Oil Kings Update: Oil Kings grab big win and swing a massive trade
4 years ago
With just over a week to go until the WHL trade deadline, the Oil Kings swung a massive deal early on New Years Day acquiring goaltender Beck Warm and the rights to forward Riley Stuart (who is not expected to report to the team) from the Tri-City Americans in exchange for forward Cade Littler, a second-round pick in 2021, a fourth-round pick in 2022, and the rights to Carter Gylander (who is not expected to report to the team).
“We’re really excited. He’s one of the elite goalies in the league. He’s a guy who we’re really familiar with, after having his brother here. There’s a lot of respect between the family and the organization. Will (Beck’s twin brother who spent three seasons with the Oil Kings) was a ‘WHL Humanitarian of the Year’ and his brother has a lot of those same qualities. We’re bringing in an elite goalie but we’re also bringing a real character guy into our locker room,” said General Manager Kirt Hill.
Hill wasn’t the only member of the Oil Kings organization with high praise of Warm. 20-year-old Riley Sawchuk played with Warm in Tri-City up until last season and the two actually lived together as billet brothers.
“He was one of my best friends. He’s an unbelievable guy. He’s a captain in my mind and he’ll be a brick wall for us back there,” said Sawchuk.
The Oil Kings needed to acquire a goaltender after Todd Scott decided to leave the team and go to the USHL in December.
“He had a bad November and Cossa was getting more starts. Todd wanted to be the guy to run with it and kind of he lost his job and didn’t want to compete for it anymore,” said Hill when asked about Scott’s decision to leave the team.
There’s no doubt that this is a massive upgrade for the Oil Kings and in my opinion, they now have the best 1-2 punch between the pipes in the WHL. Warm, a 20-year-old who has appeared in close to 150 junior games, hasn’t posted elite numbers in the league this season but he had been getting peppered on a nightly basis. He joins 17-year-old phenom Sebastien Cossa who has a 2.26 GAA and a 0.921 sv% through 23 career WHL games. He was also just named the WHL Goaltender of the Month of December.
“Last year we had to use both goalies in a playoff round. You can’t rely on one guy anymore because the teams are too good, adding Warm gives us a good 1-2 punch,” said Head Coach Brad Lauer when asked about his new goaltending duo.
That wasn’t the only trade the Oil Kings and Americans completed as of late. Edmonton also added defenseman Sam Stewart in a trade on December 29th. The 19-year-old spent the last year and a half with the Americans and will provide a steady presence to the Oil Kings top six.
Stewart made his home debut on New Years Day and talked about getting his first chance to play at Rogers Place.
“I was nervous looking up in the stands” laughed Stewart, “there’s great fan support, it’s a great city and an amazing facility.”
The Fort McMurray native had quite the journey after he found out about the trade as well. After he learned he was going to be joining the Oil Kings, he drove about five hours by himself to Cranbrook, BC where Oil Kings Assistant Coach Luke Pierce joined him (Pierce flew to Cranbrook). Then the two completed the drive to Calgary, got in around midnight, and then Stewart played the next day against the Hitmen.
After that, Stewart hopped on the bus with his teammates and Pierce actually drove Stewart’s car up the QE2 to Edmonton. One of those things that would only happen in junior hockey.
On the ice, the Oil Kings started the new decade with a victory over the Everett Silvertips. The win cemented the Oil Kings spot as the top team in the WHL with 57 points. The Silvertips are third in the league with 53 points.
Edmonton actually fell behind 2-0 early in this game but some great saves by Sebastien Cossa in the first period and early in the second kept Edmonton in the game. Rookie Dylan Guenther fired home his 13th of the season in the second period and then just four minutes after that, Carter Souch scored a powerplay goal that tied the game up.
The third period was fantastic. These two teams traded chances for 20 minutes with each team finding the back of the net once. Things went into OT tied at three and after five minutes of scoreless hockey, a shootout was needed.
Dylan Guenther and Josh Williams both scored in the skills competition and Sebastien Cossa stopped two of the three Everett shooters. Edmonton walked away with a 4-3 victory. This was more than just a win to the Oil Kings, this was a statement to the rest of the league that they’re ready to compete for a title.
“We have confidence in our room. There’s a lot of good teams in this league but if we keep playing the way we’re playing right now, then it (being the best team in the WHL) is possible,” said forward Josh Williams after the win.
Next up for the Oil Kings is a matchup against the Moose Jaw Warriors tonight at Rogers Place.
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