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Noa Ta’amu Drafted 199th Overall by Winnipeg Jets at 2026 NHL Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":522,"featured_media":101518,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[207],"tags":[{"term_id":1033,"name":"2026 NHL Draft","slug":"2026-nhl-draft","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1033,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":15,"filter":"raw","term_order":"56"},{"term_id":7,"name":"Edmonton Oil kings","slug":"edmonton-oil-kings","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":32,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":2306,"filter":"raw","term_order":"512"},{"term_id":801,"name":"Noa Ta'amu","slug":"noa-taamu","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":805,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":16,"filter":"raw","term_order":"757"},{"term_id":767,"name":"Winnipeg 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Kings Announce 2026\/2027 Schedule"},"content":{"rendered":"

Edmonton, Alta. \u2013 <\/strong>The Western Hockey League, and the Edmonton Oil Kings announced their schedule for the 2026\/2027 regular season today.<\/p>\n

With families at the forefront of Oil Kings hockey, 80 per-cent of the home games this season take place on a weekend or a holiday.<\/p>\n

The Oil Kings will play 68 games, 34 at home, and 34 on the road. It all begins with the already announced Home Opener set for Sunday, September 20 at 4 p.m. against the Calgary Hitmen for the first Family Fun Sunday of the season! The Oil Kings begin the season on Saturday, September 19 in Red Deer against the Rebels.<\/p>\n

Edmonton\u2019s first choice for family entertainment still starts at just $20 a seat for Oil Kings home games at Rogers Place. Add in Kids Food Combos starting at just $7.50 and the value is unbeatable!<\/p>\n

For the first time ever, the Oil Kings will play on Halloween with a 1 p.m. puck drop against the Kamloops Blazers.<\/p>\n

Family Day Monday plans are covered as well as the Oil Kings welcome the Lethbridge Hurricanes on February 15 at 2 p.m.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the value goes well beyond the tickets Wiener Wednesday\u2019s are back once again with six Wednesdays on the schedule this season starting on November 4 against Lethbridge featuring $2 hot dogs all game long. Taco Tuesday\u2019s make an appearance again this year with a December 8 matchup with the Prince George Cougars with $2 tacos all game long.<\/p>\n

The loudest game of the year, Hockey Hooky is back on Wednesday March 3 as the Vancouver Giants are in town.<\/p>\n

Along with Prince George, Vancouver, and Kamloops, the remainder of the B.C. Division will also visit Edmonton this season with the Victoria Royals visiting the Oil Kings on October 18, the Penticton Vees playing their first ever game at Rogers Place on October 25, and the Kelowna Rockets heading to Edmonton on January 16.<\/p>\n

Another thrilling season of Oil Kings hockey is on the horizon, and you don\u2019t want to miss any of the action. Season tickets start at just $299 and is the best value for all 34 Oil Kings home games this season.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, on the road, the Oil Kings make their biennial trip to the U.S. Division from December 27 to January 6, starting off in Everett against the defending WHL Champion Silvertips.<\/p>\n

A rematch of the first-round of the 2026 WHL Playoffs will take place four times as the Oil Kings battle the Saskatoon Blades at home on October 23 and November 25 and on the road on November 14 and January 20.<\/p>\n

Check out the full schedule here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Keep an eye on the Oil Kings website and social media channels for the 2026\/2027 Promotional Schedule including the announcement of the Biggest Game of the Year, Teddy Bear Toss coming later this summer!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Edmonton, Alta. \u2013 The Western Hockey League, and the Edmonton Oil Kings announced their schedule for the 2026\/2027 regular season today. With families at the forefront of Oil Kings hockey, 80 per-cent of the home games this season take place on a weekend or a holiday. The Oil Kings will play 68 games, 34 at…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":522,"featured_media":101532,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[832],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-101505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-832","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2026\/06\/30140156\/DR1-scaled.jpg",2560,1707,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-oilkings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-oilkings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-oilkings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-oilkings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/522"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-oilkings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101505"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-oilkings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101505\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":101533,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-oilkings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101505\/revisions\/101533"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-oilkings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-oilkings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-oilkings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-oilkings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":101527,"date":"2026-06-30T13:17:42","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T19:17:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-oilkings\/?p=101527"},"modified":"2026-06-30T13:17:42","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T19:17:42","slug":"state-of-the-western-hockey-league-june-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-oilkings\/article\/state-of-the-western-hockey-league-june-2026","title":{"rendered":"State of the Western Hockey League – June 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Calgary, Alta. \u2013<\/b>\u00a0WHL Commissioner Dan Near issued today the following State of the Western Hockey League update following the successful conclusion of the 2025-26 WHL season, including changes to the WHL schedule and travel regulations aimed at improving the overall WHL Player Experience in response to feedback received directly through a survey of WHL players.<\/p>\n

SUCCESSES, 2025-26<\/u><\/b><\/p>\n

WHL continues to thrive in its local communities<\/b><\/p>\n

More than 3.2 million fans attended regular season WHL games this year, representing a 4% increase from 2024-25. The WHL averaged 4,144 attendees per game in the regular season, representing the highest average attendance of any Junior League in the world.<\/p>\n

WHL enjoys strong showing at 2026 NHL Draft\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

With four WHL players being selected in the top 10, the WHL led the way early in the first round of the 2026 NHL Draft. Of the first 100 players selected, 23 hailed from the WHL. The next highest total from any development league was the Ontario Hockey League with 16.<\/p>\n

