It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Or should that read, the best of series and the worst of series. Because that's the story of the contrasting Western & Eastern conference semifinals this year.
In the West, we've got two barnburner series where the home team has won all four games and so they are both knotted 2-2 after tonight's games. After strong performances last night, both Kelowna (in OT) and Spokane (outshot 41-18 by the Giants) squeaked out crucial game 4 wins tonight to tie their respective series.
In the East, we've got two runaways, with the Hitmen having swept the Hurricanes out of the playoffs tonight and the Wheat Kings poised to do the same to the Tigers on Friday. Both these series were never really close: Lethbridge was outscored 19-4 by the Hitmen in four games, while Brandon has so far had their way with the Tigers' defence, racking up 20 goals in three games. As a result - assuming the Wheat Kings finish the sweep - the Hitmen and Wheat Kings will both have a long rest before meeting in the Eastern final and both will enter that series at 8-0 so far in the playoffs.
Which brings me to my point.....both Western and Eastern conference finals seem likely to be close, possibly prolonged affairs regardless of who eventually wins them. But whoever comes out of the East is going to be a lot less beat up than whoever comes out of the West, because both Brandon and Calgary have had fairly easy times of it through their first two rounds....compared to the West, where the first rounds may have been easy too but the 2nd round sure hasn't been.
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