The Newfoundland Berserkers entered the playoffs against the 12th ranked Great Falls Grizzlies after finishing 5th in the regular season standings, going 38-25-3. The Berserkers came out flying in their first game of the playoffs, outshooting Great Falls 35-20. The Season 73 Playoff goal and point leader Dan Craig tallied the first goal of the playoffs for Newfoundland, and added another goal later in the first period to put the Berserkers up 3-0 going into the second period. Ondrej von Stoodrick  had a stellar night on defence, putting up a goal and an assist to go along with a blocked shot, a takeaway and 2 hits. Sabage Cabage notched two goals as well, as the Berserkers take game 1 with a score of 6-2. Game 2 saw Ben Harrison stand on his head for Newfoundland, putting up a shutout with 28 saves. Mac Griddle scored the game winning goal, with Slowpoke notching an assist on the goal to get their first career playoff point. The 5-0 win put the Berserkers in a great spot as they entered game 3, in which they won 1-0 thanks again to Ben Harrison who put up another shutout. Cracker Pizza was the lone goalscorer in the game, scoring with 23 seconds left in the first period. A huge game by the Berserkers defenders saw two of them post a defensive game rating of 85+. Ho Lee-Smokes and Wes Thunderbass each put up a 99 DGR in the game, and Thunderbass had an insane 9 blocked shots in the game. The third defender, Ondrej von Stoodrick, put up an 86 DGR with 1 TA and 1 GA. Game 4 had the Grizzlies with their backs against the wall and trying to avoid being swept. A goaltending duel saw Beau Kavanagh come out on top for the Grizzlies, posting a .980 save percentage with 41 saves on 42 shots. Poiklm broke through for the Grizzlies in overtime, notching their first goal of the series as the 6'11 Center scored off of a feed from WonderBread and Peanut. After having a series with goaltending battles and defensive shutdowns, game 5 was a high scoring affair with Newfoundland clutching up the series winning 7-5. A high scoring game saw Dan Craig put up 2 goals and an assist, Mac Griddle put up 3 assists, and Dylan Jacob-Smith had 3 points as well. It was back and forth throughout the game, with Great Falls scoring first to take a 2-0 lead, which Newfoundland replied to by scoring 6 straight goals. The Grizzlies scored 3 goals in the third period but they fell to a score of 7-5.

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Newfoundland will be going up against the Maine Timber as the finals matchup from Season 73 will repeat this season but in the second round this time. These teams have met in the finals every season except once since Season 70, guaranteeing at least 1 new team will end a 5+ season finals drought.


Colorado and Kelowna was a big mismatch on paper, with Colorado finishing second in the league missing a first round bye due to being in the same division as Quebec. Kelowna snuck into the playoffs finishing 13th in the league in a 3 team division. Once teams make the playoffs though anything can happen, just like Great Falls's miracle win against Anchorage last season. The first game of the series was an overtime thriller, with Leonard Wood scoring 20 seconds into overtime to clutch the game for the Raptors. A big game from Brandon Gilleyes and Leonard Wood, with Wood and Gilleyes combining on the OT goal and also both getting assists on Nick Kodiak's goal with 4 minutes left in the third period. Nicholas Scalice made his playoff debut in net, putting up 35 saves on 38 shots for a .920 save percentage. Game 2 had Kelowna rally back from being down 3-1 at the end of the first period and score 5 straight goals to win the game. Brooklyn Physt had a phenomenal game putting up 2 goals and 2 assists, getting an assist on the game tying goal and having a point on the first two Kelowna goals. Jonas Salat was great for the Knights, as the defender had a 99 DGR with 5 blocked shots and 2 takeaways. The series was tied heading into game 3, where Kelowna pushed forth with another 6 goal game to win 6-4. The Knights' power play was humming along, scoring 2 power play goals with the second power play goal coming late in the second to take the lead at 4-3.  Tempers boiled over late in the first period as Activity Check and Nick Kodiak dropped the gloves, with Activity Check winning the scrap. Come O'Dirga put up 3 points for Kelowna as they clutched up game 3 to take a 2-1 series lead. Colorado came out strong in game 4 in an attempt to show why they were ranked second in the league during the regular season, outscoring Kelowna 6-2. Xavier Beausoleil had 3 assists on the night, assisting on Kodiak's 2 goals and Shadow Fenix's first of the series. Tanner Pitts had a strong game between the pipes, posting a .940 save percentage and 29 saves. Colorado turned up the heat for the rest of the series, pouring on the offensive pressure as they won game 5 to take a 3-2 series lead by a score of 5-2. Shadow Fenix kicked off the scoring with a goal in the first period on the power play,  marking the first of what would be 3 power play goals on the night. Nick Kodiak  continued his hot streak with a shorthanded goal 8 minutes into the third period to make it 4-2 for Colorado. 1st star of the game ended up going to COLBOT2, who as one of the best players in the league put up a goal to tie the game at 2, and assisted Kodiak on the shorthanded goal. Tanner Pitts stopped 35/37 shots and had a strong .950 save percentage for the Raptors. Colorado won the series in 6 games after a strong performance by their first line, who had been relatively quiet throughout the first half of the series. Activity Check had a strong game for Kelowna, leading off the Knights with 2 goals and an assist in the first 7 minutes of the game, coming out to a 3-1 Kelowna lead.  However, Xavier Beausoleil and Shadow Fenix fired back with Beausoleil scoring late in the first with all three members of their top line chipping in on the goal. Shadow Fenix would go on to score twice early in the third, to take the lead for Colorado. James Howlett tied the game up with just under 9 minutes left to play, but Mutou scored a dagger with just under 3 minutes left off a feed from Beausoleil and Konhe to seal the series for the Raps.

