Task 1

Verification

Task 2

a. Absolutely. When you have a team firing on all cylinders like they do, it makes it extremely difficult to defend. Last year they relied heavily on Lebedev, and having only one guy producing in the playoffs is easier to stop when games get tighter. Now, they have 7 players above a PPG, so someone will be on the ice at all times, making them dangerous at every moment of the game.
b. The team they have is fantastic, and there’s no doubt with their talent and experience they can win it. That being said, they went the distance last year against Manhattan, who looks even better this season than they were last season. While Seattle hasn’t changed, the Manhattan roster will give them some added trouble they didn’t experience last season.
c. I think when it comes to the playoffs, and especially the finals, your top players are always the ones that will be looked at to carry the load. However, the opposition has plenty of tape to learn how to stop you, and that’s why when the finals come around it’s usually someone you’d least expect that steps up and becomes a hero. I think both Manning and Lind will be stars for their team, but there will be someone else who steps up for the winning team that will make the difference.
d. I’ll give the edge to Manhattan this season. While these are two very good teams, I think when you lose a tight playoff series, especially in the finals, as they did last season, that doesn’t sit well with you. All you want to do is avenge that loss and come out of there with a win, and even more incentive is they’re playing the same Seattle team that beat them last season.

Task 3

For Axel Kirby I think it’s to improve my defensive play. I feel I have been letting down my Kraken teammates a little too much over the past few seasons and I need to make adjustments to help us take that next step. I think I have come a long way since I started, but I have to be better. We have a roster poised to make some noise next season, but I need to step up at both ends of the ice. As a veteran I need to show that I can also play defense and not solely worry about offensive production.

In addition to that, I would like to add a little bit of a scoring touch. I have been doing a good job setting up my teammates, but I need that additional dimension to my game to make myself more deadly and make defenders respect the shot and not just block the pass.

Task 4

This one is easy, it has to be Bruno Tooyo. For those who don’t know, Bruno and I are actually brothers, so playing against him in the playoffs and having that little rivalry with one another would be a lot of fun. We like to bug one another but are also competitive, so it would make for some good banter back and forth. We’ve come up against each other a few times in the past, and it seems as though he’s doing slightly better in his career so far, but a playoff matchup would be a lot of fun.

Obviously playoff matchups have more to do with the team composition rather than individual players, so that would surely play into it, but that added level of competition would definitely make it so both of us would raise our game to another level to try and best the other. I think it would be fun and would make for some good storylines.

Task 5

I love the creativity, but I gotta say this is somewhat situational. If this battle takes place on land, there’s no way the boats can win. They are essentially stranded wherever they are placed, and the bulls could just decimate them once they find a way onto the boat or topple the boat over.

However, if this battle takes place in the middle of the ocean, it’s boats all day. Sure Buffalo can swim, but if they are in the middle of the ocean trying to swim the boats will move much quicker and they are just sitting ducks waiting to be picked off.

If we place this battle on the shore line, where both are comfortable in their own terrain, I’ll give the bulls the slight edge. Only reason for that is because they can also swim, so if needed they can get close to the boats. But the boats have no way of getting onto the land without severely hampering their ability to win this battle. I think I’ve rambled enough about this hypothetical now.

Task 7

Milestones