Stavanger Oilers

Stavanger Oilers
City Stavanger, Norway
League GET-ligaen
Founded 10 November 2000 (2000-11-10)
Home arena DNB Arena
Colors White, black and yellow
              
General manager Pål Haukali Higson
Head coach Petter Thoresen
Captain Kristian Forsberg
Website http://www.oilers.no/
Championships
Regular season titles 3 (2011-12, 2014-15, 2015-16)
Playoff championships 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016

Stavanger Oilers is a Norwegian ice hockey team based in Stavanger, Norway. They currently play in the GET-ligaen, which is the top division in Norwegian ice hockey. The club's official name is Stavanger Ishockeyklubb, but it is commonly known as Oilers. It is the only team GET-ligaen in western Norway. The Oilers play their home matches in DNB Arena.

DNB Arena, the home arena of Stavanger Oilers, was opened in 2012. It has a capacity of 4377 spectators

History

Stavanger Oilers were established as a company team by Finnish expatriate workers in 2000. Viking Hockey had traditionally been the dominant hockey club in Stavanger. The club's establishment was led by the Finnish businessman Hartti Kristola, who withdrew his economic support from Viking to focus on Oilers.

The club played their first official game in the autumn of 2001, with players from the higher divisions of Finnish hockey, as well as a number of former Norwegian national ice hockey team players. These played alongside amateur local players. Stavanger Oilers, starting at the bottom of the league system, went through the 2001/02 season unbeaten, scoring 304 goals. The club top scorer, Finnish forward Jari Kesti, scored or assisted on 226 of them.

In 2002/03 Oilers went through their first 18 games unbeaten. Ahead of the season, the team received more Finnish players, as well as two of Viking Hockey's players, Tommy Edlund and Thomas Kristensen. The club's first loss came away against Gjøvik Hockey, was followed by another loss the next day to the same team. Oilers also got beaten by local rivals Bergen IK, who were the first team to defeat Oilers in Siddishallen. The team reached first place at the end of the season, with Bergen finishing second. Player Jari Kesti scored 150 points from Oilers 296 goals, and countrymen Tomi Suoniemi and Jarkko Ollikainen both scored more than 100 points. Promotion to the GET-ligaen was secured following five victories in the qualification play-offs, with the only defeat coming against Bergen in a penalty shootout.

Ahead of its first season in the GET-ligaen, more Finnish players and some young Norwegian players joined Oilers. At the start of the season the team beat Lillehammer 5-1 in the opening match, followed by a 10-0 away win at Manglerud Star in the second match. The first defeat came at home against fellow promoters Bergen. At the end of the season, Oilers finished sixth in the table. Again, Jari Kesti was the club top scorer, for the third season in a row. In the playoffs, Oilers beat Trondheim by three games to one in the quarter finals, winning the final game in sudden death in front of a sell-out crowd of 2600 people in Siddishallen. Teemu Kohvakka scored the deciding goal with only 14 seconds left of the first period of sudden death. In the semifinals, Oilers were beaten by Storhamar in three straight games.

The second elite season saw two players leave the club: Jari Kesti signed for Vålerenga and Christian Dahl Andersen went to Swedish side Arboga. Both came back during the same seasons, after unsuccessful stints in their new clubs. Owner Hartti Kristola withdrew his financial backing, and a local business executive, Tore Christensen, took over control of the club. Oilers' performances varied throughout the season, and after a loss against bottom side Bergen, Matti Riekkinen resigned as the team coach. He was replaced by Swede Gunnar Johansson in January 2005. The team finished the season in seventh place, losing against Vålerenga in the play-off quarter-finals.

Ahead of the 2005/06 season, Swedish players Bengt Höglund, Martin Johansson and Fredrik Sundin were brought in, along with the Norwegian national team player Snorre Hallem. The club had its best season to date, finishing in fourth place in the GET-ligaen. In the playoffs, Oilers beat Sparta Warriors by four games to two in the quarter finals. In the semi finals against second-placed Stjernen, each team won their home games until Oilers decided the series through a 2-1 victory in the seventh and final game of the series, away at Stjernehallen. The first-ever play-off final featured a hockey team from Stavanger ended in a defeat in four straight games against Vålerenga.

