Oil Kings see brighter days ahead
Young players expected to learn from long season of hard knocks
The Edmonton Oil Kings gathered their belongings and went their separate ways earlier than hoped this Western Hockey League season, yet they leave an optimistic group.
The Oil Kings failed to make the playoffs for the second consecutive year after going through the tail end of a rebuilding cycle, icing a team made up mainly of players aged 18 and younger.
Expectations are high for the group that graduates three players in Colton Kehler, Tomas Soustal and goaltender Travis Child.
They ’re expected to compete for a playoff spot, while laying down the groundwork for another championship club.
“It was definitely difficult. There were many ups and downs, but I think our team came together through the tough times,” said Oil Kings forward Brett Kemp, 17. “But it was good for us young guys to get the experience we did. I think if I was playing on a more experienced team, I wouldn’t have played as many minutes, and I was very thankful for coming to this organization and getting the opportunity I did.”
Kemp finished the year with 17 goals and 36 assists and is part of the Oil Kings’ bright future.
Their roster this season was full of younger players taking on big roles. It didn’t always work out, but the season was always going to be about growth and development taking precedence.
“We got punched in the face a few times this year, and sometimes, it takes a lot of resiliency to pick yourself up and be able to answer the bell, and we did that,” said Oil Kings head coach Steve Hamilton.
“I think our last game of the season was a good example of that. We weren’t good in our season finale at home, not good at all by anybody’s standards. We had a short turnaround going into Calgary and answered the bell properly and just finished it on a positive note, and I think if you look back in the season, there were a number of times where we were able to show some character and resiliency through some tough times.”
The Oil Kings concluded their season with a 7-3 win on the road against the Calgary Hitmen, a night after losing 7-1 to their provincial rivals at Rogers Place.
Inconsistency was one of the issues with the Oil Kings this season, which is expected with a young roster.
“We had our ups and downs, but I think near the end, we came together as a group and found our way and played the right way and came together collectively,” said Oil Kings defenceman Matthew Robertson, 17, who is projected to be a first-round pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. “We had a lot of young guys entering the league and just getting that experience and getting to know each other and finding that chemistry helped a lot.”
After treading water through the first month of the season, the bottom fell out in late October through mid-November, when the Oil Kings went on a 12-game losing skid. The skid put them well back of the playoff pack and had Edmonton swimming upstream the rest of the season. They were never able to put together a significant run to get back in the playoff conversation.
“It was a year of disappointment in a lot of ways,” said Oil Kings defenceman Conner McDonald.
“I think our start to the year was slow and not where it needed to be. November was a month that really hurt us in every way it could. And then you move on into the new year and the mindset was still that the playoffs aren’t out of reach.
“Then games down the stretch that good teams would have found
It was definitely difficult. There were many ups and downs, but I think our team came together through the tough times.
a way to win, teams that have learned and done their whole process of growing, would find a way to win, and unfortunately we hadn’t got over the hump yet and we didn’t win.”
It’s expected lessons learned this year will blossom into results next year. However, the Oil Kings still need offensive help, graduating two of their top scorers in Kehler and Soustal. But they’ll be able to acquire three overage players next season and have room for another import.
“It definitely helps you develop as a player when you’re thrown into key situations like that,” McDonald said. “It was tough to have a team like we did, with no 19-year-olds. On a lot of other teams, the 19-year-olds are the straw that stirs the drink. I think players did grow, because they were thrown into situations that they wouldn’t see anywhere else. That being said, our 20-year-olds did an unbelievable job this year.”