The Oil Kings

Edmonton's WHL junior team, tied to the Oilers' earliest days.

The Edmonton Oil Kings are a Canadian junior ice hockey team from Edmonton that plays in the Western Hockey League. The current club is the fourth WHL team in the city and takes its identity from the original Oil Kings, one of the league's founding franchises in 1966. That first club was owned and run by Bill Hunter, who also founded the league that became the WHL and whose Oilers were briefly announced in early 1972 under the Oil Kings name, a nod to the Oil Kings teams of the 1950s and 1960s. The original Oil Kings won back-to-back championships in 1970 and 1971; the present team began play in the 2007-08 season, has won three WHL titles and took the 2014 Memorial Cup. Its WHL games against the Calgary Hitmen are the junior version of the Battle of Alberta.