Login

Justice · 11-20-2016, 08:29 PM

1. Pick the game in a series that lost the losing team their chance at the cup (e.g. going down 3-1, letting a team come back to force a game 7), and write 200 words about what specific element of the game (a line, a statistic, a fight, etc) contributed the most to the loss.

Game 5 of the West Kendall/New England series was the real turning point. After being up 3-1 in the series, West Kendall let New England gain some momentum and confidence with this one, and forced West Kendall to have the pressure on their shoulders for the next two games which definitely contributed to New England's series win. While Pettyfer opened the scoring, New England struck back with three goals in the matter of two minutes which did a number on West Kendall's morale, and they never recovered after that. West Kendall did end up tying the game however, but Silverwing scored the game winner with only a couple minutes left which put the game fully out of reach. Seeing how West Kendall had 24 shots, and New England had 40, it was just a rough game for West Kendall altogether and they are lucky they got as close to winning as they did. in conclusion, I think it is safe to say that West Kendall falling apart in the first period of this game without a doubt had a strong contribution to New England winning this game, and eventually the series. Patrikov's Bure three point performance that game definitely helped New England get the edge over West Kendall as well.

2. Your player is out of the playoffs! Whether this is because the team didn't make it, or you have been eliminated, or you won the cup, write 150 words about the first thing they do to kickstart the offseason.

After what can be regarded as a disappointing rookie season, Ty Justice buckled down, and got to work at the gym almost immediately after being eliminated. It is pretty easy to see that over the course of Justice's rookie campaign he had difficulty keeping up with the strength, speed and technicality that a lot of SHL players bring to the league, and if Justice wants to compete on the level of those superstars than he has to get to work in the gym, and keep getting better in areas like his skating, puck moving, checking, etc. Grinding out and getting better is likely what Justice will focus on for most of the offseason, and if he keeps at it then his sophomore season will likely have a little better of an outcome for him. His puck moving ability has certainly been his weakness for his entire career thus far, and his rigorous offseason routine will likely see some improvements made in that area.

3. Write 200 words about which single stat is most important in playoff success, for example goals, plus/minus, shots on goal, sv%)

While there are a number of important stats to look into and solve while trying to build a championship team, nothing wins games quite like goals. They are the most raw, simple measure of a team and if you're scoring, you're gonna make out a lot better than teams that don't score. While having good goaltending, and a good sv% is important, I find that it makes more sense to depend on an entire forward core to lead the offense than it is to depend on one goaltender to save the game. The way goals are scored can also be a tell of other offensive aspects of the team. For example, you can look at if X player is mostly making plays on his own without needing assists from his teammates, or if another player is frequently scoring primary assists with another player's goal, or if a player doesn't manage to score anything while playing on a line with other players. There's a lot that goals can tell you about a team, and it just goes to show how important goalscoring can be for a team compared to other stats. That's why I believe that goals are the most important stat to follow if you're putting together a competitive team.

4. Write 200 words about your chosen unsung playoff hero. Must include three stats.

West Kendall Platoon's unsung playoff hero would have to be Maria Maximova. Guys like Szlerchek and Smirnov get a lot of love seeing as how they managed to score 9 points in the 7 game series, but Maximova managed to play a steady offensive game while remaining defensively responsible. Although she didn't score any goals, Maximova managed to contribute 5 assists to the Platoon's offense, While that point total isn't overwhelmingly positive compared to other Platoon players, she managed to stay positive with a plus/minus rating of +1, which is something that quite a few players on the Platoon were unable to do, especially facing New England's high flying offensive team. Maximova also sought out to make her physical presence known, as she managed to tally 17 hits throughout the series. All in all, I think Maria Maximova's presence on the Platoon roster was exceptional and well rounded, and was a big contribution to the Platoon coming so close to making it past the defending champions of New England. Next season, Maximova will be a part of a hungry West Kendall team that's looking to make a deep playoff run, and Maximova will likely be a huge piece in West Kendall's success next season as well.

NYRangers · 11-20-2016, 08:48 PM

1. Pick the game in a series that lost the losing team their chance at the cup (e.g. going down 3-1, letting a team come back to force a game 7), and write 200 words about what specific element of the game (a line, a statistic, a fight, etc) contributed the most to the loss.
This one is pretty easy. The game that lost Colorado it's chance at the Four Star Cup is obviously game seven of our first round series against Vancouver. The biggest difference was Vancouver's third line. The Whalers' third line of Wright, Cox, and Tsujimoto made a huge impact on the game, and the series. In total, that line put up seven points on the game. Tsujimoto has one goal and two assists, Wright had two goals and one assist, and Cox had one assist as well. I addition to their stats that directly affected the score board, they were able to contribute in other ways as well, albeit not as much. Tsujimoto was plus two, had a shot on goal ,and won the only face off he took. Cox was also a plus two and was one for one in the face off dot. Wright was plus two, with two shots, and won six out of nine face off attempts. Without this line, Colorado may have won the game, and the series. Other than that line, the team stats were pretty even. Tusk, Bearss, and Scroder also had strong games for Vancouver, while Hagan, Svensson, and Leetch were the goal scorers for Colorado.

Code:
203 words

2. Your player is out of the playoffs! Whether this is because the team didn't make it, or you have been eliminated, or you won the cup, write 150 words about the first thing they do to kickstart the offseason.
First, we'll take a little break to get some time with our family and friends either back home or in Colorado. Then, we usually take a team trip somewhere. We're not sure where this year's trip will be. Last year went to Sweden if I remember correctly. After that, which usually takes about two weeks, it's right back to hockey. We start training and preparing for the next season. Working out, working on conditioning, endurance, or shots, everything. We need to stay in shape because it's much easier to constantly stay in shape, then have to keep fighting to get back in shape. The true "offseason" is pretty short. We take a few weeks to relax and then it's right back to work getting set for the next season. I'm looking forward to it. At some point we'll probably all get together to watch the SHL and SMJHL Finals as well in the next few days.

