ECHL: Blake McLaughlin Named Player Of The Week

24-year-old Blake McLaughlin was named the Inglasco ECHL Player of the Week for February 19-25. The Grand Rapids, Minn. native scored four goals and four assists for the Tulsa Oilers during their three-game series against the Idaho Steelheads. His eight-point performance last week is even more significant given that he has only played in nine games for the Oilers this season, scoring six goals and eight assists for 14 points. He is on a five-game scoring streak, all assists except for his four-goal performance against the Steelheads on Saturday. 

The Anaheim Ducks drafted McLaughlin in round three of the 2018 draft. He played four years with the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers before signing a professional contract with the San Diego Gulls in the AHL in 2022. He has played 53 games with the Gulls, scoring one goal and two assists, and 52 games with the Oilers, scoring 20 goals and 28 assists. Blake McLaughlin’s four goals on Saturday tied him with three others for the highest number of goals scored in a game this season, and his six points broke the Oilers record for points in a game in the ECHL. The Oilers won that game 10-4 over the Idaho Steelheads. The teams traded two goals each in the first period before the Oilers scored five in the second. McLaughlin scored twice in the second period and twice in the third period. The Oilers’ ten goals breaks the team’s record for goals in a game in the ECHL.

Inglasco will donate a case of pucks to a Tulsa youth hockey organization on behalf of Blake McLaughlin. The Tulsa Oilers return to the ice Wednesday against the Kansas City Mavericks at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla.