The Edmonton Oil Kings find themselves in the Eastern Conference Championship for the first time since their Memorial Cup Winning season in 2014. They will be taking on a juggernaut in the Prince Albert Raiders who went 54-10-2-2 and scored 307 goals in the regular season. The Raiders took advantage of the Oil Kings during the regular season beating them 3 out of the 4 times they faced each other. Widely considered one of the best teams in all of the CHL, the Raiders are expected to win the WHL Finals and go to the Memorial Cup. Anything less than that for this team is considered a failure of a season.
Regular Season Series
Away – Home
PA 6 – EDM 3
EDM 5 – PA 6
EDM 6 – PA 3
PA 5 – EDM 1
The Opponent
The juggernauts of the WHL, the second-ranked team in all of the CHL, come into the Eastern Conference Final having an okay start to the playoffs. They dispatched the Red Deer Rebels in four games easily but were forced to go a bit longer against Saskatoon. They beat the Blades in six games, the Blades were a formidable opponent, and it’s safe to assume that some people think that the Blades are going to be the toughest team the Raiders will face in the WHL.
They are led in these Playoffs by Dante Hannoun who has 9-5-14 in 10GP as well as Noah Gregor & Brett Leason who both have 12 points in those games as well.
The Raiders don’t have the defence in my opinion that the Oil Kings do, but they have the pure firepower upfront to blow anybody out of the building.
Ian Scott has tended the net for the Raiders throughout these playoffs with a startling 1.81GAA and a .927SV%. Surprinsgly, with how good those stats are, they are worse than his regular season stats.
How can the Oil Kings win?
In my opinion, they have the better defence, they generate more offence through those defencemen, and that can be a difference maker in this series. They’ll have to play on their toes though; if they get caught in the rush, the Raiders can make them pay, every time. Trey Fix-Wolanksy needs to come alive in this series and put up a PPG pace as he did during the season, he cannot falter.
Dylan Myskiw found his stride in the second round and will have to play as he did against Calgary if Edmonton wants a shot at taking down the Raiders. I believe theirs a way that Edmonton can win this series, but they have to win one on the road in PA in the first two games. In my opinion, whoever wins this series will be representing the WHL in the Memorial Cup, so the stakes have never been higher.
I can’t wait to be there every night and you can to, get your tickets at www.oilkings.ca!
Schedule
Game 1 – EDM @ PA Friday, April 19th, 7:00 PM.
Game 2 – EDM @ PA Saturday, April 20th, 7:00 PM.
Game 3 – PA @ EDM Tuesday, April 23rd, 7:00 PM.
Game 4 – PA @ EDM Wednesday, April 24th, 7:00 PM.
Game 5 – EDM @ PA Friday, April 26th, 7:00 PM. *
Game 6 – PA @ EDM Sunday, April 28th, 2:00 PM. *
Game 7 – EDM @ PA Tuesday, April 30th, 7:00 PM. *
If necessary *
If you’d like to join in the conversation, tweet at @KrauseArik on twitter, he’s always ready to argue about hockey!
