The senders mention that they are hockey fans. Although hockey isn’t particularly popular in Oklahoma, Tulsa does have a professional team: the Tulsa Oilers.
The current Tulsa Oilers franchise was established in 1992, but the team name has a much longer history. Several different professional hockey teams have represented Tulsa under the Oilers name over the years.
The first Tulsa Oilers joined the five-team American Hockey Association (AHA) as an expansion team in 1928. They won the league championship in their inaugural season and again in 1930–31. For the 1932–33 season, the team moved to St. Paul, Minnesota, where it became the St. Paul Greyhounds. Halfway through the season, it returned to Tulsa and resumed the Oilers name.
The AHA ceased operations following the 1941–42 season because of the Second World War. Two future Hockey Hall of Fame members played briefly for the Oilers during this era: Duke Keats (1895–1972) and Bill Cowley (1912–1993).
Keats played for several professional teams, including the Edmonton Eskimos of the Western Canada Hockey League and the Boston Bruins, Detroit Cougars, and Chicago Black Hawks of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1958. He also played in the 1923 Stanley Cup Final with Edmonton, which lost to the Ottawa Senators.
Cowley played one game for Tulsa in 1934 before beginning his NHL career with the St. Louis Eagles and Boston Bruins. He went on to become one of the league’s outstanding players, winning the Hart Memorial Trophy as NHL most valuable player twice, in 1941 and 1943. He also led the NHL in scoring in 1941 and won the Stanley Cup with Boston in 1939 and 1941. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1968.
Professional hockey returned to Tulsa after the war when the Oilers joined the newly reorganized United States Hockey League (USHL) for the 1945–46 season. The seven-team league was a continuation of the earlier AHA, and the Oilers remained members until it folded after the 1950–51 season.
This version of the Oilers featured another future Hockey Hall of Fame member, Clint Smith. After an 11-season NHL career with the New York Rangers and Chicago Black Hawks, Smith played for Tulsa in 1947–48. He also served as the team's coach and won the USHL's Most Valuable Player award that season. Smith was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1991.
In 1964, a new Tulsa Oilers team joined the Central Professional Hockey League (CPHL), which was shortened to the Central Hockey League (CHL) in 1968. The Oilers enjoyed considerable success, winning the Adams Cup as league champions in 1968, 1976, and 1984. The 1984 championship was particularly remarkable because the team played its final six weeks of the season on the road after financial difficulties forced it to give up its home rink. Despite this, the Oilers went on to win the championship.
The present-day Tulsa Oilers began play in 1992 as part of a newly established Central Hockey League. They won the league championship in their inaugural season, defeating the Oklahoma City Blazers in the final.
The CHL ceased operations in 2014, and seven of its teams, including Tulsa, joined the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) for the 2014–15 season. In July 2015, the Oilers announced an affiliation agreement with the Winnipeg Jets of the NHL and the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League (AHL).
As of the 2026-27 season, Tulsa plays in the BOK Center, which can seat 19 199 people for hockey. They have an NHL affiliation agreement with the Anaheim Duck and an American Hockey League affiliation with the San Diego Gulls.
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