron Irving (A) D R 20 2012 Edmonton, Alberta 2014, 162nd overall, NSH
23 Canada Kehler, ColtonColton Kehler RW R 18 2015 Port Coquitlam, British Columbia Undrafted
20 Canada Klatt, BrandenBranden Klatt LW L 17 2014 Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan Eligible 2016
16 Canada Koch, DavisDavis Koch C L 17 2013 Surrey, British Columbia Eligible 2016
15 Canada Koep, AndrewAndrew Koep LW L 19 2013 Lloydminster, Alberta Undrafted
30 Canada Lee, PaytonPayton Lee G L 19 2015 Cranbrook, British Columbia Undrafted
37 Canada Mayo, DysinDysin Mayo D R 19 2011 Victoria, British Columbia 2014, 133rd overall, ARI
12 Switzerland Meyer, DarioDario Meyer RW L 19 2015 Bern, Switzerland Undrafted
18 Canada Mohr, KobeKobe Mohr LW L 16 2014 Lloydminster, Alberta Eligible 2017
6 Canada Patterson, ChanceChance Patterson D L 18 2012 Foam Lake, Saskatchewan Undrafted
39 Canada Pollock, BrettBrett Pollock (A) LW L 20 2011 Sherwood Park, Alberta 2014, 45th overall, DAL
17 Canada Roach, JesseJesse Roach RW R 19 2015 Quesnel, British Columbia Undrafted
21 Canada Robertson, TylerTyler Robertson LW L 19 2013 Sherwood Park, Alberta Undrafted
2 Canada Yewchuk, KyleKyle Yewchuk D L 18 2014 Calgary, Alberta Eligible 2016

WHL awards and trophies

Memorial Cup trophies

NHL alumni

NHL 1st round draft picks

Notes

  1. ↑ "Oil Kings Welcome New Owner". Official website of the Edmonton Oil Kings. 2008-07-02. Retrieved 2008-08-30.
  2. ↑ http://www.hockeydb.com/stte/edmonton-oil-kings-5625.html
  3. ↑ Official WHL Website ::
  4. ↑ Official WHL Website ::
  5. ↑ Brownlee, Robin (2005-04-16). "What the WHL?". Canoe Inc. Retrieved 2010-12-09.
  6. ↑ WHL Network, Western Hockey League, retrieved 2012-09-19

See also

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, April 09, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.