User blog:BJFRacing14/IHA President's Cup Divisional Series February Recap

Las Vegas takes their first Southwest Division title as an expansion team, but it took a hefty price in Game 3 in Los Angeles as Hanson Burns was ejected for an illegal hit from behind on Las Vegas' lead man, Kiriki Matsui that sent both sides into a frenzy four-minute brawl. Los Angeles was fined $50,000 for the hit. Matsui missed the rest of the Southwest Divisional Series until Game 1 of the Pacific Conference Finals. The final two games came down to the wire. Los Angeles forces a Game 6 with an overtime/shootout win, but the Scarlet Trojans prevailed in Game 6 in another overtime/shootout finish to move on to the Pacific Conference Finals.

Seattle clinches the Inland Northwest title since 1999. It was a fiery Game 1 of the Inland Northwest Series when a brawl broke out after Steve Stiles was blasted from underneath by Kyle Kross of Portland. Kross was given a three-game suspension for his action but not fined. The fireworks were lit again in Game 5 of the series. It seems Kross didn't learn anything from his three-game outing as he was caught with a late charge behind the back of Mike Ramsay of Seattle rendering Kross ineligible to compete in the first ten games of the 2018-2019 season and was fined $50,000 for his role in the act. Seattle moves on to the Pacific Conference Finals, their fourth tour of the PCF since 2013.

Montreal was favored to win the Metro Division title. They took the series lead early, but it took the New York Blazing Liberty a major rally down 3 games to 2 against Montreal and in Game 7, New York rallied back from a 5-4 to win in a thrilling overtime/shootout. New York heads to the Atlantic Conference Finals on March 22nd to face Tampa Bay from the Southeast.

Oklahoma City forced a Game 6 in the Midwest Series after Omaha led the series in the early stages and finished the Midwest Division Series with a 4 goals to 3 victory over Omaha on home ice at Chesapeake Energy Arena.

Atlanta led the Southeast early on, but it was the victorious Tampa Bay Hammerheads who won out in Game 6 of the Southeast Division Series with a Ross Kall winning goal with 2.1 seconds remaining in the game.

Finally, the poor Silver Knights of Columbus got kitty littered after Minnesota took the Northern Division title. The offensive and defensive struggles from the second half of the season came back to bite the Silver Knights in the end continuing their drought, which is up to 36 years since Columbus last appeared in the Atlantic Conference Finals.

In the Pacific Conference Finals, it's the Scarlet Trojans of Las Vegas taking on the Seattle Rangers and in the Atlantic Conference Finals, the Blazing Liberty of New York takes on the Hammerheads of Tampa Bay.