Code:
156 words

3. Write 200 words about which single stat is most important in playoff success, for example goals, plus/minus, shots on goal, sv%)
I feel save percentage is the most important stat in the playoffs, or any game in general. It's kind of a controversial stat because some say it's more of a team/quality of shots stat. I can see that argument. Offense is important, but if you score 6 goals and the other team scores 7 you still lose. But with goaltending, if you don't let in any goals, you can't lose. Eventually you will score and end the game. I feel it's very important to have a strong goaltender, which Colorado does, and that's necessary to be a successful team. I also feel that shots for and shots against are important stats. As the famous Wayne Gretzky quote goes, "You miss one hundred percent of the shots you never take". Always get shots to the net. Even if it means just throwing pucks on net. You never know if it might bounce of the ice, or off a defender, or create a big rebound. Just get shots to the net. And prevent the other team from doing the same. You could have the best goalie in the league, but if the other team has 50 shots on goal, they likely can't stop all of them.

Code:
205 words

4. Write 200 words about your chosen unsung playoff hero. Must include three stats.
I think this one should go to someone on Kelowna. Someone who didn't have a great regular season, but turned it on come playoff time. Anatoly Yanovich. There wasn't really anything special about his regular season performance. Yanovich has okay numbers, but nothing great. In fifty games, he had seven goals, nine assists, and sixteen points, and was a minus one. In the playoffs, Yanovich played like a completely different player. On route to a Four Star Cup Championship, he tallied four goals, five assists, and nine points in just eleven games. He was also a plus three in the post season. It's not very often you see someone have that big of a change in play from the regular season to the post season, but when it does happen, it provides a big boost to the team, and can even help propel them to a championship. The Knights had many players contributing for them at a high level, and in the end they were able to win it all, and one of the more underrated players in the post season, Anatoly Yanovich, played a big part in his team's success, and Kelowna would love to have him keep it up in the regular season as well.

Code:
207 words

Ok, now I'm not good with graphics, but here ya go lol:

5. Design playoff merchandise for a team. Can be a t-shirt, or a hat, or something a little more unusual. Be creative! Must include a team logo somewhere on the item.
[Image: ncM4VNF.png?1]

6. Design a poster for the finals, matching the teams against one another. Must include at least two player renders, and both team's logos.
[Image: zfO6RiA.png]

7. Make a graphic matching up a "Player To Watch" on each team in the finals. Must have 3 stats minimum, two player renders and team logos.
[Image: LtwAPSG.png]

8. Design the Championship banner that will go at the top of the site. Must include at least one render, the team name and logo, and "S31 Challenge Cup Champions".
[Image: qztWDTl.png?1]

Prediction: Who scores the Cup winning goal?
Jasper Clayton (NEW)

Sig by Wasty and Copenhagen.

Former GM: [Image: bhn88m.png]

[pbhfx]

[/pbhfx]

|

|

Affiliates: [Image: 2ugjkte.jpg]

Former Affiliates: [Image: xaoosh.png]

TheLastOlympian07 · 11-20-2016, 08:50 PM

1. Game 5 took place in Boston, Massachusetts as the New England Wolfpack hosted the Edmonton Blizzard. The Challenge Cup was in the house as New England had a 3-1 series lead. The Edmonton Blizzard knew they had to come out hard in this game if they wanted to play Game 6 back home in Edmonton. The first period was 2-1 in favor of NEW but the shot were 6-6 so things were pretty even. However in the 2nd period, NEW made it a 3-1 game . Shots were 13-12 in favor of NEW in the 3rd period, Edmonton knew they had to score first to have a chance. It didn't happen as NEW added three more before Edmonton made it 6-2. Jasper Clayton was named the first star of the game with 2 goals and 1 assist for 3 points in the win. He led his team to victory in the most important game of the season. That 3rd period is where the Blizzard lost the game as they were also out shot 14-9 in the period. Congrats to the New England Wolfpack on their 2nd of back to back championships, well deserved as they put in a lot of hard work in and around the Simulation Hockey League website.

2. Lukas Berger and the WInnipeg Jets did not make the playoffs and have not made the playoffs for the last 3 seasons. Berger works hard each and every offseason and this one was no different. He kept to training regiments to get better to try and help his Jets team get back into the playoffs as Berger hates losing. He also prepares himself for the IIHF where he loves to play his native country of Austria. A few tournaments ago, Berger was named the best goaltender of the Season 29 IIHF tournament. This was the first individual award Lukas has won. He hopes the bring Austria and Winnipeg Jets to the promise land one day and he won't stop training until the day he does. He also trains to hopefully win the top Goaltender Trophy one year. Next year, hopefully I won't be talking about how we missed the playoffs, the first step next year will be to make the playoffs.

3. It is hard to pick just one so I would just pick a few that go hand in hand. In the first round, the New England Wolfpack and the West Kendall Platoon had 23 goals for and 23 goals against which led to a great series for both of them which New England won. In round 2, the New England Wolfpack scored 22 goals and allowed 13 goals which led them to winning the series in 7 games after losing 3-1. Now in the finals, the New Englnd Wolfpack scored 17 goals and allowed 9 and they won the championship. So in all, you need to out score your opponent and allow minimal and you will be successful. The leading goal scorer for the New England Wolfpack was Patrikov Bure who scored 11 goals of the 62 for New England. Jakob Tanner on the other hand stopped 361 shots of 389 for a save percentage of 0.928. He allowed 28 of the 45 goals against. These two players went a long way to helping the New England Wolfpack win the 2nd of a back to back championship.

4. The unsung playoff hero, for the New England Wolfpack in my opinion has to be Jasper Clayton. He has been with the team as soon as the GM has been named and he has gone through it all with the Wolfpack. Here are a few stats which I think lead to him being a unsung playoff hero.

