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jjaybs · 09-11-2016, 05:08 AM

THIS TASK IS OPEN TO SHL PLAYERS AND SEND DOWNS. IT IS NOT OPEN TO SMJHL ROOKIES.

Championship week is finally here!

Pick four of the tasks below, worth three uncapped TPE each. There is also a bonus question, worth one extra uncapped TPE, for a total of 13 possible TPE. Doing more than four tasks will not gain you any extra TPE.

Code:
TASK ONE

Write a blog post about any post season game of S30. Can be a game preview, a recap, something silly like a review of what colour laces a player is wearing. Must be 150 words

TASK TWO

Make a graphic matching up a "Player To Watch" on each team in the finals. Must have 3 stats minimum, two player renders and team logos

TASK THREE

Who is your MVP candidate for these playoffs and why? Must be 150 words and have 3 stats minimum. 

TASK FOUR

Create a game ticket for any playoff game in S30. Must include the home team's logo. 

TASK FIVE

Write 200 words on any series match up and what you think will happen, what actually happened or what should have happened. 

TASK SIX

Make the Championship banner that goes across the top of the site, must include the team name, logo and at least one render

TASK SEVEN

Design a Challenge Cup Champions hat or shirt. Must include team logo. 

TASK EIGHT

Take one Cup finalist and talk about how they made the playoffs (free agent signings, trades, outstanding rookies, a career season from someone). Must be 200 words

BONUS: Who scores the cup winning goal?

Deadline: Sunday September 18th, 7pm EST

Grading deadline: Wednesday September 21st

Note: CW will be graded on a pass/fail rubric. Put some effort in and you'll get full marks.

Alex Mack · 09-11-2016, 06:56 AM

TASK TWO

TASK FOUR

TASK SIX

TASK SEVEN

[Image: Wolfpack_T.jpg]

BONUS: Who scores the cup winning goal? Mikael Talo Wolfpack

r1c3bowl22 · 09-11-2016, 07:32 AM

Hold my place

The_Mazais · 09-11-2016, 07:39 AM

This place is taken.

Eggy216 · 09-11-2016, 07:59 AM

TASK TWO

TASK THREE

You want an MVP? How about the ponyfucker Jasper "Rainbow Dash" Clayton. This season was the first time we saw Clayton picking up any points in the playoffs, and once he got going there was no stopping him. With sixteen points in fourteen games, Clayton was second in the league for scoring in the playoffs despite playing on the blue-line. Add to that Clayton's 24 shot blocks, tied for third in the league, and you've got a guy who played great hockey on both ends of the ice. And you know his teammates loved him - he was the league leader in assists with thirteen in the playoffs. Not too bad for a guy who many thought was never going to pick up a single playoff point in his career. And as if this wasn't enough for you, he was 2nd in the league for minutes played - and the guy ahead of him had played an extra game. This minute-eater was a big part of the reason why the Wolfpack were able to lift the Challenge Cup after only fourteen games this postseason in front of the home crowd. Plus when you add on his obsession with My Little Pony, how could you not pick this lovable Brit?

. . .MVP does stand for Most Valuable Pony, right?

TASK FIVE

New England Wolfpack versus Edmonton Blizzard - it's the classic David versus Goliath scenario, the big giants taking on a much smaller rival. As is always the case in these situations, it seemed like the odds were stacked strongly against the Wolfpack. Sure, they'd had an impressive run taking out the East's top seed, the Minnesota Chiefs, in a sweep, followed by tossing aside the Platoon in six games, but could they really keep up that momentum? The Wolfpack certainly thought so, and they weren't going to let anyone tell them otherwise. After a relatively close first three games (winning by a goal or two in each), it was the final game where the Wolfpack really silenced their doubters and capped off what can only be called the greatest postseason run in SHL history, as the team disposed of the Blizzard 5-0 in the final game of the series to sweep the finals and take home the cup after playing only 14 games in total. One of the major standouts in this series was forward Tim Buckner, whose game four performance was second to none as he managed to show why everyone on the team knows they can rely on him in the clutch. Another the standout in the series against the Blizzard was defenseman Jasper Clayton, who continued his hot streak in the playoffs in this series with quite a few multi-point games en route to bring home his first ever Challenge Cup.

