Reginald MacIntyre returned briefly to his hometown of Inverness, where the Highlands village had a surprise planned for him: a day of celebration for him! For putting Inverness somewhat on the hockey map as the birthplace of the captain of the Manhattan Rage, a member of the first UK squad to win IIHF gold and two IIHF silver medalist runs. His family was always at the forefront of the celebration, including his parents, a few of his aunts and uncles and cousins who had made their own lives in Scotland. The day was spent primarily in the downtown streets with quite a bit of food, drink, and games, both traditional Highland games and a bit of ice frozen to host some hockey-based competitions. To wrap the day of festivities, the city took Reginald to a special groundbreaking ceremony for the Inverness Ice Hockey Complex, a facility featuring rinks for competitions of all ages, from the youngest youth allowed to lace them up to adult leisure teams and even rumors of a senior league. He had never before shed such tears of joy with an audience watching. MacIntyre was honored additionally with the reveal of a large plaque bearing his likeness which would hang in the facility's lobby upon completion, which is expected in another three years and parting words of "if you want a statue, go win a Cup first!"

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Task 05: (2 TPE)

5. 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.

No surprise. The team's management has made excellent decisions on making their tactics work for their club. Their player development and market acquisitions have always had staying competitive in mind, even in the face of stars going away like what happened in the Expansion Draft. They have the next man up mentality among management to get their next roleplayer up to where they will fit and they re-rack for the next run. They had a down season earlier in the 40s and bounced right back into a deep playoff run.

(90)

7. The West Kendall Platoon are back in the finals after a season out of the playoffs and a team that was in serious regression Choose: ('No surprise', 'mild surprise', 'major surprise' or 'in shock') and explain why.

No surprise. Similar to Calgary, West Kendall have found their stride. Unlike Calgary, it took them a long time to finally regain Challenge Cup glory. Now that they have pushed their way to the top once in recent memory, they have kept their core happy, their tactics sharp, and finding winning ways. Getting that first title in many seasons released a great weight off the franchise, and they have played so much more loose and confident since. They are in the upswing of the cycle to stay for some time.

(90)


Wow, did the Minnesota Chiefs fall off a cliff this past season. Third-worst record in the SHL, last in the West, and after the team had quite the run of always being a threat to take the Western Conference. They were similarly ranked in goals scored and goals conceded and second-last in difference. A midseason swoon against teams they should definitely not be dropping games against - the likes of San Francisco, Tampa Bay, Winnipeg this past season, Los Angeles...they didn't even do so hot against the competition that also missed out on the postseason. A 3-7-0 stretch through the final 10 games of the season sealed their place in the cellar out West. This is normally a team that can at least make a series or late-season stretch competitive, though not even getting close to threatening felt like they could have done far better. And this is all before the offseason controversies which will condemn them to more of the same for at least Season 48.

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The Calgary Dragons would have had their pick from the Edmonton Blizzard or the Texas Renegades. I personally would have chosen to tap up Brady McIntyre @caltroit_red_flames to bolster their defense. He's the most valuable player on that franchise, would be if he was on Texas, and having a look back at the championship round results, he would have made a massive difference for your fortunes against the Platoon. Could have really used pulling back a goal or two per game to at least extend the series. With his mastery of setups from the regular season, notching 39 assists, that opens up a lot of playmaking opportunity as well. Factoring him on both ends would have netted you a solid one- or two-goal swing in each game, which would have won you at least a couple of those games and bought you two more to get it together down the stretch.

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The West Kendall Platoon, in the round preceding the Challenge Cup Finals, stared down a highly probable elimination at the hands of the defending champions, the Buffalo Stampede. Down 3-1 in the Eastern Conference Finals, the President's Trophy winners had all the trends aligned to get bounced and for Buffalo to advance to the championship in consecutive seasons.

But ask from thy saviors, Beaujeaux Biscuit @.bojo and Crossfit Jesus @CFJ , and ye shall receive! Biscuit only yielded 2 goals across the final 3 games of the series, earning him two 1st Stars and a 2nd Star, and Jesus scored 2 goals and 1 assist down the stretch for a 1st Star and a 2nd Star in games where scoring suddenly dried up and those few goals proved precious and decisive. Led by their now retired star forward and their stonewall keeper, West Kendall found a way back from a brink many before fell from.

(155)

TASK 13 (3 TPE)

Complete