The Eastern conference saw two lower seeds advance in the first round with the Regina Pats pulling off the biggest upset of the playoffs so far by beating the Central-winning Lethbridge Hurricanes. Moose Jaw beat the higher seeded Prince Albert Raiders and after an early scare, the Brandon Wheat Kings stormed back to take care of Edmonton.
Will we see another lower seed move on in the second round?
Brandon Wheat Kings vs. Moose Jaw Warriors
Head to Head: Brandon, 7-1
If you like offensive talent then this is the series for you. On the Brandon side you have Jayce Hawryluk, Nolan Patrick, John Quenneville, Reid Duke and Ivan Provorov. Moose Jaw will throw Brayden Point, Dryden Hunt, Noah Gregor and Brett Howden at you. That’s a lot of offensive firepower so this series could see a lot of up and down play and a lot of goals.
Provorov led all WHL D-men with 73 points this season. (Marissa Baecker/Getty)
The Wheat Kings dropped the first two games in the first round against Edmonton but then stormed back to win four straight. They have the advantage on the back end and goalie Jordan Papirny has the experience and knows what it takes to advance through the playoffs.
Depth and experience just may be the difference in this series. In the six games against the Oil Kings, Papirny only allowed 12 goals as the Wheaties controlled the puck, even in the two games they lost.
Moose Jaw has talent up front, but is green on the back end. Zach Sawchenko was great in goal for the Warriors in the first round but he only has five playoff games under his belt. These two teams played eight times in the regular season and it was all Brandon. The Wheat Kings won seven of the eight and scored six or more goals in six of those games. This series could either be high scoring by both clubs, or Brandon could walk away with a bunch of blow outs.
At 1.81, Point was second only to Hawryluk (1.83) in points-per-game average. (Derek Leung/Getty)
For the Warriors to pull off the upset here they will need their defence to step up and try to find a way to contain Brandon’s forwards along with Sawchenko standing on his head. Their power play was clicking in the first round and may be their best chance to hang with the Wheat Kings.
Prediction
Depth and experience will rule the day here, the Wheat Kings move on in five games.
Red Deer Rebels vs. Regina Pats
Head to Head: 2-2
You have to wonder if the MasterCard Memorial Cup-host Red Deer Rebels were breathing a sigh of relief when they saw the Hurricanes get ousted by the Pats. The Rebels struggled against Lethbridge during the regular season and Brett Sutter’s charges were in for a tough series. Instead they get the Pats, who won’t be an easy out for them either.
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Regina’s Adam Brooks led the WHL in scoring with 120 points in the regular season and has 14 in five playoff games, which puts him at the top of post season scoring race as well. The Pats also got big performances from Sam Steel and Cole Sanford in ousting Lethbridge. They have an impressive, high-end group up front, but can it match the depth of the Rebels?
That depth took a hit in the first round when the Rebels lost regular season leading scorer Ivan Nikolishin—and it doesn’t sound like he’ll be ready for this series. Regina will have to take advantage in what will most likely be a more physical series than they saw against the highly skilled Hurricanes. Red Deer will have to continue to pick up the slack with Adam Helewka, Jake DeBrusk and Luke Philp.
The Pats are playing well and have a ton of confidence coming off their big upset win. Red Deer has the firepower up front to match Regina and will be the more physical group.
Prediction
This will be a tight series. In the end, the Rebels have more depth up front, even without Nikolishin and will squeak by. Red Deer in seven.