TASK SIX

[Image: S30_CW_Banner.jpg]

Bonus: <s>Mikael Talo</s> Tim Buckner

Merica · 09-11-2016, 08:13 AM

Hold

Mac · 09-11-2016, 08:37 AM

Task 1

(173 Words)

There comes a day when you feel like you finally got one up one someone and that came against the Calgary Dragons. During the end of the season, we were pretty close in the rankings and it came down to the wire that one of our games would decide the Presidents Trophy. It ended up being Aittokallios last game, which unfortunately was a 4-2 loss to Calgary. That left a bit of a bitter taste in the mouths of the BLizzard as they would have loved to send off Aitto with yet another W in the win column, but the last laugh was yet to be had.

Calgary dispatched their first round opponents, Seattle while Edmonton dispatched theirs, The Texas Renegades. The stage was set and Edmonton was able to secure victory in a series clinching game that saw recent acquistition, Dean Colt, score three points, win 66% of his faceoffs and toss a team high five hits.

Will we see this sort of production in the finals? You can bet on it.

Task 3

(203 Words, 156 non MacZ)

The MVP Candidate of coure is Dean Colt, he am star, what makes a star? A star am make of stardust, glitter and lollipops? :( Smile

Dean all about the glitter and lollipops. So much that when someone tries to take his lollipop, he crush faces with kick. Fuck, am I doing this right? I'm going to actually bother to do this one correctly.

The MVP is Pedro Saratez, the Left Winger for the Edmonton Blizzard, who in 10 games has accumulated a total of eight goals and six assists for fourteen points, which gives him a two point lead on his compatriot, Friedrich Muller, at twelve. Not only is that impressive, it is only the start, with 45 shots in 10 games for an average of 4.5 a game, he tickles the twine on 17.38% of them, good for eight overall in the playoffs.

Not only is he effective, when he is on the ice, he makes it matter, since he is 3rd in points per 20 mins at 1.23 and has the second highest differential, behind linemate Theo Kane, with 9. That would easily come with his current SIX game scoring streak heading into the Finals though.

That sort of elite ability is what is valuable, a player who can do it all and not be on the ice when goals are being scored against, but contributing them.

Task 5
(209 Words)
New England vs Edmonton

It wasn't all that long ago that this was the finals matchup of the Season. The season was twenty three, as it was the Twenty Third year of the SHLs existence and the nineth of the Wolfpacks. Edmonton, a team known for their dominance and winning history was in the way of the Wolfpack who replicated the 1980 Miracle on Ice in the sense that the game they wanted to win was followed by another Challenger.

The Blizzard managed to surpass their provincial rivals, The Dragons, where the Wolfpack managed to put the Platoon out in a 7 game series, something the Platoon has grown accustomed to.

Last time, The Wolfpack took the Finals in six games. This time, though, it will be the Blizzard who prevail. Headed by some of the best players in the game today, Kane, Colt, Karpotsov, Sarantez, Muller, Windsor, Koroviev and more, the Wolfpack rides on the the play of star goalie and Hamilton transplant, Jakub Tanner. New England had issues with special teams against West Kendall, so with two top end power plays and penalty kills, with Kane and Colt on the draw, there is just too much depth and ability to overcome.

It's too cold for these Wolves.

Task 8

(233 Words)

Dean Colt, former Wolfpack player, Former Hamilton player, and now an Edmonton Blizzard player.

Last season, Dean was a true beast, scoring thirteen goals and forty three assists, good for fifty six points and a spot on the league record boards for assists in a season, setting the bar for the Steelhawks as well in that aspect. Then, it all fell apart, Tanner left for New England, Clitsome signed as a free agent for the largest sum in league history and Simons soon followed him to Toronto and then to the golf course as they were excluded from the playoffs by a torrid run by the Wolfpack. This left Dean and some up and coming rookies and players on a rebuilding team and prior to the trade deadline, D. Angles and Colt had spoken about the future.

After a rough thirteen points in twenty six games, Dean was traded to the Blizzard. From there on out, he managed to salvage a respectable season, putting up twenty four in the final twenty four games, climbing the faceoff leaderboards to the top on the final day.

From there on in, Dean has shown himself to be a very effective playoff performer with seven points in ten games, eight on the faceoff leaderboards, as well as tenth on the hits.

A player who effortlessly slotted in and produced right away, Edmonton must look like geniuses at the moment.

