TULSA, Okla. – Friday, April 4 was a night of celebration in Tulsa as the Tulsa Oilers, a double-A hockey team with the ECHL, formerly known as the East Coast Hockey League, and an affiliate of the Anaheim Ducks in the National Hockey League (NHL), hosted a night dedicated to the Muscogee (Creek) Nation for their second-to-last home game of the season.
To celebrate the occasion, the Muscogee (Creek) Nation gave out free ticket vouchers, which were good for up to four tickets in the Fan Zone of the BOK Center. These vouchers were available at the Mvskoke Dome in Okmulgee as well as the following Muscogee Nation Health locations: Council Oak, Okemah, Koweta, Sapulpa, and Eufaula.
The Oilers also hosted a “Pack the House” night on the same day, sponsored by the Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO), with fun events beginning at 5:30 p.m. with a pre-game party. There were giveaways before the game, including a Tulsa Oiler Hawaiian-style shirt for the first 1,000 people to arrive. There was also an auction after the game in which hockey jerseys made specifically for the MCN night were auctioned off. Several of the jerseys were worn by the players during the game. There was also a jersey with a customizable last name, jerseys for both the team mascot, Sledge, and the head coach Rob Murray, and a #24 jersey for the whole team.
The game itself began at 7:05 p.m. when the puck dropped and the Oilers played against the Wichita Thunder, an affiliate of the NHL team, the San Jose Sharks.
The Oilers would go on to beat the Thunder 3-1, with the Thunder scoring once in the 2nd period and the Oilers responding with three unanswered goals in the 3rd period.
The Tulsa Oilers are an ECHL affiliate of the Anaheim Ducks of the NHL, and of the San Diego Gulls, a member of the triple-A, American Hockey League (AHL), the NHL’s main developmental league.
