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47-546: On April 15, 2009, the Central Hockey League (CHL) announced an expansion team for Allen, to begin play in the 2009–10 season. The new team was owned by Top Shelf, LLC, a group consisting of EXCO Resources chairman Douglas H. Miller and former National Hockey League (NHL) defenseman Steve Duchesne . That same day, the team announced an affiliation with the NHL's Dallas Stars . Through this affiliation, they also affiliated with

94-523: A deal to become the new ECHL affiliate of the Ottawa Senators of the NHL and their AHL affiliate, the Belleville Senators . Later that offseason, they announced the first major television deal in franchise history, agreeing to terms with Dallas TV station CW33 . With a reach of over 2.5 million households, it became one of the largest television deals in minor league sports. The Americans finished

141-662: The Allen Americans , Brampton Beast , Quad City Mallards , Missouri Mavericks , Rapid City Rush and Wichita Thunder , were all approved the expansion membership application into the ECHL for the 2014–15 season . On July 31, 2015, the Oilers announced a one-year affiliation with the NHL's Winnipeg Jets and the AHL's Manitoba Moose . After the conclusion of the agreement with the Jets/Moose,

188-473: The ECHL had accepted the Central Hockey League's remaining seven teams as members for the 2014–15 season , officially signaling the end of the Central Hockey League after 22 seasons. The Allen Americans , who won the last two CHL President's Cups, won two consecutive ECHL titles following the folding of the Central Hockey League. The Mississippi RiverKings, Tulsa Oilers and Wichita Thunder were

235-593: The ECHL . The Oilers played their home games at the Tulsa Convention Center until 2008 when they moved into the new BOK Center . For many years, the Tulsa Oilers name was shared with Tulsa's former minor-league baseball team that pre-dated the Tulsa Drillers . To reduce confusion in local news reporting, the hockey team was often called the "Ice Oilers". Formerly a member of the Central Hockey League ,

282-805: The New Jersey Devils ), and had briefly been president of the previous Central Hockey League in 1976. In the inaugural 1992–93 season the league had six teams, including the Oklahoma City Blazers , the Tulsa Oilers , the Wichita Thunder , the Memphis RiverKings , the Dallas Freeze and the Fort Worth Fire . After Levins died, the league's championship trophy (awarded to the winner of

329-935: The Quad City Mallards , folded in 2018 in the ECHL. Brad Treliving , who co-founded the WPHL in 1996, became CHL commissioner following the merger, before leaving to join the Phoenix Coyotes . Duane Lewis was named the permanent commissioner in June 2008. In October 2013, the CHL appointed former president of the Pittsburgh Penguins Steve Ryan to succeed Lewis. On March 8, 2013, the Central Hockey League announced an expansion team in Brampton, Ontario . The Brampton Beast would become

376-576: The San Jose Sharks and Worcester Sharks (and later the San Jose Barracuda ). The Americans finished its inaugural ECHL season atop the Central Division which encompassed the former CHL members, having the second-best overall regular-season performance and the best offense in the league, with 192 goals. During the 2015 playoffs , they beat both the Tulsa Oilers and Rapid City Rush to reach

423-630: The Utah Hockey Club of the NHL and the Tucson Roadrunners of the AHL. At the opening weekend of the 2010 season, the Americans introduced their mascot, Biscuit the American Bulldog , who wears the jersey number "K9". Biscuit has remained the Americans mascot ever since. The Americans are also known for their dance team , the "Allen American Ice Angels". Founded the same year as the team,

470-812: The 1947–48 season with the Tulsa Oilers after a stellar 11-year career in the NHL with the New York Rangers and Chicago Black Hawks and won the USHL Most Valuable Player Award. In 1964, a new Tulsa Oilers team joined the Central Professional Hockey League (later shortened to Central Hockey League) in its second season of operation. The Oilers won the Adams Cup as the CPHL/CHL champions in 1968 , 1976 , and 1984 .The Oilers played in

517-542: The 1992–93 team, led by veteran minor league coach and former NHL ironman Garry Unger . The team, anchored by high-scoring forward Sylvain Naud and veteran goalie Tony Martino, finished the regular season in second place, right behind intrastate rival Oklahoma City Blazers . However, in the revived league's first championship series the Oilers handily defeated the Blazers, clinching the title on OKC's home ice. Lund assumed ownership of

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564-521: The 2014 offseason, the ECHL accepted the remaining seven teams as members in October 2014, meaning the end for the CHL after 22 seasons. The Central Hockey League (CHL) was revived in 1992 by Ray Miron and the efforts of Bill Levins , with the idea of central ownership of both the league and the teams. Both men were from hockey backgrounds. Miron had been general manager of the Colorado Rockies (now

