TASK ONE: You’re the coach of one of the teams in the playoffs! At least you’d like to think you are. Come up with a new set of lines for one of the teams eliminated in the playoffs, and explain why you made the choices you did. Must be at least 150 words.

If I had been head coach of the Riot instead of Alex Santos, I would have done things a little differently. On forwards, I would have kept the beast line in the regular season together as the second line. Kian Hamilton, arguably MVP, was demoted to the third line to allow Iqbal time on the second line. This just seems like a straight down grade. Iqbal's no scrub, but Hamilton's elite. Santos did get the first line right with Lundberg-Wilson-Kane, except that it took until about game 4 for that to happen. Wilson had previously been playing third line all season. I would also have this first line playing 0-0-5 instead of 0-1-4, these guys don't play defence.

On defence, I would sub out Vas for Fearghal on line one. This isn't really a big deal though.

Whether my lines would actually work better is yet to be seen. I would trust Santos more than me, however, as I have never played around with the sim. Santos did an outstanding job all season so I had complete trust in him that his lines would be better than anything I could make.


TASK TWO: Who is your choice for the unsung hero of the S36 playoffs up to this point? Must be at least 150 words and include at least two statistics in support.

The unsung hero for the Renegades throughout the playoffs has been Conklin Owen. He does not get much credit as he is way down in their team leaderboard. But, he has put up 4 goals, which ties him for second on the team in that point. His lack of assists really brings down his apparent usefulness. The reason that he is maybe not getting as many assists could be due to his linemates. His linemates don't seem too eager to put the puck in the net. Don't fault Owen for those around him's inability to score.
He has also done a great job of getting the puck on the net. Regardless of whether the puck goes in or not, this creates scoring chances and helps to tire out the opposing goalie. He has put up a respectable 30 shots on net through this playoffs so far. Look for him to play a key role in the Renegades winning the cup.

TASK THREE: Who has the edge, New England or Texas? What (or who) will be the biggest factor for one team to triumph over the other? Must be at least 150 words.

I would definitely give the edge to New England. They seem to be the team of destiny this year. With their late push and their scraping through to make it to the finals they seem to never lose. The winner will be whoever Simon T prefers and it consistently seems to be New England.

I predict that Patrikov Bure will have a big impact on the outcome of this series. He has been producing very well for New England during these playoffs. But, taking a closer look at his stats he currently has a 17% shooting percentage. That is extremely high, it is very likely that he regresses this series. That would cost the Wolfpack a ton of production. However, on the flip side, if he continues shooting at that pace, te Wolfpack could breeze by the Renegades.

TASK SEVEN: