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+---- Forum: Championship Week (https://simulationhockey.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=375)
+---- Thread: S74 Championship Week! 1/21 DEADLINE (/showthread.php?tid=134597)
RE: S74 Championship Week! 1/21 DEADLINE - jbay7 - 01-19-2024
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1. CW TRIVIA, 3 TPE max - 1.5 TPE for participation, 0.5 TPE for each correct answer. This is completed through a Google form linked below. Make sure to spell your answers correctly or you will not get credit. Post your verification word in your CW post.borrowed
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4. Written, 3 TPE, The Char B1 bis In The Room (150 words min.)
This league was until quite recently dominated by a cabal of four teams. Two of them, Winnipeg and New England, are our finalists. A third, Philadelphia, was a finalist last year. The fourth... was Montreal. Does the success of Winnipeg and New England prove that Montreal pulled the plug too soon and should’ve kept the gang around? Or did at least one of the others just get lucky and Montreal made the better decision, without hindsight? What team-building lessons can we learn from this?While it may be easy to look at New England and Winnipeg's success (and Philadelphia) and second guess Montreal's decision to go into a full rebuild, it may be a bit of hindsight is 20/20 thinking. Ultimately, New England and Winnipeg finished 8th and 10th in the regular season and it was far from a foregone conclusion that either would make the finals. True, you can't win the lottery if you don't buy a ticket, but Montreal was in a position where they soon wouldn't be able to afford a ticket for an extended period of time. Ultimately, New England and Winnipeg will have to do rebuilds of their own, even if they aren't quite as full-blown as Montreal. Some franchises have chosen to go for semi-rebuilds where they still field a team that likely still sneaks into the playoffs and maybe has a puncher's chance to make a run, but Montreal likely results in a higher peak when their rebuild comes to fruition. (174 words)
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12. Written, 2 TPE - The Procrastinator Special! (100 words min.)
Looks like [TEAM] won Season 74! Who won and why? What could the other team have done differently to change the result? What was your favorite part of the series?New England and Winnipeg were fairly well matched, but ultimately the difference was Olof Karsikko in net. Karsikko's performance ultimately changed the outcome of games, particularly in the game 6 clincher, where New England was considerably outshot but still came away with a 5-3 victory. Many a team has ridden a hot goaltender to a cup and New England can certainly count themselves in that group after Karsikko's performance in the finals. Of course the win was a team effort, with balanced scoring between New England's top two lines and the expected excellent performance on the blueline from Seamus O'Slapahan, but Karsikko still stands out as the shining star for this championship run. (118 words)
RE: S74 Championship Week! 1/21 DEADLINE - eddiesnothere - 01-19-2024
baby's first CW pass
RE: S74 Championship Week! 1/21 DEADLINE - DigDoug11 - 01-20-2024
1-CW trivia 3 TPE
Smokes
2-
A-1 TPE
Even thought I’m pulling for the Wolfpack, I’m honestly more suprised by how dominant Winnipeg has managed to make it so many times into the finals as many times as they have. That alone is worth respect, many teams struggle just to make it into to the playoffs, but not the auroras, consistently making it far into the playoffs every season and that impresses me.
C-1 TPE
Honestly, both teams had an impressive conference final. But since I have to pick one team, I will pick Winnipeg aurora, purely because they were able to secure their spot in the finals with one less game played in the conference finals, were the Wolfpack got it done in 6c aurora got it done in 5. Not much difference.
D-1
Even though I posting this after the finals and we already know the outcome, my answer would still be the same, I would have picked the New England Wolfpack no matter what. Ive always like them as a team, for a few reasons, other than the fact that they have been very dominant lately. One because my favorite hockey team is the same color, bright green, and the sweet looking logo.