611-476: The 2014–15 CHL season was set to begin, it was announced that the Central Hockey League ceased operations and the Americans, along with the Brampton Beast , Quad City Mallards , Missouri Mavericks , Rapid City Rush, Tulsa Oilers and Wichita Thunder, were all approved the expansion membership application into the ECHL for the 2014–15 season . On October 14, 2014, the Americans announced their affiliation with

658-569: The 2022–23 season second in the Mountain Division, defeating the Kansas City Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs. Rookie Hank Crone won the ECHL regular season MVP, and the team set their franchise record for season ticket sales. On October 4, 2023, it was announced that the team was sold to Myles Jack and his mother LaSonjia Jack, becoming the first ever African-American majority owners in ECHL history. The Americans finished

705-583: The 2023–24 season third in the Mountain Division, falling to the Idaho Steelheads in the first round of the playoffs. The organization dismissed Costello as head coach in May 2024. A search for a new head coach began immediately following the release of Costello, and B. J. Adams of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) was officially hired on June 12, 2024. On July 31, the Americans announced a new affiliation with

752-589: The AHA and the Oilers disbanded due to World War II . Hockey Hall of Fame members Duke Keats and Bill Cowley played for short periods on the Tulsa Oilers during this period. The AHA was reorganized as the United States Hockey League for the 1945–46 season as a seven team league, once again including the Oilers. That league folded after the 1950–51 season. The team played at Avey's Coliseum during this time. Hockey Hall of Fame member Clint Smith played

799-655: The AHL. This agreement officially made the Americans affiliates of the Avalanche after having a working relationship with the Monsters over the previous two years. The affiliation ended after Colorado and Lake Erie moved their affiliation to the now defunct Denver Cutthroats organization. On May 4, 2012, the Allen Americans announced that former Dallas Stars players Mike Modano , Craig Ludwig , and Ed Belfour partnered up to become minority owners of Top Shelf, LLC. Shortly after,

846-433: The Allen Americans announced that they would not retain general manager and head coach Dwight Mullins, along with associate coach Bill McDonald. Richard Matvichuk was then announced as the assistant general manager and defensive coach. A month later, the Americans announced Steve Martinson as their new head coach. After winning their second Bud Poile Governor's Cup regular season title, the Allen Americans went on to win

893-547: The Austin-based American Hockey League (AHL)'s Texas Stars . On April 27, 2009, the ownership group unveiled the team's name, logo, and colors. On May 12, 2009, the Americans announced Dwight Mullins as their inaugural head coach, along with Bill MacDonald as assistant coach and head of hockey operations. As construction on the Allen Event Center would not be completed in time for the beginning of

940-540: The CHL for the 2001–02 season . However, several years of gradual contraction in the former WPHL markets claimed most of these teams in the ensuing years. The last active former WPHL team, the Fort Worth Brahmas , effectively ceased operations following the 2012–13 season . Subsequently, in 2010, the International Hockey League folded and all five remaining IHL teams joined the CHL; the last of these,

987-574: The CHL from the previous season. On September 2, 2010, the Oilers announced their first National Hockey League affiliation since their reformation in 1992 with the Colorado Avalanche, joining the Lake Erie Monsters of the AHL . On October 7, 2014, soon before the 2014–15 Central Hockey League season was set to begin, it was announced that the league had ceased operations and the Oilers, along with

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1034-611: The CHL playoffs) was renamed the Levins Cup . After running the league for eight years, Miron retired in 2000 and sold the league. The Levins Cup was renamed the Ray Miron President's Cup . After experiments in expansion and an ongoing battle for players and markets with the Western Professional Hockey League (WPHL) throughout the late 1990s, the CHL merged with the WPHL in 2001, with 10 former WPHL teams joining

1081-531: The CHL season, Allen began the season with a seven-game road streak, winning five, including their first ever game against the Arizona Sundogs 1–0, on a first period Christian Gaudet power play goal. The first game on home ice was not until November 7, 2009, a 4–1 loss to the Corpus Christi IceRays in front of a sellout crowd of 5,808 people. Allen advanced to the playoffs as the number two seed in

1128-407: The CHL until 1984 when the league folded. A new Central Hockey League was created in 1992 as a centrally owned league, owned by Ray Miron and Bill Levins . The league was operated by Ray and Monte Miron and funded by Chicago businessman and minor league sports entrepreneur Horn Chen . With the creation of the new CHL the Tulsa Oilers were a team once again. Ray Miron once coached the Oilers in

