Season 12 Creighton Cup

Before this series started, I would have characterized it as the irresistible force of the Millionaires' offense (16 goals in 4 games) versus the immovable object that is goaltender Hap Holmes of the Bulldogs (.942 save percentage in the first round). Did both sides live up to those expectations? Read on to find out!

• The injury to key defenseman Phat Wilson loomed over the Millionaires as they took the ice for Game 1, but Barney Stanley got the home crowd rocking with a power-play goal in the first. After a scoreless second, Mickey MacKay scored with the man advantage in the third to make it 2-0 for the Millies. Their captain, Jimmy Gardner -- possibly in his final season with the Millionaires -- made it 3-0 late in the frame. Georges Vezina stopped all 27 shots for his first-ever playoff shutout. 
• Game 2 shifted to the Bulldogs' rink, and once again the Millies got a first-period power-play goal, this time from Gardner. Harry Cameron scored late in the second to make it 2-0. You may have noticed that I haven't mentioned any Bulldog goals yet; well, they went more than five straight periods without a goal before Jack Adams lit the lamp on the power play to make it 2-1 in the opening minute of the third. Neither team found the back of the net again, however, so the Millionaires claimed a 2-0 series lead. 
• With Wilson returning to their lineup, the Millionaires looked to win the Cup on home ice. They started started Game 3 on the right track with a George Hay power-play goal, making it three straight games with a power-play goal in the first. Tom Hooper tied it late in the period, but Hay scored his second of the game in the closing seconds to restore the Millies' lead. There was no scoring in the second -- the calm before the storm, so to speak. It was an absolutely wild third period. Gord Roberts scored early in the frame to tie the score at 2, but Wilson got one right back for the home team. Now leading 3-2, the Millies found themselves about nine minutes away from a championship. The crowd held its breath when Barney Stanley was called for a careless penalty, but soon they erupted in cheers when Mickey MacKay snagged a loose puck and skated the length of the ice for a breakaway shorthanded goal to make it 4-2. And...well...that's when it all started to come unraveled for the Millies. The Dogs still were on the power play, of course, and Roberts notched his second goal of the game before the penalty expired. The score remained 4-3 until the final minute, when Hooper scored his second of the night to tie it up. The Millies' fans could only watch in stunned silence when, moments later, Bulldogs captain Si Griffis blasted a slapshot from the blueline that ended the game. With a 5-4 overtime victory, the Dogs had survived to fight another day.
• After the their miraculous comeback, the Dogs returned home for Game 4 hoping to force a winner-take-all Game 5. A tepid first period ended with no scoring. Neither team scored in the second, either, and it was clear that Georges Vezina was back at the top of his game after his meltdown in Game 3. Frank Foyston gave the visiting Millies a 1-0 lead with a goal early in the third, and from that point the Dogs mounted a relentless attack on Vezina. The second-year netminder held firm, however, and among his many highlight-reel saves was a beauty of a stop on a Jack Laviolette slapshot with just over two minutes to play. Vezina held the line and delivered a 34-save shutout. 

By a 3-1 margin, the Millionaires won the series and their second Creighton Cup in franchise history. Vezina edged teammate MacKay and rival goaltender Holmes for the Playoff MVP trophy, finishing with a 1.88 goals-against average and .943 save percentage across both rounds of the playoffs. He also became the first goaltender ever to record multiple shutouts in a single playoff series. 

That just about wraps it up for Season 12. Stay tuned for Season 13, when we'll introduce one of hockey's all-time most fascinating characters -- SPRAGUE CLEGHORN!