Task #1
Top 5 Playoff Arenas

#5- Scottrade Center, St. Louis Scarecrows
The Scarecrows have enjoyed incredible regular and post-season success over the past few seasons, and their home crowd is big factor for it. St. Louis has shown how passionate they can be about hockey, and you can expect the Scottrade Center to be rockin' when the Scarecrows are in town.

#4- Pepsi Center, Colorado Mammoths
The Mile High City can create some mile high noise when the Mammoths are in the playoffs. This arena may not hold an extremely high amount of fans, but those fans are dedicated and as loud as any can be. Expect a tough environment in the playoffs when on the road against Colorado.

#3- Prospera Place, Kelowna Knights
This beautiful venue is the first on the list located in Canada. Kelowna, with no NHL market, has a set of fans who pour their passion into the Knights franchise. As a historic SMJHL franchise, the Kelowna Knights have arguably the most dedicated fan base and are no strangers to success. Look for the Knights fans to show up in troves when the playoffs are in town.

#2- The Source of Impact, Montreal Militia
The Source of Impact is the most visually unique arena of all, and the fans inside are as unique as ever. You will typically find a mix of Militia and Canadiens sweaters during the regular season, but when it comes to the Militia in the playoffs, you better be ready for the fans to be donning their maroon sweaters. With such a large hockey market, it is no wonder that The Source of Impact comes in at #2 on this list.

#1- Pacific Coliseum, Vancouver Whalers
The Pacific Coliseum is a beautiful arena home to some of the most passionate sports fans you will find anywhere. With the lack of success from the NHL Vancouver Canucks, fans have flocked to the SMJHL team and have made their success in the playoffs count. The Whalers are in the midst of another strong post-season run and it is no secret that the strong support from the Whaler faithful has provided the boost they need to keep pushing strong.

Task #2

Interview with Ben Turska:

Ben, the Militia are eliminated from the playoffs. What went right and what went wrong in your eyes?

Turska: It is unfortunate...I really felt we had the team to win it all and we fell short much sooner than we would have liked. I think we had a very good all-around team, with each end of the ice filled with solid players. In the end, maybe we needed more of a killer instinct, and I take responsibility for a lack of that. This off season I look forward to training even harder, because this season really was a reality check for me.

You were a free agent signing rather than a draft pick. Did that have any effect on your play?

Turska: No, I do not believe so. I felt incredibly comfortable right off the bat as I was welcomed in with open arms. We had some great chemistry out on the ice this season and I don't think it mattered where everyone came from. I had a good chunk of the off season to work on my game with these guys and I believe it showed.

How about next season? Will the Militia be back to where they were?

Turska: We will be better. I think we are going to have a lot of guys returning and with that, maturing on the ice. Some guys are going to get called up, and I am really proud of them. But I know we will have a good mix of veterans and rookies to propel us to the championship. It is never easy, as we saw this season, but I am confident in this team.

Task #3
Colorado Mammoths @ St. Louis Scarecrows Game 7

We are about halfway through the third overtime here in St. Louis, and what a game it has been! As we near the time it would take for two games to be played, both teams look like they are dead tired. But something has to give and here we go!

The Scarecrows enter the zone Goody Jr. passes off to Augustus...the puck skips off his stick and the Mammoths grab it! Colorado rushes into their zone where the slow down and let the troops ease up. Alexander Zajac dangles his way through a Scarecrow defender, and dishes it off to Kapralov. Now it is Kapralov who is in control. He steps up in the zone and flies by the St. Louis defense!

Looks like Karpalov is going to make a move around the goaltender....but Kapralov decides to shoot!

And he misses the net...not sure how he was not able to shoot on target there! But the puck takes a crazy bounce and Lyszczarczyk grabs it and fires....

He scores!!!

Asvard Lyszczarczyk goes glove side high and scores on Jimmy Wagner! What a shot! It looked like Colorado had nothing going, and in the blink of an eye Lyszczarczyk had the puck on his stick and then in the back of the net, I do not think Wagner saw that one at all!

After five and a half periods of hockey, we have a winner and thus, a series winner! The Colorado Mammoth are advancing to the finals! An absolutely incredible semi-final round comes to an end, and as is tradition, both teams are now lined up at center ice for the handshakes.

Thank you for tuning in to the action tonight, and we will see you for the finals!

Task #4
In my opinion, the playoff MVP this season is an easy choice, and my choice is for Shoyu Kikkoman of the Vancouver Whalers. Including the sweep in the cup finals, the Whalers played just 9 games this post season, an incredible feat.

At the hands of that dominance was forward Shoyu Kikkoman. It was Kikkoman who led the team with 15 points in a ridiculous nine games played. OF those 15 points, five were goals and ten were assists. He also had a strong plus/minus of 4.

Kikkoman enjoyed a gaudy shooting percentage of 35.71%, showing just how efficient he was when shooting the puck and netting 5 goals in the post season.

Truthfully, almost any Whaler player could have been considered for MVP. But it was Kikkoman who truly portrayed the dominance that the team showed this post season. Kikkoman was just one point behind the post season leader in points, and yet had a whole eight games less played.

If not for Kikkoman, I don't believe the dominance would have been the same. The Whalers may still have won the cup, but the nine games it took would seem unlikely.

Task #5