Tulsa Oilers
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The Tulsa Oilers are a professional ice hockey team in the Central Hockey League. They play their home games at the Maxwell center also known as Tulsa Convention Center. For many years, the Tulsa Oilers name was shared with Tulsa's former minor-league baseball team that pre-dated the Tulsa Drillers. To reduce confusion in local news reporting, the hockey team was often called the "Ice Oilers", a moniker that continues to this day among many Tulsans.
The Oilers are one of only four teams that have played each season in the CHL since its rebirth in 1992 (the other three being the Memphis RiverKings, the Oklahoma City Blazers and the Wichita Thunder) . The Oilers have a winning tradition, making the playoffs in nine of their 13 seasons. Owner- Jeff Lund played an integral part of assembling the 1992-93 team, a scrappy bunch led by veteran minor league coach and former NHL ironman Garry Unger. The team, anchored by high-scoring forward Sylvain Naud and veteran goalie Tony Martino, finished the regular season in second place, right behind intrastate rival Oklahoma City. However, in the revived league's first championship series the Oilers handily defeated the Blazers, clinching the title on OKC's home ice. Lund assumed ownership of the franchise in February of 1999 after being the team's General Manager. Lund has established himself as the leader of minor league sports in Tulsa. Under Lund's direction, over two million fans have attended an Oilers game at the Tulsa Convention Center. Lund currently sits on the CHL Executive Committee and is also on the Executive Committee of the af2 League. He recently sold the Tulsa Talons, a championship arena football team.
Contents |
[edit] Championships
| Year | League | Trophy |
|---|---|---|
| 1992-1993 | CHL | William “Bill” Levins Memorial Cup |
[edit] History
[edit] AHA
The Oilers joined the 5 team American Hockey Association (AHA) as an expansion team in 1928. Their first home game was Jan 1 1929 against the Duluth Hornets as part of the grand opening of the Tulsa Coliseum. Amazingly, they won the AHA championship that season. They won the championship again in the 1930-31 season. For the 1932-33 season, the Oilers moved to St. Paul, Minnesota and became the St. Paul Greyhounds but half way through the season they moved back to Tulsa once again becoming the Tulsa Oilers. At the end of the 1941-42 season the AHA disbanded due to World War II.
[edit] USHL
The AHA was reorganized as the United States Hockey League for the 1945-46 season so the Oilers were once again in business in the 7 team league. That league folded after the 1950-51 season. The team played at Avey's Coliseum during this time.
[edit] CHL
The Eastern Professional Hockey League was formed in 1959 as the first farm league fully run and controlled by the NHL. That league would fold in 1963 only to re-emerge as the Central Hockey League (CHL) for the 1963-64 season. The Tulsa Oilers joined that league for the 1964-65 season putting professional hockey in Tulsa once again. The team left Tulsa in February 1984 when its owners went into receivership. Other teams in the league paid to keep the Oilers in operation, and the team—under coach Tom Webster—went on to win the league championship, despite playing all games on the road after February. The league disbanded following the end of the season.
[edit] CHL Reborn
The CHL was reborn in 1992 as a centrally owned league operated by Ray and Monte Miron and funded by Chicago businessman and minor league sports entrepreneur Horn Chen, and the Tulsa Oilers were a team once again. Ray once coached the Tulsa Oilers in the old CHL and his son Monte had played for the Tulsa Oilers in 1973-74. Tulsa claimed the CHL championship in the inaugural season.
[edit] External links
| Central Hockey League | |
| 2006-07 teams: Amarillo Gorillas | Arizona Sundogs | Austin Ice Bats | Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs | Colorado Eagles | Corpus Christi Rayz | Laredo Bucks | Lubbock Cotton Kings | Memphis RiverKings | New Mexico Scorpions | Odessa Jackalopes | Oklahoma City Blazers | Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees | Rocky Mountain Rage | Tulsa Oilers | Wichita Thunder | Youngstown Steelhounds | |
| Suspending operations for 2006-07 season: Fort Worth Brahmas | |
| Trophies and Awards: Ray Miron President's Cup | |
| Related Articles: NHL | AHL | ECHL | SPHL | UHL | World Cup | |