12- 2 TPE
Well, after missing the finals last season, it looks like the New England Wolfpack are this seasons champions! Both of these teams, the wolfpack and the auroras missed the finals last season, stayed strong this offseason, but after 6 rounds, the Wolfpack pulled ahead. With Ivan lacksamus and Seamus o slapahan, it’s really not surprising, to me at least why they were victorious this season, both players have been dominant names in the league for many season. Now I’m not saying that Winnipeg doesn’t have their fair share of great players, but after all, New England did win the cup this season, so they get all the bragging rights
RE: S74 Championship Week! 1/21 DEADLINE - zaybae - 01-20-2024
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1. CW TRIVIA, 3 TPE max - 1.5 TPE for participation, 0.5 TPE for each correct answer. This is completed through a Google form linked below. Make sure to spell your answers correctly or you will not get credit. Post your verification word in your CW post.meow
RE: S74 Championship Week! 1/21 DEADLINE - Mazatt - 01-20-2024
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Trivia: 3 TPECode:
2b. 1 TPE, better path n shi, 200 wordsSo, big thing pressing here is that the San Francisco took out Edmonton for Winnipeg. Not to say that Winnipeg doesn't beat Edmonton on their own and still make the finals, but the difference between the 14th seed and the 1st seed on a league scale is... well it's notable to say the least. Outside of that, Texas--very good team I had in the top 5 coming into the season (Baltimore killed that thought tho). The big factor here is the fact that Winnipeg took down Chicago who was a higher seed. So 2 higher seeds "slayed" so to speak. Whether that's because of some regular season coasting/underperformance from Winnipeg that they were higher seeded, who's to say. They were just higher seeded.
On New England's side the had a slight reversal in expected matchup struggles. Hamilton took them to 7 from the 13th seed, but then NEW just clicked and took down 2 seeded Buffalo in 5 and 3 seeded Philidelphia in 6. Which is... odd. All in all, pretty similar path to Winnipeg just in reverse. For me I have to give it to New England here. Just off of the higher seeds being taken down. I mean, shit, they just showed all of the Great Lakes teams that taking down Hamilton and Buffalo in the playoffs isn't that hard so it has to count for something.
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2c. 1TPE, who had a better upset, 150 words or smth igThe age old question is here. What do we consider a more "impressive" victory; mopping up a team as expected or duking it out with, and surpassing a capable rival? Because with no disrespect to San Francisco, that's essentially what we saw here. They had a cinderella run to the conference finals which couldn't keep momentum through Winnipeg. On the other hand, New England had to duke it out against one of 3 >.700 teams in the league. To bring a real world example into this; it was much more impressive when Vegas beat Dallas than it was for Vegas to beat Florida. There is an air of "can they do it again" with SFP taking a top team down, but deep down that's in the sense of "I want to see Winnipeg be embarassed," where as seeing NEW or PHI win that series would have been reasonable either way.
So to cap it off, I think New England's conference finals path was harder.
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3. 3 TPE, what do these teams do different, 380 wordsThe easiest way to denote the difference between the perennial contenders from the "others" is to take a simple look at the this past offseason. It's all about using picks to acquire elite talent on the younger side, and then take advantage of other teams trying to reach the upper echelon. For example:
Paul Koivu + 2 2nds for Sawschuk + 1st
New England nets a young (71) player and a 1st for a regression player and 2 2nds, and as they're NEW's 2nds its anticipated they'll end up as late 2nds. Following it up we have:
Peter Svoboda for a 1st and a 2nd.
Same idea as before. Svoboda, great player, but in regression. NEW England needs some cap space, they've acquired Bruno Tooyo at retention, they can afford to recoup assets from Svoboda.
So the net of these two trades is that New England is out a 2nd, up 2 1sts, and has traded Svoboda and Koviu for Sawschuk. So to an extent we can say that it's consolidating assets and cap. To add onto that, we also can include the Tooyo flip which removes a 1st but balances out the player aspect.
The key piece here is that not every team can do this at the moment--it requires multiple seasons of proper management to be able to acquire the pick and player base that gives GM's the currency to make trades. For example, Winnipeg can spend 2 1sts on McBride with retention because it's filling a "final" hole so to speak, and, oh yeah, they draft 8th in S74 anyways and get Juan Tymer despite being a top team again. It takes smart drafting to build up a nucleus of players wherein you have 4 key roles, and 6 players who can fill them, allowing you to push players out to teams where they play a larger role.
Once you hit a certain point, the loop feeds itself. Juan Tymer's going to get called up eventually, allowing an active older player to be moved, and then another smart draft pick from that moved player keeps the wheel spinning. At that point all you need is the GM to continually be aware of other teams trade needs, capitalize on the market, and make smart picks. That's exactly what Ace and Luke have done.