Who Scores Cup Winning Goal

Dean Colt

NJBadApple · 09-11-2016, 08:39 AM

Not finished.

TASK THREE
Who is your MVP candidate for these playoffs and why? Must be 150 words and have 3 stats minimum.

TASK SEVEN
Design a Challenge Cup Champions hat or shirt. Must include team logo.

TASK EIGHT
Take one Cup finalist and talk about how they made the playoffs (free agent signings, trades, outstanding rookies, a career season from someone). Must be 200 words

BONUS: Who scores the cup winning goal?

BarnabasCollins · 09-11-2016, 09:11 AM

Task 1 172 words

So here it is game 4 of the first round series between the Minnesota Chiefs and the New England Wolfpack. Last season's President trophy winners and this seasons eastern conference first seed are trying to avoid being embarrassed
for the second year in a row. The brooms are out and oh myyyyy it happened again. Two seasons in a row swept in the first round of the playoffs by the 4th seed. Minnesota fought pretty valiantly the first 3 games of the series and lost by one goal each game. It seems as if they sensed the inevitable and packed it in for the second straight year with a 5-2 losing effort in the deciding game. We've seen time and time again that stacked teams never seem to do well in the playoffs and once again that curse found the mighty Minnesota Chiefs. Without a doubt the acquisition by New England of Jakob Tanner certainly was a difference maker in this series leading to the unprecedented two year in a row sweep.

Task 3 163 words

MVP candidate for this season's playoffs? Without a doubt it has to be New England's Jakob Tanner. A hot goalie can certainly carry a team through the playoffs and Jakob Tanner would certainly qualify for a hot goalie. He easily amassed the 12 wins needed for the cup while only losing 2 games the entire tournament. That is just plain and simple dominance of the opposition. His save percentage of .929 was also phenomenal and puts him up there with the truly elite goaltenders in SHL playoff history. He also managed to throw a shutout in the tournament as well. New England made a bold move to get tanner after losing Ciarelli to free agency and it certainly paid off in a big way for them as he was able to lead them all the way to the cup this season. It also is certainly a sweet bit of revenge for Tanner after asking out of a toxic situation after this past draft.

Task 5 251 words

The first round series between the Texas Renegades and the Edmonton Blizzard was a heartbreaker for Texas in what could have been quite easily a sweep in favor of Texas. Texas had wins in two of the first four games and two overtime losses. It in all likelihood should have been a Texas sweep. Texas has been snake bitten the past several seasons with first round exits despite clearly being the better team in most of those situations. Having won the first game and lost the second in overtime Texas came back with a 4-0 shutout and once again seemed poised to take a commanding series lead. Then came the next overtime loss in game four. Texas thoroughly out shot Edmonton the whole series long but the sim gods just weren't on their side once again this season as they proceeded to lose games five and six in a series they felt should have been over and theirs by that point. Edmonton would go on to face New England in the finals, a bitter pill for the Renegades to swallow since in their hearts they knew it should be Texas facing the Wolfpack for the cup, not the Edmonton team that Texas had on the ropes and should have been able to put away in round one. Once again Texas will try to tweak their roster in the off season in the attempt to finally end this string of first round exits that have been so maddening the past few seasons.

Task 8 215 words

Controversy seems to follow the New England Wolfpack as the team everyone loves to hate. The softpack has spread their influence in many of the areas of the SHL much to the chagrin of the older members of the site. Conspiracy theories abound but in all frankness there is one pivotal move that New England owes their winning of the cup to and that is the acquisition of Jakob Tanner. New England was an up and coming team and then this offseason as they looked to cement a playoff run their long time goaltender Earnest Ciarelli chose to leave in free agency. Needing to make a bold move if they were to contend they went and acquired a disgruntled Jakob Tanner who wished to be moved from his long time team due to the perceived toxic locker room presence of a new draftee. Not only did that move pay off to get them to the playoffs mit also won them the cup as tanner was stellar in the playoffs with a 12-2 record and an amazing .929 save percentage. There is no question that this acquisition was the reason New England was able to make their successful run this past season. Sweet vindication for Tanner as he becomes the cup winning goalie for season 21.

