Task 5:

Breakdown this finals matchup for us, how will it play out? who will be the stars of this series, what will the outcome be? (*tag anyone involved)

This Challenge Cup Final will be won by the West Kendall Platoon. They have the better overall roster and have been better in almost every category, except for goals. Facing an under matched Texas will bring your goal total up. West Kendall is a way better defensive team, led by Schroder (@Rabidsponge21) and Kirkby (@Acsolap). They do everything on the ice better than Calgary. Calgary has a better power play so far, but West Kendall is 92% on the penalty kill so I don't see them exploiting it in this series. Biscuit (@.bojo) is the better of the two goalies so Calgary can't close the gap in net either. Calgary is over matched here, it will be very surprising to see Calgary's magic run continue. (122 words)

Which player in the finals should considered their teams playoff MVP and which should be considered their teams unsung hero thus far and why?

I think Dani Forsberg (@Insayne) is the MVP for the Platoon right now, but it's wide open. Forsberg leads the team with 10 points so it's a natural selection. There's a bunch of players close behind Forsberg so the Finals will determine who comes out of the group, but as of right now it's Forsberg. For unsung hero, I'm going with Sven Brokstad (@Bzerkap). He only plays 15 minutes a game, but has 4 points and is a +4. Those are hard minutes to play in the playoffs and he's giving West Kendall quality when he's on the ice. We could see a bigger role for him in the Finals. (108 words)

Which player do you believe will be the difference maker in their franchise winning the title here in S47?

I really believe the difference maker will be Ludwig Koch Schroder (@Rabidsponge21). The Platoon's defense has been elite this post-season and he's the leader on the back end. He plays the most minutes and shuts down the opponents top players every game. I think there's more offense to his game than he's shown and I think that comes through this season. I expect Ludwig to be the player that leads West Kendall to the Challenge Cup victory. (76 words)

After trading off there best players and declaring themselves in a full rebuild back in S45, The Calgary Dragons have made it to the S47 finals.. just 2 seasons later. Choose: ('No surprise', 'mild surprise', 'major surprise' or 'in shock') and explain why.

I am in shock, but really I keep telling myself that I shouldn't be when it comes to Calgary. They have an average roster, like they usually do, and somehow always make these cinderella runs. It's not on merit or talent, but rather dumb luck. They sell off their top players, but somehow still luck their way through the playoffs. They're never the most talented or even in the top 2 or 3 in the conference, but it never seems to matter. This season, I guess they've banded around being a group of rag-tag players fighting for their playoff lives and it's worked so far. I don't expect them to beat a much more talented roster in West Kendall. (119 words)

Which young players in this series (S42-S47) have a chance to break out and make a name for themselves here in the Challenge Cup Finals? (*Tag that player)

The young player that has the chance to break out and make a name for himself is Platoon defenseman Rex Kirkby (@Acsolap). He's playing top pair minutes on the best defensive team in the playoffs and has put up solid stats across the board. He's blocking shots, throwing the body, and only 1 points behind the leading scorer on defense on his team. He's a solid, no nonsense player who is delivering big minutes with quality. He's going to shut down the Dragons' offense and make the finals his coming out party. (92 words)

Star netminders Kata Vilde and Beaujeaux Biscuit have both carried there teams into the finals. Which franchise goalie has a better chance to carry their franchise to a title?

The correct answer is Beaujeaux Biscuit and it's not really that close. Biscuit is one of the best goalies in the league and he's showing why in these playoffs. He's putting up a ridiculous .950 save percentage and a 1.45 goals against average. The man is a brick wall in net right now. I don't see Calgary being able to solve him in these Finals. He's laser focused and as good as any goalie has been in the post season. Biscuit has the better chance to lead his team to a Finals win. (93 words)

Task 9:

I think the biggest disappointment in this post-season has to be the New Orleans Specters. They were the best team in the Western Conference and second best team overall in the regular season and had a relatively easy match up in the Western Conference Semi-Finals against the Texas Renegades. They were an elite team this season, but couldn't close out a much weaker Texas team.

New Orleans built themselves into a quality team right out of the gate when they joined the SHL. They had a very successful run in their inaugural season and expected to do the same this year. Everything seemed to be going to plan for them, but once they entered the post-season, they fell flat. I'm not really sure what went wrong specifically, but they needed more goal scoring from players other than Fletcher. They also needed their goalie, Aleiester Cain, to steal them a game or two and he just couldn't do that. In the end, they went out in 7 games to an inferior team and face an off-season with lots of questions. A disappointing season to be sure in the Big Easy.

(189 words)

Task 13:

PM'd

Task 14:

S47 CW Podcast