Local Mascot Makes Boys' Day As Passionate Hockey Family Falls Short As Fans.

York Plagge
Dec 1, 2022
6 min read

Updated: 3 days ago

I bought tickets on the same night as a Minnesota Wild game. Rookie move on my part.

4NH's Five-Hole Fanatics Hockey Tour

Game #5: ECHL Regular Season Game (12/1/22)

Location: Tulsa, OK (BOK Center)

Score: Tulsa Oilers (1) Indy Fuel (3)

W/W Team: Tulsa Oilers

W/W Fan Record: 3-2-0

Player Of The Game: Alex Wideman (Fuel)

With the hometown Oilers up 1-0 early in the first period, the visiting Fuel were finally able to get it going late in the period when journeyman Alex Wideman assisted on Kirill Chaika's goal at the 14:22 mark. Heading into the locker room at the break tied, the second was dominated by the defense, as the two teams found themselves still knotted 1-1 going into the final period.

Who wants to give a high-five to the guy who scored the game-winning goal?

During the first half of the third period, Wideman scored the game-winning goal with assists from Cameron Hillis and Shane Kuzmeski. The Fuel added a third goal a bit later in the final period to wrap up a 3-1 win on the road. Alex returned to the ECHL during the prior off-season after playing professionally in Germany, Denmark, and France, winning the Danish Championship in 2020-21 while playing for Rungsted Seier Capital in the Metal Ligaen.

Alex, whose older brother Chris, a defenseman, has appeared in 180+ NHL games and currently plays for the Montreal Canadians. His best season as an NHLer was in 2016-17, when Chris was a part of the Ottawa Senators team that made a run to the Eastern Conference Finals, winning two series along the way. They have not won a series since. Chris and Alex played for a season in college together at Miami-Ohio, a team that qualified for the 2012 NCAA Division I Ice Hockey Tournament. They ultimately lost to Massachusetts-Lowell in the regional semifinals.

Favorite Player: Sledge... The Mascot (Oilers)

I'm being a bit lazy on this one. The reason I can justify using the Tulsa Oilers' very own Sledge The Mascot as our favorite "player" has two parts. One, which I am almost ashamed to admit, our minds were elsewhere while the puck was on the ice in front of us. I made the almost unforgivable mistake of getting tickets to a game on the night the Minnesota Wild were playing... and we watched that game on my phone. To be fair, we were playing the Edmonton Oilers, Fleury was in goal, and Kaprizov had a three-point night. For the second part of our justification... Please refer to Dickhead Move Of The Night... You'll get it.

So... this doof dresses up as an oil worker and gets this look from my son that I might get after playing Legos with him for three hours.

Looking back, the most meaningful interaction any of the Four Nomadic Hippies experienced outside of our core unit during our time spent at BOK Arena was between our mascot-obsessed son, Tads, and the aforementioned Sledge. They hit it off swimmingly, right as we walked into the lobby area.

We couldn't make out all of what Tads and Sledge discussed, but there was a lot of hand waving and laughing. I would assume that Sledge didn't break character and try to use his human voice, but regardless of the one-way verbal exchange, Tad's minute-plus of total connection with Sledge ran way deeper than mere words. I wouldn't think Sledge gives this kind of access to everyone who adores him...

We Came To See... An NHLer Born Out Of COVID

Before we attend some of these minor league games, and when we don't have any semblance of a working knowledge of the team or teams, we conduct a fair bit of research on the players who may be taking the ice that evening. We may uncover that one of the players played juniors in the USHL for an Iowa team... or that they had battled through multiple levels of the minors... or (most likely) they hail from Minnesota. This time, there was a pretty cool story with one particular player.

I wonder if the Canadians allowed Hillis to keep his jersey from his night as an NHLer.