BONUS: Who scores the cup winning goal?
Tim Buckner

fgh · 09-11-2016, 09:47 AM

TASK ONE
Write a blog post about any post season game of S30. Can be a game preview, a recap, something silly like a review of what colour laces a player is wearing. Must be 150 words

Calgary, AB - Round one was supposed to be a cake walk for the defending cup champion Calgary Dragons, but the underdog Seattle Riot were not to be taken lightly. As a result, Game 7 was held to determine the winner of the semi-final round, and everything looked good for the Dragons early. Alex Mack scored quickly in the first minute of action. However, a silly penalty by Sachimo Zoidberg allowed David Benson to tie things up on the man advantage. Not a minute later, Cam Urbowicz gave the Riot a 1 goal lead that would last into the 2nd period. Zoidberg would make up for the early penalty with an assist to Shane Gagner late in the 2nd period after some physical skating from both teams, and the game would be reset after 2 periods. The crowd in Alberta was deafening, but so was the score: 2-2.

With a fresh 20-minute hockey game on hand, Chris Johnson took it upon himself to beat hot tender Michael McFadden with a tip off Esa Anrikkanen's shot to give the Dragons a goal lead close to halfway through the 3rd. The Dragons would stall, however, on a powerplay, giving Seattle the momentum to tie the game with 6 minutes remaining. Another powerplay for the hometown team would be squandered, sending this elimination game straight to overtime.

Jack Burton would start the physical game for the Riot, but it was his bad judgement that sent the road warriors on the penalty kill early, earning a hooking call just a minute into the extra time. Without their star shut-down defender, Seattle had to rely on McFadden, and while he did stop the early attempts, it would end up not lasting. Michael "Big Game" Boychuk took advantage of a bad line change by the Riot and deked his way to victory, sending the Dragons onward and upward to the Western Conference Finals.

TASK THREE
Who is your MVP candidate for these playoffs and why? Must be 150 words and have 3 stats minimum.

The obvious choice is the person who won it, Jasper Clayton of the New England Wolfpack. A defender that didn't have a point in the playoff prior to this season, Clayton made good on his point deficit with 16 points (over a point per game during the postseason). The 24 shots blocked come in at 2nd on the team, and ranks top 3 in the entire postseason. Most of the time, a player like Clayton wouldn't be the primary focus for the MVP, with veterans like Nathan Russell (points leader on the Wolfpack, former GM of the team, etc.) and now 3-time champion Jakob Tanner in net (92.9% save percentage, 2.25 GAA through the playoffs for best in the SHL, 2nd in shots faced by 1 shot), but his ability to run things from behind the scenes and be there for key parts of the finals sweep (primary assist on the goal to open scoring for Game 4, 3rd goal of Game 3 to secure the win, etc.) were what made him the right choice.

TASK FIVE
Write 200 words on any series match up and what you think will happen, what actually happened or what should have happened.

Let's forget that Seattle "never had a chance against the defending cup champions." Let's forget the discrepancy in TPE between the veteran Dragons and up-coming Riot. Forget it all. The Riot should have won the first series in this playoffs, hands down. Game 7 of the Finals was a fantastic game that involved plenty of drama, a comeback by the road warrior Riot, and some fantastic feats of scoring and defense. Michael McFadden stood on his head in the game, going 31 for 35 and having a better save percentage than his veteran opponent Hunter Wong. But in the end, as most games tend to end in the playoffs, one overtime period said it all. As the clock started to roll, Jack Burton was being physical as ever and decided to send himself to the penalty box. Had he been playing like he had been the entire rest of the series (one penalty every 2 games), the Dragons wouldn't have gone on the powerplay, the Riot would not have had to make a badly-timed line change, and Michael Boychuk wouldn't have had a breakaway goal to deke around McFadden. Playing the full-strength Riot, Calgary was no match for Seattle's offense, and the game should have easily been in the Riot's hands, securing a 1st round win. Instead, stupid Calgary would lose to stupid Edmonton in the conference finals instead of the Riot losing to the Blizzard.

