Season 13 Creighton Cup

The Season 13 semifinals were pretty shocking! I didn't expect both series to end in sweeps or for both series to have such lopsided goal differentials. I was pretty excited, though, for the Creighton Cup finals matchup. This was the first time that the finals did not include one of the league's First Four teams (Bulldogs, Comets, Thistles, Victorias). Instead, it was a battle of expansion teams!

The semifinals also teed up some interesting themes that I wanted to monitor in the finals. The Bearcats' power play came to life (33.33%) after finishing dead last in the regular season (10.00%), and it was a major contributing factor to the Cats' upset win over the Bulldogs. So too was goaltending. Crusty veteran Riley Hern outdueled superstar Hap Holmes, finishing with an astounding .973 save percentage! For the Millionaires, Georges Vezina was almost as impressive at .961. Vezina's heroics, in fact, masked some of the Millies' first-round shortcomings: They failed to score a power-play goal after finishing first in that statistic during the regular season (24.07%), and the only player to score more than one goal in the opening round was defenseman Harry Cameron (4).

Who won the ultimate prize? See below for the recap!

• Game 1: The first-place Millionaires started the series at home against the third-place Bearcats. In the first, Joe Malone got the visitors rolling with a goal less than two minutes into the game. The Cats outshot the Millies 18-7 in the first period, dominating the time of possession just as they did against the Dogs in the last round. Scotty Davidson's power-play goal in the second made it 2-0 for the Cats. The Millies finally struck back in the third, on back-to-back goals by Mickey MacKay and Frank Foyston; in that sequence, Cats goalie Riley Hern gave up as many goals in three minutes as he did in three full games against the Bulldogs! There was no further scoring in regulation, nor in the first overtime. In double overtime, Malone tallied his second of the game to win it for the upstart Bearcats. 
• Game 2: The Cats came home with a chance to take a commanding 2-0 series lead. After a scoreless first, the game really opened up in the second period. Jimmy Gardner -- the former  Millies captain who lost even his roster spot late in the regular season due to lack of production and undisciplined play -- cracked the lineup for the first time in the postseason and scored his team's first goal. That lead was quickly erased by Joe Malone, however, but then restored by new Millies captain Harry "Rat" Westwick. The score was 2-1 at the end of the second. Billy McGimsie tied it early in the third, and then Bruce Stuart gave the Cats their first lead with a power-play tally. George Hay got the equalizer for the Millies, so it was 3-3 heading into the final few minutes of regular time. Star blueliner Harry Cameron continued his scorching postseason with his fifth goal of the playoffs, sealing a 4-3 win for the visiting Millionaires and tying the series at one game apiece.
• Game 3: The Millies were home for the third game, but as with Game 1, found themselves in an early hole. The Cats held a huge advantage in time of possession and peppered Georges Vezina with shots until defenseman Frank Patrick -- brother of Millies defenseman Lester Patrick -- got one past Vezina. That goal was followed shortly thereafter by a Billy McGimsie lamp-lighter. The Cats took a 2-0 lead into the second frame, in which there was no scoring. A desperate Millionaires team made a strong push in the third. Frank Foyston got them on the board, but McGimsie's second of the game restored the Cats' two-goal lead. Mickey MacKay scored on the power play to make it 3-2, but the clock ran out before they could get the equalizer. 
• Game 4: With a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series, the Cats had a chance to win the first Creighton Cup in franchise history on home ice -- of course, up to this point, the road team had won every game in the finals. In the first, defensemen Frank Patrick and Harry Cameron traded early goals in a 1-1 contest that quickly became 3-1 after linemates Didier Pitre and Joe Malone scored for the Cats. The Millies suffered a tough blow in the second when Bruce Stuart made it 4-1 in front of the Cats' ecstatic home fans. Although Barney Stanley got one back for the defending champs, they still trailed 4-2 going into the third. Malone and Stanley each scored their second goals of the game, both on the power play, in the third period. The end result was a 5-3 series-clinching victory for the Bearcats. 

It's the first-ever Creighton Cup for the Bearcats and their transcendent superstar Joe Malone, who edged the Millies' Harry Cameron for the Playoff MVP trophy. Classy veterans Billy McGimsie and Fred Maxwell earned the sixth championships of their respective careers, after racking up five with the Victorias in years past. That's all for now! Season 13 is in the books.