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S52 SMJHL CW
#16
(This post was last modified: 03-08-2020, 08:19 AM by lilstifler.)

Task #1
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Task #2
I don't think that other team switch really change situation. All teams are good and if theese teams who played in round 1 play again, I think it will be a different result. Knights and Newfoundland Berserkers won first round because they was best in that time. Both series end in 6 games and that is almost maximum of games in one serie. It proves that teams were strong and it was a real battle for round 2. Maybe if change that Knights with Newfoundland Berserkers play in one pair and Anchorage with Halifax in other then it will be interesting. Everything happens as it should. Results were good and it was interesting. But that's only my opinion about this situation. It would be interesting if these both series went to game 7. That will be real thriller and fight just like play-offs need. People like real fight not 0-4 in series with boring hockey.


Task #3 
Hey there. People think that 4th lines in teams are weak and can't score goals and make games to wins. That's why today I choose to write about Scarecrows 4th line and I think this line is very perspective to future. They are talanted guys and next season for those guys will be very important in their futures. But now, look at these dudes: Alex Reyer, Kriss Darzins and Borys Franciszek. In regular season they all together scored 8 goals, that's not good u know. But for Reyer and Darzins this was a rookie season and Kriss played only 27 games with teams. Reyer and Franciszek played both 50 games. Reyer got 15 points, including 5 goals, Franciszek got 3 points, including 2 goals and Kriss got also 3 points but only one goal. But I think these guys are future for SHL and for top teams. They are very talanted.


Task #4
Hello fellas, I'm John, we are here with one of the SMJHL rookie player - Krišs Dārziņš.
John: Hi Krišs, ah, your name is so hard to me..
Krišs: Hi John, yes it is hard for English peoples but here you can write and say it just like - Krish
John: Okay. You are here and we need to talk about play-offs and your team - St. Louis Scarecrows. So what do you think, what is your team options in Play-Offs?
Krišs: Amm.. I think we are good team with a lot of good players. I think we can get that cup this year. Our rookies are dangerous. 
John: Your team finished in 6th place in regulars, what was happened? Scarecrows was one of the applicants to regular season winners.
Krišs: Nothing happened. It's sport. No mather where in the table are you, if you play your best game in Play-Offs you can reach highest results.
John: You are rookie. What about you? Are you satisfied with your play time? 
Krišs: Yes. I'm rookie and I'm young, I need to prove myself that I can play better. I like to play hockey but I need to do things step by step.
John: And what about locker room? Is there all okay?
Krišs: Yes, teammates are very nice and there is a lot of jokes. Nice atmosphere.
John: Okay. Thank you and good luck in play-offs.
Krišs: Thanks. Bye. 

Task #5 

I spend this time with family in Latvia and I'm waiting for SHL draft. I flew to Latvia, because it's only free time and I wanted to spend it with my family. They are happy about me. It's sad that they are so far from me but it is nice to meet them. We went to the Riga zoo and it was amazing. I wasn't been there since childhood, that was before I went to America to play hockey there. We went to cafe, too. But most important for me was that we was together. It is amazing time. And I'm ready for SHL draft and next season, too. I need to get better and better. Of course I went to the gym, too. Peoples know me in Latvia and that's amazing.
#17

Task #1

For the Kelowna Knights there is no better fan giveaway than a foam sword! For the Knights first home game of their playoff series with the Halifax Raiders, the Knights decided to give the first 2,000 fans that entered the stadium a foam sword. The sword was Knights themed colors and included “Kelowa Knights playoffs” written on it. Do not worry there is no way these swords could have been used as weapons they are completely family friendly but great for team spirit. As the Kelowna Knights stormed into the rink we asked the fans to waive their foam swords in their air to show their support to their Knights.

Task #2

Coming into Round 1 the Kelowna Knights and the Halifax Raiders faced off while the Anchorage Armada faced off against the Newfoundland Berserkers. On paper the Kelowna Knights should have had no problem with the Raiders as they were the superior team but as we say the Knights did struggle a little bit before finishing the series in six games. The Berserkers and Raiders were a little bit closer but Berserkers were able to bear the Armada in six games. The Berserkers ended up getting swept by the Detroit Falcons in the second round and because of this I believe if the Knights and the Berserkers played each other I do think the Knights would have won the series easily. If the Armada and Raiders played each other it would have been very close, going to game seven with the Armada having the slight edge. This is really just because I think they have a slightly better roster

Task #3

Making it to the SMJHL finals is an extremely tough thing to accomplish. Each team is very close in terms of TPE so each game could have gone either way, but a few players do stand out more than others.
Kevin Robinson on the Anaheim Outlaws and James Ronlain on the St Louis Scarecrows are two players that stand out in my eyes. In the regular season Robinson had 20 goals and 48 points, almost a PPG player while Ronlain had 26 goals and 50 points, a PPG player. Coming into the finals, Robinson had 4 goals and 10 points in 10 games while Ronlain had 4 goals and 6 points in 12 games. So clearly Ronlain has something to prove coming into this series. Robinson would also like to show that he has what it takes to step it up in the playoffs. It will be very interesting to see how both players respond in the finals.

Task #4

Interviewer: Thank you for joining us Seppala, I know you must be disappointed in getting eliminated in the SMJHL playoffs so I do appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions. What are your immidiete thoughts on getting eliminated?
Seppala: You know it is a little saddening to get eliminated. None of the guys thought we were going to get eliminated, even when we were down in the series, we were all very positive. We had a great season even if we didn’t finish in the top of the league.
Interviewer: Talk a little bit more of the regular season, you guys were at the bottom of the leaderboard, do you think the Knights deserved to be at the bottom?
Seppala: The J is very tight league; every game is a hard fought battle and we had to earn every point we got. We were very close to the top, despite being at the bottom so being at the bottom was not anything bad in our eyes.
Interviewer: Thank you for answering our questions.

