Now that the dust has settled on the first round of the Western Hockey League playoffs, it is time to look a the first round survivors and their match-ups. I’ll be taking a look at the series that begins in Medicine Hat on Friday night.
The Medicine Hat Tigers were the favorites headed into their first round series. That should not be surprising as they were the Central Division champions and they were taking on the first wild-card Brandon Wjeat Kings. They would prove everyone right as they were able to get past the Brandon Wheat Kings in just four games. They outscored the Wheaties 21-9 over the four-game sweep. The Tigers never had to face projected #1 overall NHL Draft pick Nolan Patrick as he was sidelined by an injury. While only defenseman David Quenneville is in the top-10 in playoff scoring, Mark Rassell had three power play goals to lead the Tigers on their way to going 7 for 25 (28.0%) on the man advantage. Their penalty kill did not fare as well against Brandon as they went just 13 for 17 when down a man (76.5%). Goaltender Michael Bullion only needed to be just good enough through his four games. His 2.25 goals against average was good for eighth in the playoffs and his .914 save percentage was 12th. He saw all 240 minutes of action in the first round.
Lethbridge entered their first round series with the Red Deer Rebels as heavy favorites. They finished the regular season 25 points ahead of the rebuilding Rebels. They also seemed to have the Rebels’ number in all of their regular season amtch ups. Well the series was a dandy by all accounts. Red Deer stunned all of the WHL by winning the first game in Lethbridge, then taking both games at home. This gave them a commanding 3-1 series lead. The Hurricanes were able to pull it together in time to take the series to 7 games and move on to face the Tigers. Lethbridge did allow Red Deer to come from behind in all three loses, something they will want to look at heading into a series with Medicine Hat. Stuart Skinner made a number of big saves in the final three games which gave the Hurricanes the edge, although his numbers were not where many expected. He was 4-3-0-0 with a 2.60 goals against average (10th overall) and a .926 save percentage (9th). The Hurricanes power play was abysmal to start the playoffs against Red Deer, going just three for 22. They did finish off well to bring their power play to a respectable eight for 36 (22.2%). The team had the third worst penalty in the playoffs at 66.7%, on 18 for 27 chances. Overage captain Tyler Wong had 10 points in seven games (5g, 5a) for the Hurricanes, while Egor Babenko chipped in nine points on three goals and six assists.
Here is a look at some of the key numbers in the season series between the Medicine Hat Tigers and the Lethbridge Hurricanes
| LET | vs. | MH |
| 3-4-0-0 | 4-3-0-0 | |
| 27 | Goals For | 38 |
| 38 | Goals Against | 27 |
| 186 | Shots For | 305 |
| 305 | Shots Against | 186 |
| 7of36 (19.4%) | Power Play | 14of34 (41.2%) |
| 20of34 (58.8%) | Penalty Kill | 29of36 (80.6%) |
| 7 | Fights | 7 |
Keys to the Series
Medicine Hat needs to force Lethbridge to take as many penalties as possible. The potent offence provided by the Tigers top guns and defenceman David Quenneville on the power play will create chance after chance and have the Hurricanes running around in their own end. The Tigers would be wise to be physical with the Hurricanes asthey are coming off of a very physical and demanding seven game set with Red Deer. They need to use their shift disturbers to get under the skin of Tyler Wong and Stuart Skinner. Hopefully the crowd will be into the series in Medicine Hat as they have had trouble drawing fans to the Canalta Centre.
Lethbridge needs to stay out of the penalty box. While they did not take a lot of penalties in the first round, their penalty kill was not very good against a Red Deer squad that was missing key contributors at various points. They also need to limit the shots on net by the Tigers. Medicine Hat has fired pucks at the net at will in their regular season match-ups as well as against all other teams this season. After an electric game seven, they need to continue getting that Enmax Centre crowd going. This time the team comes in as the underdog, while it is not by a large margin. The team would be wise to use that to their advantage.
Prediction
While it was a real moral victory for the Lethbridge Hurricanes to come from down 3 games to 1 in their opening round series, the fact is they are not favored in this round. The ‘Canes have to be exhausted by the Rebels penchant for physical hockey and you could see it had taken a toll on both teams. Medicine Hat hasn’t played since March 29th and they should be icing a full roster and not nursing much more than a few bumps and bruises. Medicine Hat has the speed, skill and determination to move onto the Conference Final for the first time since 2014. If Lethbridge were to pull of the upset it would be their first Conference Final since 2008.
Medicine Hat in 5 games.
