Stavanger Ishockeyklubb, commonly referred to as Stavanger Oilers, is a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

team based in

Stavanger Stavanger (, , American English, US usually , ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the a ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. They currently play in the

Fjordkraftligaen Eliteserien, known as Fjordkraftligaen due to sponsorship, is the premier Norwegian ice hockey league, organised by the Norwegian Ice Hockey Association. It comprises 10 clubs and works on the premise of promotion and relegation, in which the tw ...

, which is the top division in Norwegian ice hockey. As of 2018, it is the only team in the league from western Norway. The Oilers play their home matches in DNB Arena.

History

Stavanger Oilers were established as a company team by

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

expatriate workers in 2000. Viking Hockey had traditionally been the dominant hockey club in

. The club's establishment was led by the Finnish businessman Hartti Kristola, who withdrew his economic support from

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

to focus on Oilers. The club played their first official game in the autumn of 2001, with players from the higher divisions of Finnish hockey, as well as a number of former

Norwegian national ice hockey team The Norway men's national ice hockey team is the national ice hockey team from Norway that participates at the IIHF World Championships. The team is governed by the Norwegian Ice Hockey Association and is coached by Petter Thoresen. History ...

players. These played alongside amateur local players. Stavanger Oilers, starting at the bottom of the league system, went through the 2001/02 season unbeaten, scoring 304 goals. The club top scorer, Finnish

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

Jari Kesti, scored or assisted on 226 of them. In 2002/03 Oilers went through their first 18 games unbeaten. Ahead of the season, the team received more Finnish players, as well as two of Viking Hockey's players, Tommy Edlund and

Thomas Kristensen Thomas Fauerskov Kristensen (born 17 April 1983) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He is currently working as a transition coach at Lyngby BK and as an assistant coach for the Danish U-18 national team. Kri ...

. The club's first loss came away against

Gjøvik Hockey Gjøvik Hockey is an ice hockey team based in Gjøvik, Norway. They play in the First Division with Gjøvik Olympic Cavern Hall as their home arena. History Gjøvik Hockey was founded in 1990, following the construction of the Gjøvik Olympic Ca ...

, was followed by another loss the next day to the same team. Oilers also got beaten by local rivals

Bergen IK Bergen Ishockeyklubb is an ice hockey club from Bergen History Bergen Flyers were elite commitment to the club until 2005. Elite team's history went back to the hockey team to the Sportkluben Djerv, which changed its name in turn to "Bergen / ...

, who were the first team to defeat Oilers in

Siddishallen Stavanger Ishall, also known as Siddishallen is an indoor ice hockey arena in Stavanger, Norway. It was built in 1968, as only the second arena ice hockey venue in Norway, and has a capacity of 3,090 people.Jari Kesti scored 150 points from Oilers 296 goals, and countrymen Tomi Suoniemi and Jarkko Ollikainen both scored more than 100 points. Promotion to the

GET-ligaen Eliteserien, known as Fjordkraftligaen due to sponsorship, is the premier Norwegian ice hockey league, organised by the Norwegian Ice Hockey Association. It comprises 10 clubs and works on the premise of promotion and relegation, in which the tw ...

was secured following five victories in the qualification play-offs, with the only defeat coming against Bergen in a

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

. Ahead of its first season in the

, more Finnish players and some young Norwegian players joined Oilers. At the start of the season the team beat

Lillehammer Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the municip ...

5–1 in the opening match, followed by a 10–0 away win at

Manglerud Star Idrettslaget Manglerud Star is a Norwegian alliance sports club from Manglerud, Oslo. It has sections for association football (one for elite and one for grassroots football) and ice hockey. General history The club was founded in 1964 as a merge ...

in the second match. The first defeat came at home against fellow promoters Bergen. At the end of the season, Oilers finished sixth in the table. Again, Jari Kesti was the club top scorer, for the third season in a row. In the playoffs, Oilers beat

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

by three games to one in the quarter finals, winning the final game in sudden death in front of a sell-out crowd of 2600 people in

