First For The New Oiler!

I have to admit that I did a bit of a double-take when the news crossed my desk on Tuesday that the Oilers had signed former Mount Royal Cougars sniper Ryley Lindgren. When you hear "Oilers" in terms of a hockey news story, you immediately think of Edmonton, Alberta and not Tulsa, Oklahoma. Of course, one could have made that mistake easily after he played a lot of his WHL career in Alberta and followed it up with a highly-successful Canadian university career at Mount Royal University where he was one of the most lethal players in Canada West. Edmonton almost makes too much sense, but it was, in fact, the ECHL's Tulsa Oilers who signed Lindgren on Tuesday.

Tha Manitoba-born Lindgren played five seasons for the Cougars in Calgary where he tallied 33 goals and 37 points in 80 games, so there wasn't much doubt that Lindgren could play the game well after a solid WHL career that saw him stop in Brandon, Lethbridge, and Swift Current. After leaving Mount Royal following the 2020-21 season, Lindgren joined the Norfolk Admirals in the ECHL on an amateur tryout contract where he appeared in just three games, finding no success on the scoresheet in his first taste of professional hockey.

As is the nature of the ECHL, Lindgren was not offered a contract for the start of this season by Norfolk, making him a free agent to pursue othr hockey opportunities or, potentially, opportunities away from the rink. Ryley, it seems, used his university education this summer to start a brand-new business in May called eHockey Inc. where the business is described as "the Digital Marketing and eCommerce solution focused on growing Hockey-related businesses and coaches. Strategic planning, valuable content creation, synchronous social media experience, website updates and maintenance, email marketing, online booking and appointment integration, and more".

It sounds like Ryley has himself something here, but one had to wonder if the door to the hockey career closed with this new business venture. Obviously, based on the opening paragraph above, it did not as the Tulsa Oilers signed Lindgren to a standard player's contract and added him to the roster on Tuesday as they prepared for their game on Wednesday against the Wichita Thunder!

Lindgren was in the lineup against the Thunder on Wednesday wearing #72 for the Oilers as he resumed his professional hockey career in his fourth ECHL game. He didn't score in the game, but he didn't look out of place despite jumping into Tulsa's lineup with barely a pregame skate to get him ready. Tulsa would win the game in Wichita by a 3-1 score which set the table for the rematch tonight in Tulsa between these two teams.

I don't know what happened between Wednesday night and tonight, but it seems a practice and getting settled into his surroundings benefitted Lindgren and the Tulsa Oilers nicely. Just 1:53 into game tonight, the Oilers had to break out the white tape for a puck that would be going home and destined for a mantle chez Lindgren.

You just witnessed Ryley Lindgren's first professional goal as he put the Tulsa Oilers up 1-0 on Tulsa's second shot of the game when he beat Wichita's Evan Buitenhuis with the wrister from the high slot after Eddie Matsushima won the face-off. Congratulations to Ryley on that moment - it's one he will surely never forget!

The best part of this? Lindgren wasn't done contributing on this night with that goal. He also picked up the primary assist on Dylan Sadowy's goal at 11:51 of the third period to make it a 5-3 game for Tulsa, and he picked up his first penalty a few minutes later when he was sent off for a couple of minutes for tripping. While it's not a Gordie Howe hat trick, Lindgren had himself a heckuva night with a goal, an assist, and a penalty in a 6-3 win for the Oilers!

Congrats on a big night, Ryley, and here's hoping there are many more in helping the Oilers capture the Kelly Cup!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!