TASK EIGHT
Take one Cup finalist and talk about how they made the playoffs (free agent signings, trades, outstanding rookies, a career season from someone). Must be 200 words

Everyone's going to talk about how the New England Wolfpack shouldn't have been in the Finals at all, and they are completely right. THe sweep of the Eastern conference regular season champ Minnesota Chiefs was a shocker, but the win over the West Kendall Platoon was even more of a shock. It's like the famous Clerks line, "I wasn't even supposed to be here today!" as the Wolfpack defied all odds to get into the final series in the SHL season. While this does merit some talk, the way the Blizzard got to the playoffs is a more interesting story, with the Alberta rivalry being the main source of discussion for most of the season. A trade made to bring in Dean Colt brought on some fantastic scoring from his line, and while Theo Kane didn't exactly live up to expectations as defending points leader, his scoring ability paired with the lethal goaltending duo of Brett Broadway and Jakub Aittokallio, Jakub in his going-away season, led to some special dominance. Fortunately/unfortunately for Edmonton, that dominance couldn't outdo big brother Calgary, and the defending champs took top honors in the conference, much to the chagrin of the Blizzard fans. The major trade for Dean Colt and starting of Brett Broadway over Aittokallio were the major decisions that led Alberta's second son to go all the way toe the playoffs and eventually the finals.

BONUS: Who scores the cup winning goal?
Mark Longford

Baelor Swift · 09-11-2016, 09:51 AM

noooooo

***JR95*** · 09-11-2016, 09:52 AM

Task one:

The beginning of the end has come for both the Edmonton Blizzard and New England Wolfpack. After a long regular season and impressive performances from both teams in the post season, they now find themselves just 4 wins away from their ultimate goal. With the cup on the line, we can definitely expect this to be a fierce battle between these two teams who don't usually play each other that often. But just how much was on the line? for the Edmonton Blizzard, there was much more than just the cup. They had the hopes and dreams of a little girl on their shoulders.

See, just a few weeks ago when the playoffs began, a young Edmonton fan lost her father to illness. As he lay there in his last moments, he had promised his daughter that the Blizzard would defeat the Wolfpack in quick fashion to claim the title of S30 Challenge Cup Champions. As the last words left him, so to did his spirit and that was the last time she would hear him talk. The team later heard about this and used it as motivation to defeat their two previous opponents.

If the Blizzard were to lose this series, it would surely destroy that poor girls heart and tarnish her last living memory of her father. We wouldn't want that now, would we?

(**this was written after the wolfpack won the cup. thought I'd have some fun)

Task three:

When talking about playoff MVP, you would usually expect to be talking about a player from the Challenge Cup winning team. This time however, there was a Blizzard player who's performance during these playoffs was so outstanding, even when his team didn't show up, that it wouldn't be right to strip him of his rightful title as Playoff MVP. That player is Pedro Sarantez. Through 10 games of play during the playoffs, Sarantez trumped everyone with an impressive 8 goals and 6 assists. He was a consistent offensive threat, but he was also disciplined. He didn't take a single penalty all post season while averaging almost 23 minutes per game. His high goal count came courtesy of his great shot selection (or perhaps luck) as shown by his 17.78% shooting percentage. All of this offensive production didn't come at the cost of his defensive play either. Sarantez posted an impressive +9 and even got himself an assist on the penalty kill.

Task five

The SHL season 30 playoff finals involved the Edmonton Blizzard and New England Wolfpack. Edmonton has been a consistent force in the league for quite some time now and even has a cup in recent memory. New England on the other hand have surprised everyone by turning up the heat and showing the league throughout the second half of the season and post season that they are a serious contender. After blowing through the Minnesota Chiefs and taking down the West Kendall Platoon, they were face to face with one of, if not the best team in the league.

You would think Edmonton would have the upper hand, after all they've been here before with this core and they had a considerably better team on paper. It's not always about who you have, but how you use what you have and the Wolfpack are a prime example of that. Edmonton put up a valiant effort in game one, but in the end the wolfpack were resiliant and took the game 3-2. The following two games would be close battles, but the Blizzard weren't able to break the Wolfpack's chemistry. Something was clicking for New England and they had a chance to eliminate the Blizzard in 4 games; And they did. They came out of the gates flying and never let up throughout the whole 60 minutes. They were so dominant Edmonton only mustered a handful of mediocre scoring chances and failed to convert on any of them. Meanwhile, the wolfpack offense were busy putting on a clinic and tallied a whopping 5 goals. Just like that, the Blizzard had fallen and the New England Wolfpack were Challenge Cup Champions.

Getting swept in the finals is never a good thing. Getting beat 5-0 in the last game of that sweep? that's embarrassing. Edmonton is going to have to ask themselves some tough questions this off season if they want to return to form next season.

