Task 1
Why fix what isn't broken? West Kendall is going for the repeat with a near identical squad to what they had last year when they won the cup. Their defensive core looks a little bit different, losing veteran Noctis Caelum to retirement and bringing up rookie Rex Kirkby to take his place. They bolstered their blue line mid season by trading for depth dman Cameron Dubois from New England. The small tweaks West Kendall had to make have worked out, and they find themselves in another finals. Kirkby and Dubois have both played their role on the team impeccably, combining for 9 points and a +5 in this seasons playoffs. Though Dubois might have been a temporary plug in for the championship run, Kirkby looks to be a future leader of this defense, and is gaining valuable playoff experience. If the Platoon can continue to develop internally the way they did with Kirkby, they'll be contenders for a long time.

Task 3
Crawfling's highlight of the season was his unexpected departure from Seattle to Manhattan. It was a whirlwind of a day, finding out he had been traded for a 2nd round pick via a TSN instagram post. Crawfling was asked to stay down, as the team didn't seem to be in a position to compete and he needed further development in the minors. It was an uneventful year for the Rage as expected, but the team's bright future is what made this trade the highlight of Crawfling's season. Crawfling had found a home in Seattle, and felt betrayed when he was shipped out after only a handful of SHL starts. It was nice to see Seattle implode immediately after, going through a plethora of GMs and trading away many of Crawfling's former teammates. He was glad to escape the dumpster before the fire was lit, and have a fresh start with the up and coming Manhattan Rage.

Task 4
PMed

Task 6
The Calgary Dragons were bounced from the first round of the playoffs 4-1 by the regular season champs, the Edmonton Blizzard. Though many saw this as a easy series for the Blizzard, I expected more from the Dragons. They have more veteran players who know what it takes to win cups, and more superstars. The Blizzard have incredible depth on their team, and were able to beat the Dragons with their 3rd and 4th lines. If I coached the Dragons I would have tried to spread their superstar talent throughout all the lines and given them even playing time, As opposed to relying on your top 2 lines for 75% of the game. Roman Augustus, a stud in the faceoff circle, only took 6th faceoffs because he was on a line with Mike Izzy. I would have bumped the power forward Izzy down to the 3rd line center and boosted their playing time, while moving augustus to 1st line center, improving faceoffs across all 4 lines and allowing Izzy to wreak havoc against the Blizzards role players.

Task 7
All Challenge cup lineup
Jason Viser - Dani Forsberg - Zach Evans
Ludwig Koch Schroder - Gary Grease
Beaujeaux Biscuit
This top line is ridiculous. You have a Patty Kane - Artemi Panarin-esque combo in Evans and Viser, both dangling playmakers who can go bar down at will. Then you have Forsberg providing Ovechkin like grit. Opponents would be quivering in their skates. Schroder and Grease make the ideal O-dman/2 way dman combo, comparable to Keith and Seabrook (in their prime). Then theres Bojo. Who wouldnt want the biscuit tending their goal?

Bojo versus Zhumbayev is a tough debate, both being elite goaltenders. Bojo has the edge in his savemaking ability, but Zhumbayev is the more athletic goalie, which sometimes really shines for Winnipeg. They had nearly identical statistics throughout the regular season. Right now I am taking Zhumbayev over Bojo, because he's hot. You need a hot goalie to win the playoffs, and right now Zhumbayev is unstoppable.

Honestly who the fuck would want to go to either of these cities? Not me. This is a finals I'd skip out on. But apparently I've been forced to make a decision, so I'm packing my bags and heading to West Kendall. The city itself sucks, but at least I can pop over to Miami for a good time.