Oil Kings Wrap up Pre-Season, Looking Forward to Opening Night
September 22, 2024 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Edmonton Oil Kings News Release
Edmonton, Alta. - The Edmonton Oil Kings wrapped up their 2024 Pre-Season schedule on Sunday night, finishing with a 3-1-0-0 record after wins over the Prince George Cougars (6-3 and 6-2) and Red Deer Rebels (6-4), before a Sunday night loss to the Calgary Hitmen (5-2).
Oil Kings Head Coach Luke Pierce said he was happy with a lot of things their group did during their four-game tune up.
"Nice to score some goals and it's always fun to win games," he said. "And you'd like to win the last one. But, I thought a lot of our young players were excellent and showed themselves very well."
Pierce said it's difficult to sometimes balance the development and evaluation of players trying to make the team, while also feeling the competitive nature of wanting to win hockey games.
Smyth Rebman played in all four games in the pre-season and scored twice and added an assist in the pre-season and said while it's early, there lots of positives to take away.
"Some good, some bad, obviously some things to work on early in the season," Rebman said. "But, yeah, overall it's pretty good."
Rebman, who is heading into his second season, first full season, with the Oil Kings, said there's a good mix of young and old with the team and there were lots of players that battled hard over the last couple weeks to try and earn their spots.
Pierce added that it's been a busy start to September, but there's lots of excitement to get things going in the regular season.
"This first few weeks is always a little bit chaotic," Pierce said. "But excited to get some guys back and this group get up and rolling here and start firing real bullets."
Joe Iginla led the way offensively for the Oil Kings with seven points (three goals) over the four games, while Ethan MacKenzie led all Oil Kings blueliners with two goals and three assists for five points in three pre-season games.
In net, the Oil Kings saw three netminders see action, with Alex Worthington leading the way with 140 minutes.
The Oil Kings will look to start the regular season strong as they hit the road for a pair of games to open their schedule. It all kicks off on Friday, September 20 in Lethbridge against the Hurricanes, followed by a Saturday afternoon battle in Medicine Hat against the Tigers. Both games start at 7 p.m. and can be heard on iHeartRadio.
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Western Hockey League Stories from September 22, 2024
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