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1985 PLAYOFFS: 1ST & 2ND ROUNDS
The Whalers have made it to the Conference Finals for the 1st time! We swept Quebec, not much to discuss there. The 1st game was a crazy 8-6 shootout.
In the 2nd Round we got our revenge against (who I think is our biggest rival) the Montreal Canadiens. It was a tight series with 2 OT games, even though we won 4-1 overall. Larry Murphy came through in the deciding Game 5, with 2 goals from the point including the winner in OT.
That sets up a Wales Conference showdown with the New York Islanders, a team that has been a constant in the playoffs but never quite got over the hump.
The game considers the Islanders as my potential rival, and I have no main rival. It's kind of weird considering there have been a few seasons of Adams Division hockey. I believe the rival system values PIMs quite highly, and we never have games filled will too many penalties. I guess since we were swept by the Islanders way back when in the playoffs.
Unfortunately for the Islanders, Denis Potvin is injured, so we have the clear advantage on defense even though Mark Howe is still injured and Dave Babych is day-to-day. They also have mediocre goaltending with Kelly Hrudey not at his best yet. But they do have some great forwards, with Mike Bossy still scoring and Bryan Trottier a great player. Pat Lafontaine also got 100 points, seemingly from the 3rd Line?? Also cool that the AI is playing 2 of the Sutter brothers together.
Over in the Campbell Conference, the Hawks have their hands full with the Oilers. All-in-all I'm glad we get to face NYI, who are probably the class of the Patrick Division at the moment. Go Whalers!
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