
That cannot be said for other teams in town. Soccer, basketball, baseball, lacrosse... all very much off the radar for the vast majority of people in Edmonton. All of those sports have their supporters but certainly not nearly as much as the local teams that play them would like.
Hockey isn't immune to that either. The UofA Golden Bears are a perennial powerhouse but don't draw nearly as much as they deserve. There are 3 local AJHL franchises (Spruce Grove, Sherwood Park and St. Albert) and all of them have plenty of room at their home games.

At the risk of coming off as a commercial for the Oil Kings, (the last thing I want to appear as), here are 5 reasons why people should be following the team from a far or buying tickets to Rexall Place and watching the team play.
5. $10 Tickets

4. Under the Mask: Zach Braff
Edmonton GM Bob Green traded Cam Lanigan to Kamloops about a month ago and in return the Oil Kings received Jon Groenheyde. Or so we were told. Upon further review I think I can break the news that "Groenheyde" is actually a pseudonym for actor Zach Braff. Braff, the star of the TV show "Scrubs" and feature movies like Garden State, was apparently born in 1975 but clearly he's pulled some strings to be able to play in the WHL as 35-year-old. Whatever the case, he's been pretty darn good since arriving in Edmonton.

3. The Visiting Team
The single biggest thing that the Oil Kings marketing department doesn't do that both Dean and I think is a major mistake is promoting the opposition. Dean gives the example of when he called the Saskatoon Blades to book Duncan Siemens for our show, was put on hold and listened to the promotional recording: "This Weekend, Cody Eakin and the Swift Current Broncos come to town...". It's a no-brainer but locally the organization appears more happy to pump 'Elvis Night' than to inform fans that local boy and 2011 eligible goalie Liam Liston is in town for the Brandon Wheat Kings, the #1 ranked goalie in the WHL for the 2011 NHL Draft. I'd rather hear that than: "Hey, don't be a Hound Dog, if you've got Suspicious Minds about the WHL, come on down to our Heartbreak Hotel and watch us play a game. Just don't step on our Blue Suede... Skates!"

Dec 15th Swift Current: Stepan Novotny (UFA), Justin Dowling (UFA)
Dec 17th Chilliwack: Ryan Howse (CGY), Kevin Sundher (BUF), Roman Horak (NYR, CZE WJC)
Dec 27th Lethbridge: Brandon Anderson (WSH), Alex Kuvaev (2011),
Dec 31st Brandon: Scott Glennie (DAL), Mark Stone (OTT), Liam Liston (2011)
Jan 2nd & 12th Kootenay: Brayden McNabb (BUF), Max Reinhart (CGY), Drew Czerwonka (EDM), Nathan Lieuwen (UFA)
Jan 8th Regina: Jordan Weal (LA), Myles Bell (2011), Brandon Davidson (EDM)
Jan 21st Moose Jaw: Quinton Howden (PHX), Dylan McIlrath (NYR), Morgan Rielly (2012)
Jan 22nd Medicine Hat: Linden Vey (LA), Emerson Etem (ANH), Tyler Pitlick (EDM), Tyler Bunz (EDM)
Jan 26th Saskatoon: Curtis Hamilton (EDM), Stefan Elliot (COL), Duncan Siemens (2011)
Jan 29th Prince Albert: Mark McNeill (2011), Eric Williams (2011), Ryan Button (BOS)
There are definitely more players of interest than I listed here but that's LOTS of players worth watching, even if you're not cheering for the home team.
2. FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!

There are a number of players on Edmonton's roster who are willing to drop the gloves - Klarc Wilson, Keegan Lowe, Adrian Van de Mosslaer, Rhett Rachinski, Cameron Abney, Jesse Pearson and Travis Ewanyk. All have fought multiple times this year and all have done very well at it. If you like the rough stuff, you'll enjoy watching this team.
1. This Team Can Win

T.J. Foster (left) is currently riding the WHL's longest goal-scoring streak of the season having lit the lamp in 8 consecutive matches. Forward Jordan Hickmott scored a hat trick and finished with 6 points against Regina last night. Josh Lazowski has 12 points in his last 9 games, 9 in his last 6 outings. Dylan Wruck, now known as "The Wruck-ing Ball", has 12 points in his last 10 games.

2011 eligible players to watch and evaluate like Travis Ewanyk, Keegan Lowe, Klarc Wilson, Marek Hrbas and Laurent Brossoit plus future stars like Griffin Reinhart.
Oiler fans can follow the development of two prospects; Cameron Abney and Kristians Pelss.
Have I mentioned the captain, 2010 1st round pick Mark Pysyk yet? It must have slipped my mind because he's one of 9 remaining players at Canada's World Junior Camp.
This is a team worth watching but don't take my word for it, find out for yourself.
4 comments:
...and 23 in 10 games. Thanks for catching that. I was looking at a different stat and got my wires crossed, sure didn't mean to undercut his stats.
He's on fire.
I'm amazed at the lack of ink Griffin's gotten.
I mean, Ryan Murray is going to be a household name pretty soon among hockey fans, but Reinhart has been just as good in a lot of ways and unlike Murray, he already has pro size.
Man 2012 is going to be good for defenseman.
Reinhart is a lot better now than he was at the start of the year. I think he can still be more physical but I have to keep reminding myself that he's 16 and not 18 or 19.
You're right, he'll be a big player in this league.
A 3-1 win onver Swift gets them to within 2 wins of 6th spot with 4 games in hand.
Scoring streaks continue for Wruck, Hickmott and St. Croix.
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