Task #5

I am spending my time enjoying myself a little bit. My first season drained the heck out of me because it was a lot tougher than I thought it would be. I really wanted to continue to hit the gym and train to prepare myself for next season in the J and make myself standout for the SHL draft, but my trainer told me rest is good, so I trust him. Right now, I am just spending a week or two in Hawaii trying to relax. I am extremely eager to get back to hockey though. I am both excited and nervous for the draft.

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Thank you Brandon, Fish, GeckoeyGecko, Karey, Kit, takethehorizon, and Ragnar for the sigs!
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#18
(This post was last modified: 03-11-2020, 09:26 PM by Zomp.)

Task 1

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Task 2
For the first round of the play-offs, I honestly don't think switching up the team match-ups would've made that much of a difference. Although, I do think that if the Kelowna Knights played the Berserkers instead in the first round that the Knights would've been able to finish off the series in less than six games. This is based off the fact that the Berserkers proceeded to get swept in the following round by the Falcons. I think on paper the Knights are the much better team, although they lost in the second round they managed to hold out and force a game seven against the Kraken. In the grand scheme of things, I personally don't think that it would've matter too much either way given the fact that neither of those four teams are championship caliber as none of them ended up making it out of the second round.

Task 3
Outlaws Anaheim Outlaws Goalie - Strom Chamberlain vs Kraken Carolina Kraken Goalie - Mike Hroch
As the third round of the play-offs was set to begin, a spotlight was shined down upon the goal-tenders from each team who'd be battling it out as they tried to carry their team into the finals. Unfortunately for the Kraken, their goaltender Mike Hroch spent the majority of the series getting absolutely Hroched as the Anaheim Outlaw's offense was too much of a challenge to try and stop. Mike Hroch allowed 17 goals on 102 shots faced during the series match up. This left some wondering as the two teams headed into the third game if Hroch was actually capable of stopping a shot faced after being pulled in the previous game after twenty minutes when he allowed 4 goals on 11 shots faced good for a 0.636 save percentage. Mike Hroch ended up with a .801 save percentage by the time the brooms came out at the end of game four. Meanwhile on the other end, Strom Chamberlain has been lights out for the Anaheim Outlaws averaging a 0.918 save percentage over the course of the series as well as bringing his record up to 8-1-1 for the post-season. Even a blind man would be able to see that there was no real comparison between the goal tenders. Rumor has it that Mike Hroch was seen after the series trying to call up Strom in search of some advice on how to stop a puck.

Task 4
My playoff hopes? That's simple, our plan here is to go ahead and win the Four Star Cup. We've already made it clear that we're a championship caliber team who's been able to roll straight through the play-offs and into the finals. We're coming off a sweep of the Carolina Kraken which gave us some much needed rest while the Scarecrows were out there finishing off the Falcons in game six. We haven't changed much since the end of the season, we're getting pucks on net and lighting up goaltenders while continuing to hustle on the penalty kill continuing to prove that it's the best in the league. I believe we're going to be back here next year as reigning championships to win another cup. Our general manager has brought some great guys into this locker room, a team that will be championship contenders for the next couple of years and will go down in history as one of the best.

Task 5
After celebrating our victory of the Four Star Cup, it's going to be time to start looking toward the SHL draft. I'm looking forward to start meeting with the different GM's of the league and to figure out what the future will hold for me. I'm not too sure where I'm going to end up, which is a little bit scary but at the same time exciting because who knows what the future might hold. Our team will be looking to build upon last season as we try to compete for another championship, although we're going to need to put in extra work in the off-season to try and make up for the players that we're losing who're being called up into the SHL.

#19
(This post was last modified: 03-06-2020, 09:58 AM by mastersheep.)

Task #1
Come see your Kelowna Knights slash through the opponents tonight as we face off against Halifax.  If you are one of our first 9,000 fans entering the Water Street side of the building, you can stand strong with us and defend against the visiting Raiders with our Knights themed thunder sticks!  Clash them together and fill the arena with a loud roar as we tear through their defense and stand tall with our superior ability!  Our giveaway features green thunder sticks which have our logo at the bottom with a massive golden sword imprinted so you can truly be one of the Kelowna’s finest Knights.

Task #2
For this task I decided to match up the #7 and #8 seeds and #9 and #10 seeds.

Anchorage vs Halifax

As bad as Halifax was this season, I think this would have been close with a slight edge going to the Raiders.  The Raiders won this series 4-3 in the regular season and outscored the Armada 24-22.  Anchorage clearly had the edge in special teams with a totally sustainable 30% powerplay against Halifax though and that could have propelled them if they had faced each other in the postseason.

Newfoundland vs Kelowna

This one probably goes to Kelowna.  The Knights outscored the Berserkers 23-15 in six games and won the series 4-2, including one shootout win.  However, they were outshot 166-151 and the powerplay against them was brutal with only a 6.67% conversion rate, far worse than any other team in the league.  The Knights also took twice as many penalties as the Berserkers in their matchups.  They also controlled the puck for a very even amount of time.  While I think Kelowna could have taken this series anyways, it would have been very close.

Task #3
The Four Star Cup Finals are just around the corner and today we are looking at the starting goalies and how they match up against each other.  Each of these goalies have been the stalwarts that have led their respective team to the finals.  Who will finish strong?  Let’s take a look at the stats and dive right in.
Outlaws Strom Chamberlain vs. Elizabeth Doyle Scarecrows
Strom Chamberlain Regular Season Stats:
Record: 18-12-5
GAA: 3.04
Save %: 0.883
Minutes: 2072
Star of the Game: 3 times
Postseason Stats:
Record: 8-1-1
GAA: 2.06
Save %: 0.916
Elizabeth Doyle Regular Season Stats:
Record: 23-13-4
GAA: 2.84
Save %: 0.888
Minutes: 2389
Star of the Game: 6 times
Postseason Stats:
Record: 8-4-0
GAA: 2.57
Save %: 0.898

Elizabeth Doyle had a spectacular season finishing 1st in wins and 4th in both GAA and save percentage.  The young Irish netminder has really been a workhorse for her club, helping her team handle Colorado in the second round and Detroit’s offense in the semi-finals.  Doyle is the smaller and flashier of the two goalies and is probably the better of the two overall.

