TASK ONE: You’re the coach of one of the teams in the playoffs! At least you’d like to think you are. Come up with a new set of lines for one of the teams eliminated in the playoffs, and explain why you made the choices you did. Must be at least 150 words.

After the Jets gave the Challenge Cup champion Texas Renegades a bit of a scare in the first round, taking a 2-0 series lead, many (myself included) started to believe an all too early playoff exit was on the cards for the boys in black. However, 4 straight wins allowed them to claw their way back into the series. If I were the GM of the Jets, I would have taken their strategy of excessive ice time to top players even further and rolled with the setup

Evans - Fleming - Visser
Evans - Fleming - Visser
Evans - Fleming - Visser
Evans - Fleming - Visser

Manious - Weber
Manious - Weber
Manious - Weber

The reason I would use these lines is because it was proven that the strategy of giving all of the ice time to the star players and not using much depth yielded results, and taking this a step further might have been able to really stop the Renegades in their tracks.


TASK TWO: Who is your choice for the unsung hero of the S36 playoffs up to this point? Must be at least 150 words and include at least two statistics in support.

My choice for the unsung hero of the S36 is my team mate Adam Falk, who stands out as perhaps the most unsung of all in a year of unsung heroes. Adam Falk plays on the first forward line with the two star offensive names on the Renegades, Geoffrey Allen and Jack Durden. Both Allen and Durden delivered exquisite playoff performances for which they have been rightly heralded, but much less has been made of Adam Falk's contribution, even though he delivered 16 points in 16 games and brought home a +7 rating. Falk scored 6 goals but crucially made 10 assists, feeding the puck to his linemates and driving the forward line that no opposition could successfully line match. Sure, Allen and Durden deserve all the praise they'll get, and perhaps a lot more, for their performances in these playoffs, but credit must go to Falk for being the crucial third member of the line, contributing massively and being possibly the unpraised member on a line that was simply unstoppable all season long.


TASK THREE: Who has the edge, New England or Texas? What (or who) will be the biggest factor for one team to triumph over the other? Must be at least 150 words.

It may sound cynical to say this after the fact but I was firmly of the belief from the outset that Texas had a clear edge going into the series. The New England Wolfpack, although still a formidable outfit with a mix of some of the league's elite alongside some very hot prospects have looked like much less of a threat since losing their talismanic captain and perennial all star Nathan Russell to retirement this season, with a tough regular season that saw them just scrape into the playoffs after a post trade deadline burst and two tough series leading up to the finals, whereas Texas' season has been steady and controlled from day one, with the team really hitting their stride as they took apart the Calgary Dragons in 4 games. Ultimately though, I believe Texas' outstanding defensive unit to be the biggest factor in their success. Their big name defensemen really stepped it up and drove play all season long, allowing the forwards to do their thing and not feel so pressured.