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Tulsa Oilers

Final Edition - Oilers Weekly News and Notes

March 25, 2013 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Tulsa Oilers News Release


Season Finale: The Oilers came up just short in the 2012-13 regular season finale on Sunday, dropping a 3-2 decision at the BOK Center to the Allen Americans. Drew Fisher and Ryan Cramer scored for the Oilers, but a third period powerplay goal by Americans forward Brian McMillin proved to be the difference in the contest. Ryan Menei recorded two assists in the loss while Tulsa goalie Shane Madolora made 27 saves on 30 shots. The Oilers ended the season series against Allen with a 2-7-0 record.

Final Numbers: The Oilers end their 21st season of hockey with an overall record of 22-39-5 and a .371 winning percentage. Tulsa missed the playoffs for the second year in a row and for the seventh time in the last eight years. The Oilers ranked tenth in the CHL in goals scored (177) and tenth in goals against (254).

Streak Snapped: With a final home record of 14-15-4, the Oilers snapped a streak of three consecutive seasons with a record of .500 or better at the BOK Center. Tulsa's longest home winning streak of the season was five games from January 22 to February 5 and the Oilers endured a season-long five-game home losing streak from December 29 to January 20.

Finale Frustration: Tulsa hasn't had too much luck in season finales. Including Sunday's loss, the Oilers are 0-8-1 over the last nine years in the last game of the season. Tulsa hasn't finished the season with a victory since beating the Memphis Riverkings 4-3 on March 14, 2004.

Farewell To Fleck: Oilers defenseman Tyler Fleck announced his retirement last week and played his final professional game on Sunday. Fleck, the Oilers captain for each of the last three seasons, played in his 773rd career game on Sunday and every single game of his career has been played in the Central Hockey League. The 34-year old is second on the CHL list of all-time games played and is one of only five players in league history to surpass the 700-game mark. After ten distinguished years with the Oklahoma City Blazers, Fleck played 20 games for the Missouri Mavericks and has suited up for 208 games in a Tulsa uniform. The Saskatchewan native hangs up the skates with career totals of 40 goals, 158 assists, and 1,522 penalty minutes. Fleck recorded 12 points in 66 career postseason games. From October 15, 2010 to October 28, 2012, the veteran blue-liner appeared in 147 consecutive contests. Gifted with incredible toughness and durability, Fleck played in 60 or more games in eight seasons.

Deans of Discipline: The Oilers wrapped up the 2012-13 season as the least penalized team in the entire Central Hockey League. Tulsa recorded 897 penalty minutes for an average of 13.6 penalty minutes per game.

Shooting Stars: In 2012-13, no team in the CHL was more efficient in shootouts than the Oilers. Tulsa went 4-2 in shootouts and scored on 14 of its 34 shootout attempts for a league-leading 41-percent success rate.

Menei Reaches Rare Air: Oilers winger Ryan Menei is just the sixth Tulsa player in the last 11 seasons to reach the 80-point plateau. The Winnipeg native chipped in two assists on Sunday to finish the season with 82 points and a fifth-place finish in the CHL scoring race. Menei led the Oilers in goals (34), assists (48), and tied for the lead with four game-winning goals. The sixth-year pro fell just short of his career high of 87 points which he set during the 2010-11 season as a member of the Rapid City Rush.

Premier Puck-Stopper: Goalie Shane Madolora, recently named the Oilers Rookie of the Year, finished second in the CHL with 1156 saves. Madolora ended up just nine saves behind Missouri's Mike Clemente (1165) even though he appeared in nine fewer games than Clemente over the course of the season. The California native wrapped up his rookie campaign with the fifth-best save percentage (.912) in the league and made at least 30 stops in 21 of his 36 appearances.

Super Support: For the ninth consecutive season, the Oilers finished in the top half of the CHL in attendance. Tulsa placed fourth in 2012-13 in overall attendance (137,506) and fourth in average attendance with 4,166 fans per home game. The Oilers had seven games in excess of 5,000 fans and the largest crowd of the season was 6,346 on Saturday, March 23 against Wichita.

Top Tens: Despite missing the final 14 games of the regular season with a broken leg, Oilers forward Ben Gordon still finished ninth in the CHL scoring race with 66 points (26 goals, 40 assists). Gordon's fellow Minnesota native, Drew Fisher, ended the year in seventh place in rookie scoring with 40 points (16 goals, 24 assists), and Sean Erickson tied for sixth in defensive scoring with 37 points (7 goals, 30 assists).

Milestones: Several Oilers players reached notable career milestones during the 2012-13 campaign.

#3 Gio Flamminio - appeared in 400th CHL game on Jan. 20 vs. Wichita

#8 Jeff Buvinow - scored first professional goal vs. Missouri on Feb. 1

#10 Ryan Menei - notched 200th career assist vs. Missouri on Dec. 29...appeared in 100th CHL game at Fort Worth on Jan. 5...posted back-to-back hat-tricks (7 goals total) on Feb. 2 and Feb. 5...recorded 350th career point at Missouri on Feb. 9

#13 Ben Gordon - scored at Bloomington on Dec. 14 for 250th career point...registered 100th career goal at Missouri on Jan. 11...tied career high for points in single game with six (1 goal, 5 assists) vs. Missouri on Feb. 1...played in 300th career game vs. Arizona on Feb. 15

#14 Tyler Fleck - moved into second place on CHL's all-time games played list with 746th game on Jan. 19 vs. Wichita...reached 1,500 career penalty minutes on Feb. 2 vs. Wichita...played in 200th game as an Oiler vs. Arizona on Mar. 6

#15 Sean Erickson - scored 100th point of pro career vs. Allen on Nov. 30...appeared in 200th game as an Oiler on Dec. 4 vs. Missouri

#19 Patrick Schafer - appeared in 100th CHL game on Jan. 22 vs. Arizona

#20 Drew Fisher - scored first professional hat-trick vs. Wichita on Jan. 20

#22 Gary Steffes - recorded 100th career point on Oct. 27 at Quad City...named CHL First Star of the Month for October...first career AHL call-up in January, played 16 games for Lake Erie Monsters and recorded a goal and two assists

#27 Ryan Cramer - played in 100th career game on Jan. 29 vs. Denver

#29 Shane Madolora - first professional shutout with 39 saves vs. Arizona on Feb. 15

#33 Ryan Barlock - scored first pro goal on Dec. 28 vs. Quad City

#90 Michel Beausoleil - scored 300th career goal at Fort Worth on Nov. 9...250th game as an Oiler on Feb. 9 vs. Missouri...400th CHL assist at Arizona on Feb. 26...fourth consecutive season of 20 goals and 40 points

Head Coach Bruce Ramsay - won 100th game as Oilers coach on Dec. 2 vs. Arizona...300th professional victory on Jan. 18 at Wichita...coached 600th career game on Jan. 29 vs. Denver

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