Playoff History PT.1 [Reviewed]

[TheLastOlympian07 2,388]

There have been a lot of great playoff battles throughout the history of the Victory Hockey League. Many great rivalries and upsets made teams throughout the years. The players who have played through the years have become heroes and hall of famers while others could not stand up to the pressure of the championship game. Let's take a look at the playoffs matchups and great rivalries that formed as the seasons went by. 

 

due to the fact we can only see up to Season 18, I will start from there.

 

 vs 

 

(2) New York Americans vs (1) Calgary Wranglers

 

The Wranglers and Americans ran rough shot all over the North American Conference coming into the playoffs. The only battle for them this season was who was going to finish 1st in the conference. In the end it was the Wranglers who came out on top with 114 points while the Americans finished with 111 points. The Seattle Bears and Toronto Legion propped up the Conference with 36 and 26 points respectively.

 

The Wranglers boasted a pretty impressive roster with Lars Berger, J.D Stormwall, Jardy Bunclewirth, Mikka Virkkunen, Alexander Sauve and legend Hiro Renomintsu. New York matched the talent when they countered with Nicholas Evans, Zlatan Zanetti, Keyvan Kljk, Jamie Nathanson, Matt Bailey, Patrick Bergqvist, Jordan Berglund and Alex Young. 

 

Game 1: Calgary Wranglers 4 - New York Americans 1

 

Despite the score here it was New York who seemingly outplayed the Wranglers for 2 periods but they we simply outclassed in the 3rd. Captain J.D Stormwall (1 G) opened the scoring for the Wranglers in the 1st on the P.P from Juha Ikonen (1 A) and Hiro Renomitsu (1 A). Zlatan Zanetti was the man in the box serving a double minor for Roughing. New York outshot Calgary 13-12 after 1 period of play.

 

Two and a half minutes into the 3rd New York was on the board when Jukka Haikkinen (1 G) opened up Season 18 playoff scoring for the Americans from Keyvan Kljk (1 A). New York out shot the Wranglers 13-8 in the second bringing the 2 period total 26-20 after two period. 

 

The third period is where it all changed for the Americans as onslaught of shots rained down on poor Alex Young. 21 shots in total came for the Wranglers onto Young while Demetrjusz Dudek only had to face 2 in the 3rd. It's also not like the Wranglers had a bunch of P.P's it was just pure dominance in the 3rd from them as the penalties for the period was 2-1 for Calgary. J.D Stormwall (2 G) scored again 6 minutes into the 3rd from Hiro Renomitsu (2 A) and Jardy Bunclewirth (1 A). Just 2 minutes later Juha Ikonen (1 G, 1 A) scored with assists going to J.D Stormwall (2 G, 1 A) and Jardy Bunclewirth (2 A). For good measure, J.D Stormwall (3 G, 1 A) scored on the P.P for his hat trick with assists going to Alexander Sauve (1 A) and Lars Berger (1 A). Nicolas Evans was the man in the box when the Wranglers scored. Dudek saved 27 of 28 shots for a .964 save percentage while Young save 37 of 41 for a .902 save percentage. Stormwall was of course named 1st star with Ikonen named 2nd and Dudek named 3rd.

 

Game 2: Calgary Wranglers 4 - New York Americans 3 (OT)

 

After the Wranglers took game one in a seemingly dominant game by them this game was much closer. The first period had to wait until the 16 minute mark when Lars Berger (1G, 1 A) scored his first of the playoffs. The goal was assisted by Alexander Sauve (2 A). The lead didn't last long though as at 17:48, Keyvan Kljk (1 G, 1 A) scored his 1st of the playoffs. It was assisted by Matt Bailey (1 A) and Nicholas Evans (1 A). The goal was scored on the P.P and Alexander Sauve was the man in the box. New York had the shot advantage out shooting the Wranglers 14-6.

 

Boy, this playoff rivalry heated up in the 2nd when Wrangler Captain J.D Stormwall and American Patrick Bergqvist started fighting 1:25 into the period. Both teams continued to fight and scrap for every puck until Lars Berger (2 G, 1 A) broke through at 17 minutes with assists going to Matthew Gunnarsson (1 A) and Alexander Sauve (3 A). The shots were 12-9 in favor of Calgary. Shot totals after 2 periods were 23-18 for New York.

 

52 seconds into the 3rd period all seemed lost for the Americans as Greg Eaglekowski (1 G) scored with assists going to J.D Stormwall (3 G, 2 A) and Mikka Virkkunen (1 A). All was going according to plan until Gordon Shore (1 G) made it interesting with 2 minutes to go in the game. Assists went to Keyvan Kljk (1 G, 2 A) and Matt Bailey (2 A). Alexander Sauve would spend the rest of the game in the box when he was called for Hooking at 18:31. With 9 seconds left Keyvan Kljk (2 G, 2 A) tied the game up! Two goals in 2 minutes and we would have overtime! Rocky Stork (1 A) and Nicholas Evans (2 A) drew the assists on the P.P. Shots were pretty even, 11-8 for Calgary. 31-29 after 3 periods of play.

 

Overtime had an nice back and forth pace to it to start before Matt Bailey decided it was a good time to get called for Holding at 12:15. It didn't take too long until Mikka Virkkunen scored. WAIT! it seems we are going to video review here in Calgary! waiting....waiting...waiting...here's the call. IT'S A GOAL. Mikka Virkkunen (1 G, 1 A) scored at 13:01 of the first overtime period. Bryton Guerequeta (1 A) and Matthew Gunnarsson (2 A) assisted on the OT winner! Overtime shots were 11-5 for Calgary which brought the game total to 40-36 in the Wranglers favor. Demetrjusz Dudek (2-0-0, 60 of 64, 0.938 SV%) stopped 33 of 36 shots while Alex Young (0-1-1, 73 of 81, 0.901 SV%) of stopped 36 of 40. Keyvan Kljk was 1st star in a losing effort, Lars Berger was 2nd star while Matthew Gunnarsson was the 3rd star. 

 

Stay tuned for next week when I do another 2 games. Maybe if I get a second player I'll be able to do more games a week  @Higgins

[Higgins 3,618]

Nice try but I only accept monetary bribes

 

Also.. Ew super old history stuff

[evrydayimbyfuglien 600]

Review:

Not really the most interesting to read for me. All the requirements check out and this will be interesting as a series. I just won't be the one to grade them every week  

Keep up the good work, man!  

 

Also, this ended up posted twice, not sure what happened.

[Evans 305]

Review: I'm the opposite. I like historical articles like this one. Too lazy to go back and see the stuff that happened in the past so this makes it really easy for me to catch up and get an idea of some of the relevance of these post seasons series.