Goals
Jasper was the 3rd leading goal scorer on the team with 7 goals. Only Patriknov Bure and Raven Silverwing had 11 and 8 goals respectively. He scored these 7 goals on 14% shooting percentage.

Plus/Minus
Jasper was also third on the team with a +10 rating, this was only behind Nathan Russell, Blake Sherill and Charlie Winchester who all had +12 while Brandon Pomrey +11. The rest never reached double digits in the plus minus statistic.

Shots Blocked
Jasper was 2nd on the team with 22 shots blocked. Benjamin Reid was 1st with 33 shots blocked while Brandon Pomrey was 3rd with 21 shots blocked. The others on the team barely reached double digits.

These are the 3 reasons to which I think Jasper Clayton was the unsung hero in the playoffs for the New England Wolfpack. Jasper Clayton is a key player for the Wolfpack and I expect him to continue to be one.

Slappydoodle · 11-20-2016, 08:51 PM

Mammalian protuberances

Nereus · 11-20-2016, 09:11 PM

1. It's like the world was in slow motion. We were facing the Edmonton Blizzard in the second round of the SHL Playoffs in Season 28, my sophmore season in the big leagues. We had tied the series 2 to 2 and planned on giving Edmonton a run for their money and we did. What we didn't expect though was for them to put up as much of a fight as they could possibly muster. Three goals in the first 5 minutes of the game. It looked like we were done for, until Satan put us on the board late in the 1st with just 4 seconds left on the clock. Following another goal from Scott Robertson in the 2nd period it became a one goal game. Then it happened. At the beginning of the second period a puck careened off the stick of a Winnipeg player and fell to Chuck Goody in the neutral zone. He made no mistake racing up the ice and depositing the puck in the net. It was only by some miracle that Jamers Both scored two goals afterward to send us to overtime to eventually lose at the hands of a goal from Miles Berger. This ultimately put us on the path to losing. Unfortunate, really.

211 words

2. The first thing I did when the playoffs ended was book a one way trip to Anacrime Hills, California. I knew that my time in Winnipeg had come to an end for the near future and that I had a long offseason ahead of me. So many emotions and thoughts running through my head. On one hand you want to hate yourself and get upset at the fact that you did not accomplish your goals. At the same time you do not want to be too negative about the situation given you have to keep going with what you have and being negative is not going to do much but make everything worse for yourself. More often than not moving along like nothing happened is something that you need to do. Train your ass off when the time comes, sure, but enjoy your semi vacation when you have it. That being said I landed in SoCal and went straight to the beach. Did a little sightseeing. Hit up the local bars. Ate like a madman. It's all good in Southern California. And the future is just so far ahead, so it's not worth thinking about right now. Or at least that's what I keep telling myself.

206 words

3. In the playoffs every single player on the team needs to contribute. Hell, even the training staff needs to be on their game because the stakes cannot be any higher. If you're the type of player who puts up assists on a consistent basis, you bet your ass the coach is going to expect you to be earning your keep racking up those assists when it actually matters. There are other things players bring to the table, sure, but in my opinion there is only one statistic that separates the men from the boys. That is goals by the way. I don't know how you need me to explain this to you but goals are kind of a big deal. You can change the future of the SHL with just one goal in the playoffs, so yeah what did you honestly expect? Don't get me wrong by the way, I respect defenseman and I don't want to be super anti defenseman which I may come off as with this pick, but I truly do think it takes an elite player to lead their team in goals during a championship run to the top. It makes you special in some way. Like Dany Heatley.

203 words

4. The unsung hero of this recent playoffs was no doubt Jasper Clayton. When you're thinking about what kind of player that is a prototypical superstar in the playoffs, you are going to probably first imagine a forward streaking across the ice with some nasty dekes, sliding the puck into the slot and into the back of the net with the greatest of ease. Then again the old adage goes, "defense wins championships." The phrase cannot make more sense in reference to the powerhouse that is Jasper Clayton. Ever since he was drafted 2nd overall in the S25 SHL Draft he has been touted as the next big defenseman in the SHL, and boy, he hasn't disappointed yet. With two championships back to back Clayton made a name for himself as a superstar mainstay in the big leagues. With 7 goals and 10 assists in 19 games in the playoffs last year, there is no denying that anymore. He also registered 14 penalty minutes and a +10 rating. Anyone would want to play alongside this monster defenseman despite what they might say. If anything, they would want to play with an exact clone of Jasper Clayton in another form. That would be unethical, but damn would it put asses in the seats. I like to imagine Max Weber is going to follow in this young player's footsteps.

226 words

Rabidsponge21 · 11-20-2016, 10:01 PM

1. Pick the game in a series that lost the losing team their chance at the cup (e.g. going down 3-1, letting a team come back to force a game 7), and write 200 words about what specific element of the game (a line, a statistic, a fight, etc) contributed the most to the loss.

Game 5 - VAN vs KEL - 3-2 KEL WIN (235 words)

With the Knights having taken game 4 to stay alive the two teams headed back to Kelowna for Game 5. The one major contributing factor to the inevitable loss in 7 for the Whalers started at this game, and the cause was a mental one. I am not about to the Knights didn't out play the Whalers at all (last two games out scored them 10-3), but this was the game that turned the tide. With so many teams in both the SHL and SMJHL playoffs losing a 3-0 or 3-1 lead after the Knights took game 5 it almost seemed written in stone. With the series already rather close, the trend for the leagues this playoffs seems to be the comeback. Although normally statistically impossible and incredibly rare, apparently this year, it's as easy as pie to come back from. The Whalers allowed themselves to be faked out and let the potential burden of being another peg on the board to allow the come back and after this game, the game they NEEDED to close it out on, they were never to same team for the rest of the series. There is a lot of stats that could be analyzed, laid out, graphed, but the reason for the loss wasn't stats alone in this case, it was a mental defeat for the Whalers after game 5, and there was no looking back for them.