RE: S74 Championship Week! 1/21 DEADLINE - Cobbenstein - 01-20-2024
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1. CW TRIVIA, 3 TPE max - 1.5 TPE for participation, 0.5 TPE for each correct answer. This is completed through a Google form linked below. Make sure to spell your answers correctly or you will not get credit. Post your verification word in your CW post.Tree
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2. Written, up to 4 TPE - Grab Bag: Pick up to 4 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words.
a. Two old faces are back in the ring, proving reports of the dynasty’s demise were greatly exaggerated! Pick either of our finalists, and tell me what about them impresses you the most!
b. Upsets were a theme this year - which of our finalists had the more difficult road to the promised land and why?
c. Which of the finalists had the more impressive conference finals victory, and why?
d. If it ain't broke don't fix it: Who you got? Who wins? Why?a. Out of Newfoundland and Winnepeg I found Winnepeg the more impressive of the two teams for a variety of reasons. They absolutely steam rolled their way through the playoffs to the finals and it is their third appearance in the last four years. So this team is a bonified dynasty at this point. They are one of the leagues top teams and look to be going forward the main contender from their conference for the foreseeable future.
b. Newfoundland had a much harder road to the finals than Winnepeg. Newfoundland had to fight through Hamilton, Buffalo, and Philadelphia. All three of those teams are known winners and have very impressive rosters. You can see the results of the that battling with their finals performance to take Winnepeg down. Really the difficultly of the run can all come down to total games played and Newfoundland had to play an additional two games to get there.
c. Newfoundland had the more impressive conference finals win. Taking down the Philadelphia Forge is no easy matter. While the San Francisco Pride were a great team they are not as strong of a contender as Philadelphia. Newfoundland had to battle to game six and really show that they deserved their spot in the finals.
d. I believe that Newfoundland will win the finals. They battled through a much more difficult conference to come out on top. I like their forwards to win the match up against Winnipeg's defense and goaltending. Newfoundland has the deeper roster and over a seven game series I like their odds to outlast what Winnepeg can muster on the ice.
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12. Written, 2 TPE - The Procrastinator Special! (100 words min.)
Looks like [TEAM] won Season 74! Who won and why? What could the other team have done differently to change the result? What was your favorite part of the series?The Newfoundland Wolfpack have won the Season 74 Cup! First of all, congratulations to their entire roster on the accomplishment. As far as Winnepeg goes, I am not sure there was much that they could have done to really change the outcome. Winnepeg has a very impressive roster that can rival the best in the Simulation Hockey League, but Newfoundland is just one step above that. Between their strong players and good tactical leadership, Winnepeg was just kind of out matched and out gunned in the finals and it really showed. The most heart-breaking part of the series was that Newfoundland finished it out on Winnipeg's home ice which really leads to even more of an offseason damper.
RE: S74 Championship Week! 1/21 DEADLINE - Wyattt.__ - 01-20-2024
01-10-2024, 06:11 PMZerg Wrote:In a season marked by unexpected outcomes, San Francisco's Cinderella run in the West stands out as a captivating tale of underdog triumph. Their journey, marked by resilience and determination, showcased the essence of sports unpredictability. The series that impressed me the most was their clash against the top-seeded rivals, where they defied the odds and secured victory. The defining moment that lingers in my memory is the relentless spirit displayed by San Francisco's players, overcoming adversity with stellar performances and strategic brilliance. The underdog narrative adds an extra layer of excitement to the upset, as it highlights the unpredictable nature of sports, making every game a spectacle and reinforcing the belief that in sports, anything is possible.
Here are this season's tasks for CW. The maximum is 8 TPE. Mix and match whatever tasks you desire, but the maximum TPE to be earned from this is 8.
The deadline is SUNDAY JANUARY 21ST at 11:59pm PST.Please copy/paste the prompts (including the # of TPE) into your post; it makes it much easier to grade and track.This PT is for SHL players and send-downs only. If your player is S75 or S76, that's not you.One (1) affiliate claim from either PBE, WSBL, SSL, or the ISFL will be accepted for 3 TPE! *if you’re claiming this and have a different username on the affiliate's site then you need to state that in your post to get credit.*Please feel free to PM with any questions or concerns.
Code:1. CW TRIVIA, 3 TPE max - 1.5 TPE for participation, 0.5 TPE for each correct answer. This is completed through a Google form linked below. Make sure to spell your answers correctly or you will not get credit. Post your verification word in your CW post.