Strom Chamberlain had the weaker regular season of the two goaltenders, but has really upped his game in the playoffs.  Currently, he is leading the pack in both GAA and save percentage with his stellar play as he helped put away Vancouver and then Carolina to punch the team’s ticket to the finals.  If he keeps up this level of play, Anaheim will be unstoppable.

Task #4
Reporter:  Now that you have had a full season and a couple of playoff series under your belt, how do you feel you did personally this season?

ED:  So, I was our fourth line center all season and it’s a bit difficult to judge with only a little bit of playing time.  Having said that, I scored three goals and had five assists on the season with those very low minutes.  We then went on to the playoffs where I scored three goals there as well and was named first star in one of those games.  I also won 60% of my draws and that’s not something many people can say this postseason.  So, I think while I did not start out as well as I wanted, I’m slowly improving day by day.

Reporter: How do you feel your team did as a whole?

ED: You know we had a few struggles early on, but there was a time where it looked like we would put it all together and go on a run.  Sure, we got the nice series win against Halifax.  There’s a bunch of us that are disappointed in how we finished though and how we failed our teammates who are moving on to the SHL.  We’ll get back at it next year though.  We have a few players up and coming to replace some of the folks we lost and I think we’ll be fine and hopefully surprise some folks.

Task #5
I’m spending most of my time with my family in Virginia.  I grew up there and while it’s certainly not the most fun place in the world to be, it truly is home.  My mother makes such good food and it feels like I’m at thanksgiving most of the time I’m here.  I also have been working out a bit, mostly jogging trying to build up my endurance and hitting the gym to stay in shape over the offseason.  A few scouts have contacted me about the upcoming SHL draft and I’m excited to show them what I can do.

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#20

Task #1 - Create a fan giveaway item to be handed out at one of your team's playoff games (can be a rally towel, foam finger, bobble head, etc.) (104/100 words)

You know those thundersticks they give out to make a ton of noise? So they came up with those sticks for our home opener against Kelowna last week, except they were shaped like the kraken tentacles, it was wild. They looked really cool, just a sea of orange waving back and forth making a thunderous noise. I signed a number of them after the game and they seemed like a big hit. Some inappropriate jokes were being made about them by the university kids, but I thought they were a really clever idea. Way better than the normal shirts or towels most teams do.

Task #2 - How would round 1 have gone down if the team matchups had been different? Which teams would be advancing to round 2? Would it have been more evenly matched? Less? (155/150 words)

If the tiebreakers went differently, we’re looking at St Louis against either Detroit or us in the first round. We saw what that Detroit matchup would do but the Carolina - St. Louis one is a pretty interesting one. We went 3-2 against them in the regular season, and took the last one right before the season ended, but anything could happen. It would have been cool to see Hudson get to play playoff games in his hometown though. I think we’d take it in 7. Detroit would have fared well against any of the bottom 4 teams, and Colorado might have gotten farther without running into St. Louis. I think the 4 best teams made it out in reality, so the potential for a cinderella wasn’t really a thing, maybe that could be Vancouver in an alternate reality. They had a great defense so they would just need to get a bit hot on offense.

Task #3 - Write a magazine style article OR make a magazine cover featuring a player comparison from any series matchup. You can compare player stats, etc. or get creative and compare their pregame superstitions or whatever. Graphic: Include team logos and player renders plus an article blurb or tagline for the graphic.
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Task #4 - Either write an interview with your player about your team's playoff hopes (or if you're on an eliminated team, an interview about your team's season in review) or create a program cover for one of the games in any playoff series. (154/150 words)

The season overall was a good one for us, but definitely not great for us at the end. We looked unstoppable for the first 30 or so games, won our first five or something? But we probably peaked too early all things considered, it’s hard to play at that level for 50 games, let alone 70. It was rough, because it’s the last ride for a number of our guys, and we really wanted to get them another title in their last season down here. They did a lot for us young guys, showing us the ropes, getting us acclimated to the league and the travel and the grind. Unfortunately we just didn’t have enough discipline with the penalties and it came back to bite us in the playoffs. Hopefully we can change how we approach our defense and off the puck play this offseason and play a cleaner game this next season.

Task #5 - It's officially the offseason. Whether you just won the cup or didn't even make the playoffs, it's time to take a break and look toward the SHL draft. Tell us how you're spending your time. (112/100 words)

I’m going off to Austria for a bit to see my family, then my sister is coming back to the states with me and we’re gonna tour some colleges that she might start at next fall. She’s hanging out stateside with me through the combine and draft, and then we’re gonna head back to Europe. She’s going back home for her last summer in Austria, and I’ll be heading to Moscow for the WJC where I should likely be playing for DACH this year. I’ll be hitting the gym most of the summer and trying to stay fresh for the next season, but I’m definitely looking forward to sleeping in a bit.

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#21
(This post was last modified: 03-07-2020, 11:54 AM by Chrisda19.)

Armada Chris de Siren Armada

TASK #1: [Image: Bst5Fp2.jpg]
 
TASK #2: Round 1 was actually a pretty good match-up for us. Although we went 2-3 against the Berserkers in the Regular Season, we felt positioned to over perform as our team was growing. We unfortunately had dropped the series to them due to a few defensive breakdowns that ended up biting us in the butt in the end. I think though if things were different, perhaps we could have done better. One team I would have liked to go against was the Knights, though we also went 2-3 against them this season as well.  I think we could have advanced into the second round under that scenario but we're at where we're at because of our failures on the defensive side of things. It will change moving into next year for sure especially with the changes coming with Franchise Hockey Manager, and hopefully the reduction of randomness that was Simon. (149 Words)
 
TASK #3:

Catching up with the Armada in the Off-Season

The Armada are in off-season mode after being eliminated in the first round this year, we caught up with the team after an end of season debrief.



