Tulsa, OK (February 24, 2016)–The Tulsa Oilers announced Wednesday that they have acquired forward Andrew Johnston from the Indy Fuel to complete the trade of Brandon Wong and Trevor Campbell on February 8, 2016.
One of Tulsa’s most valuable players originates from a small town in Saskatchewan, Canada. He has played professional hockey since the 2001 – 2002 season, bringing in a total of nearly 900 professional games played throughout the ECHL and the AHL combined. Not only has he played for both American and Canadian teams, he has also played in Norway, Denmark and Italy. Have you guessed who can claim all this experience yet? The one and only, Nathan Lutz. As a 6’1” defender and weighing in at 230 pounds he has 54 penalty minutes. This left handed shooter has three goals so far this season and eleven assists.
Fun fact, Lutz played for the Manitoba Moose back in 2005 – 2006, a full decade before the Tulsa Oilers became officially affiliated with the Manitoba Moose. Nowadays the Tulsa Oilers and the Manitoba Moose send players back and forth to develop. This makes coming to an Oilers game extremely exciting because you have the opportunity to see players that aren’t always in T-Town. Just another good excuse to put coming to an Oilers game at the top of your things to do in Tulsa list.
Lutz has played in six leagues across four countries and two continents. He claimed the UHL title with the Rockford Ice Hogs during the 2006 – 2007 season and has over 100 games of AHL experience. Lutz was selected as a started for the 2010 – 11 CHL All-Star Game and was ranked 5th in scoring among all CHL defensemen that same season. He appeared in every single game for the Tulsa Oilers during the 2013 -2014 season, his first year on the team. This season, Lutz scored his 400th professional point against the Quad City Mallards on February 12th. He was also named a captain for the third consecutive season. Lutz, with ten years of playoff appearances, will be one of our teams foundational leaders as we head into the playoffs this season. He plays a tremendous role for the team both on and off the ice.
Our next player in the spotlight is 6’3” defenseman Matthew Konan. Konan, a California native, played with Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the AHL last season. Konan played five seasons of major-junior hockey with the Medicine Hat Tigers of the WHL before becoming a professional hockey player with the Trenton Tigers during the 2012 – 2013 season. In the past few seasons Konan has spent time with the Adirondack Phantoms (AHL), Lehigh Valley Phantoms which is actually the same team as the Adirondack Phantoms with a new home base, and the Philadelphia Flyers in the National Hockey League.
During his five seasons as a professional hockey player, Konan has posted five goals, three of which were done while wearing an Oilers jersey this season alone. His first ECHL goal was on October 18th, the second home game of the season against the defending Kelly Cup Champions, the Allen Americans. Keeping up this season’s records, he has also assisted in fourteen goals, making his point total seventeen so far this season. Konan was a letter A on his jersey representing his position as an alternate captain with the Oilers this season.
You can catch both Nathan Lutz and Matthew Konan right here in Tulsa at one of upcoming games this season. These players have exhibited a high level of standards for the team to rise to. Combined, they have both North American and European league experience, and have played everything from college to the NHL. You aren’t going to want to miss catching these two players this season. We only have five regular season games at the BOK Center. March 18th and 19th, as well as another back to back set March 29th and 30th. Our fan appreciation night will be on our final game of the regular season, Saturday, April 9th. These games are the perfect events for family fun. Mark some games in your calendar and make way for an incredibly fun thing to do in Tulsa.
Number Eight on our team belongs to the one and only, Justin Mansfield. Justin is fresh out of college, where he majored in Finance at Merrimack University in his home state of Massachusetts. Justin wasn’t the only Mansfield to attend Merrimack. He actually had three uncles who also attended Merrimack. In his senior year, Mansfield was selected as the assistant captain who dressed in 36 games. He set a career high of nine points with four goals and five assists. Mansfield was not only a defenseman, he also logged time as a forward. When his time at Merrimack was finished, he had registered 133 game appearances and thirty total points, two of which were game winning shots.
Before he started school and hockey at Merrimack, Mansfield played for the Jr. Bruins in the Eastern Junior Hockey League. He led the team with 44 assists and 65 points. He was the team captain and MVP.
Mansfield signed with the Oilers on March 19, 2015, before he had graduated college. Mansfield made his professional debut against the Wichita Thunder only two days later and tallied his first professional point, an assist, at Wichita only eight days later. Early in the 2015 – 2016 season, Mansfield was actually released by Tulsa only to be resigned to the same team nearly a month later. A week after he was welcomed back to an Oilers jersey he recorded his first professional goal with the team that took him in directly from college. Since his re-signing, Mansfield has played a total of 15 games, earning two points and logging four penalty minutes.