CW TRIVIA LINK
Code:2. Written, up to 4 TPE - Grab Bag: Pick up to 4 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words.
a. Two old faces are back in the ring, proving reports of the dynasty’s demise were greatly exaggerated! Pick either of our finalists, and tell me what about them impresses you the most!
b. Upsets were a theme this year - which of our finalists had the more difficult road to the promised land and why?
c. Which of the finalists had the more impressive conference finals victory, and why?
d. If it ain't broke don't fix it: Who you got? Who wins? Why?
Code:3. Written, 3 TPE, Haven’t I Seen This Before? (150 words min.)
Despite being the 8th and 10th ranked regular season teams in the league, our finalists from Winnipeg and New England represent two of the most dominant teams over the past several seasons. What do you think is the secret to their success? What can other teams learn from them? Which one is more likely to be back again next year?
Code:4. Written, 3 TPE, The Char B1 bis In The Room (150 words min.)
This league was until quite recently dominated by a cabal of four teams. Two of them, Winnipeg and New England, are our finalists. A third, Philadelphia, was a finalist last year. The fourth... was Montreal. Does the success of Winnipeg and New England prove that Montreal pulled the plug too soon and should’ve kept the gang around? Or did at least one of the others just get lucky and Montreal made the better decision, without hindsight? What team-building lessons can we learn from this?
Code:5. Written, 3 TPE, Upset City (150 words min)
An impressive string of upsets took place this season, especially in the West with San Francisco’s Cinderella run. Which upset series impressed you most, why, and what in that series sticks out most in your memory? For the purposes of this task, any series won by the lower seed is an upset.
Graphics and Podcasts
Code:6. Graphic, 3 TPE, The Climax
Draw the final battle! You can show me the players going head-to-head, you can draw the mascots duking it out, or you can make any kind of hype poster of your choosing.
Code:7. Graphic, 3 TPE, Upsets Go Brrr
Draw your favorite, or least-favorite, upset from this season’s playoffs in the form of the teams’ respective mascots/logos fighting!
Code:8. Graphic, 3 TPE, Upon Further Review
Draw how your team's season went! As long as I can tell which team you play for and it conveys some kind of sentiment about your team's season, you'll get credit.
Code:9. Podcast, 3 or 4 TPE
Record a mini-podcast on any of the below topics!
-The S74 Challenge Cup series
-The S74 Four Star Cup series
-An S74 IIHF preview
1 person Mini-Pod: 3 TPE for 8 minutes or 4 TPE for 10 Minutes
2 person Mini-Pod: 3 TPE for 10 Minutes or 4 TPE for 15 Minutes
Post the direct link to your podcast.
IIHF
Code:10. Written, 3 TPE, IIHF Underdogs (150 words min.)
Predict an upset for this season’s IIHF tournament, and explain why you think your chosen underdog matches up well against that specific opponent!
Code:11. Written, 3 TPE, Juniors’ Juniors (150 words min.)
Are there any new promotions to your org that you’re excited to see make your IIHF squad? Who’s a good rookie on your squad this offseason? Alternatively, who’s a current World Juniors star you’re excited to see in the IIHF soon?
Procrastinators
Code:12. Written, 2 TPE - The Procrastinator Special! (100 words min.)
Looks like [TEAM] won Season 74! Who won and why? What could the other team have done differently to change the result? What was your favorite part of the series?
Code:13. Graphic, 3 TPE - The Procrastinator Special!
Congratulations, graphics-master procrastinator! Much like the written-word-loving procrastinator, you too have a special task! Create a post-series splash screen detailing the outcome of the series, or highlighting the player that you think should be playoff MVP. Include at least 3 stats!
THIS IS DUE SUNDAY, JANUARY 21ST, 2024, AT 23:59 PST. NO EXTENSIONS. NO MERCY.
