[Critch]

2033/34 Playoffs Western Conference Finals - Chicago Blackhawks
This is Chicago's first playoff appearance since 2019/20, well before the start of the sim. Thanks to years of picking up high picks they've got a strong roster of young players. No real stars, nobody rated 4.5 or 5.0 for current, but loaded with 4.0 star 26 year olds. Unfortunately for them we're getting them at a good time, four of their top players are out for the year, they've done well getting this far with their weakened lineup.

We'll have the home advantage for this round, I'm not really sure why. We both finished 2nd in our division with 101 points.

Game 1 - Chicago Blackhawks 1 Anchorage Huskies 4
Jordan Gavin is back, not quite 100% but worth risking. Still no Henry Mews though. Anchorage get off to a good start, 1-0 up in the first from Urho Mattila. 2:45 into the second period the game slants strongly to Anchorage, Chicago RW Ron Collins gets called for a 5 minute interferance major. Anchorage take advantage of the 5 minutes of 5 on 4 and score two power play goals, Lukas Karmiris after 2:57 then Urho Mattila with his second after 5:54. Later in the second Anchorage have another power play, score another power play goal from Oskar Vuollet and it's 4-0 heading into the third. 19:32 into the third Chicago pull 1 back, too late to make any difference other than to ruin Evan Malliet's shutout.

Game 2 - Chicago Blackhawks 2 Anchorage Huskies 8
Chicago were already short of players with all their injuries, now Ron Collins major that cost them two goals in game one comes back to bite again. He gets a three game suspension and they're down another top player. Anchorage make the advantage pay, they're 4-1 up after the first, Peter Hrovatin, Paul Mayer and two from Emil Hemming and they're half way to a win. Three more goals added in the second, Hrovatin again, Rick Claycomb and Jiri Mendly, and it's 7-1 after two. Weston Knox adds another late on and Sam Rinzel gets another late meaningless consolation goal for Chicago. We're off to Chicago with a 2-0 lead.

Game 3 - Anchorage Huskies 1 Chicago Blackhawks 2
Still no Henry Mews back, and another problem for Anchorage's defense with Jiri Mendl missing day-to-day with an ankle injury. Chicago take a 1-0 lead in the second from Jamie Bazar, go 2-0 in the third from a Trae Wilke power play goal. Jackson Gillespie scores a power play goal with 6 minutes to go but Anchorage cant get another goal and it's all over. It's a win for the Chicago goaltender, Dylan Silverstein with 26 saves from 27 shots. Chicago back into the series.

Game 4 - Anchorage Huskies 5 Chicago Blackhawks 4
Still no Henry Mews back, still no Jiri Mendl so Anchorage born-and-bred Steve Peters is into the lineup. He's been in the AHL almost all season, only had 4 regular season starts for Anchorage. I'd been using another guy as backup defenseman, John Fireman, but he'd not been very good and Steve Peters didn't let us down in the playoffs last year so he gets the call. Things don't start well, Oliver Moore puts the Blackhawks ahead in the first minute, Rick Claycomb brings Anchorage back level, but Chicago then score 3 goals in 90 seconds (Jacob Kvasnicka (14:16), Ty Wasyluk (14.55), Sam Rinzel (15:46) and we're 4-1 down at the end of the first. Anchorage storm back in the second, Paul Mayer and Jordan Gavin score and it's 3-4 going into the third. Anchorage dominate the shots in the third, Emil Hemming ties the game up at 10:35, Urho Mattila puts Anchorage ahead at 12:35 and that's the end of the scoring, we're 3-1 up in the series. I really need to find a way of paying for Urho Mattila's contract extension.

Game 5 - Chicago Blackhawks 4 Anchorage Huskies 5 Overtime
Still no Mews, still no Mendl, so much for day-to-day. Chicago go 2-0 up in the first, a power play goal from Lukas Fischer then an even strength from Ron Collins freshly back from his 3 game suspension. Ty Wasyluk adds to their lead 6 minutes into the second, another power play goal. The fightback starts though, Jackson Gillespie after 7:54 then Vasili Podkolzin reminds everybody he exists with his first goal of the playoffs. Into the third, Oskar Vuollet ties the game up at 1:22, Chicago go back in front at 5:24 (Colin Fibiger), then Jordan Gavin ties it up again at 9:39. Anchorage have to kill a late power play, but that's an end of the scoring for regulation time, so off we go to overtime. Overtime doesn't last 3 minutes, Kaden Pitre scores after 2:54, Vasili Podkolzin with the assist. He may only have 1 goal, but he's got 8 assists. Great value for his 6.5mil.

So a 4-1 series win and we're off to the Stanley Cup again, back to back appearances. It'll be New York Rangers we're up against, a chance to clinch back-to-back championships. I think we're riding out luck more than dominating.

Hopefully the few day gap before the Stanley Cup starts will give Mews and Mendl a chance to get back to full fitness, we're riding our luck with the backups.

And I need to get Urho Matilla resigned.