When asked about how the team performed Acsolap was caught off guard by our question. “Admirably” is all we got out of him. After answering bluntly he turned around and chugged a can of Pabst Blue Ribbon asking “how do Americans drink this pisswater?” To which Chris de Siren replied with a Keg to the face.



“Oops” is all Chris said after letting out what could have very well been a burp that registered as a 4 in the Richter scale.



Moving to the front office, where newly minted Co-GM Golden_apricot was getting settled in, we asked him about how he’s settling in to his new role. “Oh you know, just announced today so really just settling in right now, just got up here you know. It’s a nice office though”. Not more than 30 seconds after we got that answer loud music began to play in the next room, which should be vacant. We moved over to that room and found Chris de Siren again, this time listening to what could only be described as music for people on Shrooms. 



He called it Shpongle.


It was then we left, wondering what the future holds for the Armada, a bright one to be sure. (239 Words)
 
TASK #4: A Post Season Interview with Chris de Siren
 
Interviewer: So Chris, your team was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, after having a rough regular season was this exit surprising?
 
Chris de Siren: In some regards yes, I felt like we worked hard after the regular season to prepare for the playoffs, and worked hard on the fundamentals but it just didn’t cut it. We still suffered our issues with faceoffs and overall defensiveness, especially on our line.
 
Interviewer: With that in mind, what do you feel you can do to improve moving into next season?
 
Chris: I think my strongest growth will be in the offensive zone. I’m also working on my defensive stats obviously with how miserable my +/- was this season it keeps me awake at night knowing that we could have done better but did not, but I will be working on scoring more.
 
Interviewer: Well thank you so much for your time today, Chris, have a good offseason and hopefully you make it all the way next year!
 
Chris: Thanks, bro.

(178 Words)
 
Task #5: Well right now in the offseason I’ve been working with our coaches on where I need to develop for my next steps into Season 53. Along with the Armada staff, I’ve also been working with my national team in Oslo in prep for International Play.  It’s been a good offseason thus far though, which has also allowed me to catch up on some gaming I’ve sorely missed during the regular season. I’ve been playing quite a bit of Crusader Kings II since CK3 will be out this year. I fancy myself a bit of history so to speak, so a game that is a deep dive into medieval times is a must for me. Along with that I’ve taken the time to enhance my hand eye through some meticulous painting of Warhammer 40k mini’s which is also a tremendous amount of fun. It definitely helps occupy the mind and switch off from hockey from time to time. (157 Words)

Chris de Siren - S52 Anchorage Armada | S53 Calgary Dragons 19th Ovr Draft Pick 

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#22

Task 1:
At our home playoff games this year, the team gave out these great horned helmets for fans to wear. Kind of like some of the gear you see from the Minnesota Vikings fans. In the first round, the helmets were legit. They were blood red, with slate grey horns coming off the sides, and were very sturdy and made with some quality. Only problem is I think management forgot how rowdy our crows is. The fans always get really hyped, but the playoff atmosphere brought out the Berskerer in everyone. And they basically handed all our fans weapons that they could wear on their head. There were a few...incidents against visiting fans, especially in game 5 to take the series lead. The front office seemed to get the memo, and downgraded the helmets to a cheap foam version for round 2. I'm not saying we should've kept the first one, but I don't think it's a coincidence that we got swept after changing them.

Task 2:
I think that the two best teams from round 1 both won their series - Kelowna and Newfoundland were the strongest two teams in the round. I think that the only way those two teams wouldn't have advanced in any scenario would be if they had to play each other. Anchorage matched up very well against the Berserkers, but in the end we just had slightly better firepower out of some of our top guys. Kelowna would've found the same success against them as well. Halifax played with a lot of energy and passion, but in the end they just had a weaker roster than anyone else they could have faced. The only alternate schedule that would've seen different teams advance would have been Halifax vs. Anchorage, and Newfoundland vs. Kelowna. In this scenario, Anchorage would've advanced, and the other series would have been a coin flip, but maybe Kelowna would have won, if you base it off of the round 2 results from each team (unless you're asking for my biased opinion because then NLB would've won in 3). 

Task 3 (written in the context of heading into the finals):
What will be the key to success in the SMJHL Cup finals? Our very own analysts say it will come down to two things: Special teams, as well as the home vs. road success of both teams. As we head into the series that will decide our next champion, the match up will be the tale of two power plays. The Outlaw's powerplay has gone an impossible 42% in the past two rounds, while the Scarecrows have barely found any success with their man advantages, going an unfortunate 10.4%. That's not a good sign for a St. Louis team that takes nearly twice as many penalties as their next opponent. Another thing to look forward to will be the 3 games in St. Louis. The Scarecrows have a 5-1 record at home, and have put away their last two series on home ice. But Anaheim has an even better 5-0 record on the road, where they've put away their last two series. Something's gotta give in this one folks, will it be the home or road advantage that prevails in our cup finals?

Task 4:
How do you think the team performed this year? Did you meet your expectations or did you fall short?

This season has been pretty up and down in terms of our team's success on the ice, and we could be pretty polar opposite in terms of performance. It was tough to say what our expectations were heading into the playoffs, since we had a big losing streak in week 3, followed by one of the best records heading into playoffs in week 4. I'm not sure how far I thought we'd go, but I certainly didn't think we'd get bounced in a second round sweep.

What could the team have done differently in round 2 to get the win?

