PHOTO REBBECA JANE PHOTOGRAPHY EDMONTON — After sitting out the opening round with a well-earned bye, the Edmonton Jr. Oilers Blue are finally back under the bright lights of Bill Hunter Arena. But they aren't getting an easy warm-up. Waiting for them tomorrow night is a SPKAC Ennis Kings squad—known affectionately in the rinks as …
PHOTO REBBECA JANE PHOTOGRAPHY
EDMONTON — After sitting out the opening round with a well-earned bye, the Edmonton Jr. Oilers Blue are finally back under the bright lights of Bill Hunter Arena. But they aren’t getting an easy warm-up. Waiting for them tomorrow night is a SPKAC Ennis Kings squad—known affectionately in the rinks as “Sherwood Park”—that is currently playing its best hockey of the season.
The Jr. Oilers Blue were the class of the North Division this year. Finishing with a dominant 29-6-0-2-1 record and a league-leading 61 points, they spent most of the winter racking up huge point streaks. However, it’s been a week and a bit since they last played a game. I am curious to see how they come out of the gates. On the positive note for Blue, Captain Eric Ripka returns to the lineup after dealing with an LBI at the end of the season. Blue has gotten some well-deserved rest and will be very healthy, plus ready to roll Tuesday Night.
On the other side, the Ennis Kings (18-18-0-1-1) aren’t just “showing up” for the semifinals. They enter this series with all the momentum in the world after completing a solid sweep of the Edmonton Jr. Oilers Orange in the quarterfinals. SPKAC put up 11 goals in just two games, proving their offence is peaking at the perfect time. It was an exciting back-and-forth series where Sherwood Park was able to find the back of the net in the big moments. As much as this was a nice series win for SPKAC, Blue is a bigger challenge. Orange barely sneaked into the playoffs as they had some health problems all year and into the playoffs. Blue is healthy and rested. They are ready to roll. Excited to see it.
Blue’s going to need to watch Landon Horiachka. The Kings’ forward has been a nightmare for Orange so far this postseason, racking up 6 points (2G, 4A) in only two games. He’s being fed by Ryan Van Iperen, who enters the series with 4 points of his own. The Kings have a lot of threats. This is a very solid team that is good every year.
The Oilers Blue will counter with a deep, balanced attack. Look for Memphis Adeniken to lead the way; he was a force in the regular season with 53 points. Along with Carter Muench (48 points), the Blue offence averaged over five goals per game this year. Blues Foward core has so many elite scorers, and I think this might be the best forward core I have seen since I have been here with the Jr Oilers Organization thats an impressive feat as there have been so many good teams. Blues Back end is so Elite as well. The elite scoring pair is Nathan Gunther and Brant Caswell. Vadori and Hogan are so elusive and very smart with the puck, and can be thrown out in any situation. Soper and Astill will run you down all night with their size. This Blue team is so deep and so good. I am excited to see them in action with all the Depth they have. This is surely a team ready to rise to the occasion.
This series will have some good goaltending
I would give this goaltending Edge to Blue. As Berard has just been the better go a stat wise this year.
In a best-of-three series, Game 1 isn’t just an opener—it’s effectively 75% of the battle. Because the series is so short, the winner of the first game gains a massive statistical and psychological stranglehold on the matchup.
For the Jr. Oilers Blue, Game 1 is about re-establishing dominance early. For SPKAC, it’s about continuing to play the gritty, physical, high-scoring. They are going to need to find some different ways to make plays if they want to beat Blue.
The Jr. Oilers Blue dominated the regular season, finishing 1st in the North Division, while the Kings (SPKAC) finished 4th. Despite the gap in standings, their head-to-head series was incredibly tight, ending in a 2–2 split:
The Kings currently hold the “bragging rights” in the postseason. They met in the same round—the North Division Semifinals—last March, where SPKAC pulled off a series comeback to advance.
Note: Last year, SPKAC entered the playoffs as the higher seed (#2) compared to the Oilers Blue (#3). This year, the roles are reversed, with the Oilers Blue entering as the top-seeded favorites.
Ewan Manning, U18 Jr Oilers Commentator
PHOTO REBBECA JANE PHOTOGRAPHY! SHE DOES GREAT WORK