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Colorado will face off against the 9th ranked Nevada Battleborn, who had a first round bye. With Colorado's top line heating up in the back half of the series as well as their depth scoring contributing well, this Raptors team could be a force in the playoffs.


Yukon and Regina kicked off their playoff series as the 6th ranked Malamutes hosted the 11th ranked Elk. A low shot affair in game 1 saw Yukon come out on top in a 4-0 win, with Karter Mendenhall making 21 saves to secure his shutout.  Bobby Tkachuky scored twice in the first period to secure the win for the Yukon, with the best player in Malamutes history YUMBOT3 scoring at the end of the first period. It was back and forth in game 2, with Langston Hardison-Laurent opening the scoring for Yukon before Regina went on a 3 goal reply in the first period. Red Panda and Bean Beanman Jr each had 2 points in the first period for the Elk. In period 2, Yukon pushed for 5 goals straight with Hardison-Laurent and Fred Bread each scoring twice in that run. Langston Hardison-Laurent put up 2 goals in the third period to notch his first 4 goal game in the playoffs. Game 3 had Regina push back after falling to a 3-1 deficit in the third period, with a comeback sparked by REGBOT2. Bartholomew Chungus Gingersnap III scored the tying goal with 9 minutes left to play in the third period before REGBOT1 scored the game winning goal with 8 minutes left in the third notching their second point of the game. Game 4 was a low scoring game, with a goalie battle with both teams putting up 30+ shots. Roman Cechmanek II had 35 saves with a .970 save percentage in a 2-1 win over the Malamutes. REGBOT1 kicked off the scoring off a feed from REGBOT3 and REGBOT2 with 2 minutes left in the first period. Violet Stoica put up the game winning goal with just under 12 minutes left in the second period, as Yukon scored their lone goal of the game with 2 minutes left in the third period. Mikkel Enevoldsen led the Regina defence core in DGR with an 85, with 1 block as well as 2 shots, 2 hits and 2 takeaways. The back and forth series sat even at 2-2, with Yukon winning game 5 to take a 3-2 series lead off of another Karter Mendenhall shutout with 22 saves. Elly Snow-Leopard notched the game winning goal for the Malamutes, scoring with 2 minutes left in the first period as Soderberg-Motyla and Heroyam-Slava assisted it. Fred Bread and Heroyam-Slava each had a goal to stretch the lead out to 3-0 for the final score. A strong defence game from Kristian Seppanen with a 99 DGR as well as 3 blocks, 2 shots, and 4 takeaways. Kaarlo Koivunen had a solid game on defence for Yukon as well, with a 92 DGR, with 2 blocks, 1 hit, and 2 takeaways. Game 6 was a close game that came down to the wire, with Regina winning to force a game 7. Fred Bread and Elly Snow-Leopard opened the scoring for the Malamutes, before a 4 goal run from the Elk pushed them to a 4-2 lead in the third period. Guy Incognito scored the 3rd goal for the Elk to take a 3-2 lead before Inge Baardsen scored twice to take a 4-2 and 5-3 lead. Baardsen scored the second goal while shorthanded with 7 minutes left in the third which stood as the game winning goal. Game 7 kicked off with a pair of power play goals, with Langston Hardison-Laurent scoring his 7th goal of the playoffs 9 minutes into the game. Red Panda replied with their own power play goal with 4 minutes left in the first period. However, Jaxson Reaper scored what stood to be the game winner off a feed from Snow-Leopard with 3 minutes left in the first period. Karter Mendenhall put up a .970 save percentage with 30 saves to earn his fourth career playoff win.

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The Yukon Malamutes will be advancing to round 2 to face the Detroit Falcons. The Falcons finished 3rd in the league and Yukon finished 6th in the league so it should be a fun battle of a series.


