It was `Memorial Cup or bust' for talented group of juniors
It took three seasons for the Edmonton Oil Kings to get an opportunity at winning a Western Hockey League championship.
As one of the best teams in the WHL the past three seasons, the Oil Kings had to wait out a pair of COVID-19 disrupted seasons before being able to compete for a title. It all came to a satisfying conclusion at Rogers Place on Monday with a 2-0 win against the Seattle Thunderbirds in Game 6 of the final.
The Oil Kings now will represent the WHL at the Memorial Cup in Saint John, N.B., from June 20 to 29.
“We've been very fortunate. We've had some really good teams here the last three years, especially the last two, and we haven't been able to do anything with it,” Oil Kings head coach Brad Lauer said. “We were close this year and we added a few key pieces that we thought were going to be important for us this year, and it turned out to be the right decision.
“It's just a great feeling for this age group, a lot of guys are leaving junior hockey and this is the ultimate goal for them.”
Anything short of a WHL title this season was going to be a disappointment for the Oil Kings, who went through a difficult rebuilding phase after claiming their last league and Memorial Cup championship in 2014.
General manager Kirt Hill inherited a team on the rise and was able to add the right pieces to turn the Oil Kings into a championship team. Hill went all in this year in an effort to help his team win, making a number of key acquisitions to supplement an already strong core.
“We've been in a position to do this the last few years and we talked about it all year that it was
Memorial Cup or bust, and now we're going; I'm so happy,” Oil Kings captain Jake Neighbours said. “I don't think you're ever going to see many junior teams like this, with this many talented players. It's an unbelievable group, from the young guys to the older guys, we all get along so well, and we all have fun at the rink every day and this is what happens when you have fun.”
The rebuild began when the
Oil Kings selected Neighbours fourth overall in the WHL bantam draft in 2017, taking defenceman Logan Dowhaniuk, goaltender Sebastian Cossa, along with forwards Tyler Horstmann, Brendan Kuny and Jalen Luypen in the same draft. The following year, they selected Dylan Guenther first overall and traded for Josh Williams.
“It's crazy that junior hockey is almost over for me and it's going to be over for a lot of guys who are going pro next year,” said
Oil Kings forward Carter Souch, the lone remaining member of the 2016 bantam draft class. “These guys have been my brothers for the last four or five years and I love them to death.”
The Oil Kings lost three games through their playoff run. They swept the Lethbridge Hurricanes and Red Deer Rebels before defeating the Winnipeg Ice in five games. The Thunderbirds proved to be their toughest challenge, pushing the Oil Kings to six games.
Seattle staved off elimination in Game 5 on Saturday where a large crowd of more than 11,000 expected the Oil Kings to clinch.
Two nights later in front of more than 7,000, the Oil Kings didn't want to leave anything to chance and stormed the Thunderbirds in the first period, outshooting them 21-4 and taking a 1-0 lead.
“They've been in this spot a lot of times with their backs against the wall and they know how to play in a situation like this,” Cossa said. “We just had to match their desperation and their work and we did a good job of that.”