The Canadians were coming off a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals during the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season. Sneaking into the playoffs in the all-Canada North Division (COVID rules in Canada dictated this) with a 24-21-11 record and a playoff-qualifying low 59 points, they caught fire at the right time. Taking out the North Division Champs Maple Leafs in seven, they swept the Jets and beat Vegas in six. Entering the 2021-22 season with some expectations, the wheels fell off quickly. Injuries... COVID cases... Minor Leaguers were summoned... More COVID... Two wins in October... COVID... One win in December... It was a nightmare. During the season, the 2021-22 Montreal Canadians had a mindboggling 40 different skaters take the ice.

One of the 40, Cameron Hillis, had started the season playing for the ECHL's Trois-Rivères Lions and had never played an NHL game. In late December, he found himself as the next man up when the Canadians made their way to Florida to take on the Panthers. Taking the ice with a team that was both a forward and a defenseman short of a full squad, Hillis spent just a tick over ten minutes on the ice that Saturday afternoon, took sixteen shifts, and had two shots on goal. He also had two wins on four trips to the dot, including a win over the reigning Selke Trophy winner, Aleksander Barkov. Hillis didn't play another NHL game during the 2021-22 season, and now, seeing him back in the ECHL this year, it makes one think his NHL career totals are most likely set in stone... unless there is a new pandemic to deal with (fingers not crossed) in the near future.

Dickhead Naughty Little Girl Move Of The Night: Ivy Turns On The Rest Of The Nomadic Hippies

Ok... the headline sounds a bit aggressive, but Ivy's spirit for hockey did not endure the entire evening. She quickly found herself in a mood, and at her lowest point, she proclaimed that she hated hockey. Just to put this into perspective... this would be comparable to a passionate auto racing family hearing from their child that they hate cars... or those on a camping trip hearing from a member that tents are stupid... or even a coffee group hearing from their ranks that caffeine is the work of the devil.

I'm mad at the world... and hockey, right now.

At one point, Ivy's displeasure with the entire night prompted her to get up, move away from the family, sit by herself, and physically turn away from us. This is not the type of reaction we had ever experienced in our days taking in the game of hockey. So, in between watching the Minnesota Wild on the phone and trying to take in Oilers/Fuel live, we now had to be parents and tend to our rogue member... the 6 1/2-year-old with really big feelings.

As a remedy for our daughter's discontent, we could have spent a whole bunch of money on concessions. It would have turned her attitude around quickly, and there was money to spare for the evening. We found tickets on a resale site for $8 per. But what is to be learned from rewarding substandard behavior with treats?

This May Be Of Interest...

Minor league hockey arenas (at least those affiliated with an NHL franchise) are certainly becoming more state-of-the-art, and most are now a far cry from the quintessential minor league hockey dumps of the past. Tulsa's BOK Center certainly fits the bill here to say the least, as this beautifully designed arena is the flagship project of Tulsa's Vision 2025 development initiative. With the 26th-largest seating capacity of any arena in the U.S., the BOK Center is the largest home of any ECHL team, the second-largest home where a minor league hockey team is the primary tenant, and holds more people than the NHL homes of the Winnipeg Jets, Utah Mammoth, and New Jersey Devils.

We were not anticipating going to our first ECHL game at an arena designed by an award-winning architect.

Opened in 2008, the BOK Center was designed by globally renowned and award-winning architect César Pelli. Pelli, who was bestowed the American Institute of Architects Gold Medal in 1995, has designed the prominent Petronas Towers (located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; the tallest building in the world from 1996-2004) and the Salesforce Tower (located in San Francisco, California; second tallest building in the state). Pelli's excellence in his craft makes this casual observer think the architectural icon was meant for more than hosting ECHL hockey.

The arena has seen its fair share of historic musical acts. Acts ranging from Paul McCartney and Bruce Springsteen to Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift, it was once the home of the WNBA's Tulsa Shock. All-time greats Skylar Diggins, Liz Cambage, and Sheryl Swoopes, and even controversial U.S. Track & Field star Marion Jones played two seasons at the BOK Center, with the latter returning to hardwood after more than a decade away from the sport. The team eventually moved to Dallas and became the Wings.