Oilers Prospect Report: Condors advance to round two

Playoffs have arrived around the junior hockey world! While some leagues have moved onto the second round already, many have just begun.

There’s only a hand full of Oilers prospects left playing still so let’s waste no time and dive right into it.

The Bakersfield Condors made quick work of the Abbotsford Canucks, despite being the lower seed in the series. In the American Hockey League, the first-round series is a best of three and the Condors managed to pull off the speed 2-0 series win.

James Hamblin was the hero in game one scoring the overtime just over six minutes into the extra period. However, game one almost didn’t make it to overtime. If it wasn’t for a late goal from Seth Griffith with 29 seconds left, Bakersfield would’ve found itself on the brink of elimination.

The late drama struck again in game two. The game was tied with under two minutes to play but the Condors continued to push. Cooper Marody was the hero this time scoring at the 18:38 mark of the third period giving Bakersfield a 3-2 victory.

Stuart Skinner was excellent in the series finishing with a 1.43 goals against average and 0.950 save percentage.

Bakersfield is now waiting to see who their second-round opponent will be.

Max Wanner has had a great start to the playoffs with the Moose Jaw Warriors. In the Warriors’ first-round series against the Saskatoon Blades, Wanner scored three goals and six points in five games, which included a highlight-reel goal in game one. They’ll now face the Winnipeg Ice in round two.

Sadly, the season came to an end for Jake Chiasson. The Brandon Wheat Kings battled hard against the Red Deer Rebels but fell in six games. Chiasson finished with three assists in the series.

Matvey Petrov and the North Bay made quick work of the Ottawa 67s sweeping them in four games. Petrov didn’t score a goal but did finish with two assists in the series. They now play Shane Wright and the Kingston Frontenacs in the second round after they eliminated Tyler Tullio and the Oshawa Generals.

The Generals’ last six games against the Frontenacs but couldn’t extend their season any longer. Tullio had a great series scoring two goals and seven points. His highlight of the series came with 1.5 seconds left in game six when he beat the buzzer to send it to overtime.

That game could likely be Tullio’s last with Oshawa assuming who turns pro next season.

Xavier Bourgault’s playoff run gets going tonight versus the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. Bourgault finished the QMJHL regular season with 36 goals and 75 points for Shawinigan despite missing a large chunk of the season due to injury.