Quote:TASK ONE: How has your player kicked off their offseason? Are they traveling? Meeting up with friends and partying? Following the games? Write at least 150 words about the beginning of your player’s offseason. Must include at least one other player.

After behind eliminated by the St. Louis Scarecrows in a series that went all the way to seven games in the second round of the S39 of the SMJHL playoffs, Anders Christiansen had to find something to occupy himself for the next week. It is something new to him, because the Firebirds won the whole thing in his first SMJHL season. Christiansen decided that the best way to spend his time was getting some relaxing time away from Prince George. Christiansen decided to go back to his home country of Norway where he rented an alpine cottage in the mountain. He spends most of his days reading books and he went on some hikes to get some fresh air. He didn’t do any extreme activities to assure that he wouldn't expose himself to any injury risk, because he still expects to play some more games before summer. Indeed, Christiansen expects to receive a call from Team Scandinavia for the WJC. He also expects a call from Team Norway, with whom he won the silver medal in last year's tournament, to play in the IIHF tournament. He’s looking forward to joining his Firebirds teammate Tommy Tuck in both teams.

Quote:TASK TWO: Who is your choice for the unsung hero of the S39 playoffs up to this point? Must be at least 150 words and include at least two statistics in support.

My unsung hero from the S39 SMJHL playoffs is Vancouver Whalers left defenseman Karno Grönkjær. Karno Grönkjær plays on the Whalers second pairing and he also gets some important special unit ice time by playing on the Vancouver Whalers first penalty kill defenseman unit. Grönkjær plays an important role for the Whalers averaging 20:57 minutes of ice time per game since the beginning of the playoffs, which ranked him third in Vancouver defensive brigade. Grönkjær also has 4 points in 9 games since the beginning of the playoffs.

But there are certain statistics that make him stand out of the pack. Grönkjær is second on the team along defenseman with a +7, which means the team is performing significantly better than their opponents when he is on the ice. He is also the team leader in shot blocked with 14 blocked shots in this year's playoffs which play a big part in the team penalty kill which is excellent at 83.33%. Finally, add to this the fact that he has been clutch since his only goal in these playoffs was a game winner.

Quote:TASK FOUR: Unscramble the names of these four players who will be competing in the Challenge Cup Finals. Send the answers to me by forum PM. Please make the subject of the message “CW Word Scramble” or something along those lines. [Grading: 1 TPE for participation, 0.5 TPE for each correct answer]

Waxiaamrinmhceilt

Eilrruasstgeglnht

Thcaenmhnigscneru

Nalzgaoaronzbo

Done. Sent in PM.

Quote:TASK SIX: Finals series always show surprises. Who will have to stand out the most from each team in order to win it? Make a prediction for potential series MVPs. Must be at least 150 words and mention at least one player from each team.

In the SMJHL, the Vancouver Whalers are facing the St. Louis Scarecrows in the S39 playoffs final. Both teams have some potential MVP candidates in their roster.

On the Vancouver Whalers, the obvious choice would be first line center Gabriel Wong, which is their leading scorer going into the final and he also leads the team in points during the season by an eight points margin. He is also the playoff scoring leader in the SMJHL S39 playoffs. A lot of the Whalers offensive go through him and he will need to perform exceptionally well if the Whalers want to have a chance to win the trophy. Another candidate who has been outstanding in the playoffs is defenseman Liam O'Callaghan who has 11 points and six goals, four coming from the powerplay, in nine games. Goaltender Julian O'Sullivan could also be a difference maker in the final.

On the St. Louis Scarecrows side, Michael Fischer has been a nice surprise with nine points in seven games after getting 25 points during the regular season. He will need to keep it up if he wants to be in the MVP discussion. A second candidate is defenseman Brady McIntyre who has four goals in seven games and some of them coming at important times with one being a game winner and another one being a game tying goal.