The easy answer here for the Winnipeg Jets is Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals, no? It was the first time in the playoffs that the Jets faced elimination after sweeping the Texas Renegades in the first round and taking a 3-2 lead over the Seattle Riot in Game 5. For the first time this post season the Jets could be sent home and the pressure was on with a berth in the Challenge Cup Finals on the line.

Halfway through Game 7, the Riot scored a power play goal to take a 3-2 lead. 30 minutes would determine the Jets' fate and they seized the opportunity, Corey Bearss scored the next two goals to take back the lead and complete his hat trick and Zach Evans added the insurance marker to give Winnipeg the 5-3 win and a spot in the Finals. It was notable that the Jets won the game despite a slightly below average game from their goaltender, who sported a 0.893 save percentage thanks to multipoint nights from some of their big guns: Jason Visser, Scott Robertson, and Vlad McZerhl who each registered 2 assists.

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A player who wasn't garnering the attention they deserved through the early part of the playoffs (aka, up to the point the playoff index has been updated: Game 4 of the conference finals) was Chris York of the Toronto North Stars. York had 7 points in his 10 games but that wasn't reflecting how good he really was playing. York's 45 shots were 2nd-best on Toronto (1 behind Damien Wert's 46) and 4th-best in the playoffs at large. Dude was putting pucks on net and we all know that doing that leads to good things, whether it's juicy rebounds, bad bounces, or simply wearing down the goalie.

In addition to his shot volume, York did a great job establishing a physical presence. Cynthia Taylor can't hit everyone in every game so York stepped up to hit those who fell through the cracks. His 26 hits were second to Taylor on Toronto and 12th among all players. For his gritty, dirty game that may not make the highlight reels but is integral to his team's success, Chris York is the unsung hero of the S37 playoffs.

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It's always hard to judge the favorite in a Challenge Cup Final as we rarely get to see how the teams match up against each other in the regular season but even though Toronto won the season series on a goal differential tiebreaker, I would give the edge in this series to Winnipeg.

The Jets finished with 65 points to Toronto's 54 but that may be a bit misleading as the two worst teams in the SHL were in the Western Conference this season. However, the Jets still finished 8 points out of 1st place to Toronto's 9, 10 points clear of 5th place to Toronto's 4, and only had 1 loser point to their name to Toronto's 4. No matter how you slice the results, Winnipeg comes out ahead.

In addition to mere points, Toronto was even in goal differential while Winnipeg boasted the 3rd best goal differential in the league, scoring 55% of the goals in their games. Since there are more goals than games, typically they are more predictive of future results due to the larger sample size. Taking this a step further makes the Jets look even better as they were best in the league in Shots For Percentage with 54.6% compared to Toronto's 5th place worthy 52%.

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Late as fuck but I can't do graphics to save my life so asciishrug.

<a href='index.php?showuser=2267' rel='nofollow' alt='profile link' class='user-tagged mgroup-10'>Waters</a> - How does it feel to win both the SMJHL and SHL championship in the same season?

<a href='index.php?showuser=184' rel='nofollow' alt='profile link' class='user-tagged mgroup-8'>Chris-McZehrl</a> - Would you describe for me in explicit detail the exact manner in which your balls will be celebrating with the Cup?

<a href='index.php?showuser=2327' rel='nofollow' alt='profile link' class='user-tagged mgroup-69'>ztevans</a> - You're always so self-deprecating when it comes to your player, are you surprised to see yourself amongst the top playoff scorers (index isn't updated so not sure where exactly you end up)? Is it time everyone started putting R E S P E C K on the Zach Evans name?