RE: S74 Championship Week! 1/21 DEADLINE - SewingWithNancy - 01-20-2024
1. Trivia: Peloton
RE: S74 Championship Week! 1/21 DEADLINE - CementHands - 01-20-2024
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1. CW TRIVIA, 3 TPE max - 1.5 TPE for participation, 0.5 TPE for each correct answer. This is completed through a Google form linked below. Make sure to spell your answers correctly or you will not get credit. Post your verification word in your CW post.CW TRIVIA LINK
coffee
3 TPE
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2. Written, up to 4 TPE - Grab Bag: Pick up to 4 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words.
a. Two old faces are back in the ring, proving reports of the dynasty’s demise were greatly exaggerated! Pick either of our finalists, and tell me what about them impresses you the most!
b. Upsets were a theme this year - which of our finalists had the more difficult road to the promised land and why?
c. Which of the finalists had the more impressive conference finals victory, and why?
d. If it ain't broke don't fix it: Who you got? Who wins? Why?b - New England had the hardest road. For a while now I've believe that the East is the more harsh conference, and I believe that is still very much true. Hell they have to go through Philly every season and each season they seem very capable of that task. Buffalo, Hamilton, and Baltimore are all very very tough opponents to face in a 7 game series right now.
d - This season I am switching things up and saying Winnipeg. I think they are the best example of if it ain't break then don't try to fix it. They are older and riding high on their exceptional skill. They didn't change their roster much if at all and they have that chemistry built up from years of top level compete against each other.
2/4 TPE
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3. Written, 3 TPE, Haven’t I Seen This Before? (150 words min.)
Despite being the 8th and 10th ranked regular season teams in the league, our finalists from Winnipeg and New England represent two of the most dominant teams over the past several seasons. What do you think is the secret to their success? What can other teams learn from them? Which one is more likely to be back again next year?I honestly think that New England has some kind of magic voodoo hex rituals that they preform to win the big games when it counts. Regular season success means absolutely nothing, except for getting into the dance, and once you are there if you are going to win it all anyway you will need to go through the best to do so, so does it really matter if you lose out round 1 or 2 if you lose to the champ? I don't think it does.
Winnipeg on the other hand I think they were the premier and dominant team in the league for many seasons. They had to sell off some future to get that status and it was a price they gladly paid because it got them a championship. I think their inevitable slide has begun to trickle, but they are still able to ride high on their raw skill and make it to the big game. I expect they might have one more left in their tank.
170 words - 3 TPE
8/8 TPE
RE: S74 Championship Week! 1/21 DEADLINE - Nokazoa - 01-20-2024
Code:
1. CW TRIVIA, 3 TPE max - 1.5 TPE for participation, 0.5 TPE for each correct answer. This is completed through a Google form linked below. Make sure to spell your answers correctly or you will not get credit. Post your verification word in your CW post.VW: newhowl
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2. Written, up to 4 TPE - Grab Bag: Pick up to 4 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words.
a. Two old faces are back in the ring, proving reports of the dynasty’s demise were greatly exaggerated! Pick either of our finalists, and tell me what about them impresses you the most!
b. Upsets were a theme this year - which of our finalists had the more difficult road to the promised land and why?
c. Which of the finalists had the more impressive conference finals victory, and why?
d. If it ain't broke don't fix it: Who you got? Who wins? Why?b. New England had a harder road. They weren't expected to be good. They have the harder conference. I mean do I really have to expand on that? Buffalo, Hamilton, and Philadelphia are all very strong and deep teams capable of putting anyone to shame. New England is the under wolf there. Just a harder road.
D. Oh man, New England has it this year because they have the rising generational phenom that is THOMAS SAWSCHUK. Also, wolves are cooler and they have shown they have that "wolf" in them all playoffs. New England being projected to be a good team but not a contender has earned this every step of the way. Aurora acts like this is an old hat for them to get another cup. Ridiculous if you ask me. So Tommy Saws gonna come out and clinch it for the boys in green.
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8. Graphic, 3 TPE, Upon Further Review
Draw how your team's season went! As long as I can tell which team you play for and it conveys some kind of sentiment about your team's season, you'll get credit.![[Image: Untitled_Artwork.png?ex=65bea8ab&is=65ac...c234d31c7&]](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/629116649881993244/1198370683290386512/Untitled_Artwork.png?ex=65bea8ab&is=65ac33ab&hm=a2fcdba64eaaaa6d904d1d05d75e40999bd06f87cbe6d67bea09002c234d31c7&)
RE: S74 Championship Week! 1/21 DEADLINE - Bruins10 - 01-20-2024
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CW Trivia 3TPECode:
2. Written, up to 4 TPE - Grab Bag: Pick up to 4 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words.
a. Two old faces are back in the ring, proving reports of the dynasty’s demise were greatly exaggerated! Pick either of our finalists, and tell me what about them impresses you the most!
