Playoff Rivalry - Toronto vs. Seattle

[DMaximus 1,045]

Rivalries are forged in the fire of the playoffs. The high stakes, the high pressure, the high expectations of the fans all lead to an environment that creates a hatred for an opponent that is the seedling of a rivalry. Rinse and repeat through multiple playoff encounters and you have a true rivalry. In this article, I’m going to look at one of the major rivalries in the VHL, Seattle and Toronto.

These two teams have met each other a league-high 18 times in the playoffs. Toronto has won 10 of the playoff series. Seattle has won 8. That evenness only increases the rivalry.

Let’s review all of the playoff encounters between these franchises.

 

S10 conference finals – Toronto beats Seattle. Not much is known about this as the details have been lost to history. Toronto went on to lose to Riga in the finals.

 

S16 conference finals – Toronto beats Seattle. Another series with scant details. And just like season 10. Toronto went on the lose to Riga in the finals.

 

S17 conference finals – Seattle beats Toronto. Seattle conquered ghosts of previous playoffs, including going on the beat Riga in the finals.

 

S20 conference finals – Toronto sweeps Seattle 4-0. Toronto had control of this series, winning two games by 3 goals. Toronto lost to Davos in the finals.

 

S21 conference finals – Toronto wins 4-3. A great back and forth series with each game decided by two goals. Seattle won games 4 and 5 to take a 3 games to 2 lead, but Toronto came back strong to win both games 6 and 7. Toronto avenged their previous season’s loss and beat Davos in the finals to win the cup.

 

S37 conference finals – Toronto wins 4-2. Toronto took advantage of Seattle’s tough 7 game opening round battle against Quebec by winning the opening two games. Seattle battled back, winning the next two. But Toronto closed the door winning games 5 and 6. Toronto went on the beat Davos in the finals.

 

S38 first round – Toronto wins 4-2. Although the series went to 6 games. Toronto won this series in convincing fashion, winning 3 games by 3 or more goals, including a game 6 4-0 shutout. Toronto then beat New York in the conference finals but lost to Davos in the finals.

 

S43 first round – Seattle wins 4-0. Three one goal games makes this seem somewhat close. But a sweep is a sweep. Seattle went on to win the cup by beating Cologne in the finals.

 

S48 conference finals – Toronto wins 4-2. Another series where Toronto won three games by 3 goals. Toronto went on the win the finals against Helsinki. The first of 3 consecutive cups for Toronto.

 

S51 first round – Toronto wins 4-2. You’re probably shocked to find out that Toronto won three of the games by 3 or more goals. Riga beat Toronto in the finals, preventing the four-peat.

 

S58 semi-final – Seattle wins 4-3. An amazingly close series where four of the games went to overtime. Seattle lost to Riga in the finals.

 

S59 semi-final – Seattle wins 4-2. Seattle won the last two games to end the series, including a 7-5 shootout in game 5. Seattle won the cup after beating Helsinki in the finals.

 

S64 semi-final – Toronto wins 4-2. A wild series that saw both teams win some blowout games. Ultimately it took an overtime winner in game 6 for Toronto to win. Toronto swept Helsinki in the final to win the cup.

 

S68 first round – Seattle wins 4-2. Seattle rode an OT victory in game 5 to victory in game 6. Seattle ended up sweeping their next two opponents to win the cup.

 

S74 wild card – Toronto wins 4-1. Seattle won game 1, but Toronto came roaring back to win four straight. Toronto lost to Vancouver in the conference finals.

 

S77 first round – Seattle wins 4-2. Toronto won the first two games in OT. Seattle won 4 straight, including another OT game. Seattle won the cup over Helsinki.

 

S82 wild card – Seattle wins 3-1. This was the wild card, so best of 5. All games were 1 goal games, including one OT game.

 

S83 conference finals – Seattle 4-2. In a reversal of tradition, Seattle won three games by 3 or more goals. Seattle went on to beat Moscow in the finals.

 

There’s a great tradition between these two teams and a great rivalry. I hope this rivalry continues in the future.