Task eight

The New England Wolfpack went on an outstanding run in the second half of the season to go from outside of the playoff picture to the Challenge Cup Finals. A lot of things went right for the Wolfpack; their star players stepped up when they needed it, management made the line changes needed and the team formed very strong chemistry. Throughout the whole season and playoffs however, there is one New England player that has stood above the rest.

Jacob Tanner was a pillar for the Wolfpack in what some would consider a breakout season. A 0.910 save % was good enough to put him fifth in the league and he sported a rather impressive 2.48 goals against average. While he only came up with three shutouts this season, he is 5th in the league in wins with a respectable 26 wins. The team struggled to produce much offensively early in the season but thankfully Tanner was able to steal a few games for them. While they didn't win many games during the first 25 games, they managed to win just enough to keep their playoff hopes alive. They were just barely alive, but alive none the less. The team eventually found their chemistry and, backed by Tanner, Fought their way into the playoff picture.

The story was much the same during the playoffs. Tanner only lost two games all post season and was first in every single goalie stat category.

Nereus · 09-11-2016, 10:07 AM

TASK ONE

All year you put in the kind of hard work that most cannot, grinding away in the gym and on the ice year in and year out. It all soon becomes worth it when the SHL Playoffs roll around. This is the kind of place where dreams come true and are also shattered at the exact same time. Where emotions run high and you can legitimately feel the tension and excitement in the air. Elbows are flying up and stick infractions are being called at an alarming rate. If that wasn't enough, desperation enters the fold now that the Minnesota Chiefs went into this game down in the series three games to zero in just the fourth game of the series. In our last game's installment of our blog, we explained what the Minnesota Chiefs had to do to get out of this game with a win. They seemingly didn't follow any of those ideals and ended up getting canned. In all honesty though they did do one good thing, which was a quick goal by Lord Pretty Flacko within the first minute of the start of the game. Other than that they were completely destroyed in all categories with Nathan Russell and Raven Silverwing walking away with the first star and third star of the game, respectively.

Code:
218 words

TASK THREE

Of all the amazing players on the New England Wolfpack and the preformances they put in during their cup winning S30 run, multiple players stand out. Nathan Russell led the entire team in points after putting up a strong regular season performance for the team. He ended up with 19 points in 14 games including 7 goals. On the other hand, Jakob tanner is another option since he did post a .929 save percentage and a record of 12 wins and 2 losses which is quite impressive. My personal pick though is going to have to be Jasper Clayton, the 2nd overall pick in the S25 Draft and one of the most dominant young defenseman coming up in the game today. He recorded an incredible 16 points in 14 games including 3 goals and a + 12 rating. Clayton also put up 16 hits and 10 penalty minutes. What a career defining performance for the UK native.

Code:
156 words

TASK FIVE

Of all the things that could have happened in the playoff match up between the Calgary Dragons and Edmonton Blizzard, we probably got one of the less likely results. The Calgary Dragons were the SHL Presidents Trophy winning team in S30 which means they were the best team from head to toe in the SHL all year. They had all kinds of star players up and down the lineup including the likes of Esa Anrikkanen, Randy Randleman, and Bubba Nuck. For whatever reason, their star players failed to really click and make an impact when it mattered most against the Blizzard. On top of that the entire team seemed to lack in the depth that brought them to the president's trophy in the first place. Zachimo Zoidberg also had a very shaky post season and did not put in a very good performance. With just 5 assists and a -10 rating in 12 games, Zoidberg did not rise up to the occasion like he has done in the past, since he is a two time challenge cup champion as recently as last season. This entire situation is going to leave a bitter taste in their mouths for a while and rightfully so. The Blizzard took advantage of their momentary weakness and finished them in 5 games. An unlikely result indeed.

Code:
220 words

TASK EIGHT

Born and raised on the mean streets of Birmingham, England, Jasper Clayton has put his nose to the grindstone from the second he has strapped on a pair of skates in his life. Constant progression, never giving up, and always preforming to your maximum capabilities are the kinds fo tenants that this player likes to live by. The road to the S30 SHL Playoffs was a long and arduous one, which started the same way most high end prospects start their careers; In the SHL Draft. When you take a look back to the S25 SHL Draft you realize that Clayton jumping up to the 2nd overall draft spot was the correct choice to make. He is easily the best defenseman from his draft class and that fact will not likely change any time soon. It all paid off though, and now he has a Challenge Cup Championship to his name to show for all of his hard work. He had a key role to play in the Wolfpack's cup victory as well, as he had 16 points in 14 games including 3 goals and a +12 rating in this year's playoff games. That performance alone cements himself as the new face of the franchise for the next decade.

