Never got around to doing this for the first round but such is life.

 Anchorage Armada vs. Quebec City Citadelles

Playoffs So Far
Anchorage: Defeated Vancouver Whalers in seven games
Quebec City: On bye through the first round

Regular Season
Anchorage 3 - 5 Quebec City
Anchorage 4 - 1 Quebec City
Quebec City 1 - 4 Anchorage
Quebec City 6 - 7 Anchorage (OT)
Anchorage wins season series 3 - 1

Overview
Yes, you read that right - the middle of the pack Armada were one of just two teams to beat the almighty Citadelles in their season series, and the thanks for that can be left neatly packed up and addressed to Stun Gun. Through the four games the teams play, the venerable netminder posted a save percentage north of .900 and had a pair of 32-save performances despite the cornucopia of offensive talent we've seen Quebec City bring to bear against the rest of the league. You can make a fair argument that Anchorage were relatively unlucky to finish where they did in the regular season standings with a solid +40 goal difference on the year, but them's the breaks.

The big question for Anchorage will be whether their top scorers are going to show up in this series. Joseph Reed and Deep Thought combined for 74 goals and north of 170 points between them but the dynamic duo looked poor in the series against Vancouver, simply not holding up their end of the bargain like you'd expect. Ubba Lodbrok leads the Armada in points with 9 and is one of the handful of players to have a positive plus / minus figure - and with respect to him, if that remains the case it's hard to see Anchorage pulling off the upset. Strange things have happened - if Fedot Fedorov or Muon Collider somehow keep shooting 30% or more, that'd qualify as a bonafide miracle - but between some questionable offense and the Stun Gun / Meo Vanbiesbrouck duo looking shaky, perhaps the better question is whether the Armada take a game off the league leaders.

Much has already been written about Quebec City and, with the team skipping the first round, there's not a lot to add that wouldn't be total speculation. If there is one X-factor to consider, it's pressure: the Citadelles have had a target on their back right from the beginning of the season anyway and this is the last shot Quebec City is going to have to send the legendary Jeff Hunziker off to the big leagues with a Four Star Cup win under his belt, after being upset by the Detroit Falcons last year and beaten by Maine the season before that. Perhaps the extra level of expectation causes cracks to form and the bulkhead buckles...

Prediction
Quebec City takes another step to glory and beats Anchorage in five games as their forwards turn the tempo up too high for the Armada.


 Nevada Battleborn vs. Colorado Raptors

Playoffs So Far
Nevada: On bye through the first round
Colorado: Defeated Kelowna Knights in six games

Regular Season
Colorado 2 - 1 Nevada
Nevada 2 - 3 Colorado
Nevada 3 - 5 Colorado
Nevada 2 - 4 Colorado
Colorado 4 - 3 Nevada
Colorado 5 - 2 Nevada
Colorado wins season series 6 - 0

Overview
Yes, you read that right as well. The Battleborn haven't been total bottom-feeders this season but through six games simply could not solve the Colorado defense, and I use that phrasing specifically because the Raptors were not playing like their normal "death or glory" self in that series. Those results, and the games, paint a picture of a team playing surprisingly measured hockey and almost pacing themselves, rather than the mad squad that wins 9 - 7 or drops 12 goals on the shellshocked St. Louis Scarecrows. One wonders which of them is going to turn up here.

If Nevada have a path to victory, it is going to involve Just Perfection playing to an even higher level than his superb regular season form. The Battleborn have a good first line and a fine top defensive pairing, but the depth is absolutely not present beyond that and if Colorado are able to drag them into deep water the Juice / Wizard / VINSen trio are going to be exhausted - hence, it falls to Perfection to do something amazing. This is not to say that pulling off the upset is beyond his powers, mind - to my eye, Perfection has been the SMJHL's best goaltender this regular season and has stolen games for Nevada - but asking him to do it four times in quick succession is surely too much.

With that said, with all the attacking prowess Colorado do have at their disposal a lot of people were surprised at how well the Kelowna Knights matched up against the Raptors, so it may even be a case of Colorado finding a path to defeat. Early on in the first-round series, Colorado had an above-average level of giveaways from sloppy play with the puck or miscommunication, and only once that was tightened up in the latter three games did they take control of the series again. Relying on a team to make errors is a dangerous strategy but if that first round is any indication, it might be the best shot Nevada have.

Prediction
Colorado hasn't quite knocked off all the rust and take an early loss, with a Just Perfection shutout along the line, but come back to win in six.