2. Your player is out of the playoffs! Whether this is because the team didn't make it, or you have been eliminated, or you won the cup, write 150 words about the first thing they do to kickstart the offseason.

(198 words)

For Ludwig Koch Schröder the off season is always straight forward. If he has ever found himself hitting the summer season a little earlier than he would have liked, he always starts with a few weeks of relaxation. Having the luxury of a double citizenship (Canadian and German) he makes the most of this. With a week in Whistler BC to enjoy the sights, and sounds, then off to Germany to spend some times in their mountains as well. A love for the snow, the beer and the women keeps Schröder busy for a time so he can relax his young mind, but it's soon back to business. With his passion and love for the IIHF he begins to train and bulk where he can for the coming year. Always loving to represent his host nation of Germany and ever vigilant to gain more ice time, he goes hard to achieve this goal the best way he can, with his trusty lederhosen, bratwurst sausage, and sauerkraut he becomes a living statue to all things German to try and win gold before he's back on the ice to work on his game for the coming season in the SHL.

3. Write 200 words about which single stat is most important in playoff success, for example goals, plus/minus, shots on goal, sv%)

(210 Words)

Shot blocks.

So many people under estimate the sheer importance of the shot block. If the stat was removed, and everyone ducked out of the way of the puck, think to yourself how many shots the goalies might see? Deflections, blocks, near misses, the ability to sacrifice ones self for the good of the team at the expense of their own health should never be discounted. A key shot block can save a goal, inspire a team, the fans, the player. It can set up a opportunity, a break, a goal. There is so many different variables that come from blocking a shot.

When a play is willing to turn their legs, mid sections, arms, and feet all black and blue and swollen just to save that 1 shot it shows something extra. It's inspiring for a team to truly witness their guy lay down in front of that 100 mph slap shot just to stop that 1 chance at the net. To take away that 1 extra opportunity to tie the game up, win the game, or even gain any sort of momentum for a come back. It's a stat not praised enough by many, but so important in the grand scheme of things when it comes to winning those big games.

4. Write 200 words about your chosen unsung playoff hero. Must include three stats.

(230 words)

Alexis Metzler - 16 points. +4 16 SB over 13 games.

Leading the league in points (and most likely will for a game or two), potting 6 goals, a +4 rating and 16 shot blocks (super important obviously see above) he had about as dominating and complete of a playoffs as you could imagine. Detroit perhaps a little bit of underdogs, made themselves noticed in the playoffs this year, and Metzler was a huge part of that. Being one of the few PPG player in the playoffs, and being a defense man at that, was a huge help for the Falcons. Put that performance on any of the more 'stacked' teams and they would almost immediately become the favourites. It's not often you can find a D man who has such a balanced stat line and contributes such a large amount like Metzler did. He was hands down the Falcons MVP, and had they made the finals would 100% be the front runner for the Playoffs MVP. Looking like he may get the call next season, Buffalo has a real gem on their hands with this D man and if he can continue to grow at the rate he has, look for him to be a a lock for an all star across the league. Being one of the few true 2 way D man, Metzler has shown he can play all over the ice in any situation, and isn't afraid to sacrifice the body either.

Prediction: Raven Silverwing (NEW)

BANNING · 11-20-2016, 10:11 PM

Placeholer

Bonus: Raven Silverwing

Ghost · 11-20-2016, 10:16 PM

Prediction: Barney Stinson

1. Pick the game in a series that lost the losing team their chance at the cup (e.g. going down 3-1, letting a team come back to force a game 7), and write 200 words about what specific element of the game (a line, a statistic, a fight, etc) contributed the most to the loss.

Game seven of the SMJHL western conference finals was a complete disaster for the Vancouver Whalers. After getting ahead in the series 3-0 everything seemed to fall apart for Vancouver and their Whalers but obviously game seven was where they absolutely needed to put the series away and they cracked under pressure. The Kelowna Knights were a very good team and showed up when it meant the most, but the Whalers should have been able to put them away in one of the four chances that they got. They didn't and Kelowna went on to win the Four Star Cup. In hindsight you could say that just about anything contributed to the Whalers losing this very important game because no one or nothing worked for the Whalers that night. If you were to chose only one element of the game that contributed most to this lose though, it's hard to ignore the enormous goose egg in the goals category. The Vancouver team played horrible as a whole and did not deserve a win in game seven. Kelowna has a very talented young goaltender in Jason Aittokallio but not even scoring one goal in a game seven is unacceptable. Kelowna came out hard and fast in this game while the Whalers were soft and slow, and the results on the scoresheet told the exact same story. Vancouver did not come to play in game seven and now Kelowna went on to defeat Halifax and took home some shiny new hardware. Hopefully the Whalers took some meaningful lessons out of this loss and carry those lessons over with them over the rest of their career in the SHL or back to the SMJHL for the returning players.

Code:
285 words.

2. Your player is out of the playoffs! Whether this is because the team didn't make it, or you have been eliminated, or you won the cup, write 150 words about the first thing they do to kickstart the offseason.

The loss to the Kelowna Knights in game seven of the western conference finals was a hard pill for Adam Kaiser to swallow. At first he contemplated having a stroll down to East Hastings street in Vancouver to find a literal pill to swallow and hopefully drown some of his playoff sorrows. This is not what he did even though it sounded pretty appealing at the time. Instead Kaiser took the healthier route and took a trip to Whistler for some mountain therapy. If hockey was Kaiser's first love then snowboarding was a close second so to forget about his disappointing year Kaiser strapped on his bindings, turned off his phone, and spend a week on the slopes alone. The time alone was exactly what he needed to get his mind back on track and find the motivation to have one of the most disciplined off seasons of his young career.

