Malmo continues Victory Cup curse and other S92 playoff fun facts

[Victor 11,013]

Some random bits on the playoffs so far

• Malmo Nighthawks clinch Victory Cup... and get swept in round one, extending the record streak of Victory Cup winners not making it to the finals. Malmo is the 9th straight regular season winner to fail to win their conference, by far the worst streak in VHL history and a pointer to the Victory Cup curse perhaps being very real. Just before this slump, in peak meta era, S79 Malmo and S80-S82 Vancouver all completed the Victory and Continental Cup double. S83 Moscow made the finals but since S84 Moscow failed to match that every regular season champion has been doomed to an early playoff exit. Who will break the curse? Does anyone want to win the Victory Cup anymore?
• Toronto upset NA top seed Calgary in a first round of shocks, while for the Legion that means they continue to fight back against one of the most lopsided historical playoff match-ups. Since the Wranglers beat the Legion in both S2 and S3 (and S7 and S8), they have retained an advantage over the years, with 11 wins to Toronto's 6. But the Legion have won two of the last three series (S83 and now S92) so may be turning the tide.
• By contrast this is the first time D.C. and Toronto have met in the playoffs, the second unique match-up this season after London's sweep of Malmo in their first ever meeting. If London or D.C. win their series, whoever they face in the finals will be for the first time, so only a Toronto vs Helsinki repeat would have historical precedent (the Legion won last season and in 3 of the previous 4 encounters – S48, S64, and S65)