Newfoundland Berserkers vs. Maine Timber

Playoffs So Far
Newfoundland: Defeated Great Falls Grizzlies in five games
Maine: On bye through the first round

Regular Season
Maine 5 - 0 Newfoundland
Newfoundland 6 - 5 Maine (OT)
Newfoundland 3 - 7 Maine
Maine 4 - 1 Newfoundland
Maine wins season series 3 - 1

Overview
Rematch! Rematch! Rematch! Last season's cup final gets run back in the second round and the teams look closer in quality than last season, to my arguably trained eye and despite the season series going the way of the Timber. Maine lost their top two scoring threats from last season but from the raw numbers have compensated in the slight drop-off by getting things tighter defensively; the Berzerkers, on the other hand, cut their goals against by more than a full goal per game, giving Ben Harrison both more help in general and also a better backup to split time with in the form of Launchpad McQuack.

A big part of why Newfoundland's defense improved is also what their hopes of avenging last season's loss is going to hinge upon: puck safety and sensible play. Star blueliner Ondrej von Stoodrick exemplifies this with a takeaway to giveaway ratio of 7 - for comparison, the only player in the entire league with a better figure also putting up 20+ minutes a game is Detroit's Mephistopheles Morgonstjarna, and Wes Thunderbass isn't far behind either. It's a classic, but you can't concede goals if your opponent never has the puck or if you can get it off them without putting yourself in danger.

Interestingly, the numbers don't have an obvious sign why Maine have been as good as they've been this year: they score goals, but not quite enough as the league's elite offenses and they play good defense, but aren't blowing anybody away with it. Perhaps the sign here is that the Timber are a team amounting to more than the obvious sum of their parts - it's a cheap way to get out of looking deeper into the analysis, but up and down they're just a very good team. What will be interesting is seeing how the all-rookie line cope with playoff hockey for the first time: JJFJJ and the two Lavoies, all picked in the space of 13 picks this year, have put up impressive numbers in not a lot of icetime, and if things look like they're going south the solution might be to hand them the keys and let go of the handbrake.

Prediction
Controversially, I think Newfoundland have made more of an improvement than Maine did compared to last season and they'll take this in seven games.


 Detroit Falcons vs. Yukon Malamutes

Playoffs So Far
Detroit: On bye through the first round
Yukon: Defeated Regina Elk in seven games

Regular Season
Yukon 0 - 6 Detroit
Yukon 0 - 5 Detroit
Detroit 0 - 3 Yukon
Detroit 3 - 8 Yukon
Detroit 6 - 0 Yukon
Yukon 6 - 2 Detroit
Season series tied 3 - 3

Overview
Four out of the six games these teams played in the regular season ended in one team shutting out the other, how often do you see that? Surprisingly, while Detroit have long been a team spurred on by their all-star goaltender Wayne Holloway and have finally started to play like it, Yukon have been relatively unimpressive defensively and the shutout win is one for Karter Mendenhall to hang his hat (or mask) on.

A bottom-feeder for a couple of seasons, Detroit surprised many by jumping up to mid table and then completely flipped the script by upsetting Quebec City in five games - even if they were then swept by Maine, the Falcons took a lot of momentum from the series win and carried that into this season, looking impressive in a way they haven't for some years. The offense has been middling to good - two of their top three scorers leaving after this season is a cause for concern eventually, though - but it's the defensive play from the team as a whole that has carried the Falcons to this point. The longlists for award consideration had three Falcons potentially up for the Holmes and two for the Metzler, and that's nothing to sneer at.

The Malamutes' have two keys to victory: get bodies in front of the net on both sides. Yukon are one of two teams remaining in the playoffs to average fewer shots for than shots against and even if Detroit isn't an offensive powerhouse, allowing a goalie to get peppered is never going to go well, especially for a rookie like Mendenhall. Going forward, no team had a bigger discrepancy between their top two goalscorers than Yukon - Langston Hardison-Laurent obviously rampaged through the league and is a deserving candidate for MVP in my opinion, but leaving so much of the offense to flow through one player is a recipe for disaster. 8 goals in the series against Regina was nothing to sniff at but it's almost frivolous to point out that the Falcons are a much harder nut to crack than the Elk: in six games, Detroit conceded two goals to Jeff Hunziker, after all.

Prediction
Detroit's relative lack of offense and propensity for tight games is going to hurt them as Yukon will see some LHL magic, but the Falcons win in six.


Disagree? Think I'm wildly understimating the mighty 'Mutes / raging 'Zerkers / quiet, dignified Armada? Probably. Write some media about it and how I'm a hack. 1,915 words.

Raps in 4
Maine in 6
Yum in 7