TASK ONE: Pick either of the teams currently in the finals. Which player had to overcome the most adversity to get where they are at now? What did they have to endure before finally getting their crack at the Cup? Must be 150 words and include two specific situations that player experienced en-route to the Cup finals, whether this season or at some point during their career.

The player who had to experience the most hardship and horror on his way to the Challenge Cup finals in S38 is most definitely the one and only Lukas Muller, a rookie defenceman on the Manhattan Rage. After being drafted in the early rounds of the SHL draft by the New England Wolfpack, Muller had a lot of pressure on his shoulders. He returned to the Halifax Raiders of the SMJHL as a star player and performed well on the ice - but the off-ice drama in the league got to him, and he started to express doubts about his long-term SHL goals. After leaving New England, Muller became a career SMJHL player - or so everyone thought. When Muller was traded to the Detroit Falcons, he refused to play for them, and ultimately ended up as a roster filler player in Manhattan instead. Not exactly the typical path to the SHL that a top prospect takes, but hey - doubts and toxicity aside, Muller has achieved the ultimate dream of winning the Challenge Cup.

TASK FOUR: What rookies or young players are looking to make a name for themselves during the Finals? How have they contributed to the team on the way to the Finals? Must be at least 150 words, and include two statistics.

I don't profess to know anything at all about the inner workings of an SHL team's roster (save for my own), but the Manhattan Rage seem to have successfully built a team with fair few rookies this season - it makes sense, considering this is not the first time the Rage has visited the finals in recent seasons. But the one rookie they do have listed on their roster is Evgeny Yakikov, and he was definitely looking to make an impact on the roster throughout the postseason. In fact, in the twenty games Yakikov "played" as a part of the Rage in these playoffs, he posted one minute of ice time. His average ice time of 0.03 minutes per game gave the veteran players some essential extra seconds of rest, and of course, they were motivated to make sure he didn't spend more than his deserved time out there. Definitely a contribution to the team worth talking about.

TASK TWO: Who is your choice for the unsung hero of the S38 playoffs up to this point? Must be at least 150 words and include at least two statistics in support.

I am of the opinion that the Manhattan Rage's unsung hero of the hour in these S38 Challenge Cup finals was none other than Niklaus St. Croix, a third pair defenceman who performed well under pressure. Despite his inability to buy a goal, St. Croix played a solid defensive game, which is exactly what the Manhattan Rage needed from him. With fourteen average minutes per game throughout the twenty the Rage played, St. Croix blocked twenty shots and laid 53 hits, putting him on par with guys like Hunky Monkey, Bubba Nuck, and Brett Kennedy, all of whom played around twenty-three to twenty-four minutes per game. St. Croix's job was to ensure that those guys could get back on the ice and help their forwards make the offensive plays without worrying that their time on the bench was going to end up with a goal against and a trailing score to catch up with.