Task #1

--Top 5 playoff breakout players--
There were some players that had an exceptional playoffs showing, yet they didn’t show much of that in the regular season. Here they are -

• Nour Harrak - Kelowna - in the regular season this winger from Kelowna manged to put up not too impressive 18 points (7 goals and 11 assists) in 50 games, but in the 12 playoff games he improved his productivity big time, averaging a point per game with 6 goals and 6 assists. His shot percentage went up from 7.45% to a respectable 14.63% as well. With this performance he led every rookie in the SMJHL in playoffs scoring.
  
• Hoid Wit - Vancouver - this defenseman didn’t really showcase his slapshot accuracy in the regular season, scoring 3 goals on 38 shots, yet in the playoffs to score 3, he needed to take just 8 shots, possessing a staggering 37.5% shot percentage. Such performance could have definitely motivated Vancouver players to shoot more and eventually win the cup.
  
• Wolf von Hammersmark - Colorado - He scored 9 goals for Colorado in the regular season, showing that he wasn’t one of the team’s top scoring options ,yet in the postseason he was second in the league in goal scoring with 7. Seems like many players got confidence boosts during the playoffs that made them be that much more productive.
  
• Colton Hagan - Colorado - in the regular season this forward played for PGF and Colorado, and showed that his physical game isn’t his strong suit with 48 recorded hits in 49 games, but in postseason he was the league’s hits leader with 48 in 17 games. That’s a sign of a player who gives everything and a bit more from himself in the postseason.
  
• Brandon Gauthier - Vancouver - this center in the regular season was decent at taking faceoffs, winning just over 52 percent of them, but in their run for the cup he led the league in FO%, with 58.16%. Winning faceoffs definitely play a role in winning games, and Gauthier definitely showed that he’s got skill at those.
  

Task #2
I.-interviewer
F.-Francesco Bellucci

I. - ...so here we are, in Detroit, talking to the rook, Francesco Bellucci, who played for the unlucky Falcons team this season. Francesco, was the season really unlucky or did you guys lack skill to compete at the end?
F. - I think we were unlucky. In mid-season, we were not far away from the second place, we were constantly in the mix for the playoffs, but some lucky goals for the opponent teams, some unlucky plays from our side, sadly, ended our hopes for making a run for the cup. Disappointing, but it’s better to look forward and to improve not look at what happened and find someone to blame.
I. - It seemed like it wasn’t just the bad luck, as team’s first line center Chris Smulander requested a trade shortly after the season end. Any comments on that?
F. - Smulander was a good buddy of mine, someone with a season of SMJHL experience under his belt already, and apparently he felt that the team and the management didn’t do enough to secure a playoffs spot. You can definitely see this event as questionable and maybe unprofessional, because I know he came to Detroit with passion and now he was so open about wanting to leave.. I don’t know. Sometimes things like that happen. I know that I gave everything and my teammates did too. We’ll see then how can we replace him next season.
I. - In the end you played in the relatively new series for the 1st overall pick in the next SMJHL draft, and ended up sweeping Halifax, taking the pick easily. How did you manage to show such good hockey after the disappointing end of regular season?
F. - Yeah, it wasn’t really a battle, because we clearly had more experience on the ice and the series was pretty easy to take. Not a huge fan of this idea, but hey, we’ll take the first overall pick. That’s definitely something we can work with and I believe our managers will make the best out of it.
I. - Thanks for your time, Francesco! Good luck in the SHL draft and in the next season!
F. - You’re welcome, and thank you!

Task #3


Task #4
In my opinion SMJHL playoff MVP is Vancouver Whalers goalie Carrick Murray. He led all goalies in lowest GAA with 2.37 in 9 games and was second best in save percentage with 89.8%. He was the backbone of Vancouver and definitely the main reason the Whalers won the Four Star Cup. In the first game of SMJHL finals, he intimidated Colorado’s hot offense by making 38 saves on 39 shots, leaving an impression that even by putting on big pressure Colorado will have a really tough time beating this goalie. In the next three games he put on solid performances night in and night out, allowing more than 2 goals only one time, while Vancouver’s offense felt encouraged by Murray’s performance in game 1, doing the job needed to send Colorado home with a sweep in the finals series, and let the league’s best goalie have a season to remember forever.

153 words

Task 5