Oil Kings capture Ed Chynoweth Cup with shutout victory in Game 6 of 2022 WHL Championship

The Edmonton Oil Kings are WHL Champions following a 2-0 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds in Game 6 of the 2022 WHL Championship Monday at Rogers Place.

Jakub Demek and Kaiden Guhle scored the Edmonton goals, while Sebastian Cossa stopped all 27 shots that came his way as the Oil Kings captured their third WHL Championship in modern franchise history.

“It’s been years in the making for this group,” Edmonton captain Jake Neighbours said after the game.

“We’ve had a good group over the last couple of years, to see this finally come through, it’s hard to put into words,” the St. Louis Blues prospect added.

“I’ve had a lot of these guys for four years now, they worked hard, went through a lot of adversity all year long,” said Oil Kings head coach Brad Lauer.

“They stuck with it, they found a way to win hockey games. Here we are today,” the Edmonton bench boss added.

The Oil Kings outshot the Thunderbirds 21-4 in the opening frame, and went ahead 7:15 into the period on a power-play goal from Demek. The Vegas Golden Knights prospect scooped up a loose puck in front of Seattle goaltender Thomas Milic and deposited his fifth goal of the 2022 WHL Playoffs.

Edmonton extended its lead to 2-0 before the second period was four minutes old. Neighbours found Guhle alone, in space, in the high slot, allowing the Montreal Canadiens draftee to fire a snapshot past Milic’s blocker.

Seattle outshot Edmonton 12-9 in the second period, and 11-6 in the final frame but could not solve Cossa. The Detroit Red Wings prospect stymied Jared Davidson with a blocker stop midway through the period after the Thunderbirds leading scorer was sent in on goal after a blue-line turnover.

Thomas Milic parried aside 34 shots in the Seattle crease, with 20 of those saves coming in the first period.

“We’ve been counted out several times this year and in the playoffs, but the character in the room continued to rise, and they continued to fight on,” said Thunderbirds head coach Matt O’Dette after the game.

“We’re extremely proud of the group, what a great bunch of kids,” O’Dette added.

The Oil Kings finished 1/4 on the powerplay, while the Thunderbirds were 0/6.

Guhle was named WHL Playoffs Most Valuable Player after completing the post-season with eight goals and 16 points.

The Montreal Canadiens prospect won his second WHL Championship, arriving with the Oil Kings from the Prince Albert Raiders in December.

“The guys welcomed me in here halfway through the year with open arms and made me feel at home right away,” Guhle noted.

Edmonton now advances to the 2022 Memorial Cup presented by Kia in Saint John, N.B. Edmonton will open the tournament Tuesday, June 21 versus the QMJHL Champion Shawinigan Cataractes.