Task 1:

TOP 5 PLAYOFF CELLYS

#1: Asvard Lyszczarczyk's (COL) triple OT winner in Game 7 vs the St. Louis Scarecrows. Lyszczarczyk leaps into the air and is immediately mobbed by his teammates on the ice, followed by the rest of his bench clearing and adding to the dogpile.

#2: Oliver König's (PGF) GWG against Colorado. König fires the shot in high on the Mammoth's goaltender and follows it up with a shot from his "bow," pantomiming William Tell. It was clearly an arrow that took all the air out of the Colorado team, and the Firebirds rode the shot to victory.

#3: Nour Harrak's (KEL) goal to complete the hat-trick in Game 4 against Vancouver. Green and gold hats rained from the rafters in Kelowna as he leaped into the boards and was swarmed by teammates.

#4: Tabarnak Fleur-De-Lys-LaPoutine's (COL) singular goal of the playoffs. Fleur-De-Lys-LaPoutine scores on a wicked wrister, and follows it up by pointing at his linemates that set him up.

#5: Oliver Klozoff's goal on his first shot since getting tossed in Game 5 of Montreal's series against Kelowna. Klozoff punches the air, then skates around the net and penguin dives toward center ice. Doesn't have to be classy to be memorable and gets back at the Knights that agitated him.


Task 2:

[258 words]

The following is a transcription from an interview between a Halifax beat reporter and Halifax Raider rookie defenseman, Ted Glass.

Reporter: Glass, your team was nothing short of a veritable tire fire for some stretches of the season this year. What happened?

Glass: Well, Halifax went through the beginning stages of a rebuild at the end of last season, so over half our starting roster were rookies. I think the rookies were all in different stages of development, some of them were contributing to the team as soon as they stepped on the ice, but a good amount needed some seasoning first, myself included.

Reporter: You went 1-3-4 in 30 preseason games, that does sound like a rough start. Was it chemistry with the other players on the team that was holding you back from the modest production you put up in the regular season?

Glass: Nah, I clicked with my defensive partner Cloud McCarthy within our first few shifts. In fact, we had a competition to see who could block more shots over the season, and we both ended up wildly exceeding our expectations. I ended up blocking more shots, but I think he may have edged me out in points.

Reporter: So how do you expect Halifax to do next season?

Glass: With this year's rookies all ready to contribute at a really competitive level for next season, I think we come back with a vengeance and make a real deep playoff push. I can see us holding the 4 Star Cup a year from today.



Task 4:

[169 words]

The playoff MVP is practically indisputable. Vratislav Zbyněk (COL) leads all right wings in points with 9 goals and 7 assists for 16 total points. In fact, he leads not only all right wingers, but all players in these playoffs. He's got a healthy 2 point lead on the next closest players, Finn Larsson (COL) and Teddy Kesler (COL). Zbyněk was a + 2, only had 2 minutes of penalties, and even managed to out-hit his opposition, giving 27 hits and taking only 16. His dominance shows even just in shot count, where he put 63 SOG compared to only 55 for the next closest player. He even played 416 minutes, averaging 24:30 on the ice per game... as a forward. He averaged more time on ice than any of his teammates by a good amount. His five powerplay points also lead his team, and the league as a whole. He wasn't a huge defensive contributor, but he didn't have to be with his display of power on offense.