If the Edmonton Oil Kings make the playoffs this season they should be well prepared.

While the young franchise has never made the playoffs and neither have many of the players on the roster, the Oil Kings' fight to gain entry into the second season already has the team in a playoff mindset.

"Honestly, for the last 25-30 games it feels like we've been playing playoff hockey," said goaltender Torrie Jung. "Our conference has just been so tight all year. We didn't have any games off since Christmas. It's been a little bit hectic but that's the way we like it."

For the franchise in its second season of existence, a playoff berth would be a great stepping stone in helping grow a fan base while giving their young players valuable experience for the future.

As head coach Steve Pleau says, the team's goal from the start of their second season was a playoff berth.

"When you start the season you have to have a goal and you have to feel that goal is attainable," Pleau said. "I think we felt like if we were in a battle for the playoffs at this point that we'd be where we want to be. Now that the carrot's right there we want to take that next step."

Although several playoff spots remain open in the Eastern Conference, the race for the eighth and final spot is likely to come down between three teams: Edmonton, Prince Albert and Regina. With seven games remaining on their schedule, the Oil Kings are tied with the Raiders for the eighth seed with 61 points.

"You want to know how they're doing but at the same time you can't control the outcomes of their games, you can only control ours," Jung said. "If it's meant to be, it's meant to be. We'll win our games and make it in."

Edmonton has already improved on last season's record of 22 wins and 55 points. One of the reasons for the improvement is goaltender Jung, whose season began on the wrong foot. His former team, the Kelowna Rockets, decided to go with a more experienced goaltender, making Jung expendable.

A seventh-round pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2007, Jung learned his fate upon returning from camp with the Lightning. After spending a few weeks at his home in Nanaimo, B.C., Jung was traded to the Lethbridge Hurricanes.

His stay in Lethbridge was short as, with injuries to their goaltenders, the Oil Kings acquired Jung less than a week after his arrival in Lethbridge.

The move has worked well for both parties as Jung was given the opportunity to prove his abilities as a starting goaltender while Edmonton got a steady veteran presence in goal.

"Torrie's easily been our MVP," said Pleau, who praises his starter's maturity on and off the ice.

While Kelowna's decision may have been hard to understand at the time, Jung isn't bitter about his former team's decision.

"I don't hold any grudges against Kelowna, it's all a business at this level," he said. "I'm just happy to have the chance to come to Edmonton and show that I could be a No. 1 guy and play a lot of minutes here.

"Ending up in Edmonton was a blessing in disguise for me so I'm very fortunate."

Teammate Jeff Lee can relate to his goaltender. A similar situation unfolded last season when Lee, a sophomore at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, was told he was no longer in the new coaching staff's plans. The Seattle Thunderbirds had originally drafted him in the seventh round in 2003 but released his rights after he failed to join the team.

And thus, Lee was a free agent by Western Hockey League standards. Going to an expansion team, Lee instantly became one of the older players on the team. He is one of Edmonton's most reliable forwards while he also leads his team in scoring.

"I've always been a younger guy playing on an older team and then now I'm an older guy playing with some younger players," he said. "It's been fun."

As one of the older players of a young team, Lee is sometimes the subject of teasing from his younger teammates as he is sometimes referred to as grandpa, uncle and dad.

"They give it more to (Brandon) Lockerby, the other 20-year-old," Lee said. "He's a little older than me so there's always someone to pass it on to."

Should the Oil Kings gain entry into the playoffs as the eighth seed, the team is well aware which team will be waiting for them: the Calgary Hitmen. While the WHL rivalry is new and doesn't carry nearly the same intensity as the Oilers-Flames rivalry, it wouldn't take long for the Battle of Alberta to intensify under the circumstances of a playoff series.

"It's two cities that don't like each other," said Lee, a native of Calgary. "It seems like you don't hear about any losses unless it's to Calgary from the fans so the fans obviously hate Calgary and it's a lot of fun."

"Just to make the playoffs and have a series against them would definitely be awesome for us," Jung added. "You never know, I think we could surprise some teams if we make the post-season. Right now we're just focusing on making it alone."