I think a lot of our meltdown stemmed from our penalty killing taking the series off. We had one of, if not the best penalty killing units in the regular season, and then just inexplicably let Detroit walk all over us and go over 40% with the man advantage. I feel a lot of that blame comes back to me, as I played a lot of PK minutes this series, so it's something I have to work on for next year.

What about the season on an individual level?

Well I started out a little slow as most rookies do, but I turned it up at the end of the year, and ended 8th in rookie scoring as a defenseman. I also got the nod from the coaches to play first line pairing for the back half of the year. Most importantly, I had a great time with the rest of the team, and we have a fun atmosphere and are ready to come back stronger next year.

Task 5:
This is a big offseason. We're all getting really excited for the draft, and counting the days until we can hear our name called for one of the big league teams. So I'm just trying to get my name out there, talking with some of the potential GMs, making it known that I can help out any team in a few years. But this is a huge offseason for more than just the draft. We have some unique opportunities to really specialize our player styles, and work on more parts of our game rather than just generic defense, scoring, etc. I had a few relaxing days off where I caught back up with friends and family, but the offseason is the time to bust ass in the gym and on the ice, and really keep improving, So that's where you'll find me in the offseason. They'll be time for relaxing when I'm retired...or when we finally win that cup. 

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Sigs: Thanks JNH, Lime, Carpy, and ckroyal92 
#23

Task 1

Game 1 against St.Louis Scarecrows on home ice. We will give a mask to everyone who enters the stands. The mask will be about Samat Bebits... Samat Bayby.. I mean Samat Beibitzhanov. A Russian machine who never breaks and stops the pucks for Colorado Raptors. He is one of the fan favourites to lead the Raptors towards the finals. The mask will have a Russian style hat on top of it and a full lumberjack style beard which will keep the cold away. I don't know how well the Russian style mask will go with the American crowd but when they see the results they will surely love it!

Task 2

The only thing about first round we can say "but if" is that if Kelowna was above St. Louis in the standings. And even then the first round results were bound to be the same. Kelowna vs. Halifax was a tight series that went to game six, Kelowna winning 4-2. If St. Louis were to battle against Halifax it would have been even more one sided. St. Louis goaltender Elizabeth Doyle would have been too much for Halifax to handle and the series would have been closed in five games, 4-1 in my opinion. When you see how Doyle shutdown the Laurifer trophy winner Colorado Raptors you have no doubts about what would have happened to Halifax in the playoff series. After two losses she absolute dominated the whole series against Raptors. She was unstoppable the entire the rest of the series. I think that the right teams battled the first round and better teams advanced towards the second round.

Task 3 

Samat Beibitzhanov vs. Elizabeth Doyle, Colorado versus St. Louis. Before round two people were talking that "Colorado doesn't have enough scoring power" or that "Elizabeth Doyle is more experienced goalie than Samat" given that she has been in the league one year more than Samat. Not very many were expecting Colorado pulling a 2-0 lead in the series where Doyle let 9 goals in the first two games while Beibitzhanov only let four goals in. After two games Colorado were leading the series 2-0 and it seemed that Raptors have solved Doyle and the rest of the games were more of the same. However Doyle bounced back with two amazing shutouts that gave the St. Louis a chance. After those shutouts St. Louis ran with the series and won another two games straight granting Scarecrows a 4-2 series victory. Doyle showed amazing posture after losing two games to bounce back and steal the whole series from Raptors and ending their dreams about lifting the trophy.

Task 4

Here we an interview from Jerry Huuveri, goalie for Colorado Raptors. This is what Huuveri had to about his first season in the SMJHL:
" I got the start of the season for the Raptors and for my relief we got our first win after our second game. It was great feeling to contribute so early in the rookie season. After I played the first couple of games, we as a team had a great feeling about he season. However the games didn't go as well as we had hoped for, and we were under the 50 percent win rate for the first half of the season. I didn't get much of a play time but when things were about to look gloomy I got a chance to show my worth once again. Suddenly we started to win some games and when Samat got back between the pipes we went for a huge winning streak and we found ourselves near the top of the standings. It felt great. I feel like I had some real influence on about how our regular season went. We ended up with a three way tie for the Laurifer Trophy and we had a great starting point for our playoff run.

Task 5

The season is over.. We lost to the St. Louis Scarecrows in the second round. I feel heartbroken but there will be always another year, at least for now. Next up for me is the SHL draft. I can't wait. I really feel that I showed my worth in my first season. I worked hard and had some good results for a rookie. I'm not going to lie when I say I would be disappointed if won't go in the top three of goalies in the SHL draft. I feel like I have worked hard enough to earn the first round call or an early second. I wasn't really sure about my performance going in to the league with so much talent all over around me but now I feel that I belong here and that I can achieve great things. My self-confidence has gone up and up since I joined and now I have great expectations for myself and for my team.

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 Raptors Raptors Sweden Thanks to @JSS for the sig! Sweden Barracuda Barracuda 
 
#24

Task 1
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Task 2
If we had won our last game against Vancouver and finished in 1st place, Colorado would’ve played Newfoundland in the second round.  Instead of playing and losing to an eventual finals team in St. Louis, we would’ve had a much better matchup if we only could’ve pulled out that last game of the regular season.  Just goes to show important every game in the regular season is, it’s easy to pin it on the last game but we had plenty of close games that we could’ve pulled out earlier in the season too.  We went 5-1 against Newfoundland in the regular season and Detroit swept them.  I think we would’ve had a much better shot at moving on against the Berserkers.