Code:
151 words

3. Write 200 words about which single stat is most important in playoff success, for example goals, plus/minus, shots on goal, sv%)

Goals, goals, goals. Goals are the most important stat for any team to gain playoff success, or any success in hockey regardless of what time of year it is. Simply put, goals win hockey games and to state the blatantly obvious, all you need to do is score more goals than your opponent. It doesn't matter how good your plus minus is, or how many shots on goal you have, if you can't score goals you can't win games. Even the most bone crushing open ice hit doesn't pump up a team or add more momentum to a team than a goal. Goals are what hockey is all about, literally the point of the game is to put the puck in the net more than the other team. Save percentage won't get you two points at the end of the night and no little kid dreams about having the best corsi in the league. They definitely dream about scoring the overtime game winner in game seven of the Stanley Cup or Challenge Cup finals though. People can try to make any argument they want on this stat or the other but the fact remains that goal scoring is by far the most important stat in any hockey league.

Code:
209 words

4. Write 200 words about your chosen unsung playoff hero. Must include three stats.

This years unsung playoff hero goes to Edmonton Blizzards own Winston Windsor. This western conference champion quietly amassed 16 points over 16 games and was an integral part of Edmontons playoff push that ultimately ended in disappointment. Even though Windsor and his Blizzard team mates never took home the Challenge Cup, Windsor's 28 and a half minutes per game were very impressive and worthy of some recognition. Windsor is one of the most disciplined players in the league today and amazingly only took 4 minutes worth of penalties all while playing damn near half the game over the 16 games before Edmonton was eliminated. A solid back end presence is very important to any team and having a guy like Windsor who can eat up the big minutes is key to a championship team. While Edmonton may not have won it all this year, they look to be contenders again next season and Windsor is a big reason for this. If Edmonton can keep its core intact and Windsor stays at the top of his game like he was this year then there is no reason we shouldn't expect to see Edmonton back in the finals next season and possibly even taking home the cup.

Code:
205 words

***JKortesi81*** · 11-21-2016, 12:05 AM

1. Pick the game in a series that lost the losing team their chance at the cup (e.g. going down 3-1, letting a team come back to force a game 7), and write 200 words about what specific element of the game (a line, a statistic, a fight, etc) contributed the most to the loss.

Iâ€™m going to talk about the game that really derailed the Scarecrows chancesâ€™ at a Four Star Cup this season. It was Game 3 of our series against the Halifax Raiders. You might think itâ€™s crazy to think that a Game 3 in a series we were already down 2-0 and outscored 7-1 in would matter so much, but it truly did to us. Everyone in that locker room was confident that we were going to come back in this series, and that all we needed to was go out and play our game, at home in St. Louis. And thatâ€™s what we did. We came out flying. We played our asses off, putting everything we had onto the ice that game. Most nights, when you out shoot a team 31-10, and have six power plays in that game, you walk away with a hard fought win. But alas, there we were, giving it our best shot, and we still headed to overtime tied 0-0. We had a chance to win it in OT, but we didnâ€™t put the puck home, and before you knew it, Halifax scored on their first shot of the overtime, and that was that. We lost the game, and went down 3-0 in the series. Needless to say, thatâ€™s where it ended for us. We threw everything we had at the Raiders and still came up short. It was deflating.

2. Your player is out of the playoffs! Whether this is because the team didn't make it, or you have been eliminated, or you won the cup, write 150 words about the first thing they do to kickstart the offseason.

When the Halifax Raiders finished brutalizing the Scarecrows, Joe Kurczewski cleaned out his locker room and went home to Buffalo, New York. He needed to clear his head. Doing so means he had to go to his happy place, which is his cottage in Sunset Bay, NY. His family has had the cottage for 50 years. For two weeks every July, he lived there growing up. Itâ€™s the most calming place for him. He goes to the beach, and just relaxes and unwinds. He clears his mind. After spending a couple of weeks there, he watches game tape. He works with his coaches and decides what need to be done in the offseason to improve his game. Heâ€™s been hitting the gym twice a day, working on improving his stamina and his strength. When heâ€™s not at the gym, heâ€™s at the local ice rink, training, working on his defense, and trying to increase his shooting accuracy. Next season in St. Louis may be his last, and he wants to go out on top.

3. Write 200 words about which single stat is most important in playoff success, for example goals, plus/minus, shots on goal, sv%)

The single most important stat in playoff success is clearly goals. I understand that theres a bunch of advanced metrics and other stats out there that can help determine success, but the whole point of success in hockey IS scoring more GOALS than the other team. Goals, besides being the, well, goal, of the play, are so much more than just a number on a scoreboard. Nothing gets a team going quite like a nice goal. Nothing can deflate a team more quickly than a quick goal by the opposition. Or even worse, a soft goal let in by the goalie. The more goals you score, the more likely you are to have playoff success. Granted, just because you score 5 goals in a game, doesnâ€™t mean youâ€™ll win. The other team could score 7? But that doesnâ€™t diminish the importance of goals, it only enhances it. What other stats could be more important? Shots? What are shots for? GOALS. Plus/Minus? How do you get a good plus/minus rating? GOALS. Hits? Hits have nothing to do with goals, at all, but chances are hits arenâ€™t the best indicator of winning, so it doesnâ€™t matter. Goals are the end all be all of important stats in this game.

5. Design playoff merchandise for a team. Can be a t-shirt, or a hat, or something a little more unusual. Be creative! Must include a team logo somewhere on the item.

SCARECROW UGGS!

[Image: 2bbdb42be567e94303eefa5356212d85.jpg]

[Image: 2bbdb42be567e94303eefa5356212d85.jpg]

Prediction: Rider Clitsome (NEW)

Chris-McZehrl · 11-21-2016, 01:31 AM

Rest comes later

Prediction: Patrikov Bure

GoodLeftUndone · 11-21-2016, 02:18 AM

1. Pick the game in a series that lost the losing team their chance at the cup (e.g. going down 3-1, letting a team come back to force a game 7), and write 200 words about what specific element of the game (a line, a statistic, a fight, etc) contributed the most to the loss.

