No quit among Oil Kings’ veterans
As overage players with their WHL careers winding down and playoffs unlikely, Edmonton Oil Kings forwards Tomas Soustal and Colton Kehler could easily shift to neutral as they ride into their Major Junior hockey sunsets.
Yet, Soustal and Kehler are still trying to lead a young team through difficult times, knowing they won’t be around when things eventually get better.
“I talked to Tomas, specifically, in and around the trade deadline, and he was 100 per cent all in,” said Oil Kings head coach Steve Hamilton. “He wanted to be here, loves to be here, has embraced his role and how important he is. He and Colton and Josh (Dechaine) are really our only upperclassmen, so to speak. With those guys, they have lots of games under their belt, and Tomas comes from a successful team background.”
Heading into their game against the Saskatoon Blades on Friday — the first of six-game road trip — Soustal was second in team scoring behind Trey Fix-Wolansky with 12 goals and 39 points in 46 games.
Kehler is third with 22 goals and 37 points in 47 games.
Neither were able to get on the scoreboard in a 5-0 loss to the Blades, who currently occupy the second wild card spot in the WHL Eastern Conference playoff race.
Josh Paterson, Max Gerlach, Jackson Caller, Michael Farren and Braylon Shmyr scored for the Blades, while goaltender Nolan Maier made 20 saves for the shutout.
Dechaine started the game in goal for the Oil Kings, but was pulled midway through the first period after giving up three goals on eight shots.
Todd Scott entered the game in relief and gave up two goals on 15 shots.
The Oil Kings face the Prince Albert Raiders on Saturday.
“Tomas has really embraced his leadership role,” Hamilton said. “He wants personal success. When you’re 20, you want personal success, and opportunity to come out of that. But this team is his priority, and I respect him a lot for that.”
Acquired from the Kelowna Rockets early in the year, Soustal, 20, brought skill and experience to a young Oil Kings lineup.
He won a WHL championship with the Rockets in 2015 and came within an overtime goal of a Memorial Cup title on a team led by Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl.
A native of Unicov, Czech Republic, Soustal had 18 goals and 47 points for the Rockets last season. He knew the situation coming to a rebuilding team that had won the Memorial Cup in 2014.
“It means a lot to me, trying to help these guys on and off the ice,” Soustal said. “I want to be a good leader for this team.”
Both Soustal and Kehler have been excellent leaders.
Kehler was awarded the captaincy shortly after the season began. He’s been with the Oil Kings for his entire WHL career, making the team as an 18-year-old in 2015-16.
“We realize the spot we’re in, but we have a lot of games coming up where we can make up some ground in our division,” Kehler said prior to the heading on the road. “It’s about not leaving points on the table, and coming to the rink and bringing a Grade-A effort consistently. We have enough games to make a push. It’s about going day by-day, that’s the biggest thing for us.”
Despite not getting off to a good start on the trip, the Oil Kings boarded the team bus looking to gain some momentum and continue improving on a daily basis.
While the playoffs may be out of reach this season, the club is focused on the future, hoping to get back to elite-level status in the next few years.
Before hitting the road, the Oil Kings held a team meeting to outline their goals for the rest of the season.
“Everybody sees the goals a little different, with the players and coaches, and everyone did a lot of talking, but it’s about trying to translate that to on the ice,” Soustal said.
“It doesn’t matter what we say in that room, it’s a matter of going out and doing it. Some of the goals, we obviously want to get as many points and win as many possible divisional games as we can. We play a lot of divisional games coming up. Those are big games and we have to focus on them.”