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We have reached the conference semifinal stage of the Northern Arena Cup co-produced by NHLGamer. It was a fairly upset free round 1, with Anaheim Ducks Gaming being the only low seed to advance to the next round. This makes for some very exciting rounds, and a lot of very good teams about to be sent home. #1 Seattle Entourage vs #6 Anaheim Ducks Gaming 12-1-2 Record 9-4-2 3.33 GF/GM 3.07 1.73 GA/GM 2.53 52.17 PP% 10.53 86.36 PK% 92.31 Round 1: Seattle defeated #8 Arizona Mars in 4 games Anaheim defeated #3 Chicago Phantoms in 3 games Seattle made it through relatively easy getting through the west coast team in Arizona. While they did put up a very solid fight, Seattle’s experience and skill shined through in the end, advancing in 4 games. Anaheim made a relative upset in terms of seeding, although winning in exciting fashion sweeping Chicago. I said in my previous preview that they need to play better defensively, and they did exactly that in the series, allowing only 5 goals in 3 games. Despite being the lowest seed left in playoffs, they deserve to be considered a contender, and will make this series a barn burner. Prediction: Seattle in 5 games, 3 of 5 games will be 1 goal games. #2 Calgary Prodigy HC vs #4 San Jose Chilltown HC 10-2-3 Record 10-4-1 3.33 GF/GM 3.13 2.87 GA/GM 2.20 7.89 PP% 24.24 91.3 PK% 85.29 Round 1: Calgary defeated #7 Winnipeg Denial in 4 games. San Jose defeated #5 Dallas Walking Dead in 5 games. The young guns in Calgary continue rolling from their late-season winning streak, beating Winnipeg in 4. Their offense continues to shine through, even against a good defensive team, scoring 13 goals in 4 games. Their powerplay continues to struggle, going 0/5 in the series, which is pretty surprising given their offensive prowess. San Jose ran into a trending upwards Dallas and weathered the storm with a game 5 shutout to win the series. Despite the final 2 games going well in the way of San Jose, the first 3 games were 1 goal affairs with games 2 and 3 going into overtime. It will be another offense vs defense series, and it will be which team can establish their gameplan most effectively. Prediction: San Jose in 5. Game 5 will be a 2-1 game. Eastern Conference #1 New York Underdogs vs #4 Philadelphia Problematic 13-1-1 Record 11-3-1 4.47 GF/GM 3.93 1.73 GA/GM 2.40 41.18 PP% 30.43 41.67 PK% 80.95 Round 1: New York defeated #8 Long Island 6th Sense in 5 games. Philadelphia defeated #5 Boston Nationalz in 5 games. New York had a bit of a scare as the top seed in the east, going up 2-0 early before Long Island came back to bring it to game 5, an overtime win for New York. This team carries a ton of expectation being the top seed and with a fantastic record of 13-1-1, and perhaps the first round scare will give them some added fire in the next round. Philly was a bit of a surprise team after finishing the regular season with a 11-3-1 record. They have proven they can hang with the best, and most recently beat Boston Nationalz in a nail biter 5 game series. It’s hard to consider them a dark horse with a record of 11-3-1, but it will be a tough task going up against New York. Prediction: New York in 4 games. #2 Toronto Composure vs #3 Tampa Bay Vertigo 12-2-1 Record 12-2-1 3.47 GF/GM 4.73 1.20 GA/GM 2.47 56.25 PP% 26.32 88.89 PK% 83.33 Round 1: Toronto defeated #7 CBJ Gaming in 4 games Tampa Bay defeated #6 Canadiens Esports in 5 games Toronto came out swinging in the first round, taking the series over CBJ in 4 games, including a 5-1 and 6-0 win. After a disappointing CBJ Cup, they are hungry for another event win before the year ends. They’ll look to replicate their success from the regular season against Vertigo after a 3-1 win in week 2. Tampa Bay is on the opposite end of the spectrum, after winning the CBJ Summer Cup, and look to make it back to back event wins. They certainly have the talent to do it, but have come off a tough 5 game series against Canadiens Esports. It is quite the shame that one of these teams have to be eliminated before at least the semifinals, but this should make it for that much more of an exciting series. Prediction: Toronto in 5 games. There will be some very close games for sure, and some heartbreak for one of these teams to go home too early. Thanks for reading! Good luck to everyone competing!