The Anchorage Armada and Vancouver Whalers had the misfortune of facing off against each other in the first round as the 7th and 8th ranked teams in the SMJHL. Only 3 points separated them this season, with Anchorage finishing slightly higher with 74 points. Game 1 of the series saw Vancouver score first, with VANBOT1 grabbing the first goal for the series. Anchorage wasn't keen on being left behind though, and responded with a 3 goal second period and added another goal to make it 4-1. Vancouver tried to rally back and scored twice to make the score 4-3 but were unable to pull off the comeback in this one. Ubba Lodbrok and Bongo were solid for Anchorage, each tallying 2 points in order to clutch the game up. Game 2 had Anchorage open the scoring with a goal from Muon Collider halfway through the first period. Colt Fox would tie the game up late in the second period, however an early third period goal from Anchorage would put Vancouver on their heels once again. Keeping composed, Vancouver struck with 2 quick goals 25 seconds apart with just over 10 minutes left to play. Graham Schwartz would put the game out of reach with 4 minutes left off of Lily Jin Morrow's assist, their third point of the game. In game 3, Vancouver's Masked Stanger stood on his head and posted a .96 save percentage with 25 saves in order to backstop the team to a 2-1 series lead. A big game from Ivan Scochnikob JR saw him score twice to take a 2-0 lead in the first period, with the second goal standing as the game winner. Remington Richardson III was solid on the backend for the Whalers, with 2 takeaways, 4 hits and a 91 DGR. Game 4 saw the Whalers extend their series lead to 3-1 after a thrilling game that went to overtime. The game started off  with Anchorage surging forward to take a 2-1 lead after one period, and following it up with 2 goals early in the second period. Lily Jin Morrow and VANBOT1 chipped away at the lead and sent the game to the 2nd intermission with Anchorage leading 4-3. Just over a minute into the third period, Ethan Brown tied the game for the Whalers, until Muon Collider regained the lead with a goal 3 minutes later. Ethan Brown wasn't having it though and potted another goal with 12 minutes left in the third period. This game would need a bit more time and it was sent to overtime. It was short though as GM's Son scored his second goal and third point of the night just 2 minutes into the extra frame. Entering the 5th Game of the series, Vancouver had a 3-1 series lead. Despite this though, there were quite a few times where Anchorage led throughout the first 4 games but fell late in the third period. Game 5 was different though, as Fedot Fedorov made their mark on the season, tallying a hat trick with an assist to get a point on every goal as well as the game winning goal for Anchorage. Meo Vanbiesbrouck was solid in net as well, with a .920 save percentage and 34 saves. First season player Jesus Muphy added a big 3 assist game for his first multi point game of the playoffs enroute to the win. Anchorage had a good first 2 periods of Game 6, taking a 3-1 lead in the second period and extending it to a 4-1 lead two minutes into the third period. However, the same problem that plagued them in the first couple games resurfaced, with Vancouver rallying back with 3 unanswered goals in the third period, the final 2 goals came just 19 seconds apart with under 5 minutes left to play. Gripping their sticks righter in the overtime frame, Joseph Reed was able to clutch up for Anchorage and push the series to the 7th game. Armada defender Dan Johnston was one of two Anchorage defenders to post a 95+ DGR in this game, with Johnston hitting a 95 DGR and Okada hitting a 99 DGR. The series went to Game 7, ultimately coming down to a late third period goal again. 5 of the 7 games of this series ended up coming down to a 1 goal difference for each team. Anchorage opened the scoring with Benny Hanna and Joseph Reed getting on the board in the first period, followed up by Lily Jin Morrow and GM's Son tying it up with 2 goals within 40 seconds of each other late in the first period. A quiet second period set up a flurry in the final 3 minutes of the third period. Fedot Fedorov scored with 2:39 left in the third to push Anchorage ahead by 1, Lily Jin Morrow replied just 43 seconds later with a Vancouver reply to tie the game at 3. Ubba Lodbrok ultimately broke through for Anchorage and scored 36 seconds later to take the game winning goal with only 1:20 left to play. A huge clutch goal late, went along with great performances all over the ice.  Fedorov and Blackwood had two points each, and defenders Carter Crutchfield and Dan Johnston each put up a DGR of 92+. With Johnston notching 4 takeaways and Crutchfield blocking 5 shots. Masked Stanger stood on his head for Vancouver in this elimination game, putting up a .920 save percentage and 43 saves on 47 shots. Meo Vanbiesbrouck took the win with Anchorage though, tallying 20 saves and a .870 save percentage in Game 7.

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Anchorage has their work cut out for them as they are matched against the first place Quebec City Citadelles, who finished with 48 wins and 28 more points in the regular season. We will see what happens in this thrilling series in the next round, as we saw last season with Vancouver and Great Falls the regular season record doesn't matter in the playoffs.

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