In the 2006/07 season, players joining included Henric Höglund from Stjernen and Norwegian national team players Marius Trygg and Lars Peder Nagel. At the end of the season, they finished in third place, which was still the club's best result to date. This was the third time that a team from Stavanger had won the bronze medals in the league, with Viking winning the bronze twice in the past. At the end of the season, past players Jari Kesti and Tomi Suoniemi were also honoured, as their respective shirt numbers, #7 and #22, were officially retired by the club. In the playoffs Comet were beaten by four games to two in the quarter finals, while Oilers lost to Storhamar Dragons by the same score-line in the semi finals. The club won the 2013–14 IIHF Continental Cup.

Season-by-season results

This is a partial list of the last five seasons completed by the Oilers. For the full season-by-season history, see List of Stavanger Oilers seasons.

Norwegian Champions Regular Season Champions Promoted Relegated
Season League Regular season[1] Postseason
GP W L OTW OTL GF GA Pts Finish
2010–11 Eliteserien 45 27 10 5 3 176 108 94 2nd Lost in Finals, 1–4 (Sparta)
2011–12 Eliteserien 45 35 6 3 1 216 100 112 1st Won Norwegian Championship, 4–2 (Lørenskog)
2012–13 Eliteserien 45 29 12 1 3 198 112 92 2nd Won Norwegian Championship, 4–2 (Vålerenga)
2013–14 Eliteserien 45 30 8 4 3 198 98 101 2nd Won Norwegian Championship, 4–2 (Vålerenga)
2014–15 Eliteserien 45 32 9 3 1 187 93 100 1st Won Norwegian Championship, 4–3 (Storhamar)

Players

Current roster

As of January 1st, 2016.

Goaltenders
Number Player Catches Born Place of Birth
30 Norway Ruben Smith L 15.04.1987 Stavanger, Norway
38 Norway Henrik Holm R 06.09.1990 Fredrikstad, Norway
Defensemen
Number Player Shoots Born Place of Birth
2 United States Nick Bruneteau R 18.02.1992 Omaha, United States
4 Norway Johannes Johannesen R 01.03.1997 Stavanger, Norway
9 Croatia Andy Sertich L 03.05.1983 Coleraine, United States
12 Norway Mats Larsen Mostue R 25.01.1989 Hamar, Norway
15 Norway Joakim Hjelm L 23.04.1992 Stavanger, Norway
21 Norway Daniel Rokseth L 15.08.1991 Oslo, Norway
39 Norway Henrik Solberg "A" L 15.04.1987 Trondheim, Norway
41 Norway Dennis Løvold Sveum "A" L 27.11.1986 Lillehammer, Norway
Forwards
Number Player Shoots Born Place of Birth
8 Norway Mathias Trettenes L 08.11.1993 Stavanger, Norway
10 Norway Christian Dahl-Andersen L 02.09.1980 Asker, Norway
11 United States Mike Hoeffel L 09.04.1989 North Oaks, United States
16 Norway Petter Røste Fossen L 16.02.1991 Kongsberg, Norway
23 Norway Anders Henriksen R 13.02.1995 Stavanger, Norway
27 Norway Henrik Medhus R 25.06.1995 Stavanger, Norway
28 Norway Kristian Forsberg "C" R 05.05.1986 Oslo, Norway
29 Norway Stian Høygård L 28.03.1987 Lørenskog, Norway
46 United States Dan Kissel L 25.01.1987 Crestwood, United States
51 Canada Philippe Cornet L 28.03.1990 Val-Senneville, Canada
55 Canada Josh Soares L 06.02.1982 Hamilton, Canada
71 Norway Peter Lorentzen L 02.09.1983 Halden, Norway
91 Norway Tommy Kristiansen R 26.05.1989 Sarpsborg, Norway
92 Latvia Rūdolfs Balcers L 08.04.1997 Liepāja, Latvia

Retired numbers

Retired numbers
No. Player Position Career Number retirement
7 Jari Kesti C 2001–2004, 2005–2006 September 7, 2006
22 Tomi Suoniemi C 2001–2006 September 7, 2006

References

  1. Code explanation; GPGames Played, WWins, LLosses, OTWOvertime/Shootout wins, OTLOvertime/Shootout losses, GFGoals For, GAGoals Against, PtsPoints

External links

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