Edmonton Oil Kings

Edmonton Oil Kings
Edmonton Oil Kings
City	Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
League	Western Hockey League
Conference	Eastern
Division	Central
Founded	March 16, 2006
Home arena	Rogers Place
Colours	Red, Royal Blue, Gold, White, Green, Black ;
Owner(s)	Oilers Entertainment Group; (Daryl Katz, Katz Group)
General manager	Kirt Hill
Head coach	Brad Lauer
Captain	Scott Atkinson
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, which also owns the Edmonton Oilers.^[2] The 2007–08 season was the newest incarnation of the Oil Kings' inaugural season in the Western Hockey League. 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 2014 Memorial Cup 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).^{[citation needed]}

The original 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 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.^[4] The original Oil Kings moved to Portland, Oregon in 1976, becoming the Portland Winter Hawks.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[5] The second Oil Kings relocated again to become the Great Falls Americans, where the team would only last 28 more games before folding.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]}

"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.^[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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]}

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
2016–17	72	23	43	5	1	193	292	52	5th Central	Out of playoffs
2017–18	72	22	42	6	2	204	315	52	6th Central	Out of playoffs
2018–19	68	42	18	4	4	259	196	92	1st Central	Lost Eastern Conference final
2019–20	64	42	12	6	4	239	167	94	1st Central	Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2020–21	23	20	2	0	1	104	41	41	1st Central	Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic

WHL Championship history[]

2011–12: Win, 4–3 vs Portland
2012–13: Loss, 2–4 vs Portland
2013–14: Win, 4–3 vs Portland

Memorial Cup Final history[]

2014: Win, 6–3 vs Guelph (OHL)

Current roster[]

Updated June 18, 2021.^[7]

#	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	Acquired	Birthplace	Drafted
15	(C)	C	L	21	2015	Vancouver, British Columbia	Undrafted
8		D	L	21	2015	North Vancouver, British Columbia	Undrafted
33	Sebastian Cossa	G	L	18	2017	Fort McMurray, Alberta	2021, 15th Overall, DET
24		D	L	19	2017	Sherwood Park, Alberta	Undrafted
		D	L	18	2020	Terrace, British Columbia	Undrafted
11	Dylan Guenther (A)	LW	R	18	2018	Edmonton, Alberta	2021, 9th Overall, ARI
30		G	L	17	2019	Kamloops, British Columbia	Eligible 2022
16		C	L	18	2018	Sylvan Lake, Alberta	Eligible 2021
3		D	R	18	2021	Regina, Saskatchewan	Eligible 2021
41		LW	L	19	2017	Richmond, British Columbia	Undrafted
12		LW	L	20	2016	Edmonton, Alberta	Undrafted
40		G	L	18	2018	Red Deer, Alberta	Eligible 2021
17		RW	R	18	2018	Surrey, British Columbia	2021, 123rd Overall, OTT
23		LW	L	19	2017	Kelowna, British Columbia	Undrafted
21	Jake Neighbours (A)	LW	L	19	2017	Airdrie, Alberta	2020, 26th Overall, STL
34		C	L	21	2020	White Rock, British Columbia	Undrafted
7		D	R	18	2021	Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan	Eligible 2021
13		C	R	16	2019	Surrey, British Columbia	Eligible 2023
–		RW	L	18	2021	Košice, Slovakia	2021, 128th Overall, VGK
22	(A)	D	L	20	2016	Sherwood Park, Alberta	2019, 49th Overall, NYR
47		D	L	18	2018	Airdrie, Alberta	Eligible 2021
5		D	L	18	2018	Edmonton, Alberta	Eligible 2021
44		LW	L	19	2016	Edmonton, Alberta	Undrafted
4		D	L	17	2019		Eligible 2022
14		RW	R	20	2019	Langley, British Columbia	Undrafted