‘Urgency high’ for defending champions
Oil Kings face pesky Hitmen in Game 7
Don’t be fooled, T.J Foster and the Edmonton Oil Kings are in fact looking to the Portland Winterhawks for motivation ahead of their Game 7 matchup with the Calgary Hitmen.
But it’s Edmonton’s past with Portland, not necessarily its future, that’s the talk of the Oil Kings’ locker-room leading up to Tuesday’s 7 p.m. game against the Hitmen in the Western Hockey League’s Eastern Conference final at Rexall Place.
The Oil Kings are hoping to draw upon last year’s seventh-game victory over the Winterhawks to win the WHL title to help them get past a pesky Calgary team that gutted out a 4-3 come-from-behind overtime win on Sunday.
“It’s a different game. It’s winner-take-all — the emotions are high, the urgency is high, and it’s an exciting game to be a part of,” said Foster, one of 10 Oil Kings who played on Edmonton’s league championship team last year. “I know the guys will be ready.”
The Oil Kings had less than 24 hours between games the only previous time they had a Game 7 in franchise history.
“We were in Portland the night before and we got back and it was a nearly game.We just came to the rink and we knew it was business time,” Foster said. “It happened so fast we didn’t really have time to make adjustments, or think about it like we do (this time).”
The Oil Kings and Hitmen have had a wild series, with plenty of twists and turns only adding to the fact that the seventh game looks like a roll of the dice, with the winner advancing to the WHL final against the Winterhawks, who won the Western Conference final in five games over the Kamloops Blazers.
“In the back of your mind, there’s always the doubt, but you’ve got to push that aside and you’ve got to think positively,” Foster said. “We won two games in a row and the rest has been alternate, so it’s tough to get the momentum going, but that’s playoffs.
“You look at it even at the NHL level, it’s just a grind. That’s why you play and that’s why you love playing hockey.”
The Oil Kings have already had a must-win game earlier in the series, when they avoided a 3-1 series deficit with a 7-3 win at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
“You can’t go down 3-1 in a series,” Foster said, “and the guys came out with a lot of energy and the guys were excited to play. It was a different mindset in the dressing room that night and I think it’ll be the same for (Tuesday) night. The guys will be energetic and ready to go.”
That’s what Oil Kings head coach Derek Laxdal expects from both teams, in particular Foster and fellow 20-year-old Dylan Wruck, who will be looking to spark an Edmonton power play that is trying to snap a zero-for-16 slump.
“I think both teams’ top players are going to be very good. For the 20s (20-yearolds), it could be their last game in the WHL,” Laxdal said.
NOTES: Trevor Cheek, the Oil Kings’ third overage forward, is questionable after being injured in Game 5 and playing only one shift Sunday. If Cheek can’t go, defencemen Stephen Shmoork-off will draw into the lineup.