TULSA, Okla. – Have you ever just had one of those days? For the Tulsa Oilers, it’s turned into a rough couple of weeks beginning with a 6-4 loss at Bossier-Shreveport on October 19th.
Following a perfect opening weekend during which the Oilers won a home-and-home series against the Wichita Thunder, everything that could go wrong seems like it has. The Oilers led their game with the Mudbugs 3-2 before Bossier-Shreveport netted four goals in the second period to ice the game. Eight days later, Tulsa had lost three straight games and number one goalie Trevor Cann. Cann, who earned both Oilers wins this season, was recalled by the AHL’s Lake Erie Monsters on October 27th. Two days after Cann’s departure, Tulsa lost a heartbreaker to the Colorado Eagles. With the game tied 1-1, Steve Haddon scored with 0:01 left in the third to deny the Oilers a win. Adding to the list, Tulsa dropped a home-and-home series to a streaking Wichita Thunder to end the Halloween weekend. Included in that series was a deflating 8-0 home loss during which many fans made their way to the exits early. As if the sudden six-game skid wasn’t enough, near-tragedy struck on November 5th while the Oilers were on their way to Independence, Missouri to take on the Missouri Mavericks. While traveling on the Will Rogers Turnpike (I-44) en route to Missouri, members of the team smelled smoke, prompting the driver to pull over about two miles East of Claremore. The bus quickly became fully engulfed in flames, sparking a grass fire. Fortunately, all 25 people onboard the bus were able to evacuate the bus without injury. The rented bus was a total loss. Fortunately, the team’s equipment, being hauled in a trailer, was saved. According to Oilers broadcaster Steve McCall, broadcasting equipment and personal property was lost in the blaze. The team went on to lose both games following the fire, dropping their season mark to 2-7-1. At this point it seems that the Oilers wouldn’t have any luck at all if it weren’t for bad luck. The team has been in most of their games to date, but Head Coach Bruce Ramsay says they’ve had some missed opportunities – of the 19 players on the roster, only six have scored goals. Tulsa out shot Missouri 36-29, but couldn’t convert shots into goals. “We need to finish out opportunities,” Ramsay said. “We’ve had so many; we’ve had open nets and back door plays where all they had to do is push them in. We’re finding ways to miss the net or shoot it wide. The opportunities are there, we just need to execute and finish,” he said. Chad Costello, Harrison Reed and Jack Combs are atop the team’s scoring chart, averaging nearly a point per game. Costello and Reed each have four goals and five assists while Combs is right behind them with four goals and four assists. Ramsay has made some moves in an attempt to get the offense firing on all cylinders once again. Tom Fritsche, assigned by Lake Erie on October 29th, was signed to a standard contract on Monday before his initial five-game contract expired. The left wing, a 2005 second-round draft pick by the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche, has 35 points through parts of three seasons with the Monsters. The team waived Chris Cloud and Jason Weeks and recently signed forward Evan Kotsopoulos, who netted 76 points through three ECHL seasons. On the other end of the ice, Tulsa looks to fill the void of Cann’s departure with the recent addition of former Wichita net minder, Ian Keserich. The 6’2”, 200-pounder was 0-3 early in the season with the Thunder, posting an .840 save percentage. In one game thus far between the pipes for Tulsa, Keserich stopped 32 shots while allowing four goals. While it’s unclear how the rotation will work, Keserich joins Tyler Sims to create an interesting tandem for the Oilers. Sims, the son of Fort Wayne Komets Head Coach Al Sims, is 0-5-1 with a 3.28 goals allowed average and .878 save percentage this season. Sims has seen a larger workload than he has had in the past and he thinks ultimately, it will help him to improve.
“Being given the opportunity to play these past couple weeks, it’s been nice to get some familiarity in the net,” Sims told Steve McCall during last week’s coaches show. “In the past I’ve been playing once every two weeks, been more of a back up on the teams I’ve been on. We’ve played well, we’ve been on a bad string of puck luck…I’m sure we’re going to have a string of games where it’s going our way and we’re doing well and winning a lot,” he added. Ramsay seems excited about both goalies in his stable, and the experience they bring on game night. “Ian’s a proven goaltender who’s played quite a few years at the double-A level,” he said. “Between him and Tyler we have two goalies with experience that have put up good numbers in the past – I feel confident that whoever I put in the net is going to be able to stop the puck,” Ramsay added. The Oilers have a lot of hockey left ahead of them, and a seasoned coaching veteran like Ramsay is not pushing the panic button yet. However, he clearly wants to get his team out of their current valley and back into the swing of things. “I’m tired of making excuses,” Ramsay said. “We need not find excuses why we lost, but reasons why we won.” Contact the author at john.hall@prohockeynews.com
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