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. The Oilers played 20 seasons in the

Central Hockey League The Central Hockey League (CHL) was a North American mid-level minor professional ice hockey league which operated from 1992 until 2014. It was founded by Ray Miron and Bill Levins and later sold to Global Entertainment Corporation, which opera ...

(CHL), originally called the Central Professional Hockey League (CPHL) until 1968, from

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

, capturing the Adams Cup three times. 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 ...

, the team played their home games at the Tulsa Assembly Center until the 1983–84 season when they moved to

Expo Square Pavilion The Expo Square Pavilion, sometimes called simply The Pavilion, and formerly known as the Tulsa Fairgrounds Pavilion, is a 6,311-seat multi-purpose arena, in the Tulsa State Fairgrounds in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It was built in 1932; the architect was ...

. The team was also locally referred to as the "Ice Oilers" to differentiate from the Tulsa Oilers minor league baseball team.

History

The

Central Professional Hockey League Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

began operations with the 1963–64 season, with the Tulsa Oilers joining that league the following season. Maple Leaf Gardens Limited (MLGL) owned the team, and operated it as a developmental team for the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...

. In the spring of 1973 MLGL announced that they would relocate the team to become the Oklahoma City Blazers, with Tulsa getting a replacement independent team. The team suspended its operations on February 16, 1984, when its owners went bankrupt and the Tulsa Oilers went into receivership. Other teams in the league paid to keep the Oilers in operation so as not to unbalance the schedule, but the Oilers played only road games for final six weeks of 1983–84 season. Despite this difficulty, the team (under coach Tom Webster) went on to win the league championship before the CHL disbanded following the end of the season. The Oilers won the Adams Cup as the CHL champions in

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

, and

Notable players

*Ice hockey commentator

Don Cherry Donald Stewart Cherry (born February 5, 1934) is a Canadian former ice hockey player, coach, and television commentator. He played one game in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Boston Bruins. After concluding a playing career in the A ...

best known for his work at ''

Hockey Night in Canada ''Hockey Night in Canada'' (often abbreviated ''Hockey Night'' or ''HNiC'') is a long-running program of broadcast ice hockey play-by-play coverage in Canada. With roots in pioneering hockey coverage on private radio stations as early as 1923, ...

'' played one season with the Oilers in 1965–66. *Hockey Hall of Famer

Marcel Pronovost Joseph René Marcel Pronovost (June 15, 1930April 26, 2015) was a Canadians, Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman and coach. He played in List of NHL players with 1000 games played, 1,206 games over 20 National Hockey League (NHL) seasons ...

followed his 20-year NHL career with two seasons of play on the Tulsa Oilers in the 1969–70 and 1970–71 seasons. *Five players from the 1980

Miracle on Ice The "Miracle on Ice" was an ice hockey game during the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. It was played between the hosting United States and the Soviet Union on February 22, 1980, during the medal round of the men's ice hockey t ...

team played for the Tulsa Oilers in the late-70s and early-80s. These include

Dave Silk David Mark Silk (born January 1, 1958) is an American former professional ice hockey player. His professional career, which spanned 13 years, included 249 NHL regular season games with the Boston Bruins, Winnipeg Jets, Detroit Red Wings and ...

, Bill Baker,

Steve Janaszak Steven James Janaszak (born January 7, 1957) is an American former ice hockey goaltender who played three games in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Minnesota North Stars and Colorado Rockies between 1980 and 1982. Amateur career Janasz ...

Rob McClanahan Robert Bruce McClanahan (born January 9, 1958) is an American former professional ice hockey player who played 224 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Buffalo Sabres, Hartford Whalers and New York Rangers between 1980 and 1983. M ...

, and

Bob Suter Robert Allen Suter (May 16, 1957 – September 9, 2014) was an American professional ice hockey defenseman and member of the Miracle on Ice 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team who won the gold medal. He was the brother of former National Hockey ...

. *

John Vanbiesbrouck John Vanbiesbrouck (born September 4, 1963), nicknamed "the Beezer" and "JVB", is an American professional ice hockey executive and former player. As a goaltender, he was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 2007. Vanbiesbrouc ...

Vezina Trophy The Vezina Trophy ( ) is awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) goaltender who is "adjudged to be the best at this position". At the end of each season, the thirty-two List of NHL general managers, NHL general managers vote to dete ...

winner with the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in New York City. The Rangers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team plays ...

in the 1984-85 season, played goaltender for the 1984 Adams Cup championship team. *

George McPhee George McPhee (born July 2, 1958) is a Canadian ice hockey executive and former player who is the president of hockey operations for the Vegas Golden Knights of the National Hockey League (NHL). McPhee served as the general manager of the Washin ...

, who served as

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

of the

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The Capitals compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NH ...

and

Vegas Golden Knights The Vegas Golden Knights are a professional ice hockey team based in the Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Golden Knights compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division ...

, played for the Tulsa Oilers in the mid-80s, including the 1983–84 team which won the CHL championship while being in receivership status.1983-84 Tulsa Oilers [CHL]
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tulsa Oilers (1964-84) Central Professional Hockey League teams Defunct ice hockey teams in the United States Ice hockey clubs established in 1964 Sports clubs and teams disestablished in 1984 1964 establishments in Oklahoma 1984 disestablishments in Oklahoma Defunct ice hockey teams in Oklahoma Sports in Tulsa, Oklahoma Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Atlanta Flames minor league affiliates Toronto Maple Leafs minor league affiliates Winnipeg Jets minor league affiliates