Oilers trio earn league awards

Oilers Ben Gordon

The late-season surge of wins in February and March have resulted in three league awards conferred on three Tulsa Oilers players.  Ben Gordon and Shane Madolora were awarded the league’s first and second star awards for February and Adam Pleskach was named February’s Central Hockey League Rookie of the Month. In the league’s three star race, players are awarded five points for being a game’s first star, three points for being named the second star and a single point for being named the third star of the game.  Gordon, who scored a hat trick twice in February, dented the twine 14 times altogether and has a continuing points streak that has reached seven games as of this writing.  In addition to that he has score points in eight of the 10 games Tulsa played last month. It earned the 29-year old from International Falls, Minnesota 21 star points in February with three first star honors and two second star nods. Shane Madolora was a perfect 7-0 in February and only allowed 13 goals.  Gordon edged Madolora by a single point as the second year professional from Salinas, California earned 20 first star points.  To date Madolora has a record of 25-18-1 with a .908 save percentage.

Oilers Adam Pleskach

In ten games last month Oilers rookie Adam Pleskach has five goals and seven assists for twelve points, (including two game winners), and a +10 rating, which was good enough to earn the 25-year old from Beausejour, Manitoba the CHL’s Rookie of the Month honor for February. Pleskach recorded points in seven of the Oilers 10 games in February with multiple-point games in four of them.  He is part of the line that Ben Gordon and Ryan Menei and that line has been responsible for most of the points produced by Tulsa in the games in February.

Oilers Shane Madolora

Gordon, Pleskach and Madolora will be back in action this weekend when they entertain the Rapid City Rush for a pair of games, including the team’s annual military night this Friday night, March 7th, when a number of promotions are planned. There will be a blanket giveaway to the first 500 fans, the team will wear special patriotic-themed jerseys that will be auctioned after the game, and they are sponsoring a “Seats For Soldiers” campaign where fans are encouraged to make a $10 donation in order to give a veteran or an active duty serviceperson a ticket to the game.

Photo credit: Kevin Pyle