1175-478: The Idaho Steelheads, Allen forced a game seven at home, with Tristan King scoring the series-winning goal in overtime. The Americans went on to defeat number one seed Missouri by 4-games-to-2, and retain the Western Conference championship, defeating the number two seed Fort Wayne Komets by 4-games-to-1, becoming the first team to make back-to-back trips to the ECHL finals since 1994, and the first-ever since

1222-550: The NAHL. Of the CHL's remaining teams prior to October 7, 2014, Tulsa, Wichita, Allen, Colorado, Fort Wayne, Missouri (now Kansas City), and Rapid City are still active as of 2023. Of the CHL's six original teams from the 1992-1993 inaugural season, only the Tulsa Oilers and Wichita Thunder remain and are still active as of 2023. Tulsa Oilers The Tulsa Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma , and play in

1269-574: The Oilers announced a one-year affiliation with the St. Louis Blues of the NHL, which did not have an AHL affiliate, for the 2017–18 season. The affiliation was extended for another season in 2018–19, but also added the San Antonio Rampage , the Blues' new AHL affiliate. The Oilers and Blues continued the affiliation for the 2019–20 season, followed by the Oilers reaching a three-year affiliation agreement with

1316-401: The Oilers are one of only two teams which played every one of the CHL's 22 seasons (the other being the Wichita Thunder ). The Oilers established a winning tradition, making the playoffs in nine of their first 13 seasons. However, their performance in recent years has been less successful making the playoffs four times since 2005. Original owner Jeff Lund played an integral part in assembling

1363-518: The Oilers' general manager on May 3, 2008. After finishing third to last in the CHL with 18 wins in 64 games in the 2008–09 season, Hall hired head coach Bruce Ramsay, fresh off a trip to the IHL's Turner Cup finals with the Muskegon Fury , on May 21, 2009. In Ramsay's first season as coach in 2009–10 season, the Oilers rebounded with 28 wins in 64 games to post the second highest point total increase in

1410-531: The Ray Miron President's Cup for the first time on May 11, 2013, in front of a sold out crowd. After falling behind 2–0 in the first two periods of game seven against the Wichita Thunder , Allen scored two third period goals to tie the game. In overtime, Todd Robinson scored the winner to give Allen their first championship win. On May 10, 2014, the Allen Americans became only the third CHL team to win back-to-back Ray Miron President's Cup championships, and

1457-688: The Southern Conference in their first season, defeating both the Laredo Bucks and number one seed Odessa Jackalopes in seven games. In the Ray Miron President's Cup finals, they took a 2–1 series lead over the Rapid City Rush , but lost three straight games, losing the series 4–2. Allen also qualified for the playoffs in the following two seasons, winning the Bud Poile Governors’ Cup regular season title in only their second season in

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1504-707: The Western Conference Finals against the Ontario Reign . The Americans would win the first game before losing the following three games to the Reign. The Americans would come back to win the following three games in order to clinch the series. They were the fifth team in ECHL postseason history to win a series after trailing 3-games-to-1. On June 14, 2015, the Americans defeated the South Carolina Stingrays in seven games to win their first Kelly Cup . They are

1551-530: The Western Conference, but were eliminated by the Fort Wayne Komets in the conference finals of the 2021 Kelly Cup playoffs . In the 2021–22 season , the Americans became the first ECHL affiliate of the NHL expansion team, the Seattle Kraken . The 2022–23 ECHL season was the first for head coach for Chad Costello and President Jonny Mydra. On August 24, 2022, the Americans announced they had reached

1598-566: The division in the 2019–20 season with a 40–14–0–6 record before the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic . Steve Martinson was named General Manager of the Year, while defenseman Alex Breton and forward Tyler Sheehy were named to the All-ECHL First Team. The Americans were one of 14 ECHL teams to elect to play the pandemic-delayed 2020–21 season . They finished with the top seed in

1645-502: The first Canadian team in the CHL's history. In October 2013, the Central Hockey League was purchased from Global Entertainment by all the team owners, putting the CHL business model in line with that of the NHL and AHL. On May 2, 2014 the St. Charles Chill ceased operations. Soon after, the Arizona Sundogs and Denver Cutthroats suspended operations. On October 7, 2014, it was announced that

