1985 Playoffs

The first round of the 1985 playoffs featured several upsets. Detroit was favoured to beat the aging Montreal Royale, but lost the series in six games, Winnipeg defeated the Denver Bulls, and the Philadelphia Redshirts stunned the Long Island Concordes in a hard-fought six game series. Concordes’ goaltender Bobby Sorel, who had hinted at retirement heading into the post-season told reporters after the series that he would be back for a 20^th season to make another run.

The series between the St. Louis Spirits and Edmonton Northern Lights was considered to be the most lopsided matchup in the playoffs with a 31 point difference between the two teams. St. Louis predictably took a 2-0 series lead, but Edmonton’s checking line did an excellent job shutting down the Appleby/Millen Duo in games three and four to tie the series 2-2. Appleby and Millen both got back on the board in game five as did Kevin Cummins and Roni Laukkanen in a 4-2 win. The wheels completely fell off for the Spirits in game six, however. Cummins scored to give the Spirits a 1-0 lead, but the Northern Lights once again did a brilliant job shutting down the St. Louis forwards. Ricky Spooner allowed two very soft goals early in the second period and then Edmonton exploded for five more unanswered goals to stun the Spirits 7-1. Spooner struggled again early in game seven and was pulled in favour of backup Don Graves after allowing two goals in the first sixteen seconds. Grant Millen and Roni Laukkanen tied the game but Edmonton responded with another three goals. Appleby, who had been tightly checked and constantly harassed by the Northern Lights’ checkers, finally snapped. While being mugged by defenseman Dwayne Ingram in front of the net, Appleby turned and swung at Ingram, knocked him out. Appleby was ejected and Edmonton hung on for the win to complete the biggest upset in PHL history. After the series, Spirit’s head coach Jack McCoy didn’t mince words about Edmonton’s play. “It’s unacceptable that this league can allow the best player in the game to be treated like that.”

In other first round action Chicago swept Dallas in four straight, Seattle beat California in five games, and Nova Scotia took out Ottawa in five games. Boston gave Pittsburgh a scare but the Stingers held them off in seven games.

In the second round, the Stingers finally met their state rivals, the Philadelphia Redshirts, for the first time ever in the playoffs. Philly surprisingly won the first game, but Pittsburgh would bounce back to win the series in five. As expected, emotions boiled over in game three when Redshirts star forward Jeff Waters took a devastating hit from Pittsburgh’s Ian Fox. The teams engaged in several line brawls with 240 minutes in penalties handed out.

 Edmonton pulled off another enormous upset, taking out the Chicago Shamrocks in six games with Wes Simmons turning in a spectacular effort in net for the Northern Lights. Simmons’ play and Edmonton’s work ethic and commitment to a very tight defensive system were the main reasons for the Northern Lights success as both the top Lewis Cup contenders now found themselves eliminated. Elsewhere in the second round, Nova Scotia beat Montreal in six games, while Seattle swept Winnipeg in four straight.

The conference finals would pit the Seattle Grey Wolves against the Edmonton Northern Lights and the Nova Scotia Claymores against the Pittsburgh Stingers. Edmonton’s magic appeared to run out early on against Seattle after the Wolves shut the Northern Lights out in the first two games. Edmonton won game three in overtime and forced game four into overtime as well, but Jake Fairbanks scored early in the extra frame to give Seattle a huge 3-2 win and a commanding 3-1 series lead. Edmonton put up a valiant effort in game five, keeping the game tied 1-1 until the third period, but the Grey Wolves scored two quick goals early in the third period to seal the victory and their first-ever trip to the Lewis Cup Finals.

In the Eastern Conference final, Danny Stevenson and the Stingers were more determined than ever to return to the Lewis Cup Finals with both western powerhouses eliminated. Pittsburgh jumped to a 3-1 series lead but faced an uphill battle down 2-0 late in game five. Stevenson scored with four minutes remaining to pull the game within a goal, but Brent MacDonald made several spectacular stops as the game neared the final seconds. Suddenly, with just .7 seconds left, Jake Fuller’s shot found the net to tie the game. Midway through the second overtime period, Dave Mack beat Pittsburgh goaltender Jakob Martensson to give Nova Scotia a hard-fought victory. With the Claymores almost certain to win a game seven at home, Pitteburgh entered game six knowing this was their best chance to finish the series and they did just that with a decisive 6-1 win. For the third time in four seasons, the Pittsburgh Stingers found themselves four wins away from a Lewis Cup title.

Round One

Round Two

Round Three