Petryk eager to make hefty playoff contribution

Centre sat out first round

The Edmonton Oil Kings are about to put on some weight.

Twenty-one-year-old centre Reid Petryk should be back in the lineup on Thursday, when Edmonton hosts the Brandon Wheat Kings for Game 1 of its second-round Western Hockey League playoff series. He’d sat out the first round and the end of the regular-season with a lower-body injury.

The Edmonton native is eager to rejoin his linemates, Mitch Moroz and Henrik Samuelsson.

“Together we’re something like 620, 630 pounds,” Petryk said after Wednesday’s practice at NAIT. “So if we can be physical and cycle them and take it to the net I think we’ll be successful in this series.”

Petryk’s contribution to that line — all six-foot-two, 210 pounds — was contained in a suit for most of the first round. He was in warm-ups for the Oil Kings’ Game 4 win over the Prince Albert Raiders, but the team elected to shelve him in that close-out game.

“They didn’t want to risk it,” Petryk said. “We were up 3-0 already, so they decided to not play me. I’m excited for this next series.”

Having missed just six games all year, missing the first round was tough for the veteran player.

“It’s really tough,” Petryk said of sitting out. “You just want to be out there with (your teammates). I’m just excited for this series and hopefully we get the win.”

In Petryk’s absence, 17-year old Tyler Robertson stepped up, scoring twice and assisting on a goal. In 26 games this year, Robertson had just a goal and an assist.

“He’s a young guy and he’s still learning but I thought he played unreal in that first series,” Petryk said. “Good on him. He’ll probably still be playing and hopefully he can put up some points like he did in that last series.”