Task 05: (Written, up to 6 TPE)
Pick up to 6 challenge cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth '1' TPE. Each answer must be '50' words or more.

2. A major managerial showdown is about to take place Between WKP's (Jr95, Wongy) and Calgarys (Steelhead77, C00kies) which set of GM's have the tactical/managerial advantage in this series and why?

Isn't it obvious? The simmer is always the one in control. They have the ability to test sim under the exact same conditions the sim will run under. They're the only ones who would potentially have success with tests, and even then it isn't guaranteed. What comes into play is that West Kendall has the background currently. Calgary has a wealth of historical knowledge, but nothing beats the sim.

Quote:Word Count: 69 (nice.)

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

The team MVP for West Kendall is obviously Beaujeaux Biscuit. A .941 save percentage and a 1.83 goals against average is absolutely unheard of in the playoffs, to the point that I feel somewhat offended by it even. This is the most dominant performance potentially in SHL history, at least spanning back to Mike Honcho in S4. Meanwhile, the unsung hero is Joshua Woodcroft. Stepping in from Los Angeles, he played only 18 minutes per game but made them count with 10 points in 15 games, while being physical with 22 hits. He was a beast for them in the playoffs in a way that is easily overlooked at times.

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6. 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)

Obviously when it comes to the Challenge Cup, you have to rely on your depth pieces. Every team has superstars at the top of their line-up who will get the play on television and radio, but you'll have shifts where they aren't out there and you have to be able to trust your players to make a play. The player who will make that kind of play is @Thelastheraclid Nat Emerson, who is absolutely the type of depth defenseman you need on a Cup winning team. He's a net-front presence, extremely physical, and gets in the way of shots. It's those players who will make a difference in getting scored on, and will ultimately be the reason the Platoon bring home the Cup.

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8. 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?

Vilde has done well, yes. Ultimately, though, a player like Beaujeaux is basically unstoppable by this point. He allowed only 2 goals in the final 3 games of the Eastern Conference Finals! This is unheard of dominance from the netminder, and if anybody is able to carry their team to the end it's the man in Miami.

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Task 09: (Written, 3 TPE)
Which organization that didnt make it to the finals would you consider to be the biggest disappointment? What do you think are the main reasons why they fell short this season? (Must be 150 words or more)

I have the obvious answer of the Manhattan Rage. My own team, of course. A lot went into our down year, in spite of prudent moves being made to solidify our team's depth and build an all-around line-up. The biggest problem being in net where Scottey Crawfling hit a major wall. That isn't to say he's not a great goalie, he absolutely is. However, in the playoffs he had an .872 save percentage and a 3.93 goals against average. We had no chane if he's not making some stops at those crucial times to keep us in it.

Beyond that, our stars just didn't play like stars at times. There were only 5 players with more than 2 points in our 5 playoff games. Dekens wasn't able to get a shot to get to the back of the net, Rove and Aittokallio both struggled and had low shooting percentages for them as well as having to handle the defensive responsibility of facing the Syndicate top line. Ultimately, we didn't get the job done like we planned or expected to, our third pairing was crushed, our depth had no way of stopping them when the top line was out against them. We needed to make more prudent adjustments and failed to succeed in that and for that, Manhattan is the biggest disappointment.

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Task 11: (Written, 3 TPE)
Writers on the internet have jokingly tossed around the following playoff roster idea: "when a team eliminates another team, they get to claim a player from that eliminated team to join their roster" Pretend the SHL has adopted this rule this postseason. Pick one of the teams in the Challenge Cup final and pick any player from a team that they've eliminated to add to their roster for the finals. Why did they choose that player? How will this player help out? Where will they play in the lineup? (must be 150 words or more, *tag all players)

The Calgary Dragons have a defense that ultimately is not quite the best in the world. Chico Smeb and Brennan Kennedy are fantastic young players, but playing key minutes can make it difficult to keep them up to par. Young players are prone to inconsistency. Meanwhile, their first round match-up with the Edmonton Blizzard featured one of the better defensive teams in the league. After dispatching of the Blizzard, ultimately the prudent move would be to grab a player who can slot into a second pairing role and allow for a more platooning style of the third pairing with their young defensemen. Knowing you're on a path to likely facing down the West Kendall Platoon, it's best to grab someone who has been there before and had success in the playoffs. With many former Challenge Cup Champions on the roster in Edmonton from S45 when they beat the Platoon, they'd be wise to grab Brady McIntyre.

He was effectively the fourth defenseman in the S45 Challenge Cup run for Edmonton, able to fill out a second pairing role easily, and was arguably the best defenseman for Edmonton in the Calgary series being the only one with a non-negative plus/minus and playing hard minutes. He would allow Calgary the option to match up against depth with a more experienced and consistent threat on the back end.

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Task 12: (Written, 3 TPE)
Theres no path to the finals without a little bit of adversity. In 150 words or more, write about the adversity one of the teams faced on the road to the Challenge Cup Finals. (*tag anyone involed)

West Kendall has by far faced the most adversity of the Finals teams. When it comes to their path to the Cup, it starts with S46 with them struggling to find their footing and falling out of the playoffs. While this is a major motivating factor for most teams, the importance here is at the start of S47. West Kendall opened 2-4-1 and everybody kind of saw writing on the wall saying it's the same old Platoon as last season, maybe they're falling out of it, maybe they're too old. They went 3-1 in their next four, before succumbing to another 1-4 run in their next five. It seemed like one of those up and down seasons, morale was dropping and you could see they were going to be a bubble team at best. Then it turned around, they went on an absolute tear and started taking over the league on their way to the President's Trophy, losing only 5 games total the remainder of the season.

Then came the playoffs for the Toonza, where they quickly handled Chicago and seemed to be riding a wave where they felt on top of the world. Ultimately, that's where adversity strikes is when you're at your highest point and feel you can do nothing wrong. They lost the first two games against the Buffalo Stampede, barely edged out a 1-0 victory on the back of a 32-save performance by Beaujeaux Biscuit and then took an overtime loss in Game 4. Down 3-1, it looked like they were dead to rights, getting frustrated and losing their cool. Beaujeaux then went into an insane mode, allowing 2 goals in the final 3 games of the series and pulling West Kendall to a comeback like no other.

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TASK 13: (*CASUAL MEMBER SPECIAL* Send answer in PM, up to 3 TPE)
Its trivia time with 4 questions related to our Challenge Cup participants!

1. Who is the all time goals leader on the West Kendall Platoon?
2. Who won Calgary's Jesster Award (Team MVP) for season 46?
3. Who are the current 3 captains per there team info page (C, A and A) on the West Kendall Platoon?
4. What is the name of the stadium where the Calgary Dragons play there home games?

**Important**: Send the answers to username "PT Director" with the subject of the message titled “#Tigole-Trivia" do not send it to my personal account cause i will not look at it and you will not recieve credit for it. Do not post the answers in here cause you will not get credit for the task. [Grading: 1 TPE for participation, 0.5 TPE for each correct answer]

DONE.