1981 AQHL Playoffs

 

1st Round

1st Verdun Knights vs. 8th Drummondville Les Rouges

The Drummondville Les Rouges made an ugly history as they went through all four games without scoring a goal. Even thou the Knights blew the Les Rouges in the first two games (7-0 and 9-0), the last two were more painful for Drummondville as the total shots on goal in those last two games was 14 (game 3: 9 shots, game 4: 5 shots) as the game clock hit zero the Verdun Knights win the series in four games all shutouts.

2nd New Glasgow Highlanders vs. 7th Shawinigan Voltages

The Highlanders played very well in the first three games until, in game four, the Volts came back from a 3-0 score midway through the second period. Then Christian Gaudreau scored the overtime winner for the Volts. In game five, the Highlanders' Kyle Patrick scored a hat-trick to finish off the Volts for a win and the series 4 games to 1.

3rd Sherbrooke Loups vs. 6th Portland Clippers

The Clippers knew that they had no chance of winning the series, but that didn’t stop them from giving the Loups a hard time in all four games, all of them in overtime, including game four when Christian Dupont scored two goals to tie the game to force overtime for the fourth game in a row, late into the second overtime Christian Dupont scored the winner and give the Loups the four-game sweep over the Portland Clippers.

4th Moncton Bears vs. 5th Cape Breton Warriors

Both teams went back and forth in the first four games, going into game five with the series tied at 2 games apiece. The Bears Andrew Jones scored two key goals to give them a win. Andrew Jones would score two more goals, including an overtime winner to win game six and the series over the Warriors 4 games to 2.

Round 2

1st Verdun Knights vs. 4th Moncton Bears

The Verdun Knights were on top of their game as they took games one, two, and three in a dominant way. Going into game four, the Knights believe they got this series in the bag, leading the whole game 3-0 when a minor penalty on the Bears became an event that everyone calls “the murdering two minutes” as Andrew Jones 1 goal, 3 points game playing help the Bears tie the game headed into overtime and the Bears forward Alec Dahlin scored the winner to stay alive. Thanks to the OT win, the Bears would keep going by winning games five and six to force game seven. The last game of the series, and a lot of pressure was on the Knights to finish the series, but however, rookie goalie Seth Taylor was a brick wall all game letting in just one goal as the Bears scored two goals to take the lead, as the clock ticks away the sold-out crowd at the Verdun Arena were in a state of shock and witness the Verdun Knights season came to an end as the Bears became the first team in AQHL history to win a playoff series after being down 3-0 to win the series 4 games to 3.

2nd New Glasgow Highlanders vs. 3rd Sherbrooke Loups

In game one, both teams battled all the way to the third overtime as Josh Winter scored the winner for the Loups. After game one, the Highlanders took both games two and three, but bad news hit the team as four key players have been called up by both the pro and minor-pro hockey teams as they’re making a push for the playoffs. The Loups would take games four and five in a close game, but as game six came, the Loups rookie goalie Lenny Tardif was a brick wall, and the fans at the Arena Commemorative de Sherbrooke celebrated as the Loups won game six 4-0 to win the series 4 games to 2 and punch their ticket to the 1981 Bronz Cup Championship.

1981 Bronz Cup Championship

3rd Sherbrooke Loups vs. 4th Moncton Bears

Lenny Tardif and Seth Taylor are both rookie goalies got a lot to prove by playing like veterans that could lead their team in winning this year's Bronz Cup Championship. The Sherbrooke Loups are prime and ready, while the Moncton Bears had a big momentum swing after coming back from a 3-0 deficit to win the series. In game one, both teams battled all the way to the last minute of the third period, tied 2-2 until the Loups Christian Dupont scored the tiebreaker to give the Loups a 3-2 win. Game two was the same as game one but tied at 3-3. Both headed into overtime, and 12:48 into it, the Bears took the win thanks to Alec Dahlin setting up a play that led Andrew Jones to score, and the series is even at 1. At Moncton, the Loups got one goal in mind “win games three and four,” and that is what they did as they took a 4-0 lead after the first period. The Bears scored goals but not enough, as the Loups took game three 4-2. In game three, the Loups did again by taking a big 4-0 lead after the first, but unlike game three, the Bears tooth and clawed their way back to tie it and force overtime. The first overtime didn’t resolve, nor did the second not end anything. 7:19 left in the third overtime Loups got themselves in a pickle as two players of theirs ended up in the penalty box, so the Bears got a 5-on-3 powerplay; everything was all Bears shooting until Lenny Tardif got the puck and flicked it over both defencemen and out of nowhere defence Shawn Thomas sneak pass by them got the breakaway and beat Seth Taylor for a 5-4 third overtime win. As game five began, both teams were firing shots at each other at the end of the second period, it was tied 2-2. In the third period, the Loups scored two key power-play goals. The Bears did everything that they could to get back in the game, but it wasn’t enough as the clock hit zero, and both the Loups and the fans at the Arena Commemorative de Sherbrooke celebrated as the Loups won game five 4-2 to take the series win 4 games to 1 and Josh Winter lifted the Bronz Cup over his head as the Sherbrooke Loups are the 1981 Champions, and for the first time since 1974 they going to the Valor Cup tournament and hopes to win it all like they did before.