It's Game three of the SHL Finals and the Edmonton Blizzard are trailing in the series 2-0 and need to win this game to stand a chance at glory. Going down three games to zero would be very detrimental to their chances.

It's a close game, we're entering the thrid period tied at one a piece despite Edmonton outshooting New England 22-14. They enter the period with momentum on their side however it is quickly turned around 4 minutes in with a flukey goal scored by Bennett Jones (his first of the playoffs to boot). New England a couple minutes later will find the back of the net again thanks to Patrikov Bure. Edmonton seemingly gives up at this point being outshot 17-9 in the period and failing to score. Immediately after going down by two their frustrations reach a peak as they take a penalty. As soon as they're able to kill it off, Mark Langford loses his cool and gets sent off for roughing. 2 goals against followed by 4 minutes in the box end Edmonton's hopes of a comeback and kill the momentum. While they're able to win Game Four, they fall flat in Game Five and the Wolfpack win it all.

[205 words]

2. Your player is out of the playoffs! Whether this is because the team didn't make it, or you have been eliminated, or you won the cup, write 150 words about the first thing they do to kickstart the offseason.

Game over. The home team and their fans celebrate while the Seattle Riot head to the locker room, their heads hung low and going home to their families in mind. A hard-fought game, an overtime loss and out of the second round on the playoffs for a second straight season. This isn't how it was supposed to happen, after being labelled as cheaters heading into the playoffs they were determined to do more. David Benson; a player that has never been to a finals is met with another disappointing end to his season. Benson has no family, has no wife or kids to return home to and that's quite OK in his mind. Losing however is not, and there's only one thing to do when you lose and you're in an awfully boring (and cold) city like Edmonton - get the fuck out right away. Benson boards a red-eye flight to Las Vegas immediately after the game with a couple teammates. There's no practice tomorrow, there's no hockey games until IIHF kicks off in a few weeks - only media asking what went wrong and quite frankly he'd like to avoid that. needless to say he isn't sleeping tonight, not in the city that never sleeps - his favorite place to visit when offseason hits after a long and tough season of playing puck.

A king of diamonds followed by a three, tough decision - "hit me..." he says taking a sip of his far too expensive scotch with a gorgeous woman on each side of him.

[254 Words]

3. Write 200 words about which single stat is most important in playoff success, for example goals, plus/minus, shots on goal, sv%)

Statistics don't necessarily tell a story, but they do play their part. While I wouldn't put too much stock into it - I think save percentage plays a big part in playoff success. Goaltending is the single most important position to winning a championship, behind a good defense of course. While goals against average tells how good the team is playing defensively, it doesn't replicate a goalie's success per say. A high save percentage is a good indicator that your goalie is good, whether you give up a ton of shots or very few a game. The New England Wolfpack won the cup, their goaltender Jakob Tanner had a far superior save percentage over any other goalie (including Brent Broadway). Coincidence? I think no, not at all. Without Tanner's high percentage of shots stopped, New England has a much tougher road to winning. Rookie Mikek Laukkanen appeared in 6 games for NEW and with a 10 point lower percentage only won half of those games while Tanner went 9-4.

On the flip side, Hunter Wong (Calgary) and Michael McFadden (Seattle) were both excellent regular seasons goalies. In the playoffs however they combined for the worst save percentages among all teams. While McFadden got his team to the second round, it was only because their opponent was Calgary the first round. They only won one game the next round and while I don't play the blame game - my chosen statistic here stands tall.

[242 words]

4. Write 200 words about your chosen unsung playoff hero. Must include three stats.

JASPER CLAYTON. Clayton did a lot for this New England team that gives Patrikov Bure and Jakob Tanner a lot of the credit. Jasper Clayton was the best defensemen on the ice for any playoff team and contributed in more than just one way. He was scoring, setting up plays, dishing out hits, blocking shots and making opponents hate his guts (pretty sure they already did).

OFFENSE: Clayton scored 7 goals while adding 10 helpers in 19 playoff games including a two goal performance in the Cup Final and a game's first star award. He was the top point producing defensemen in the Playoffs.

DEFENSE: Clayton posted a +10 Rating ranking him Top Ten in the league while also blocking 22 shots. He was able to shut down opposing teams along with Benjamin Reid and made Tanner's job a lot easier. Clayton also posted 36 hits in the playoffs showing off his strength.

CLUTCH and SPECIAL TEAMS: Clayton managed a game-winning goal for his club along with leading the way on the Powerplay with 3 goals and 22 shots, the most in both categories. He also logged 65 minutes killing off penalties, ranking fourth on the team behind Bure, Talo and Russell.

[202 words]

Prediction: Theo Kane

ToeDragon84 · 11-21-2016, 03:21 AM

1.
After the third period of game one in the Toronto Minnesota series Matthew Davis -upset with his ice time took a massive stinky poop in the corner of the showers before his team returned to the ice for the overtime period. He began drawing things on the wall scrawling "Garbonzos a pussy" in his pasty shit... Knowing the showers were right there he just threw what he could scrape off the floor at the wall behind him to leave tons of dripping poop stains around him before he cleaned up. His team had four power play opportunities in the game and converted just once, but he felt insulted for not getting a shot on the man advantage. Davis thought he was so invisible that he could do something awful and get away with it because nobody will even look him in the fucking eyes who would ask if it was him? If the question ever came up he'd just blame Gerrard. In the back of Matthew's mind he knew this was just attention seeking, he just wanted to stand out -he sat his ass down on the bench nervous as all hell, and eager as fuck to get on the ice and make a difference for his team he made sure to rub his hands down his pants and really mash his glove to get a smell of sweat on his fingers... But he couldn't -just twenty fucking seconds into the OT period the North Stars scored the winner to go up 1-0 in the series and the Chiefs hit the showers... They were horrified to find the mess, nobody knew who did it until someone had the idea to line the boys up and take a little hit of their hands. Davis didn't have long enough to mask the smell of the shit he had been rubbing his hands in, because the Chiefs got scored on right away in the OT he didn't get one shift! Scotty Reay called him out after getting a wiff of those stinky shit hands and knew right away Matthew Davis was the obvious offender. He tried to blame Gerrard but that dude's hands smell like peppermint from all his fuckin pcp, a brawl broke out that night on in the locker room between the team and all hope was lost. They dropped the next three games and went out in 5 against the North Stars -unable to recover from the poopbandit Matthew Davis

