Edmonton Oil Kings’ road begins vs. defending champs; a WHL Eastern Conference playoff preview

The Western Hockey League's Eastern Conference was a dogfight down the stretch, so it's no surprise the first round seems full of fairly even competition.

After all, only nine points separated third-seeded Calgary from eighth-seeded Kootenay. As late as the final two weeks of the season, those teams were within a couple points of each other in the standings.

The Emerson Etem-led Medicine Hat Tigers are clawing it out with the Saskatoon Blades. The overachieving Calgary Hitmen are up against the highly-talented Brandon Wheat Kings. The star-studded Moose Jaw Warriors square off against their rival neighbours, the Regina Pats. And the top-seeded Edmonton Oil Kings take on last year's WHL champions, the Kootenay Ice.

The Eastern Conference post-season opens Thursday when Brandon faces off against Calgary at the Scotiabank Saddledome. The other seven WHL series begin on Friday.

(4) Medicine Hat Tigers (42-24-2-4, 90 points) vs. (5) Saskatoon Blades (40-29-1-2, 83 points)

Season series: Saskatoon 3-1-0-0. Odds favour: Medicine Hat 63 per cent. Prediction: Medicine Hat in 4.

Why Medicine Hat should win: The Tigers' elite 1-2 scoring punch, Etem and Hunter Shinkaruk, will be more than a handful for the Blades' back end. The two snipers scored a combined 110 goals and 198 points in the regular season. It seems quite likely Blades goaltender Andrey Makarov could see Etem and Shinkaruk in his nightmares by the end of the series.

At the other end of the rink, Tigers puck-stopper Tyler Bunz has proven to be one of the Dub's top netminders in both the regular-season and post-season. The Edmonton Oilers prospect let in a total of eight goals in a five-game series against Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and his Red Deer Rebels in last year's playoffs. One has to think if Bunz could shut down Nugent-Hopkins and company, he should be in good shape against a less talented Blades offence.

Another factor is that the Tigers should have more motivation to win than the Blades. Medicine Hat is set to lose Etem and likely Bunz to the pros. So it seems this is their last crack at a WHL Championship until the next crop of prospects blossom. While the Blades are hosting the 2013 MasterCard Memorial Cup; therefore, there isn't a lot of pressure on their shoulders. They know they have a bigger championship window next spring.

How Saskatoon could win: Makarov proved at the world juniors for the Russians that he can come up big when it really counts. However, he has had consistency problems since his superb international showing. The Blades will need Makarov to be at his best to be able to stop the Tigers' high-powered offence. He will likely have to outplay Bunz. That won't be an easy task.

Saskatoon's sandpaper players such as Lukas Sutter, Jesse Paradis, Colorado Avalanche first-rounder Duncan Siemens and fellow defenceman Dalton Thrower will be key to shutting down the Tigers' top scorers. If they are able to knock Etem and Shinkaruk off their games, this could cripple the Tigers' offense since they don't have a lot of scoring depth.

Since completely shutting down Etem and Shinkaruk is practically impossible, the Blades' top scorers will have to help out their goaltender and blueline. Toronto Maple Leafs pick Josh Nicholls, Matej Stransky, and Jake Trask will be heavily counted on to score when it matters. They will also need depth players like Chris Collins and Ryan Olsen to chip in more than they did in the regular-season.

(3) Calgary Hitmen (44-25-2-1, 91 pts) vs. (6) Brandon Wheat Kings (39-28-1-4, 83 pts)

Season series: Calgary 3-1-0-0. Odds favour: Calgary 72%. Prediction: Brandon in 7.

Why Brandon should win: This will be the last kick at the can for Mark Stone, Michael Ferland, Kevin Sundher and Darian Dziurzynski. All four of these impact forwards will be moving on to the pros next season.

This extra motivation combined with their proven track record of lighting the lamp makes Brandon's offence one of the scariest groups of forwards in the playoffs. The Wheaties also have two of the league's top puck-moving defencemen. Ryan Pulock and Eric Roy have combined for 30 goals and 113 points this season. Not bad for a pair of 17-year-olds.

Goaltender Corbin Boes is going into the playoffs on a high note. He has only let in six goals in his last four games, turning away 124 of 130 shots. The Saskatoon native's job in the playoffs should be easier than most goaltenders. Brandon finished tied for fifth in the league in goals scored with 273 on the year. So it seems Boes won't have the weight of the world on his shoulders.

How Calgary could win: Very few expected the Hitmen to make the playoffs this season, let alone clinch a home-ice advantage playoff spot. That being said, Calgary is a dark horse. It's gutsy to bet on them, but risky to bet against them.

