Tulsa Oilers (1928–1951)

The Tulsa Oilers were a professional ice hockey team. Based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, they operated within the American Hockey Association for almost 15 years and were later members of the United States Hockey League for the circuit's entire existence.

Walter Whiteside brought professional ice hockey to Tulsa in 1928 when he founded the Oilers. The new franchise was led by Dick Carroll and sported former and future NHLers like Duke Keats, Tom Cook 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.^[1]

Prior to the team's fifth season, the franchise was moved north to Saint Paul, Minnesota, 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, 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 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 and the Oilers were mothballed for the duration. After the war, the United States Hockey League 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.^[2]

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