Code:
413 words

2.
Jason Visser has not been seen since being eliminated by the Halifax Raiders in four games during the first round. He was expected to return to his tent behind Virgin Remy's in Ferguson, MO to tend to his salvia plants and prison wine. It is possible he may be sleeping somewhere else in the area -there are a number of friendly people in the greater Ferguson area that would be more than willing to bring the Visshound in. The only problem is the condom exploded on his favorite bottle of hooch a few days ago, and Jason still hasn't returned to find it. He planned on training with an old heroin addict of 8 years he met at a team event that told him about Cleopatra having a dick and the sphinx being 36,000 years old. Really eye opening stuff to Jason but that dude is nowhere to be found.

Code:
152 words

3.
It's shit that's not directly tracked like takeaways and giveaways. Why is that even in the sim? Shit is in the players stats in each games file and everyone gets a 0 in that column every time? I guess you can f3 "intercepted by player name" and see how many times it comes up in the full pbp that shit actually works. But you can't directly track giveaways like that with the way things are worded. Annnd those metrics are the goddam most important thing to know about your player cause fuck turning the puck over who wants people making shit passes, you want the fuckers picking them off n shit if you are going to win a playoff series. Fuck goals, plus/minus, shots on goal, and sv% none of that matters in the end right? Playing hockey with shitty passers is lame as fuck -all that happens is you waste your breath trying to attack just for some guy to turn it over which makes everyone regroup and defend for the rest of the shift. Teams that rely on one guy to skate the puck all the way home and do all the work are usually just plain bad and i like titties

Code:
210 words

4.
Toki fucking Wartooth of the Toronto North Stars is a 700 some TPE beautiful regressing poonhound this guy had 28 blocked shots in 12 games against Minnesota and New England in the first two rounds of the playoffs. Who gives a fuck if he went -6 the guy had a goal and four assists!!! That makes FIVE points in just over twenty minutes a game on the backend for Toronto. He fucked some boys up on the penalty kill had 32 hits and also this bitch gets used on the North Stars power play, half his assisst came on the man advantage what a motherfucking legend. That makes TWO assists on the power play through thirty-three minutes... Can't even comprehend how Toki does it, the North Stars should just be glad he was on their side, as the end of his career is pretty much here, he can die in peace.. This fuck had a 20% shooting percentage, wow!!! Mostly because he barely shot once in any of the games he played in the playoffs, but fuck it he has the #'s to go away as a legend, and die gracefully... Byee TOki

Code:
200 words

5.

6.

7.

8.

Prediction: Jasper Clayton

Lunaro · 11-21-2016, 03:22 AM

bla

Sigs by Kit, Maxy, Mook, LazyEye, Wasty, Ragnar, Bushito, Frank, 701, Pandar

Player Page | Update Thread
[Image: 263vaqs.png]

Raven · 11-21-2016, 04:29 AM

1. Pick the game in a series that lost the losing team their chance at the cup (e.g. going down 3-1, letting a team come back to force a game 7), and write 200 words about what specific element of the game (a line, a statistic, a fight, etc) contributed the most to the loss.

Quote:In the eastern conference final the Toronto North Star played the New England Wolfpack. They lost the first game, but won 3 big games due to excellent goaltending by Mark Harter recording a save percentage of 0.967, a shutout and 3 GA's. Toronto was about to take the series, when the wolfpack made a line change and suddenly they were a highscoring powerhouse. Mark Harter's numbers dropped hard. They lost 4-1, 7-3 and 5-3. The North Star no longer looked like the defensive wall they had been.

Let's take a closer look at the line change that ended up smashing Toronto's dreams of ending the curse.

Two changes were made to the New England Wolfpack lines. Raven Silverwing who was having a hot playoff so far stopped being hot and was put down a line and Blake Sherill was moved up to the first line. In the back Roman Morenov and Benjamin Reid switched roles. Two changes to the first two lines were made and they ended up making all the difference. Without these changes the games would have probably stayed low scoring games, which would have probably gone in Toronto's favor. The coacing staff made a good decision to stablize the lines.

203 words

2. Your player is out of the playoffs! Whether this is because the team didn't make it, or you have been eliminated, or you won the cup, write 150 words about the first thing they do to kickstart the offseason.

Quote:Raven Silverwing has won his second cup in two seasons and couldn't be more thrilled. After partying all night long with the team, staff, families and fans it's time for him to celebrate it a little more Raven style. You see it's become a tradition for Silverwing to visit the super soft wooly sheep farm. He did it last year after winning the cup, he came over when he had the cup for a day and he did it this year after winning. Starting his day by laying inbetween all the sheep. Getting his chill on and being surrounded by softness while doing it. After his chill session Raven helps the farmer out with all the chores. Feeding the sheep, shearing and stuff that has to be done around the farm. Once the day gets to an end Raven promisses to be back soon and heÂ´ll have the cup with him. The sheep already dream of playing with it.