Siddishallen Stavanger Ishall, also known as Siddishallen is an indoor ice hockey arena in Stavanger, Norway. It was built in 1968, as only the second arena ice hockey venue in Norway, and has a capacity of 3,090 people.Teemu Kohvakka scored the deciding goal with only 14 seconds left of the first period of sudden death. In the semifinals, Oilers were beaten by Storhamar in three straight games. The second elite season saw two players leave the club: Jari Kesti signed for

Vålerenga Vålerenga () is a neighbourhood in the city of Oslo, Norway, belonging to the borough of Gamle Oslo. Vålerenga is located between the neighbourhoods of Gamlebyen, Jordal, Ensjø, Etterstad and Lodalen. Vålerenga is in particular known for it ...

and Christian Dahl Andersen went to Swedish side

Arboga Arboga () is a locality and the seat of Arboga Municipality in Västmanland County, Sweden with 10,330 inhabitants in 2010. Overview The city of Arboga is known to have existed as a town since the 13th century but the area has been inhabited sinc ...

. Both came back during the same seasons, after unsuccessful stints in their new clubs. Owner Hartti Kristola withdrew his financial backing, and a local business executive, Tore Christensen, took over control of the club. Oilers' performances varied throughout the season, and after a loss against bottom side Bergen, Matti Riekkinen resigned as the team coach. He was replaced by Swede Gunnar Johansson in January 2005. The team finished the season in seventh place, losing against

in the play-off quarter-finals. Ahead of the 2005/06 season, Swedish players Bengt Höglund, Martin Johansson and Fredrik Sundin were brought in, along with the Norwegian national team player Snorre Hallem. The club had its best season to date, finishing in fourth place in the

. In the playoffs, Oilers beat

Sparta Warriors Ishockeyklubben Sparta Sarpsborg, commonly referred to as the Sparta Warriors, is a Norwegian ice hockey team based in Sarpsborg, Norway. They currently play in the GET League. They play their home games in the Sparta Amfi arena and is Norway's ...

by four games to two in the quarter finals. In the semi finals against second-placed Stjernen, each team won their home games until Oilers decided the series through a 2–1 victory in the seventh and final game of the series, away at

Stjernehallen Stjernehallen is an indoor ice hockey arena located in Fredrikstad, Norway. The capacity of the arena is 2,473 and was opened in 1970.Stavanger Stavanger (, , American English, US usually , ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the a ...

ended in a defeat in four straight games against

. In the 2006/07 season, players joining included Henric Höglund from Stjernen and Norwegian national team players

Marius Trygg Marius Trygg (born 1 June 1976 in Norway) is a Norwegian ice hockey forward. He is currently playing for Manglerud Star in GET-ligaen. Career Early career He started his senior career with Spektrum Flyers in 1994 and played two seasons before ...

and

Lars Peder Nagel Lars is a common male name in Scandinavian countries. Origin ''Lars'' means "from the city of Laurentum". Lars is derived from the Latin name Laurentius, which means "from Laurentum" or "crowned with laurel". A homonymous Etruscan name was borne ...

. At the end of the season, they finished in third place, which was still the club's best result to date. This was the third time that a team from

had won the bronze medals in the league, with

winning the bronze twice in the past. At the end of the season, past players Jari Kesti and Tomi Suoniemi were also honoured, as their respective shirt numbers, #7 and #22, were officially retired by the club. In the playoffs

Comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena ar ...

were beaten by four games to two in the quarter finals, while Oilers lost to

Storhamar Dragons Storhamar Hockey, often referred to by its initials SIL, is a Norwegian ice hockey team based in Hamar, Norway. The club currently plays in the Fjordkraft-ligaen, the highest level of Norwegian hockey. The club has won seven regular season titl ...

by the same score-line in the semi finals. The club won the 2013–14 IIHF Continental Cup.

Season-by-season results

''This is a partial list of the last five seasons completed by the Oilers. For the full season-by-season history, see List of Stavanger Oilers seasons.''

Players

Current roster

Retired numbers

References

External links

* {{Champions Hockey League Ice hockey teams in Norway Sport in Stavanger GET-ligaen teams 2001 establishments in Norway Ice hockey clubs established in 2001 Kontinental Hockey League expansion teams