Oilers acquire Vandermeer
BY RYAN ABER
raber@opubco.com
The Edmonton Oilers acquired defenseman Jim Vandermeer from the Phoenix Coyotoes in exchange for forward Patrick O’Sullivan.
The 30-year-old Vandermeer had four goals and eight assists in 62 games for the Coyotoes last year.
In 374 career games in the NHL, Vandermeer has 87 points (22 goals, 65 assists) and 557 penalty minutes.
Vandermeer also has an Oklahoma City connection.
His brothers, Bill and Ted Vandermeer, played for the Blazers in 2008-09.
Bill Vandermeer had 63 points (30 goals, 33 assists) in 64 games while Ted had 40 points (21, 19) in 50 games for the Blazers.
Buckland named Barons’ P.A. announcer
BY RYAN ABER
raber@opubco.com
The Oklahoma City Barons named Ben Buckland as the team’s public address announcer Sunday.
The Barons, the Edmonton Oilers’ American Hockey League affiliate, begins their inaugural season Oct. 9 at the Cox Center.
Buckland was the P.A. announcer for the Oklahoma City Blazers during their tenure in the Central Hockey League before the team folded after the 2008-09 season.
He was voted as the top P.A. announcer in the league for five consecutive seasons.
A certified auctioneer, Buckland has also called racing, arena football, rodeo and rattlesnake roundups during his career.
“I’m proud, pumped and looking forward to this adventure,” Buckland said in a release. “I’m looking forward to the routing of being downtown at the Cox Convention Center 40 nights a year. I’ve followed the AHL and I think people will truly appreciate the difference in athleticism these players will bring each night.”
Buckland is currently the general manager for a company which operates a publishing company and radio stations in Elk City and Woodward.
Season tickets are available at OKCBarons.com or by calling 232-GOAL (4625).
Bob Funk Jr. video interview
Barons owner Bob Funk Jr. sat down with Oilers broadcaster Bob Stauffer at the NHL Draft over the weekend:
Barons to be broadcast on KXY
BY RYAN ABER
raber@opubco.com
Oklahoma City Barons games will be broadcast on 96.1 KXY after the team and Clear Channel Radio reached an agreement.
The three-year agreement also includes the games being streamed at KXY.com.
The American Hockey League team will begin play Oct. 9 at the Cox Center. The Barons are the primary development team of the Edmonton Oilers.
Season tickets are available for the team’s inaugural season by calling 232-GOAL (4625) or at OKCBarons.com.
Barons division set
BY RYAN ABER
raber@opubco.com
The American Hockey League released its realigned divisions Wednesday and, as expected, the Oklahoma City Barons are in the West Division of the Western Conference.
The alignment keeps the Barons, the first-year AHL affiliate of the Edmonton Oilers, in the division with their closest opponents.
The rest of the division features the Chicago Wolves (Atlanta Thrashers affiliate), Houston Aeros (Minnesota Wild), Milwaukee Admirals (Nashville Predators), Peoria Rivermen (St. Louis Blues), Rockford IceHogs (Chicago Blackhawks), San Antonio Rampage (Phoenix Coyotes) and Texas Stars (Dallas Stars). The Stars were the Calder Cup runners-up this season, losing to the Hershey Bears earlier in the week.
The North Division of the conference features Abbotsford, Grand Rapids, Hamilton, Lake Erie, Manitoba, Rochester and Toronto.
The Barons open the home portion of their season Oct. 9 at the Cox Center.
Report: Daum will not coach Barons
BY RYAN ABER
raber@opubco.com
Barons to host draft watch party
BY RYAN ABER
raber@opubco.com
The Oklahoma City Barons will host an NHL Draft watch party June 25 at the Courtyard Marriott, Downtown OKC, the Barons announced today.
The draft will start out quick for the Edmonton Oilers, the Barons’ parent club. The Oilers, for the first time in the organization’s history, hold the No. 1 pick in the draft. The Oilers are expected to pick either Taylor Hall or Tyler Seguin with the pick. The draft will be televised by Versus.
The draft party is open to the public and begins at 6 p.m. in the restaurant/lounge area of the hotel. Parking is complimentary in the garage on the south side of the hotel. Atendees can have their parking tickets validated inside the hotel.
There will also be a special rate at the hotel that night for Barons fans. SPace is limited and based on availability. For reservations, contact the sales department at 605-7643.
The Barons, the Oilers’ American Hockey league affiliate, will begin its home schedule October 9 at the Cox Center. Season tickets are available by calling 232-GOAL (4625) or at the okcbarons.com.
Five more home dates announced for Barons
BY RYAN ABER
raber@opubco.com
The Oklahoma City Barons have been given five more home dates by the American Hockey League.
The Barons full schedule, which will include 40 home dates, will be released later this summer.
In addition to their Oct. 9 home opener at the Cox Center, the Barons will host games on Nov. 5-6, Dec. 17-18 and Jan. 9. The AHL gives each club six guaranteed home dates in advance of the release of the complete schedule. Opponents for the games will not be knowqn until the full schedule is released.
The home opener is on a Saturday–a day neither Oklahoma nor Oklahoma State have a football game.
Both pairs of dates are Fridays and Saturdays while the January date is a Sunday.
Bob Funk Jr., owner of Prodigal Hockey, said the club was approaching 1,000 individual season-ticket sales. That doesn’t include corporate or non full-season packages. He said the team’s goal was 2,000 individual season ticket sales in the first season.
Funk also said a mascot had been chosen for the team and would be announced soon.
New Jersey Devils AHL affiliate moving to Albany
BY RYAN ABER
raber@opubco.com
The American Hockey League Board of Governors has approved a relocation of the New Jersey Devils-owned AHL franchise to Albany, N.Y., from Lowell, Mass.
The Albany Devils, like the Oklahoma City Barons, will begin play this fall.
This isn’t the first time the Devils have had their AHL affiliate in the New York capital area. The Albany River Rats were the Devils’ AHL affiliate for 13 years from 1993-2006, winning the 1995 Calder Cup before moving. After a season as a Colorado Avalanche affiliate and several as an affiliate of the Carolina Hurricane. the River Rats were sold and relocated to Charlotte, N.C., to begin play there in 2010-11. That team will be known as the Charlotte Checkers.
Central Hockey League/International Hockey League merge
BY RYAN ABER
raber@opubco.com
The Central Hockey League and the International Hockey League will merge for next season, the Tulsa World’s Eric Bailey wrote:
Details are still being worked out but the league will play under the CHL moniker. The divisional allignment and other aspects of the merger will be worked out during CHL summer meetings this week and the IHL summer meetings later this month.
The 15-team CHL covers nine states while the seven-team IHL covers Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois.
Oklahoma City was a member of the CHL from its refounding in 1992 until the team was folded after the 2008-09 season. The Tulsa Oilers still play in the CHL.
After a season without hockey in Oklahoma City, the Oklahoma City Barons of the American Hockey League will begin play this year as an affiliate of the Edmonton Oilers.