Code:
209 words

Bishop · 09-11-2016, 10:10 AM

TASK ONE
Write a blog post about any post season game of S30. Can be a game preview, a recap, something silly like a review of what colour laces a player is wearing. Must be 150 words

Calgary, AB – Game seven of the Seattle/Calgary series was an exciting one, going into overtime, where the Dragon’s squeaked out the game and series win 4-3. The issue is this has been an all too familiar occurrence for the Riot who have failed to get past Edmonton or Calgary the last couple seasons.

The game was back and forth from the opening faceoff, with Calgary opening the scoring and then Seattle bouncing back with two and going into the lead. Unfortunately for Seattle that was short-lived, as Calgary now scored two of their own to take the lead early in the third period. However, David Benson had his second goal of the game and the series to tie the game up with just over five minutes left in the game. However, it wasn’t meant to be as Michael Boychuk potted the game and series winner less than 2 minutes into OT.

However the talk immediately after the game was, is this the end of the Seattle GM, Christoph Klose’s job?

Many believe that if this is the last of GM Klose, there will be a major shake-up in Seattle as the new GM makes his mark on the team. Several players could be on the block, like Jesster, their captain and Creller.

~212 words

TASK THREE
Who is your MVP candidate for these playoffs and why? Must be 150 words and have 3 stats minimum

(Based on the stats we have so far)….

Pedro Sarantez is an elite player and more importantly a clutch player in the playoffs.

Take this season in the playoffs so far, he has 8 goals in 10 games with 7 of those at even strength, which leads the entire SHL. He also has 14 points, again leading the entire SHL, 2 points higher than his nearest opponent and I could go on….2nd in plus/minus, 3rd in points per 20 minutes, etc….bottomline, he is a stud and is one reason the Edmonton Blizzard are where they are….in the finals.

However, it’s more than that, because an MVP means most valuable player and that means to the team you play on, so here is some additional information to satisfy that requirement….

On Edmonton the next highest goal scorer, has 3 goals…..Pedro has 8…he is the offense for Edmonton. Only 1 player on the team has a higher plus/minus then Pedro and he has 5 shot block, which leads all forwards on the team.

At the end of the day, Pedro is the offensive catalyst for the Blizzard and is arguably the best defensive forward on the team…to me that sounds like a MVP, what does it sound like to you?

~205 words

TASK FIVE
Write 200 words on any series match up and what you think will happen, what actually happened or what should have happened.

SHL Cup Finals: Edmonton Blizzard vs New England Wolfpack

Edmonton has many superstars that are household names, like goalie Jakub Aittokallio, forwards like Theo Kane, Dean Colt, Pedro Sarantez, not to mention d-men like Friedrich Müller and Jackson Rogers-Tanaka. The Wolfpack on the other hand, you have to think long and hard to name more than one or two of their players. However that doesn’t mean they don’t have them, players like Patrikov Bure, Nathan Russell, Jasper Clayton and Jakob Tanner.

However, regardless what the Wolfpack bring there is something special about the Blizzard, since they have won the Championship so many time, it’s just easier to bet on the former champ, then some out of nowhere team, like the Wolfpack.

It was my opinion going into the series, the Blizzard just had more going for it then the Wolfpack. The only advantage they had, was in net, with Tanner, over an aging Aittokallio, otherwise the Blizzard had more depth offensively and I felt had slightly more depth defensively. To me, I could see Tanner stealing a game or two, but in the end the Blizzard would come out on top, in 6-7….really that is how is should have happened.

Reality is it didn’t and hats go off to the Wolfpack for making it a sweep, which totally shocked me and made you think twice when it came to the Wolfpack and was the acquisition of Tanner in the offseason really the turning point for this franchise? It just might have been….

~252 Words

TASK EIGHT
Take one Cup finalist and talk about how they made the playoffs (free agent signings, trades, outstanding rookies, a career season from someone). Must be 200 words

The New England Wolfpack

Free Agents and Trade acquisitions for the most part are not what takes a team over the edge, we have seen it many times, the big name acquisition or free agent signing and in the next season they fall flat under the hype.

