Edmonton_Oil_Kings

Edmonton Oil Kings

Edmonton Oil Kings

Western Hockey League team in Edmonton, Alberta


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.

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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 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.[citation needed]

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.[citation needed]

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.[citation needed]

"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.[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 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.[citation needed]

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

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
2023–2468273731227301586th CentralOut of playoffs

WHL Championship history

Memorial Cup Final history

Current roster

Updated February 21, 2024.[7]

More information #, Nat ...

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. [dead link]
  3. Brownlee, Robin (2005-04-16). "What the WHL?". Canoe Inc. Archived from the original on July 17, 2012. Retrieved 2010-12-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  4. WHL Network, Western Hockey League, archived from the original on 2012-06-30, retrieved 2024-02-21

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