TASK 1: (Written, 3 TPE)
Choose one team in the series and talk about the steps they took to make the finals. Was it a free agent signing, or an MVP player, or trades, etc. Must be 150 words.

Considering these are the two teams who met in the Finals last season, there really hasn't been much turnover that created a difference. In a sense, there's two main differences to the teams for this season.

Both teams called up St. Louis Scarecrows defensemen. West Kendall brought up Rex Kirkby while Winnipeg brought up Lil Manius. While the two of them wouldn't be considered major contributors by any means with around 15 minutes per game, they are playing important minutes in big time hockey games. Kirkby specifically, with 5 points, is playing a key role in the depth and supplemental offense of the team.

Beyond that, the difference in goaltending has been drastic so far from last season's playoffs. Beaujeaux has gone from a .927 SV% last season to a .916 in this season. Meanhwhile, Zhumbayev isn't relying as much on his offense with a .927 SV% himself this season when he had a .900 last season. It's something that will play a key role is the continued success of either goaltender. With a more potent offense in West Kendall, it's possible Zhumbayev struggles. Meanwhile, considering the trouble for scoring in Winnipeg, it may be something where they've had bad luck and it comes around hard for them.

This won't be a majorly different series from S43, but it could have those bit pieces play a major part for them.

TASK 3: (Written, 3 TPE)
In 150 words or more write about the top highlight of your season. whether it be your first goal, your first hat trick, first shutout, clinching playoffs, getting a career high in something, etc. Must be hockey related.

Who doesn't remember their first goal? While we lost the game in the end, it was a major moment in my career as Jax. His first game of his SHL career is against the West Kendall Platoon (relevant, ha). Jax is a player that skates hard and drives possession forward, but he will get beat up for it at times. Because of this, he took a beating throughout the game but ended up with seven shots on goal. The most important one was to bring the game back within one with just under five minutes remaining in the second period when he drove into the slot and tipped a shot from James Dekens just by Beaujeaux Biscuit.

Dekens collected the puck for him, knowing from the previous season as the Jesster winner, how important it was. Jax and Takshak had both gotten their first points, Jax with his first goal. It was a sign of things to come with a very consistent scoring first half of the season for Jax, hooking up with Dekens regularly. However, this was the most meaningful as Jax showed the hard work and tenacity of an Aittokallio and earned the biggest moment of his career -- so far.

TASK 4: (*CASUAL MEMBER SPECIAL* Send answer in PM, 3 TPE)
Question: Before the start of the game little tammy threw 4 reese's peanut butter cups on the ice. 2 of them were skated over and crushed! (Ohhh No!!!)... how many peanut butter cups were NOT skated over?

** Note: To receive credit for this task you must send the answer to me by forum PM. Do not post the answer in this thread as you will not get credit... Please make the subject of the PM “CW Special” [Earn up to 3 TPE for this task. 1 TPE for participation, 2 additional TPE for the correct answer]

PM'd

TASK 6: (Written, 3 TPE)
In an effort to improve the product, the league has asked an outside source to look over the playoff lineups and determine which teams could have performed better.. 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.

If there's a team the league could've hoped to play better overall, it would be the Calgary Dragons. When you have the Battle of Alberta raging on in the playoffs, you hope and expect for it to go the distance and rake in the cashflow. Rather, this one went 5 games in just the first round.

The obvious change in the line-up that could be expected would be to address the age problem. Esa Anrikkanen may be a great player historically, but at some point you slow down. With the league increasing in speed every season, he's bound to be left in the dust at some point. If he continues to slow it down, he may be damaging his own linemates by keeping them at his pace. Meanwhile, Shooter McGavin played below him on the five-on-five lines despite playing better overall at creating opportunities. I would swap out McGavin into that top-six wing role that Anrikkanen has held down for so long.

Beyond that, Casey Creller has historically been one of the better contributors to the defense on the team but is relegated to a third pairing role at five on five. While I advocate giving more time to younger players, Creller isn't old by any means as just a S36 draftee. He's in the prime of his career, and could have played a major factor with his playoff experience over someone like Ostap Maksimov and his 22 minutes per game. It's a three minute difference, but that's about six shifts and could make the difference in close games.

Overall, they're the team I would expect to do better overall and was somewhat disappointed by, however they did end up performing well overall and a lot of these series were toss-ups effectively.

Task 10: (Podcast, 3 or 4 TPE)
The SHL Network is excited to announce extended coverage of the S44 Playoffs through your speakers! From hit podcasts to fresh new voices.. submit your mini-pod and earn TPE! What you talk about is up to you, the only criteria is that all Mini-Pods should be post season or Championship Series related. Here are the details below:

1 Man Mini-Pod: 3 TPE for 5 minutes or 4 TPE for 7 Minutes
2 Man Mini-Pod: 3 TPE for 6 Minutes or 4 TPE for 8 Minutes
http://simulationhockey.com/showthread.p...pid2535987