Jakob Tanner is the exception to that rule, acquired by the Wolfpack this last offseason, he has been what they Wolfpack needed….a playoff stud. His .929 save percentage in the playoffs is nothing short of incredible and his 2.25 goals against average is half a goal better than any other goalie in the playoffs…I mean who plays 14 games and wins 12….losing only 2 games all playoffs??? Are you serious?

Without Tanner, the Wolfpack would have likely fallen to the West Kendall Platoon in the second round, but instead Tanner put the team on his back and gave the rest of the team the luxury of knowing their goalie was going to make the big saves, not just when he needed to, but all the time.

Goalies like this are hard to find, just ask Edmonton about Jakub Aittokallio…btw how many cups has he won for Edmonton? Both are in elite company.

You know what the funny thing is, Tanner was unceremoniously dumped by the Hamilton Steelhawks to allow him to go to the Wolfpack…..now look at the Steelhawks and tell me they made the right decision.

Enough said.

~235 words

BONUS: Who scores the cup winning goal?

Pedro Sarantez

jRuutu · 09-11-2016, 10:27 AM

Bonus: Patrikov Bure

TASK ONE
Write a blog post about any post season game of S30. Can be a game preview, a recap, something silly like a review of what colour laces a player is wearing. Must be 150 words

Game 1 in the S30 playoffs, Texas vs Edmonton.

In the playoffs emotions are high and every player and team want to win so badly, but sometimes that excitement and want to win can go over the top and I think we saw a good example of that in the first period when Dean Colt from Edmonton lost it all of a sudden.

Roughly 9 minutes played when Colt out of nowhere started swinging, there was nobody on the ice who he did not try to hit with his stick. Started off lightly with gentle jabs on the calves, perhaps trying to get a reaction out of the Texas team, but those gentle slashes did nothing, at least for the Texas players.

Colt noticed that as well and decided to take things to the next level, he went for a nice two handed swing that landed right on the stick of Jack Durden, the stick of Durden went to pieces, but luckily Jack did not get hurt. The slash from Colt was textbook slash, a lot of force and the want to hurt the other guy was clear, execution 8/10 overall, but referees did not seem to appreciate it that much, Colt got double minor for slashing.

(208)

TASK THREE
Who is your MVP candidate for these playoffs and why? Must be 150 words and have 3 stats minimum.

I would give my vote to Pedro Sarantez, there are few other good options as well, but Pedro has been playing really well so far in the playoffs and is the Â´bestÂ´ choice for the award, at least at the moment. In 10 games he has 8+6, which is the best total in the playoffs and on top of that, his +/- rating is +9, second best so far in the playoffs.

What I find really odd is that in 10 games, Pedro has 0 penalty minutes and 0 hits! He plays over 22 minutes per game, he is on PP and on PK, so being able to play through playoffs without any penalty minutes is quite amazing. Just shows that his hockey IQ is really high, you donÂ´t have to put yourself into position where you have to break the rules and take a penalty when you know where you should be on the ice.

The overall level of play in both ends is the main reason why I would vote for Pedro to win the MVP award!

(170ish)
TASK SEVEN
Design a Challenge Cup Champions hat or shirt. Must include team logo.

[Image: XJoDAkT.png]

TASK EIGHT
Take one Cup finalist and talk about how they made the playoffs (free agent signings, trades, outstanding rookies, a career season from someone). Must be 200 words

New England Wolfpack

The road to playoffs for New England was quite tough one, 3 points between the playoffs and fun times at the beach. They made the playoffs though and now playing in the finals, so IÂ´m sure not that many will remember how close making the playoffs was in the end.

What comes down to the players and their season in New England, they had solid group of players , Bure was the 5th best scorer in the whole league with 60 points, while Russell finished 15th overall with 53, so they had few players who managed to play whole season with point per game, that is always a respectable total to any player in SHL.

After Bure and Russell, they had 5 players who scored between 40 and 30 points and few players who collected 29 and 24 points, so I guess the best way to describe the New EnglandÂ´s team and how they play is that they win and lose as a team.

Having so wide arsenal of players who can score and put up points is something that not that many teams have in SHL. ItÂ´s not a huge surprise they are in the finals now when you think about it, Tanner in net was really solid, 5th best saving percentage in the whole league and when you add the team first mentality and the fact that multiple lines can score, New England is a tough team to beat and deserved their place in the playoffs and in the finals!

(250ish)

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