Task 3
Colorado vs. St Louis, round 2 playoff goalie comparison. This series saw great goalie play on both sides of the ice. Both Samat Beibitzhanov (COL) and Elizabeth Doyle (STL) played well throughout the series which is reflected in their stats and how close each game was. Elizabeth Doyle had a slight advantage in GAA for the series with 2.14 vs. Samat Beibzihanov’s 2.39, while Beibzihanov’s had a slightly better save percentage at 0.910 vs. Doyle’s 0.908. Beibzihanov faced 16 more shots over the six games. Doyle had a difficult first game (5.0 GAA, 0.765), but was for the rest of the series including back to back shutouts to turn the tide of the series in game 3 and 4. After earning two home wins to start the series, Samat Beibzihanov was hung out to dry in the last four games of the series, facing an average of 31 shots while the Raptors averaged 1.5 goals over those 4 straight losses. Overall, both goalies played well enough to win the series for their respective teams.

Task 4
Sven Svenson season in review. Our season in Colorado was successful in the regular season and disappointing in the post season. We exceed everyone’s expectations and had multiple opportunities at the end of the season to secure first overall, but couldn’t close it out. We finished tied for first in points and third in the standings – I think we are all a little upset with ourselves for not doing more to win one in the regular season and push us over the edge to #1. Because of our lower finish in the standings, we ended up facing a tough St Louis Scarecrows team after the play-in round. Elizabeth Doyle was tough for us to beat and the biggest critique of our team, our lack of offense, really ended up killing us. Next season will be interesting for us.  We have a good young core, but also are losing some players to aging out and getting called up.  We lose some defenseman and top line players, so we are going to have to do well in the draft and signing free agents this year to continue building out our team.

Task 5
Now that it’s the off season, I’m taking a break from hockey to focus on getting my body back into shape for next season. Over the course of the season the bumps and bruises add up, so taking some time to rest will be key.  I’m also going to focus on getting stronger and doing hand eye training. I’ll shoot a little bit every day and pick it up more towards the end of the offseason. I’m also definitely going to spend a lot of time on the golf course now that it’s summer. I live in Boston in the offseason and the summer here is beautiful for all sorts of out door activities.

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Jean-François Bokassa
Armada

Proud Father of Johnny Wagner-Svenson

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Sven Svenson Career Stats


Sweden Raptors pride
#25

Task #1

Item: Whale Tails

At our home playoff games, we'll be giving out special foam whale tails! Show off your Whalers fandom with these blue and green beauties. Wave them around when the Whalers come out of the tunnel for the start of the game, when the team goes on the power play, when they score, when they win a game, and any other time you feel like it! We'll be giving away a free tail to the first 3,000 fans to arrive at each of our home playoff games. Show those pesky Anaheim Outlaws just who they're messing with! Accompanying whale noises while waving the tail around are encouraged.

Task #2:

Overall, I don't think too much would have changed if the placements of the bottom 4 teams had been altered in any way. For example, while Newfoundland had a 3-0-2 record against Anchorage in the regular season and won in six games, they were 5-0 against Halifax, so that series likely would have ended in a sweep or a five-game victory. Halifax wouldn't have made it a contest against Detroit anyway because their lack of defensive depth past the Skinner-Kalashnikov pairing is a terrible matchup with Detroit's hyper-offensive gameplan, so it doesn't really matter who wins this series, as they probably would have been smoked by the Falcons either way. The most interesting result of switching Anchorage's and Halifax's results has to be what it does to the Armada-Knights series. While Kelowna was a good team at home this season, their ability to win at home dried up in the playoffs and they went a pitiful 1-5 in their own building. The Armada, on the other hand, had a ridiculously good road record at 14-8-3, which was tied with Anaheim for the best away record in the league. With Kelowna having home-ice "advantage" in this series, Anchorage could probably have made things interesting with their stellar road record, and possibly won in six or seven games. However, the Armada also probably would not have given Carolina or Detroit much of a challenge even if they had pulled this series off, as their offense just went cold against a decent Newfoundland defense and likely couldn't have kept pace with either of those high-octane teams.

Task #3:

We're here for the start of the Vancouver Whalers' playoff campaign, and one player on Vancouver to watch is rookie William Hartmann. The undersized but scrappy Swiss player has endeared himself to the fans for his reckless willingness to throw his body at anything that moves, racking up 156 hits in 50 games. His offensive skills haven't been too bad either, putting seven points on the board in his rookie season and steadily improving as the season goes on. On the other end of the ice is Anaheim's steady defenseman in what is likely his last SMJHL playoff run in Nicholas Owens. The rock-solid defenseman put up 9 goals and 28 points in his season, and displayed a similar physical acumen to Hartmann throughout the season, throwing 96 hits. With a great goalie in the net for each team in White Goodman and Strom Chamberlain, we should get to see these two go at it plenty of times throughout the series.

Task #4:

Interviewer: How are you feeling after going out this early in the playoffs?
William Hartmann: It's definitely disappointing. The defense did a really great job of keeping the puck out of our own net, and Goodman stopped whatever came at him, but we just couldn't score. Credit to Anaheim, their defense just shut it down and their goalie was unreal, but we have to be better and it starts with me. I was out there on those power plays, honestly I don't even know how many we didn't score on in that series. It's as much on me as it is on anyone else.

I: What was it like being a first-round pick in a new city? Did you feel pressured?
WH: There's pressure with everything in this league really, but at the start when I wasn't scoring there was definitely that thought of "was I worth that pick, am I doing enough?" Luckily, the guys in the room were really cool about it, and once I got more comfortable with my new team and started putting up points it was a lot easier to settle in. I'll keep training over the summer and come back and be ready to perform.

I: You're losing a few of the older voices in the room next season. What's that going to be like?
WH: Yeah, it's tough. Goodman kept us in a lot of games this year and he's gone, Zlatan's going up, and Bieksa was a really good veteran voice and he's done. We've still got some of the old voices around with Breton and Ohlsson, but I'll just have to develop into one of the leaders myself and help our incoming rookies fill those shoes.

