The Tulsa Oilers were a professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

team. Based in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa ( ) is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, second-most-populous city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the List of United States cities by population, 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The po ...

, they operated within the American Hockey Association for almost 15 years and were later members of the

United States Hockey League The United States Hockey League (USHL) is the top junior ice hockey league sanctioned by USA Hockey. The league consists of 16 active teams located in the Midwestern United States and Great Plains, for players between the ages of 16 and 21. Th ...

for the circuit's entire existence.

History

Walter Whiteside brought professional ice hockey to Tulsa in 1928 when he founded the Oilers. The new franchise was led by

Dick Carroll Richard Leo Carroll (April 28, 1885 – January 20, 1952) was a Canadian ice hockey coach. He led the Toronto team in the National Hockey League to the Stanley Cup championship in 1918 and the Toronto Canoe Club junior hockey team to the Memori ...

and sported former and future NHLers like

Duke Keats Gordon Blanchard "Duke, Iron Duke" Keats (March 1, 1895 – January 16, 1972) was a Canadian professional ice hockey centre who played for the Toronto Blueshirts of the National Hockey Association (NHA), Edmonton Eskimos of the Western Canada Ho ...

Tom Cook Thomas Cook (1808–1892) was an English businessman and founder of the Thomas Cook & Son and Thomas Cook India. Thomas Cook, alternatively referred to as Tommy Cook or Tom Cook, may also refer to: Companies/Businesses *Thomas Cook & Son, an Engl ...

and Ted Graham. Tulsa won the league championship twice in its first three seasons and firmly established itself as the premier team in the league. Carroll departed after the third year and the team sank to the bottom of the standings. Prior to the team's fifth season, the franchise was moved north to

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, ...

, hoping to save money on travel by being nearer to the other AHA cubs. While the operating costs were reduced, the team was in direct competition with the

St. Paul Saints The St. Paul Saints are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They are located in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and have played their home games at CHS Field since 2015. They previ ...

, who had long been established in the city. After the first half of the season, the team moved back to Tulsa and finished out the year as the Oilers once more. The team was then renamed as the 'Tulsa Indians' for the 1933–34 season but, once again, they reverted to being the Tulsa Oilers before the year was complete. The fans saw fit not to punish the Oilers for leaving during the height of the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

and continued to support the team. The Oilers saw less success in the late 20s than they had at the start of the decade but the team was still able to make two more appearance in the league finals. In 1942 the American Hockey Association suspended operations due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and the Oilers were mothballed for the duration. After the war, the

was created to replace the AHA and Tulsa returned as one of the founding members. The Oilers were one of the top postseason teams in the league, making the finals three times in six years. Unfortunately, the by the early 50s the league was fracturing and despite the possibility of continuing, the USHL was disbanded after the summer meeting in 1951."Revamping expected at U.S. league meet,"

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

, June 16, 1951, p. 16.

Season by season results

AHA

USHL

References

{{reflist, 50em

External links

Oklahoma City/Minneapolis Warriors Statistics and History
1928 establishments in Oklahoma 1932 disestablishments in Oklahoma 1933 establishments in Oklahoma 1933 disestablishments in Oklahoma 1934 establishments in Oklahoma 1942 disestablishments in Oklahoma 1945 establishments in Oklahoma 1951 disestablishments in Oklahoma American Hockey Association (1926–1942) teams Defunct ice hockey teams in the United States Defunct ice hockey teams in Oklahoma Ice hockey clubs established in 1928 Ice hockey clubs established in 1933 Ice hockey clubs established in 1934 Ice hockey clubs established in 1945 Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 1932 Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 1933 Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 1942 Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 1951