Wooster Oilers | |
---|---|
City | Wooster, Ohio |
League | NA3HL |
Division | East |
Founded | 2006 |
Home arena | Alice Noble Ice Arena |
Colors | Gold, Red, White, and Navy |
Owner(s) | Deb Conrad |
General manager | Valentino Hernandez |
Head coach | Aaron Hernandez |
Website | http://woosteroilers.com |
Championships | |
Regular season titles | 2009–10 NJHL Knox Cup 2014–15 MnJHL Central Division Champions |
Playoff championships | 2009–10 NJHL International Cup |
The Wooster Oilers are a USA Hockey Tier III junior ice hockey team which plays in the North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL). The team plays home games at the Alice Noble Ice Arena in Wooster, Ohio.
The franchise started in 2006 as an expansion team in the America East Hockey League (AEHL). After the 2007–08 season the team moved to the United Junior Hockey League (UJHL) for the 2008–09 season along with two other AEHL teams. The Wooster Oilers finished third overall in their first season in the UJHL.
The following season after the UJHL collapsed, the Wooster Oilers, along with many other UJHL franchises, joined the Northern Junior Hockey League. After the 2009–10 season, the Oilers announced they would join the Tier III Great Lakes Junior Hockey League.
The 2012–13 season brought changes again as the Oilers joined the USA Hockey-sanctioned Tier III Minnesota Junior Hockey League (MnJHL). The Oilers finished fifth overall in their inaugural season and made it to the semifinals in playoffs.
On December 18, 2014, the United States Premier Hockey League announced that it was adding the Central Division of the MnJHL teams to their new Midwest Division including the Oilers. However, on February 12, 2015, the North American 3 Hockey League announced that its board of governors had approved the sale and relocation of the Cleveland Jr. Lumberjacks membership to owners of the Oilers for the 2015–16 season, allowing the Oilers to join the NA3HL. Originally the owners had planned to play two Tier III teams for the 2015–16 season but by June it was reported that they had dropped their plans for the USPHL team and would only play in the NA3HL.