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Vulfzilla · 09-02-2021, 05:45 PM

Having recently signed to the Anchorage Armada in the SMJHL, I thought it would be a good idea to try and find out more about this great club’s history. Upon looking into the annals, I shockingly discovered that the Armada have appeared in not 1, not 2, not 3, but the last 4 championship series in the league. Today I will try and do a breakdown of those 4 series for those at home who may not be familiar with this championship pedigree.

We’ll start in Season 57 where the Armada finished the regular season with 92 pts to lead the Pacific Conference (they were second only to Quebec City’s incredible 107), and earn themselves a 1st round bye in the playoffs. In their first matchup they swept away a St. Louis Scarecrows team that had gone the full 7 games in the first round and was clearly fatigued (not to mention completely outclassed up and down the lines). Great goalie play was the theme throughout the series as Chimkin Tendy gave up only 4 goals in the series. In the next round, although I’m not really sure why, the matchup of the 2 best teams in the league provided potentially the best series in years. Its really a shame this wasn’t for the cup! After losing a decisive game 5 and falling behind 3-2, The Armada were able to get an OT winner in game 6 and completely control a feisty game 7 en route to the Cup Finals. In the finals, similar to the Miracle on Ice team still having to play another game after beating Russia in the semis, many were concerned Anchorage would let off the gas after the emotionally draining series they had just polished off. The offense came out of the gate firing on all cylinders however, and Anaheim was easily dispatched of in 5 games, and the Armada raised the banners to the rafters a few weeks later!

In season 58, Anchorage had a huge drop off in the regular season registering only 75 points and earning the 2 seed in the Pacific Conference. In the playoffs they once again matched up with St. Louis, this time in the first round, and once again advanced despite this matchup being much more competitive than the previous year. In the 2nd round the boats knocked out Detroit in 5 games, their only loss coming in overtime of game 2. The 3rd round saw the Armada also defeat Newfoundland in 5 games, despite losing game 2 by the shocking scoreline of 8-0! In the finals it was the matchup the league deserved to see the year before with Quebec City making it to the finals by knocking out Kelowna in 5 games. This year Quebec got a measure of revenge as they lifted the Cup after 5 games including a 6-0 drubbing in the final game of the season.

Season 59 saw Anchorage return to form in the regular season and finish with 95 points once again. They had to play in the first round again however as they finished by conference-mate Kelowna, and matched up with Nevada, finishing off the series with an exciting OT winner in game 5. Next up was a quick sweep of the Raptors who honestly don’t deserve more than a sentence in this writeup. Following that quick series, it was once again the rivalry of the ages as Quebec, who finished with 60 points in the regular season, fought hard to recover from a 3-0 deficit, but eventually were pushed aside in game 6 by a score of 4-3. In the finals, Anchorage once played Pacific Conference and Regular Season champion Kelowna, and unfortunately lost in 5 games including a 7-0 beatdown in the decisive game.

Last season, in season 60, the Armada once again finished with 95 points, but were unable to finish higher than 3rd in the standings. They swept aside Nevada in the first round for nice little warm-up for the playoffs. In the second round, they fell behind Colorado 3 games to 1 before an epic collapse allowed the Armada to win a decisive game 7 and advance to the semi-final once again. Yet another matchup against Quebec City was waiting, but this time it never lived up to the hype as the Boaty boiz dumped their rivals in a stunning 4 game sweep. In the finals, they once again matched up with the regular season’s best team, this time Newfoundland. Unfortunately the result was the same as season 59, and they just couldn’t muster enough to get past this powerful squad, and ended up losing in 6.

Overall its been one hell of a run (a run every other team in the league would gladly take), and despite coming up short 3 of the last 4 years, they at the very least came out on top of their rivals QC more often than not and were able to lift the Cup once. Hopefully the trend continues in Season 61, and we’ll once again see this formidable squad memorialized in the history books.

Thank you for diving deep with me, Cup Noodle, you may now come up for air. (944 words.. oops a little too much lol)

***golden_apricot*** · 09-02-2021, 05:49 PM

Go boats fire gabe

Vulfzilla · 09-02-2021, 05:54 PM

Double post

*Leppish* · 09-03-2021, 07:41 AM

Approved! +5 TPE @vulfgravy

SlashACM · 09-03-2021, 02:41 PM

:(

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