159 words

3. Write 200 words about which single stat is most important in playoff success, for example goals, plus/minus, shots on goal, sv%)

Quote:I think it comes down to two stats. SV% and shots on goal. Shots on goal shows how well the defensive side of a team is playing and SV% is a good indicator of how a goalie is preforming. A goalie can steal games, but if heÂ´s defense keeps letting shots happen you canÂ´t blame SV% for when a goal goes in. Then again if a goalie allows alot of goales in a game you canÂ´t really blame anyone else.

But seeing as I have to talk about one specific stat I`ll go with shots on goal.

A good offense can get you places, but if the defense and goalie, who are the backbone of any team aren't doing well, you can score alot, but you'll also be scored against alot. If you have a good defense who limits howmany shots the opposing team can take, it doesn't matter if you are low scoring, if you don't let the other team score you'll outscore them. If your goalie is playing well and you get very little shots against, there is little that can go wrong. Especially in playoff games where games have to be stolen. Although it's the playoffs and anything can happen during the playoffs.

206 words

4. Write 200 words about your chosen unsung playoff hero. Must include three stats.

Quote:My unsung hero is playoff has to be sophomore Mikael Talo. Talo spent most of the time on the third line and played an average of 11 minutes a night. A total of 209 minutes in 19 games and in those minutes 11 points total were recorded. 4 goals and 7 assists while maintaning a plus minus of +7. With 1 Game winning goal and 1 game tying goal they were also very contributing to their team when it mattered. A fun statistic to pull out is the fact that they played on the power play for a total of 1 minute and have a shorthanded goal in less than 1 minute penalty kill play time.

These are some great statistics for such a young player who is still growing into their role on the team. They also had 1.05 P/20 minutes so they were also productive in his shift. Looking at the dot we can see a faceoff precentage of 42.06% on 252 faceoffs taken. A stat which the Wolfpack will definatly want to see go up as Talo works on it as it was one of the lowest of the main faceoff takers, but they have had a great playoff no doubt.

205 words

Prediction: Who scores the Cup winning goal?

Tim 'fuckin' buckner.

Thank you Fever, sköldpaddor and OD for the amazing sigs!

Montreal Impact/Militia Militia-Old

|Player Page| Stars

|Update Page| Japan

Avakael · 11-21-2016, 04:33 AM

1. Pick the game in a series that lost the losing team their chance at the cup (e.g. going down 3-1, letting a team come back to force a game 7), and write 200 words about what specific element of the game (a line, a statistic, a fight, etc) contributed the most to the loss.

Toronto screwed up seriously badly to miss out on a cup finals opportunity. It wasn't quite a reverse sweep, but it was close, and it continued a disastrous history for Toronto and Challenge Cup opportunities. And in truth, they probably didn't have much chance against the New England Wolfpack in the first place- but they did knock them on their ass for several games. The Wolfpack had only managed to score one goal in the previous 120 minutes of hockey, and it was after only managing a dozen shots in fifty minutes in that game (which was game 4). In game 5, New England managed to finally score one early. Just thirteen minutes into this game, and after so many completely botched efforts in front of the net, Patrikov Bure, Jasper Clayton, Raven Silverwing and Benjamin Reid managed to get control of Toronto's zone, and started firing shots. It took a shot blocked but not completely stopped by Mark Harter, and several completely missed shots after that, but Jasper Clayton managed to knock in the dirtiest goal he'd ever scored. At that stroke, Toronto lost the advantage; the Wolfpack got their self belief back, the knowledge that they could pull this off, and they went on to score 15 more goals over the remaining 165 minutes of hockey in the series.

2. Your player is out of the playoffs! Whether this is because the team didn't make it, or you have been eliminated, or you won the cup, write 150 words about the first thing they do to kickstart the offseason.

Alexis Metzler wasn't in the SHL, and thus didn't have much to do with Buffalo this season- but he did go on a cup run with Detroit. First thing that happened after they went out was a return to the training arena. The talk took a few hours. It wasn't to convey disappointment, or frustration; they simply broke down every reason why each losing game in the series was lost. Every game; every failed important play, every relevant detail. About 4am, they broke up. Most of the team got hammered; but not Metzler; he just needed to sleep. Next day the team met up again for a good breakfast, and he flew back to North Dakota that afternoon. Stopped in with his parents for the day, and he drove down to Next morning at sunrise, he was already sailing on Devils Lake. Alexis Metzler went all the way from one end of the lake to the other, and so the offseason began.

3. Write 200 words about which single stat is most important in playoff success, for example goals, plus/minus, shots on goal, sv%)

In my opinion, one of the most important statistics in any playoff series is the shots blocked statistic. It's a number that directly shows just how much the skaters on any team helps out their goalie- whether by intercepting shots with their body, or by intercepting shots with their stick, or their skate, or anything else they can intercept shots with (try not to do it with the head), a blocked shot by a skater becomes a shot that the goalie doesn't have to block. By not leaving this to the goalie to block, you don't have to risk the goalie missing the shot. Sometimes, a bad block attempt by a skater redirects a puck in accidentally, but this is very uncommon. So despite all this logic, there's a dark side- because the most important part of the shots blocked statistic seems to be that the team blocking the most shots is actually the team that's worse off. Why? Because most of the time, the shots blocked by skaters to shots blocked by goaltenders percentage tends to be very level across the board. This means that the number of shots blocked is actually just directly scaling with the shots on goal against numbers. A team having to block too many shots is a team that's letting their opponents take too many shots that need to be blocked, and likely giving up far too much control of the puck in the middle of the ice or in faceoffs, and that generally seems to spell death for teams in the SHL playoffs.

5. Design playoff merchandise for a team. Can be a t-shirt, or a hat, or something a little more unusual. Be creative! Must include a team logo somewhere on the item.

[Image: nZCkdV4.png]

Edmonton logo snowglobe!

<s>Prediction: Who scores the Cup winning goal? Theo Kane</s> wrong oh well

Navigation

Extra Menu

About us