Camp Correspondence: 'Great Time of Year' as Oil Kings Head Coach Settling in to New Role
WHL Edmonton Oil Kings

Camp Correspondence: 'Great Time of Year' as Oil Kings Head Coach Settling in to New Role

Published on August 30, 2025 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Edmonton Oil Kings News Release


Edmonton, Alta. - It's been almost exactly a month since the Edmonton Oil Kings named Jason Smith their head coach and the new bench boss is getting more comfortable by the day as Training Camp progresses for the Oil Kings.

"The past couple of days it's been really exciting to get out on the ice, get a real chance to meet the players, watch the players kind of go through practice and just get a feel for who everybody really is," Smith said. "I think you sit around as a staff and you talk about players, but then when you get out on the ice and see guys moving around and get a chance to speak with them and watch them kind of hone their craft on the rink, it's a different deal."

Smith said it's been a hectic couple of weeks as he gets settled into Edmonton, a place he knows quite well, and as the days progress he and the group will begin to get into a bit more of a routine.

Formerly as a player, and Captain with the Edmonton Oilers, Smith says he loved his time in Alberta's capital city, but things have changed a bit.

"I always enjoyed Edmonton when he was here as a player and every time I've come back, it's a special place for me to come and be around the rink," he said. "I mean, obviously this facility is a lot different than the one I was in when I played, but it's special to my family and special to me and I mean to be out on the ice with the Oil Kings right now, it's a great time of year."

Smith has been a Head Coach in the WHL before, leading the Kelowna Rockets for parts of three seasons from 2016 to 2018 but was most recently in the AHL with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. He says while there hasn't been much surprises yet, he's had to adjust to the differences between pro hockey and the junior level.

"You got some real young kids here and you got some young men that are almost grown adults," Smith said. "So there is that difference, but I mean, it's still a game, you still got to go out and play. Everybody puts their two skates on and comes down to compete, work and just having a passion and a will to do whatever it takes to have the results."

Oil Kings Training Camp wraps up on Sunday, August 31 with the Bob McGill Cup at noon and the Oil Kings Locker Room Sale which starts at 11.

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