07-02-2024, 11:20 PM(This post was last modified: 07-06-2024, 09:22 AM by CptSquall. Edited 1 time in total.)
While many teams in the SMJHL have had successful periods in their history that could be classified as a golden era, perhaps no golden era was as dominant as the Newfoundland Berserkers from Season 60 to Season 64. During this period the Berserkers won 4 Four Star Cups in 5 seasons, the first and only team to ever accomplish this achievement. Furthermore, the Berserkers made 6 straight finals appearances, also the only team to ever do this. Let’s examine each year of this golden era.
Season 60
After a few seasons of being just below the elite of the SMJHL, Newfoundland broke out in S60 leading the regular season with 115 points, 16 points above second place. They led the league in scoring and allowed the fewest goals as well. They then went 12-4 in the playoffs, leading to the first Four Star Cup of this run and the second in their history.
Season 61
Once again being led by veteran centre, Robert Black and goaltender tandem of Evgeni Petrov and Jonas Johansson, the Berserkers took a surprising step back with 94 points and a third overall place finish in the league. While this is the only year in the golden era where the Berserkers failed to win the championship, they still managed a finals appearance where they would ultimately get swept by Vancouver.
Season 62
This season saw a lot of key departures from the previous years and much of the original S60 Cup winning team. Despite this, the emergence of players like Emeril Lagasse, Alexander Mackenzie, and Mikko Rashford, made Newfoundland not only a great team but a great young team with a large window of winning. They finished with a third place regular finish again with 94 points, however their best in league goal differential stellar goaltending made them an absolute force in the playoffs as they went 12-1 and dominated the league on the way to their second title in three years.
Season 63
Building off an impressive S62 season, the Berserkers absolutely dominated their way through the regular season in S63 finishing in first with 118 points including an insane 31-1-1 home record. An unprecedented 5 out of the 6 players awarded with First Team All-Star honours were Berserkers, with Mackenzie winning MVP and being the points leader. Newfoundland once again cruised through the playoff bracket going 12-2 as they claimed another the Four Star Cup.
Season 64
The last dance for much of the core of this dynasty team, Newfoundland was expected to once again dominate the SMJHL and that’s exactly what they did. 115 points and a first place regular season finish again, it felt like all but a formality that the Berserkers would make their way to another finals appearance. After a hard fought 6 game series against Colorado, they made their way to the finals, sweeping Quebec City and solidifying this team as one of the greatest dynasties in league history.
It is probably worth mentioning the Season 65 team, led by three time cup winner, Rand al'Thor. They were one win away from a historic fourth straight Four Star Cup, a heartbreaking loss against Detroit in Game 7 of the finals sealed off the golden era of Newfoundland for good. Time will only tell if another team can match this amount of dominance in a 5 year stretch but with even more expansion in the SMJHL, it will surely be difficult to do so.
Magenta
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