
The Detroit Vipers and the Chicago Wolves were bitter rivals back in the IHL. The Vipers had won the Cup the year before and were set to do it again in 1998. The Chicago Wolves had never been passed the first round in any of their first 3 seasons and were in uncharted waters. Chicago finished the season 1 point out of first place overall (behind Long Beach), but had knocked them out in the conference finals, and as a result had home ice advantage for the finals. An advantage that may have brought home the cup.
Game 1: The Chicago Wolves lead 3-0 going into the 3rd period when Wolves goaltender Wendell Young went down with a knee injury. Back-up goalie Stephane Beauregard was pressed into action. 2 of the first 4 shots he faced went in and the Vipers were trailing 3-2 with most of the third left to play. But the Wolves defence tightened and Tim Breslin put one into an empty net and the Wolves held on for a 4-2 win. Game 2: Stephane Beauregard was back in net because of Youngs injury and this time he looked solid in net to start. The Wolves offence was clicking as they lead 4-2 going into the 3rd. But Beauregard broke down in the 3rd. He let in a soft goal on a shot from the near dot and then another shot bounced off the ice and by him as a Detroit player skated into him knocking him over. The goal amzingly was not called off and the Wolves were tied. Moments latter, Stan Drulia netted the game winner and the Vipers tied the series and headed back to Detroit. Game 3: Detroit jumped out to an early lead but late in the 2nd period, Wolves center Steve Martins cut through traffic and as he fell, he lifted a wrister that went over the glove of Jeff Reese and tied the game. Mid way throught the 3rd, the Wolves' Marc Rogers put the Wolves ahead for good and the Wolves took a 2-1 series lead. Game 4: Another close game saw the Vipers lead wire to wire. Jeff Reese was sensational in net and helped the Vipers tie the series at 2 games each with a 3-2 win. Game 5: Jeff Reese was again hot the following night and so was the Viper offense. In this pivotal game 5, the Vipers struck quick and held on the rest of the way and they took their first series lead 3 games to 2. Game 6: The series swung back to Chicago on June 12th for game 6 (the same night the Bulls had a chance to win the NBA title). A Detroit win would give them the Turner Cup. A Chicago win would face a Turner Cup Finals game 7. The Wolves tallied mid way through the second to give themselves a 1-0 lead. And they would again get on late. But Dtroit scored early in the third. Stephane Beauregard stood tall in the net making an incredable stop on Detroit's Bobby Jay in the games final minutes. The Wolves added an empty net goal and forced game 7. Game 7: A full house of 16,000+ was on hand on Monday, June 15th to watch the winner take all game 7. Before the game even started, the intensity of the rivals boiled over as a pre-game brawl broke out with no one on the ice to stop it (see number 8). The first 2 periods saw a scoreless tie with neither team showing any kind of advantage. It was truely shapping up to be a "fist goal wins it" type of game. The cheering in the crowd went to a quiet, tense, feel as the game wore closser to the end. Fans were standing for the third period and nail bitting was heard louder than cheers as neither team wanted to make a mistake that could cost them the cup. At the 5:04 mark in the final frame, Wolves d-man Bob Nardella broke through 2 Viper defenders and had a break away from the blue line. He deeked Jeff Reese down but Reese made the stop and kicked the rebound to the corner. But a hustling Bob Nardella got there first, threw the puck out in front and Wolves center Chris Marinucci directed it on the ice through the legs of Reese and gave the Wolves a 1-0 lead. Before the crowd could even catch its' breath from the first goal, Wolves winger Alexandre Semak gave the Wolves a 2-0 lead! Right off the face off Semak took a feed from Ravil Gusmanov and when he got to the bottom of the near circle went forehand to backhand, got Reese down, and lofted a backhander right into the top corner to all but seal the Turner Cup for the Wolves. Semak would again score late as he put one in the empty net and the cellebration was on. The Chicago Wolves won their first ever Turner Cup! Good enought for number 2 on the all-time list.