The Hitmen split time between Chris Driedger and Brandon Glover in net this season. It sounds like the starting job in Driedger's to lose, but it's currently unclear on who will start opening night of the playoffs. Whoever it is, he will be very important to the outcome of this series. The Hitmen will need consistency and key saves between the pipes to have any shot of stopping the Wheat Kings' top snipers.

Calgary's offence may not have as many big-name NHL prospects as Brandon, but they can still keep up with them on the scoreboard. The Hitmen also scored 273 goals while being led by veterans Jimmy Bubnick and Cody Sylvester. These veteran forwards are not only vital to finding the back of the net, but they also are key leadership assets in the dressing room. They are the lone holdovers up front left from Calgary's 2010 championship team, which beat Brandon in the conference final..

(2) Moose Jaw Warriors (45-19-6-2, 98 pts) vs. (7) Regina Pats (37-27-6-2, 82 pts)

Season series: Moose Jaw 4-2-2-0. Odds favour: Moose Jaw 63%. Prediction: Moose Jaw in 5.

Why Moose Jaw should win: If defence truly does win championships, the Warriors should be hoisting the Ed Chynoweth Cup this spring. Led by New York Rangers prospect Dylan McIlrath, the Warriors have a towering back end. This bulked-up blueline will make it very hard on the Pats' forwards in front of the net and along the boards.

The Warriors' scorers aren't as physically imposing but are just as much of a handful. General manager Alan Millar added a ton of depth at the trade deadline by acquiring Cam Braes and James Henry. Since landing in Moose Jaw the two overagers have notched an impressive 27 goals and 65 points in 58 combined games. The Warriors' biggest offensive threat is Florida Panthers prospect Quinton Howden, a two-time member of Team Canada who scored at a better than point-per-game clip in last spring's playoffs.

How Regina could win: Puck-stopper Matt Hewitt is going to have to outplay the Warriors' Luke Siemens and then some for the Pats to have any shot of pulling off this major upset. Hewitt has established himself as a consistent netminder for the Pats but he has not separated himself from the bulk of good goaltenders in the Dub. His play could ultimately determine whether this series is short or goes the distance.

This is the first time Jordan Weal, who tied for fourth in WHL scoring with 116 points, has played in the playoffs since 2008. The Los Angeles Kings prospect is undoubtedly the backbone of the Pats' offence. He will be munching up over 20 minutes a game and will be in the thick of things in all of the key situations against the Warriors. However, since Weal isn't quite Superman, he will need his younger teammates such as Dominik Volek, Chandler Stephenson and Morgan Klimchuk to share the offensive load.

(1) Edmonton Oil Kings (50-15-3-4, 107 pts) vs. (8) Kootenay Ice (36-26-6-4, 82 pts)

Season series: Edmonton 6-0-0-0. Odds favour: Edmonton 87%. Prediction: Edmonton in 6.

Why Edmonton should win: Seven 20- goal scorers: Michael St. Croix, Tyler Maxwell, Dylan Wruck, T.J Foster, Kristians Pelss, Rhett Rachinski and rookie Curtis Lazar — check. A face-off wizard: Travis Ewanyk — check. A 50-point puck-moving defenceman: Martin Gernat — check. Two elite shutdown blueliners: Mark Pysyk and Griffin Reinhart — check. One of the league's top puck-stoppers: Laurent Brossoit — check. Ulf Samuelsson's son: Henrik Samuelsson — check.

It is official. The Oil Kings are scary good.

Beating Kootenay won't be a cake walk for the Oil Kings. They are playing a well-coached team backed by Buffalo Sabres draft choice Nathan Lieuwen, one of the top goaltenders in junior hockey. Nevertheless, this series is Edmonton's to lose. As long as they play like they have been during the regular season, they should come out on top of this matchup.

How Kootenay could win: Lieuwen is a tough customer to play against in the playoffs. Last year he led the Ice to the Memorial Cup, posting a 2.23 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage throughout the post-season. If he's at the top of his game, he could stun the junior hockey world by helping upset the heavily-favoured Oil Kings.

The Ice may not have as much fire power as the Oil Kings, but they still have an elite one-two scoring punch with the Reinhart brothers. Winger Max Reinhart and centre Sam Reinhart, who will be facing their brother Griffin, combined for 56 goals and 140 points. Kootenay need them to keep up their scoring success in the second season. Max Reinhart showed last year he can come up big when it really matters with his five-goal performance in the series clincher vs. Medicine Hat. Time will only tell whether his younger brother will also be able to singlehandedly take over a game. But by judging from his outstanding rookie season, it seems inevitable that Sam will also have his name written in the WHL record books one day.

(Odds by Rob Pettapiece.)

Kelly Friesen is a Buzzing the Net columnist. Follow him on Twitter @KellyFriesen.