Task 1 - 3 TPE
The Kelowna Knights took a step forward this season, as did Vlastislav Malik. On an individual level, the minimum goal for this season was to finish with more points than in Season 56. In S56, Malik scored a meager 4 goals with 8 assists as a rookie. As a sophomore, Malik made strides offensively with about 30 seconds of additional icetime per game, finishing with 14 goals and 19 assists. Compared to the rest of the roster, he did fairly well, ending up 8th in points while 16th in TOI and 9th in PPTOI. Malik averaged 1+ hits and about 2 shots per game. With an OGR of 63, he ranked 4th on the Knights, but 16th overall with a DGR of only 55, so there's definitely room for improvement defensively, considering Malik prides himself in being efficient on both sides of the game. Malik finished with a +8, so he wasn't necessarily a detriment to his team, but he'll definitely be refining his offensive skills and upgrading his defensive skills during the offseason.

Task 3 - 3 TPE
Vlastislav Malik has gotten involved with a variety of charitable causes as he grows as a young man, just having finished his sophomore season with the Kelowna Knights. For now, he hasn't started up his own charity, focusing on a specific demographic, but has associated with other Knights' charitable interests. To start off, Malik immediately started looking up to Kelowna Captain Teddy Park, a well-seasoned veteran who leads by example on and off the ice. One of Park's charitable interests that Malik lent his time, efforts, and financial means to was for getting young kids the means and motivation to pursue a healthy lifestyle and engagement in sports, especially hockey. A recent charitable interest of Malik is one that fellow sophomore, Cian McFelter, is quite involved in. For some reason, McFelter is really drawn to helping old people. The charitable causes he helps with make sure the older generation has a roof to live under, medications, canes, walkers, etc. Malik has really taken a liking to these efforts and has devoted a lot of resources, especially this past season, to helping out alongside his fellow Quadruplet.

Task 5 - 2 TPE
This may be biased, but let's just get on with it. The Kelowna Knights were the best SMJHL team this season to not make the Finals. Despite icing several rookies and sophomores (Vlastislav Malik, Cian McFelter, Brennan Huff, Robert Feltersnatch, Danny C, Gerry Atrick, and the list goes on), the Knights finished 2nd in the West with a .591 win percentage. This was a vast improvement from Season 56, when they finished with a laughable .380 win percentage, bad enough for last place in the West. Their 78 points in Season 57 placed them at #4 league-wide with a #7 goals for and #3 goals against in the regular season. This was quite the turnaround. Well then, what went wrong? They underperformed in Round 1 of the S57 SMJHL Playoffs, earning an upsetting early exit. Sure, we made it to Game 7, scoring 20 goals across 7 games while allowing 23 goals against. It was definitely a close series and taking some personal blame, Vlastislav Malik certainly didn't show up, earning a meager 2 assists and a -1 rating. He, along with the Knights will be back next season with a vengeance! But can they fill the shoes of long-time Captain and top defensive anchor, Teddy Park, who's been called up to the big leagues? Only time will tell!

Task 7 - 3 TPE
To be honest, I don't quite follow the SHL too closely since Vlastislav Malik still is a ways away from being called up to his SHL team, the New Orleans Specters, but let's take a look at a couple SHL-NHL comparisons. This'll serve well as pre-game scouting for when Malik is called up to the big leagues. One of his NHL idols is LW sniper Alexander Ovechkin. I think Monkey D. Luffy fits the bill there as a high-volume scorer that plays on the left wing. His 42 goals led the league this season as Ovi so often does, but he wasn't a slouch in terms of making his teammates better either, finishing with a solid 42 assists as well. His 70 hits probably aren't at Ovi levels, but they're getting there. I haven't watched any game tape, but if Luffy's setting himself up for one-timers on the PP, that's a lock for an Ovi comparison. Another quick comparison that is mainly limited to Speed is between Ola Wagstrom and Connor McDavid. His 19 Speed is a touch above even his fastest peers and enough to leave most of his competition spinning in circles and looking like fools (or Morgan Rielly, whichever you prefer). Placing in the top 15 in S57 points isn't anything to write home about if you're McDavid, but the similarities are there. Tune into MAN games to see Wagstrom flying coast to coast. Look away if you start getting dizzy.

Task 12 - 4 TPE
a. I think the S57 Challenge Cup series will be a true toss up, considering the Hamilton Steelhawks and Chicago Syndicate finished the regular season right next to each other, at #1 and #2 in the Eastern Conference. There were only 5 points separating them as well as only 3 goals for and 5 goals against. They also employ top offensive threats in Michael Scarn and Martijn Westbroek, respectively. It'll be a treat of a series to watch!
b. I'll give the special teams advantage to the Chicago Syndicate, since what I'm seeing right off the bat from the power play points during the regular season is that they have a full top PP unit that's clicked for a total of 99 PPP across their top 5 PPP getters. While the Hamilton Steelhawks have a close 95 PPP across their top 5 as well, but their top LD is #8 in PPP on the team with only 7 PPP. I think having a full top PP unit consisting of a natural LW, C, RW, LD, and RD will help Chicago come out on top, at least for special teams.
c. For primary logos, I'll give CHI the lead, since their logo has brighter colors, making for good contrast. In terms of alternate logos though, HAM definitely wins, since their logo pictorially represents the "Steelhawks" and is easy to understand right off the bat, whereas the CHI alternate logo doesn't stand out. Sure, it might have intricate meanings behind the curvature and lines, but as someone who's not reading into their history, that doesn't really appeal to me. Its a tossup in terms of jerseys (home, away, alternates), but I'll take the CHI branding overall. Its clean, simple, and employs good contrast with simple colors (black, white, and yellow/gold).
d. This one's tough. Malik will pass on the lap dance, since he'd likely never live down that "experience". Malik is a competitive guy, so an opportunity to beat Luke Atmey at a staring contest is likely the best bet here. Reaching for objects on high shelves is a hazard, so let's steer clear of that. Malik prides himself on not letting himself get sucked into the vortex of gaming, so he'd prefer to not tempt himself with a League game with Parker Smeb. When's the staring contest?

Task 15 - 1+ TPE
Verification word: titanisold

Total TPE: 16 TPE