b. Upsets were a theme this year - which of our finalists had the more difficult road to the promised land and why?
c. Which of the finalists had the more impressive conference finals victory, and why?
d. If it ain't broke don't fix it: Who you got? Who wins? Why?a. It is hard to really pin it on one specific thing, considering these two teams have battled it out in the past, and very recently. Their core seems to be the reason that they have been able to stay relevant and stay dominant in this day and age. Management knows how to make sure to replace the right players with the best fit I guess.
b. I would have to say us in New England have had the tough time of getting back into the finals. Just a quick look at the playoff tree and then the standings, you will see that Winnipeg had to play Texas and Chicago, who were 6th and 7th in the standings this season. Wheras New England faced the 2nd and 3rd place teams this season, which were Philadelphia and Buffalo.
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4. Written, 3 TPE, The Char B1 bis In The Room (150 words min.)
This league was until quite recently dominated by a cabal of four teams. Two of them, Winnipeg and New England, are our finalists. A third, Philadelphia, was a finalist last year. The fourth... was Montreal. Does the success of Winnipeg and New England prove that Montreal pulled the plug too soon and should’ve kept the gang around? Or did at least one of the others just get lucky and Montreal made the better decision, without hindsight? What team-building lessons can we learn from this?For Montreal, if their core was getting old all at the same time and their caps all went up at the same time, you have to make a decision. If you do not have the players to replace the guys who are carrying you, you have to try and rebuild or re-tool, and that is the route they went.
RE: S74 Championship Week! 1/21 DEADLINE - Massive Coiler - 01-20-2024
Code:
1. CW TRIVIA, 3 TPE max - 1.5 TPE for participation, 0.5 TPE for each correct answer. This is completed through a Google form linked below. Make sure to spell your answers correctly or you will not get credit. Post your verification word in your CW post.Code:
2. Written, up to 4 TPE - Grab Bag: Pick up to 4 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words.
a. Two old faces are back in the ring, proving reports of the dynasty’s demise were greatly exaggerated! Pick either of our finalists, and tell me what about them impresses you the most!
b. Upsets were a theme this year - which of our finalists had the more difficult road to the promised land and why?
c. Which of the finalists had the more impressive conference finals victory, and why?
d. If it ain't broke don't fix it: Who you got? Who wins? Why?B. New England probably had the most difficult run. Having to deal with Buffalo in round 2 is the highest seeded team either one played. Also playing the Forge in round 3 who are the best team in the history of the universe (undisputed) adds to the level of difficulty that just wasn’t dealt with by Winnipeg. Never playing a team higher than the 6th seed just isn’t as impressive as New England’s run.
D. At the time of writing this, the series is over and I have no idea who won because that’s the sort of level I pay attention to when my team is out. That said, New England must be the ones who win because they beat my team (the Philadelphia Forge) and therefore, are the best team in the league.
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12. Written, 2 TPE - The Procrastinator Special! (100 words min.)
Looks like [TEAM] won Season 74! Who won and why? What could the other team have done differently to change the result? What was your favorite part of the series?I looked up the winner to hit a 2 TPE prompt, so now I know that, as I predicted 20 seconds ago, New England won. I don’t have a favorite part of the series, as I did not pay attention, so I will get right into the results. Obviously New England won, hot off a third round victory against the Forge. No team should beat them and then fail right at the finish line. I think New England was just stronger. Beat better teams and were on an absolute heater. Not to take anything away from Winnipeg’s impressive run, but I just think New England was a stronger all around team. Great depth all the way down the lineup and superior goaltending is just going to be too much to overcome.
RE: S74 Championship Week! 1/21 DEADLINE - jj2416 - 01-20-2024
1. CW word=DONE
11. Written, 3 TPE, Juniors’ Juniors (150 words min.)
Are there any new promotions to your org that you’re excited to see make your IIHF squad? Who’s a good rookie on your squad this offseason? Alternatively, who’s a current World Juniors star you’re excited to see in the IIHF soon?
