Creighton Cup Finals

Season 7 came to a close with the presentation of the Creighton Cup! And on Canada Day, no less!

Stumbling into Game 1 of the Finals, the discombobulated Comets were no match for the businesslike Victorias and their star winger, Newsy Lalonde. Shrugging off a chorus of boos and taunts from the Comets' hometown faithful, Lalonde recorded his first playoff hat trick and led the Victorias to a 4-1 triumph. The Comets managed to eke out a 3-2 road win in Game 2, setting the stage for one of the wildest and sloppiest playoff contests I've seen in this league. In Game 3, a Joe Hall penalty in the opening minute gave the Vics an early power play. Blair Russell, however, scored a shorthanded goal to stake the Comets to the lead, only for (who else?) Lalonde to tally on the power play mere seconds later. Both teams had scored on their very first shot on goal! Lots of penalties and lots of goals ensued, with the Victorias emerging as 5-2 winners. Remarkably, the road team had won all three games, a trend the Victorias hoped to break as they headed home for Game 4 with the chance to wrap up the franchise's latest title.

Game 4 was at once epic and anticlimactic. Lalonde beat Percy LeSueur just moments into the opening frame, and captain Hobey Baker doubled the Vics' lead around the midpoint. The score remained unchanged until the Comets' George Richardson notched a goal in the closing moments of the second, setting up a final period in which the Comets would need to throw everything they had at netminder Bowse Hutton to get the equalizer. The visitors got an early break when Newsy Lalonde went down with an injury and did not return, but they struggled to get quality chances throughout the third. A late score by Dubbie Bowie restored the Vics' two-goal advantage, and that was that. Riding a 45-save masterpiece from Hutton, the Vics cruised to a 3-1 win and claimed yet another Creighton Cup. 

They deserved it, too. The Victorias went 6-2 in this postseason run, leading all playoff teams with 3.50 goals per game, 1.88 goals against per game, and a +13 goal differential. Check out the special teams: 31.82% on the power play and a mind-boggling 95.24% penalty kill. 

That level of dominance has earned them their fourth title in seven years. They won back-to-back cups in Seasons 1 and 2, then went through a bit of a dry spell, and now have championships in Seasons 6 and 7. Is this the beginning of a new -- or, should I say, "Newsy" -- dynasty? Only time will tell!