Overall, the WHL saw 37 current players and two alumni selected in the 2026 NHL Draft, with the mark of 39 serving as the WHL\u2019s best total in over 15 seasons, since 43 players were selected in the 2010 NHL Draft.<\/p>\n

WHL on Victory+ sets records in 2025-26<\/b><\/p>\n

The first regular season of the WHL on Victory+ was a resounding success, with average regular season viewership increasing by over 50 per cent year over year.<\/p>\n

The 2026 WHL Playoffs on Victory+ saw a 63-per-cent jump in average viewership, with WHL Playoff action generating audiences rivalling that of historical linear cable broadcasts.<\/p>\n

WHL on Victory+ is set to return FOR FREE once again in 2026-27.<\/p>\n

Kelowna Rockets host sold out Memorial Cup presented by Kubota<\/b><\/p>\n

The 2026 Memorial Cup presented by Kubota was a smashing success in Kelowna, B.C., with every game of the tournament sold out at Prospera Place.<\/p>\n

Hosted in conjunction with the CHL\u2019s 50th Anniversary Season, the sport of hockey congregated in the beautiful Okanagan and enjoyed fantastic weather and competitive hockey featuring the WHL Champion Everett Silvertips, OHL Champion Kitchener Rangers, QMJHL Champion Chicoutimi Sagueneens, and host Kelowna Rockets.<\/p>\n

Everett Silvertips win franchise-first WHL Championship<\/b><\/p>\n

In May, the Everett Silvertips capped a historic season by hoisting the Ed Chynoweth Cup for the first time in franchise history, defeating the Eastern Conference champion Prince Albert Raiders in five games.<\/p>\n

Seattle Kraken prospect Julius Miettinen was named WHL Playoff MVP, finishing tied for the lead in playoff scoring with 27 points.<\/p>\n

WHL stars secure Canadian Hockey League Awards in June<\/b><\/p>\n

Four representatives from the WHL came home with hardware from the 2026 CHL Awards in Toronto earlier this month.<\/p>\n

Medicine Hat Tigers defenceman and Montreal Canadiens prospect Bryce Pickford was named CHL Defenceman of the Year, while Everett Silvertips Head Coach Steve Hamilton was presented with the CHL Brian Kilrea Coach of the Year Award. Medicine Hat Tigers forward Markus Ruck was crowned CHL Top Scorer, while Portland Winterhawks forward Alex Weiermair was named CHL Scholastic Player of the Year.<\/p>\n

2026 WHL Prospects Game presented by Showpass<\/b><\/p>\n

The brand-new WHL Prospects Game made its debut in Langley, B.C., with 40 NHL Draft-eligible prospects putting on an entertaining showcase in front of hundreds of NHL scouts and a near sold-out crowd at the Langley Events Centre, home of the Vancouver Giants, while tens of thousands more watched free on Victory+.<\/p>\n

Team East defeated Team West in overtime, thanks to Prince Albert Raiders defenceman Daxon Rudolph, who scored the game-winning goal. The product of Lacombe, Alta., went on to be the first defenceman selected in the 2026 NHL Draft, when he was chosen by the Buffalo Sabres with the fourth-overall pick.<\/p>\n

WHL Scholarship<\/b><\/p>\n

The 2025-26 campaign served as the 33rd year of the WHL Scholarship program. This season, 370 WHL graduate players have been awarded WHL Scholarships, representing an investment of over $40 million by WHL Clubs. This season, WHL Clubs have contributed nearly $3 million to the 370 WHL graduates utilizing the WHL Scholarship.<\/p>\n

Administered by the WHL Office, WHL Scholarships are solely funded by WHL member Clubs. Every player who plays in the WHL is eligible to receive the WHL Scholarship. For every season played in the WHL, players receive a guaranteed, full year of WHL Scholarship, including tuition, textbooks, and compulsory fees to a post-secondary institution of their choice. The WHL Scholarship is a full guaranteed academic scholarship with no requirement to play university hockey to qualify.<\/p>\n

NEW FOR 2026-27<\/u><\/b><\/p>\n

One week extension of WHL Regular Season Schedule<\/b><\/p>\n

Beginning with the 2026-27 WHL Regular Season, the WHL regular season schedule will extend by one week. The decompressed schedule will create additional rest and recovery for players, opportunity for additional strength and conditioning, and support the athletes\u2019 educational priorities.<\/p>\n

The 2026-27 WHL Regular Season begins Friday, September 18, and will end one week later than has been historically scheduled. The final day of the 2026-27 WHL Regular Season will be contested Sunday, March 28, 2027.<\/p>\n

The 2027 WHL Playoffs are scheduled to begin Wednesday, March 31. The WHL tiebreaker game will no longer be used to break a tie for the eighth seed in a conference.<\/p>\n

The decision to decompress the WHL schedule was approved by the WHL Board of Governors and WHL General Managers in association with a variety of initiatives to continue to augment the WHL Player Experience, to enhance player development, and to adapt to the changing hockey landscape.<\/p>\n

Air Travel for Select Road Games<\/b><\/p>\n

Beginning with the 2026-27 WHL Regular Season, WHL Clubs will be permitted to travel via air for one (1) set of road games to start and return home, under the following parameters:<\/p>\n