Im excited to see Dan Craig in his last WJC and see what he can do for UCORAL I think with his history in the playoffs in the juniors being great. This would be a time to reaffirm that his play was not just a short time to be elevated. That he can do this every time that it matters consistently. Being a great player when it matters most is what being a great player means. At the end of the day if you are great all season, but when it matters most you were not then people forget everything else you did beforehand. On the other hand if you had a bad start and start to make up for it when it matters most everything becomes forgiven. It would also mean the most to his own confidence to be able to do that for his country.
RE: S74 Championship Week! 1/21 DEADLINE - Shiamus - 01-20-2024
Code:
2. Written, up to 4 TPE - Grab Bag: Pick up to 4 Challenge Cup
related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer
must be 50+ words.
a. Two old faces are back in the ring, proving reports of the dynasty’s
demise were greatly exaggerated! Pick either of our finalists, and tell
me what about them impresses you the most!
b. Upsets were a theme this year - which of our finalists had the more difficult road to the promised land and why?
c. Which of the finalists had the more impressive conference finals victory, and why?
d. If it ain't broke don't fix it: Who you got? Who wins? Why?Code:
5. Written, 3 TPE, Upset City (150 words min)
An impressive string of upsets took place this season, especially in the
West with San Francisco’s Cinderella run. Which upset series impressed
you most, why, and what in that series sticks out most in your memory?
For the purposes of this task, any series won by the lower seed is an
upset.1. Done
2a. I think what impresses me the most about the New England Wolfpack is the fact that they are carried pretty heavily points-wise by one player - Ivan Lacksamus. Ivan has been the Wolfpack's best forward for the past few years, and i'm pretty sure at this point is in the top ten scorers in the organization. It is great watching his legacy continue by making yet another finals.
2b. The New England Wolfpack easily had the more difficult road to the finals - having to go through the 2nd and 3rd overall seeds of the whole playoffs in the Buffalo Stampede and Philadelphia Forge. In comparison, Winnipeg only had to make it through the 6th and 7th seeds as their most difficult opponents.
2c. Correct me if I am wrong, but i'm fairly positive that the Philly Forge actually WON the whole cup last year (if they didn't i'm pretty sure they made the finals at the least). Although the San Francisco Pride took out Winnipeg's competition pretty handily and was a hot team coming in, I think New England getting revenge on the Forge was the more impressive victory.
2d. I think the New England Wolfpack win the championship. Although they didn't do too well in the regular season, this organization has a great playoff pedigree over the last few years and made it deep in the playoffs last year as well. My player is also a prospect for the Wolfpack, so I am slightly biased!
5. I think the San Francisco Pride series vs the Edmonton Blizzard was the biggest upset series in the whole playoff tournament. For starters - Edmonton were the overwhelming favorites to win the entire tournament. They led the league in point differential, with a whopping +193 - which was 60 over the next highest differential. That is almost a 30% difference, which is insane!
Come to the series - San Francisco went out to a early 2-0 game lead, which was completely unexpected - outscoring the Blizzard 10 goals to 4. Edmonton blazed back with a 8-4 win, but was thoroughly humbled yet again with a 5-2 loss in game 4. Edmonton would claw back yet again, but ultimately fell in a 2-1 overtime loss to San Francisco in game 6.
I think the key to San Francisco's upset was the defense shutting down Edmonton's star forwards in Evan Winter, Benjamin Surkhi-Zeev, and Oles Kobliska. All three players were 100+ point scorers during the regular season - but were rather limited by the defense of San Francisco. Just goes to prove that defense wins championships.
Total 7TPE + Trivia Results
RE: S74 Championship Week! 1/21 DEADLINE - TheNextGreatOne - 01-20-2024
#1.
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#10
In the upcoming IIHF season I see the USA return from their lackluster performance in the S73 IIHF, to pull off a very strong showing and make it a few rounds into the tournament. Now I don't think they will be winning a medal, I could see them making the bronze medal game, but losing it. The reason for the USA not doing well in the last tournament to me is that they didn't have the offense to match with the defense and goaltending they had. So if this upcoming tournament the offense picks up and helps to compliment their defense prowess from the last season tournament, then they could make a good case in the knockout round of the tournament. Although, I can't say for certain if the offense will improve, or if the defense or goaltending will be just the same as was before, especially since I'm not sure what the roster would look like, but I do think we could see them doing well.
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