Caps/Habs Upset Makes Fans Ponder


What is the Biggest Upset in CHL Playoff History

On the heels of one of the biggest upsets in NHL Stanley Cup playoff history on Wednesday night, it leads one to ask what the biggest opening round upset in CHL history was.  The Washington Capitals looked to be a team destined for at least the second round if not the front-runner to win the Cup but the Montreal Canadiens had other ideas beating the Caps in Game 7.

In the CHL, the one situation that draws a similar parallel was during the 2003-04 season when the Colorado Eagles (their expansion season) cruised through the regular season posting a 43-16-5 record good for 91 points (still the league record for points by a first-year team). 

The match-up for the Eagles was the Wichita Thunder who went 35-24-5 during the regular season and who made the playoffs by a slim one point margin.

The Eagles/Thunder series pitted the #1 seed versus the #4 seed and heavily favored the top team in the conference, the Eagles.  The series was then a best-of-five and the Thunder got off to a great start stealing Game’s 1 and 2 in Colorado with Jason Duda scoring a pair of power play goals in the third period of Game 1 giving his team a 3-2 win.  In Game 2, the Thunder again used the third period to win scoring three times for a 4-3 win.

Colorado rebounded with their backs against the wall for a 3-1 Game 3 win but the Thunder once again came from behind in Game 4 to win 2-1 and win the series and hand the Eagles one of the biggest opening round upsets in CHL playoff history. 

The Caps and Habs played 20 more regular season games than the Eagles and Thunder but the difference is comparable.  Washington finished with 121 points, 33 more than the Canadiens.

Note:
Another CHL series to look at as a huge upset was in 2008 when the Texas Brahmas defeated the Governors’ Cup Champion Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs in a four-game sweep.  Those two teams were only separated by 12 points though as the standings were a bit more bunched.     

 


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