Vernal Oilers Win Premier Regular Season Title With First-Ever 44-0 Undefeated Record

By Joshua Boyd

The Vernal Oilers have done what had once been unthinkable, certainly beyond the previous record of 30 straight wins. They have won all 44 regular season games and never took a single loss – not even in overtime or a shootout – to become the first-ever completely undefeated USPHL Premier Regular Season Champions.

“We are proud of what this group has accomplished thus far. This is a special team that has bought into the goal of bringing home not only our third consecutive divisional championship, but a National Championship back to Oil Country in a few weeks,” said Owner and General Manager David Imonti.

The Oilers are indeed hoping to become the Northwest Division playoff champion for a third straight year, as they remain the only representatives of the division at the USPHL Nationals following trips in 2023 and 2024. On March 22, 2024, they registered their first Nationals win by defeating the Ontario Jr. Reign, 5-4.

Between Oct. 4-6, the Oilers defeated the Seattle Totems in three straight – the Totems went on to finish second in the league with a record of 40-4-0-0, taking losses only to the Oilers and once at the end of their season against Bellingham.

The Oilers’ next biggest challenge was at the USPHL Las Vegas Showcase, where they faced three other teams that have been Top 10 Power Rankings teams. They defeated the Ontario Jr. Reign (5-2), the Metro Jets (3-2) and the Fort Wayne Spacemen (3-2), in addition to an 8-2 win over a non-top 10 team in MJDP.

“Our staff had done a tremendous job of not only preparing, but developing our players over the course of the season,” added Imonti. “To see it all coming together now is pretty surreal, and it will be exciting to see what they can accomplish as a group during the postseason.”