Oliver Cleary's S54 was the definition of fine. Coming off a huge season where Cleary raised his point totals from 14 to 36 while tying for the lead league in goals with 15, Cleary was hoping for continued offensive improvement. That didn't really happen. The first half Cleary regressed, barely putting anything on the board. In the second half, he started to gain more confidence and found his stride, finishing with 30 points overall. Cleary's defensive game showed great improvements though and looks like it'll continue to grow. His decision making was also great, only coughing up 11 giveaways. This can be attributed to Los Angeles incredible coach Mook. Mook worked with Cleary to refine all aspects of the game, making him a build that works with his strengths. In S55, Cleary hopes to continue to see improvements. He hopes he can get back to being an offensive force while also continuing to improve his defensive game to contribute at both ends.



Oliver Cleary will be watching the Challenge Cup finals from afar. This finals truly hurts for the Los Angeles Panthers defensemen. Looking strong coming into the conference finals, the Panthers were hyped to get a chance to compete for a finals berth. They started weak, going down 3-0 very quickly. But they clawed back, tied the series and had a lead going into the 3rd. It wasn't meant to be though. The loss hurts for Cleary and his plans were to just drown out the noise and focus on next season. He would be cheering for New Orleans because lets be honest, it's also best to lose to the champions. Instead of watching the games though, the team had a bittersweet end of year party at Jon Toner's house. Few drinks and a few laughs. After that was done though, Cleary went back to Toronto so he can focus on his training regiment to come back even stronger next season.



Honestly, detective Oliver Cleary had no issue tracking down Sergei. When Sergei played with his brother in the late 2000s with the Montreal Canadiens, there was a lot of stories about how they may have had connections to the Montreal mafia. Obviously Sergei did something to annoy the mafia and now they have him hostage. What will detective Cleary do to help Sergei? Not much. Why would Cleary risk his neck to screw with the mafia? Should Cleary really risk his playing career to help two men he has no personal connection to? What about Cleary's kneecaps? Andrei is on his own.



The player I'm going to make a case for is Flacko Lagerfeld. Lagerfeld has been a top player for close to ten seasons now. He always seems to be one of the top point getters in the league, defying father time who continues to try and bring him down. Use S54 as an example. Over 80 points, winning the league scoring title by over 10 points and is going to be considered for the MVP. He's a multiple time award winner, all-star and he has won Challenge Cups. It's hard to make a case against him at this point. He checks every single box.



When thinking of which SHL players would be best for the Challenge Cup finals broadcasts, I have two names. My choices for the broadcasts would be both Jax Aittokallio and Luke Thomason of the Manhattan Rage. Both players would be huge assets not because they are over the top personalities but rather because they are two of the most knowledgeable SHL players. Thomason is a huge history buff who has spent countless hours looking back at the history of the league, organizing the history books as well as trying to absorb any knowledge he can. Who is the main person he goes to when he has questions? That would be Aittokallio. Aittokallio has strong bloodlines and has been around since the start of the SHL in one form or another. When Thomason has questions about gaps of knowledge, Aitto is there to answer them. They would be great to have just chatting back and forth about the history of the league during intermissions and pre-game.




Verification word - Buster

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