The first seed Edmonton Oil Kings will be taking on the second wild card seed Medicine Hat Tigers in the first round of the WHL playoffs. However, this series is not as one sided as most first seed matchups typically are. Medicine Hat has a chance.

The Edmonton Oil Kings

The Oil Kings have dominated the Medicine Hat Tigers at every turn this season. They won the season series with a 5 – 0 – 1 record and outscored the Tigers 9-2 in their last two meetings of the regular season. Edmonton features something that Medicine doesn’t have: A star player. Trey Fix-Wolansky has been stellar for the Oil Kings this year by putting up a career high 102 points this season and did not slow down as the season came to a close.

Edmonton has more than a few problems past their star players. With a giant gap in scoring and the rest of the team putting a passable performance all around, there is room for improvement. While you can get away with most of those issues in a regular season tilt… The playoffs are a different beast and that can harm any team if they drop a game or two early into the series. The Oil Kings is much better than the Tigers player for player, but if any of their opponents steps up their game… Edmonton could find themselves in trouble.

For a more in depth look into the Edmonton Oil King’s 2018/2019 season, check out my regular season review! https://prohockeynews.com/oil-kings-enter-playoffs-on-a-run/

Medicine Hat Tigers

The Tigers have been good but not great this year. They have a good top six and a passable goaltender, but nothing to really steal games. Medicine Hat needs to out play Edmonton at every turn tactically and they have not done that to really any team this season. Their playoff spot has been enabled in large part due to Regina, Brandon, and Red Deer falling apart down the stretch. In their last 10 games to close out the season, the Medicine Hat Tigers posted a 4 – 5 – 1 record with all of their wins coming against teams outside of a playoff spot.

In order to have a fighting chance in this series, Medicine Hat needs a few things to happen: First, they need to have their bottom six to step up tremendously and their defense has to have some sort of resurgence. Next, their defense needs to do more offensively, among all of their defensemen, the Tiger’s defense has scored 25 goals in total. The Oil King’s Connor McDonald has scored 19.

Nothing else will happen in Medicine Hat’s favor unless they shut down Trey Fix-Wolansky as swiftly as possible. Edmonton has struggled to consistently produce without his influence and that can provide Medicine Hat with a chance at stealing some games. However, it is more likely that Medicine Hat gives up too much in their pursuit of limiting Trey Fix-Wolansky’s and that can allow the rest of the Oil Kings to have an easy job of taking over the rest of the series.

Summary

Medicine Hat is massively outgunned but not to the point of no return. Edmonton mainly needs to play their own game and allow their top players to keep performing at their normal level. The Oil Kings have the clear advantage coming into the series and should win fairly easily. The Medicine Hat Tigers has some pieces that can put up some fight but it rarely will last for more than a game or two. Expect the Edmonton Oil Kings to take the series.