b. Manhattan has charged from a ninth place regular season finish to an Eastern conference championship and a shot at the Challenge Cup. I don't think that it's out of line for me to say that not many saw this coming. How do you think they got to this point? Who's performing better than expected? Do you think they have enough gas to complete the Cinderella run?

The Rage's success this season makes a fair amount of sense. JayWhy began the rebuild in the tail-end of the S50s, start of the S60s. One of the trends that good rebuilds have demonstrated in FHM is beginning to bear fruit as the picks from those early rebuild seasons are a few seasons away from peak TPE. We saw it when Texas won their first cup, when LA won their cup, and in Seattle last season. Would I have predicted it at the start of the season? No. But it does go with a sleeper trend that I hope we see more of in the coming seasons. Now, as for whether I think Manhattan can make it: the Rage came out swinging in the first two games, but I think ultimately Seattle has the better roster. (136 Words)

d. In many ways this seems like a battle of who can stay hotter longer. Both teams have PDO ratings as high as 110 while barely having any players that dip below 100. Seattle and Manhattan are both on absolute heaters of strong goalies and high shooting percentages. What do you think is driving this, and who do you think can keep it going longer? Who comes out on top?

I think I'm beginning to liken the algorithms that control FHM to midichlorians in Star Wars; that is to say, the Force has been with both teams so far. The first two games are in the books, Game 1 going 3-0 to MAN and Game 2 being clawed out from under them for Seattle to win 5-4. It doesn't bode well for Seattle, but if they can get the wheels glued back on, I think they can win in 6 games. (81 Words)



+3 TPE - S67 SMJHL Milestones