(Photo courtesy/Andy Devlin, Edmonton Oil Kings)

By Ben Tompkins

northeast local

2022 WHL Champions, Edmonton Oil Kings have Humboldt roots at ‘head’ of team

Jun 17, 2022 | 3:59 PM

The Edmonton Oil Kings are the 2022 Western Hockey League (WHL) Champions after beating the Seattle Thunderbirds 4-2 in a best-of-seven series.

Leading their team is Humboldt-native, head coach Brad Lauer.

Lauer, who spent multiple years as a player in Junior and professional leagues, including the NHL, then moved on to coaching as an assistant, also in the NHL, before joining the Edmonton Oil Kings and acquiring his first head coaching gig back in June of 2018.

Since then, Lauer has spent four seasons with the team, coaching them to four straight Central Division titles, including an Eastern Conference Finals loss to the Prince Albert Raiders in his first year and receiving the WHL’s Coach of the Year award in his second season.

Now, after two straight seasons of the Memorial Cup being cancelled due to the pandemic, Lauer and the Oil Kings have a shot at the title, which will begin next Monday, June 20, in Saint John, N.B.

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“Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, we haven’t been able to do a lot with this group, so to be able to accomplish this, this year with this group, a lot of guys we’ve had here for four years, so it’s pretty special and they’ve been thrilled,” said Lauer.

And as far as the person and coach he’s now evolved into, as he eyes the ultimate prize, he said a lot of it comes from where he grew up, as that’s where the passion began.

“Growing up in a small town, I believe gives you some good qualities and good values as a child, so that definitely matured me and drew me to the type of person I am. Having grown up and played minor hockey in Humboldt was special and it still has good memories.”

And while a future return to Humboldt, as a coach, may seem like a pipedream to Broncos fans, the return of Lauer holding a Memorial Cup, isn’t nearly as far-fetched for all hockey fans, living in the northeast.

“There’s a good chance for that, obviously, you want to bring it back to where the roots began, where you kind of grew up with and still hold very dear. I’ve still got a lot of family there, so it definitely would be an important part of me to be able to do something like that.”

Currently standing in his and the Oil King’s way is a four-team round-robin format tournament held from June 20 to 29 and hosted by the Saint John Seadogs. Also competing are the Shawinigan Cataractes and the Hamilton Bulldogs.

Also happening for Lauer recently was his selection as a coach, for the upcoming Hockey Canada National Junior Team camp.

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter @BenTompkins_8