1692-565: The first since the Memphis RiverKings achieved the feat in 2003. Allen scored four second period goals to defeat the Denver Cutthroats 5–2, winning the finals series four games to one in front of a sold out crowd. Less than a week later, the Americans were sold by the Top Shelf ownership group to Stevens Brothers Sports Management, LLC. The Stevens Brothers also owned the CHL's Tulsa Oilers and[Wichita Thunder. On October 7, 2014, soon before

1739-572: The first team to advance to and win the Kelly Cup in their first ECHL season since the Idaho Steelheads accomplished the feat in 2004. Allen finished its second season in the ECHL in second place in the newly reorganized Central Division, behind the Brabham Cup champions Missouri Mavericks, earning the number four seed in the Western Conference. After trailing 3-games-to-2 in the opening series with

1786-421: The first time in franchise history. In July 2019, owner Gulati also announced that the team for sale before the 2019–20 season due to health issues in his family at the time and thought it would be better for the team to have local owners instead of an absentee owner. He also stated that if the team was not sold before the start of the season, he would not sell it during the season. The Americans were again leading

1833-586: The franchise in February 1999 after being the team's general manager. On June 23, 2013, Lund sold the team to the owners of the Wichita Thunder, the Steven brothers. The Steven brothers sold the team to Andy Scurto in 2021. Tulsa has previously had several other hockey teams named the "Oilers." The original Oilers joined the five team American Hockey Association as an expansion team in 1928. Their first home game

1880-467: The group performs at every home game and makes various community appearances. The group is considered a high-level feeder team for National Football League and NHL dance teams. Central Hockey League The Central Hockey League (CHL) was a North American mid-level minor professional ice hockey league which operated from 1992 until 2014. It was founded by Ray Miron and Bill Levins and later sold to Global Entertainment Corporation, which operated

1927-449: The last of the original six franchises still playing at the end of the CHL's tenure; the RiverKings since folded, in 2018. In the 2014–15 season, ten teams (Allen, Brampton, Colorado, Evansville, Fort Wayne, Missouri, Quad City, Rapid City, Tulsa, and Wichita) were in the ECHL, two teams (Mississippi and Columbus) were in the SPHL, and four organizations (Corpus Christi, Fort Worth Brahmas, Odessa, and Rio Grande Valley) fielded junior teams in

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1974-510: The league from 2000 to 2013, at which point it was purchased by the individual franchise owners. As of the end of its final season in 2014, three of the 30 National Hockey League teams had affiliations with the CHL: the Dallas Stars , Minnesota Wild , and Tampa Bay Lightning . Several teams of defunct leagues joined the CHL along its history, including the Southern Hockey League , Western Professional Hockey League and International Hockey League . After two teams suspended operations during

2021-418: The league. They lost in the conference finals to eventual champions, the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs , in 2011, and had a disappointing first round exit to bitter rivals the Texas Brahmas in 2012. Prior to the Americans' third season, on September 1, 2011, it was announced that the Americans signed a one-year affiliation deal with the Colorado Avalanche of the NHL and by extension the Lake Erie Monsters of

2068-469: The old CHL and his son Monte had played for the Oilers in 1973–74. Tulsa claimed the CHL championship in the CHL's inaugural season under general manager Jeff Lund and head coach Garry Unger. The Oilers established a winning tradition, making the playoffs in nine of their first 13 seasons. However, with a decline in their performance and not qualifying for the playoffs since 2005 nor winning a playoff series since 1994, Lund hired former player Taylor Hall as

2115-482: The switch from the Riley Cup to the Kelly Cup. Allen then became the first team since the Toledo Storm in 1994 to win consecutive ECHL championships, by defeating the Wheeling Nailers 4-games-to-2, celebrating their fourth consecutive championship across two leagues on home ice on June 9, 2016. On February 23, 2017, the ECHL announced that the Americans had been sold by the Stevens brothers to Allen Hockey Team, LLC, led by Reading Royals ' owner Jack Gulati. As part of

2162-403: The transition, Gulati planned to rebrand the team to be more inclusive of the Dallas-Fort Worth area while keeping the Americans name and keeping the team at the Allen Events Center. The organization held a name-the-team contest from March 31 to June 30, 2017, but nothing further was announced as of the end the 2017–18 season . Following the 2018–19 season , the Americans missed the playoffs for

2209-413: Was January 1, 1929, against the Duluth Hornets, as part of the grand opening of the Tulsa Coliseum . The team won the AHA championship that season, and again in the 1930–31 season. For the 1932–33 season, the Oilers moved to St. Paul, Minnesota , and became the St. Paul Greyhounds, but halfway through the season they moved back to Tulsa once again becoming the Tulsa Oilers. At the end of the 1941–42 season,

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