Task #5:

I haven't been back to Switzerland since I got drafted by the Whalers, so I went back there for a week or so after we got eliminated from the playoffs. It was pretty good to get away from it all and get some relaxation time. I love Vancouver, but the media can be pretty in your face sometimes, not so much in Lugano. After that was taken care of it was back to the preparation for the SHL draft. I've got some draft interviews to take care of so I can meet the SHL GMs, and I'm going to keep training and working on my skills so I can be a well-rounded player once the draft happens. There's a lot of rookies right around the range where I think I might end up going, and I want to prove that I can be one of the best of them.

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Sig credits to @sköldpaddor @ihatereyson
#26

Task #1 - Create a fan giveaway item to be handed out at one of your team's playoff games (can be a rally towel, foam finger, bobble head, etc.) [100 words]
I think as the Halifax Raiders, we have a few potential options for fan giveaways that isn't the normal t-shirt giveaway. The item we'll be giving away during our first playoff game of the season is a viking raider helmet. Albeit not of great quality, ie plastic, we know how awesome the crowd will look when thousands of people are wearing a viking helmet during the entirety of the game. We actually contacted Guinness to see if we could potentially set the record for most people in an arena wearing a viking helmet and we've yet to hear back. While hockey is definitely the most important thing for all of us, we think it would be cool for every fan in attendance to be part of a fun record that will be a part of SMJHL history!

Task #2 - How would round 1 have gone down if the team matchups had been different? Which teams would be advancing to round 2? Would it have been more evenly matched? Less? [150 words]
The playoffs are very hard to predict. As the Halifax Raiders we managed to take the Kelowna Knights to 6 games after being the worst team by far during the regular season. We even managed to keep the series tied at 2-2, so we had every opportunity to win that playoff series. While we did manage to make our series competitive, each other series was pretty predictable, so if the matchups were switched around I imagine the same thing would have been the case. The only main difference might be the playoff series that involved us, the Halifax Raiders. After looking back at the season and how we managed to take Kelowna to 6 games, we actually matched up with them pretty well. Had we swapped our series with another team, no matter who it was, I would have expected us to lose handily; likely 4-0 or 3-1. Obviously I wouldn't want that to happen, but it's hard to imagine it going any other way.

Task #3 - Write a magazine style article OR make a magazine cover featuring a player comparison from any series matchup. You can compare player stats, etc. or get creative and compare their pregame superstitions or whatever. [150 words]
The players we're going to be looking at in this article are Blake Feaux and Michael Preeb. Both are rookies to the SMJHL and were looking to prove to SHL teams that they are worth selecting in this year's upcoming draft during the offseason. First let's take a look at their total stats during Kelowna's 4-2 series win against Halifax. Before getting into the stats, I should preface this by saying due to Feaux's insistence that he is a pure defender, we'll only be looking at defenseman stats. Feaux managed the following: A plus minus of -3, 12 penalty minutes, 5 hits, and 13 shots blocked. Preeb managed a plus minus of 0, 7 penalty minutes, 5 hits, and 5 shots blocked. While it's hard to compare both of them since Faux ended up playing nearly 20 more total minutes, it is clear to see that Feaux takes many more chances and gets in the way of the puck much more often. Ultimately it's up to you to decide who ended up having a better series, but my vote is for Feaux.

Task #4 - Either write an interview with your player about your team's playoff hopes (or if you're on an eliminated team, an interview about your team's season in review) or create a program cover for one of the games in any playoff series. [150 words]
I recently interviewed Halifax Raider Blake Feaux about his first season in the SMJHL. Ultimately they ended up getting bounced in the first round to the Kelowna Knights after losing their series 4-2 in a much more tightly contested affair than anyone expected. Anyways, first I asked Feaux about how his first season went and he responded, "Well, honestly it wasn't great. Anyone on the team who says otherwise is just trying to sugarcoat it for the fans. We were last in the league all season and ended up losing in the first round. While I can sit here and say that there's always next season and everything is looking up, I'm just not that type of person to say stuff that is ultimately meaningless..." The previous answer has been shortened for readability. Feaux continued to rant about his first season for a good 15 minutes before saying, "...but having said that, I can assure you that I will do whatever I can to make sure our defense next season is as good as it's ever been. And that's not an empty promise."

Task #5 - It's officially the offseason. Whether you just won the cup or didn't even make the playoffs, it's time to take a break and look toward the SHL draft. Tell us how you're spending your time. [100 words]
With the SHL draft looming, Blake Feaux is going media silent. He has removed all social media from his phone, and is only accepting calls and messages from his agent (through which teams will be able to contact him) and close family until the night of the draft. While Feaux is already a guy who tends to keep to himself, this is a whole new level of shutting out the world. From day until dark he is training for the draft. I also hear Feaux has decided to go vegan for at least this offseason, but that has not been confirmed. I did also manage to learn that he is focusing hard on his shot blocking ability over the next few months in order to improve his defensive play and bring it to a level where you could truly call him an elite defender.
#27

Task 1: 
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Task 4: 
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Task 5:
"It’s party city in Anaheim as we just brought the Four Star Cup home. After the bender is over and the hangovers subside it’ll be back to work to prove that is wasn’t a fluke on our mission to repeat. We have some veterans moving up to the big leagues so us rookies will have to step it up to start to fill those shoes. Right now though, at this moment, we’re just focused on making the most out of this championship! Come catch us at the parade!"

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Player Page || Updates
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#28

Task #1
St. Louis Scarecrow roll of toilet paper giveaway. Have you eve seen the thing where each sheet of toilet paper in the roll has something printed on it you don't like? Well it's that with a scarecrow on it. This nice little gift would have been given away at the Scarecrows at Detroit game during the playoffs. I think it'll be a big hit and will be very popular on social media. Our fans would love it and non-detroit fans would probably get a nice kick out of it too.

