1974 Playoffs

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Heading into their first playoff series in 9 seasons, the Denver Bulls had fairly modest expectations. Ultimately they were just happy to finally be there. Most did not expect them to get very far especially facing the powerhouse Minnesota Lumberjacks, who had finished 28 points ahead of Denver in the standings. To everyone's shock, however, it was the Lumberjacks who found themselves down 2-0 in the series, blanked in each of the first 2 games, and trying to find a way to solve Bulls goaltender Jeff Muskew heading to Denver for game 3. The Bulls had managed to stun Minnesota on strong team play and good puck movement from all four lines while Muskew managed to outplay Minnesota's superstar goaltender Bobby Sorel on both nights, earning shutouts on both outings. You could cut the tension with a knife in game 3 as the two teams skated to double overtime at 1-1 before Minnesota's Roland Webb finally won the game with just two minutes left in the second OT. By game 4, Minnesota had found their game again, routing the Bulls 6-2 as captain Guy Dupont scored a hat-trick. After Sorel earned a shutout in game 5, it appeared the Lumberjacks had the series. However, Denver managed to stave off elimination in game 6 with a 3-2 overtime win, then jumped to an early 2-0 lead in game 7. The Lumberjacks roared back in the second period, scoring three quick goals to re-take the lead, only to have Brian Hunt tie it for Denver with just 23 seconds left. Halfway through overtime, however, former Buffalo Bull Doug Williams finally scored to give Minnesota a hard-fought victory. Although Denver came up short in their bid for an upset, the California Nuggets had a little more success against the Chicago Shamrocks. After erasing a 3-2 series deficit, the Nuggets turned in a gutsy performance in game 6 to force a deciding game in Chicago. In game 7, Dennis Yates scored the winner in the third period while Bruce Dickenson sealed it with an empty netter as California completed the upset. In the east, Boston and New York went back and forth for 6 hard-fought games before the Bulldogs finally salvaged the series win in game 7, while in the only series not to go the full 7, Ottawa took out Nova Scotia in 5. In round two, Minnesota found themselves in another tough battle with the LA Wizards. After earning a 1-1 split in LA, the Lumberjacks pulled ahead in the series 2-1 in game three. But the Wizards bounced in game 4, tying the series thanks to a hat-trick from Stuart Holly and an overtime goal from Gilbert Giroux. Once again, Minnesota pulled ahead in game 5 before finally sealing it in game 6. This would prove to be the closest series in the second round, as Detroit, Philadelphia, and Montreal soundly defeated California, Ottawa, and Boston in 4-0 sweeps.

 The Western Conference Final would pit the two top teams in the PHL against eachother in Detroit and Minnesota while the East Final would feature the veteran Montreal Royale against the young, up-and-coming Philadelphia Redshirts. Montreal looked tired from the very beginning, as Philly managed to gain a commanding 3-0 series lead. Facing a sweep in game 4, Montreal exploded for 6 goals to force a game 5, which the Royale would win in overtime. Realizing that Montreal would almost certainly win game 7 at home, the Redshirts took care of business in game 6, with Bobby Ford netting the winner in the second period in an eventual 3-1 win to send Philadelphia to the Lewis Cup Finals. In the clash of the titans out west, Minnesota and Detroit engaged in one of the closest series in recent memory. The Mustangs took an early 2-0 series lead at home winning both game in overtime. In Minneapolis for game 3, Roland Webb scored his second overtime goal in the playoffs to give the 'Jacks the win. Minnesota would win game 4 4-1 to te the series before heading back to Detroit. Game 5 would reach overtime once again this time with Detroit's Cliff Lyle scoring on a point shot through traffic to put Detroit up 3-2. In game 6 the teams would exchange leads all game long before Minnesota's Jimmy Andrews tied the game with less than 2 minutes left. The series had seemed destined for 7 games right from the start and Minnesota's resilience seemed to guarantee it as the teams headed to OT for the 5th time in the series. Early in the second overtime, however, Detroit's Bobby Kitchen abruptly put an end to Minnesota's emotional run when he flipped the puck just over Bobby Sorel's glove to win the series for the Mustangs, sending them to the Lewis Cup Finals for the 4th time in 6 years to meet the championship-starved Philadelphia Redshirts.