Task #2
I don't think it would have been a very big change. If you happened to see my article about average TPE per team, you'd see that all four of the teams in the first round were pretty mediocre at best. Seeing as how the two teams that made it out of the first round were gone by the second round (one being swept by Detroit), I wouldn't think the other two teams would have stood much of a chance. The top teams in the league were stacked as far as TPE levels go and Detroit, while being low TPE, was still a lethal opponent. So, yeah, either way, the teams coming out of round one was still facing the #1 and #2 seeded teams and were moost likely going to fall to them.

Task #3

Task #4

Task #5

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#29

Task #1

Be one of the lucky first 100 fans to get in and receive your very own raptor suit! Enjoy the game looking like a raptor and screeching like a raptor for the ultimate playoff experience! All of our raptor suits come with a free raptor jersey designed specifically to be worn over the costume, to show the world you're not just some crazy person in a dinosaur  costume. Notice: Wearing the costume during the game requires the purchase of two tickets for one person due to the suit's size. Must present two ticket stubs at the entry to obtain the costume.

Task #2 

I'll tell you one thing it would've been different for the raptors. Having to go up against St-Louis immediately was rough, they ended up making the finals. I'd like to think that maybe had we not been that hot at the end of the season and had been able to play another team like newfoundland maybe, that definitely would've been a better matchup for us but we probably would've had to face St-Louis eventually anyways. I don't think much would've changed in the end on our side of the league because St-Louis was definitely gonna be headed to the finals. Sadly they faced an even hotter Anaheim team and we all know what happened. I think the teams that made it there were headed there and the matchups didn't matter that much. I must admit I didn't follow the rest of the playoffs after our disappointing defeat in the first round.



Task #3

On one side, the St-Louis Scarecrows have James Ronlain, top pointer and goal scorer for his team. On the other side, we have Carlos Brown, late newcomer to the Raptors or the sport in general. This season Ronlain had 26 Goals and 24 Assists for a total of 50 points in 50 games, ladies and gentlemen, he was hot. For the raptors Carlos Brown has accumulated an impressive 2 goals and 1 assist in 15 games, we immediately see here who's gonna be the best in that matchup. The stat to look at here is goal to assist ratio, Brown doesn't have time to wait to set up another player no, he scores all by himself DOUBLING is total assist in goals, that is an insane stat and watch out for him in the upcoming SHL draft! He is sure to be a steal for whatever team manages to get their hands on him. 

Task #4

Q: How do you feel your first season went?

A: I think I surpassed my own expectations coming into the season like I did so late in the year. I managed to make an effect in a few games and got some playoff experience too.

Q: Your season ended in a disappointing first round loss, do you think you could've done better?

A:Well I managed to go out there and scoal 1 goal in the whole series so obviously for me it was thrilling to get to do that but it wasn't enough to help my team. Hopefully next year I can be a bigger part in our success, especially in the playoffs.

Q: How would you rate your season on a scale of 1 to 10?

A: A solid 7 maybe? It's hard to say, I know I wasn't the biggest producer on the team but I really feel like I am having a good start to my career and I think I managed to hold my own while I was pretty much the most unexperienced player on the ice.


Task #5

Training training training, I need to come back better, faster, stronger next season and I won't do that by sitting on my ass all day. I hit the gym twice a day everyday, I skate 5 times a week and run drills. there is no time to be lazy, not even the offseason. I do plan on taking a week to go home and see my family, I haven't seen them since I joined Colorado which is a long way from my home in Canada. I am also gonna be taking part in the World Juniors Championship so I gotta get ready for that.
#30

Task 1:
Come on down for Game 3 of the Four Star Cup finals in beautiful St. Louis, Missouri! The first 1,000 fans into the game with get special Luc-Pierre Lespineau-Lebrunette bobble head! This bobble head is to commemorate LPLL's incredible ability to get sent to the box at will! This bobble head will have not only LPLL getting sent to the box, but also a second bobble head of a referee pointing him off the ice! So please come on down to the first game of the SMJHL Four Star Cup Finals being hosted here in St. Louis to support your team and get a piece of history with it!

Task 2:
Realistically both series were rather close though the real big difference is that I think that I think the Anchorage Armada may have fared better against the Kelowna Knights in the first round than versus the Newfoundland Berserkers. Halifax was going to struggle regardless of the competition they faced as they struggled all regular season against just about everyone, but Newfoundland would have been a much tougher match up as they only managed to pick up one point against them in the regular season, losing 4 of their 5 meetings in regulation and only being able to push one to overtime where they lost still.

Task 3:
In today's article, with the Four Star Cup Finals looming I have decided to take a look at the top performing rookies from the two finalists in the Anaheim Outlaws and the St. Louis Scarecrows, Ziggy Tambo and Erben Kasius respectively. First let's take a look at where they were selected and how they performed in the regular season, starting with Anaheim's Ziggy Tambo. Ziggy was selected 41st overall in the S52 SMJHL Entry draft which is impressive considering that he finished with the most points from a Outlaw rookie this season, with 18 points in 50 games. Erben was selected 16th overall to the Scarecrows and lived up to that 2nd round billing delivering a great 25 points in 50 games as a rookie, which ranked him as the 5th best in rookie scoring in the regular season. These two rookies played big time minutes for their teams and should play big parts in what should be a very exciting finals!

Task 4:
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Task 5:
After a long first season in North America, getting drafted to a new city in the Midwest in St. Louis, new experiences and a lot of travel, and a long playoffs that ended not how I wanted as we lost in the finals, I just want to relax. As many players are gearing up for the draft and focusing on that, I'm happy to know that I know where I am headed. Off to Toronto to get settled in and meet my new teammates, before coming back down to St. Louis for my sophomore juniors season. I plan on traveling home for a week to visit all my family I miss and spend some much needed time with them to talk over the crazy new experiences in North America and hopefully get them set up as I get my first real contract as a professional hockey player!

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Credit to Copenhagen, Wasty, FlappyGiraffe, InciteHysteria, and caltroit_red_flames
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