Login

Toivo · 11-07-2019, 03:37 AM

16/16
NSFL PT

Task One: Elijah Jones has been invited to Tampa for one of the finals games. He had the option of picking Tampa or Calgary and made the obvious choice. The weather is better, more things to do. I like a good rodeo like everyone else, but at this time of the year, Tampa has floating Christmas trains on the waterways. The lights are great, the Christmas Town has snowy scenes, hot cocoa, and the best eats. The mood of Tampa was festive and hyped. The city was backing the Barracuda strong and prepared to help their team towards a challenge cup victory. Things weren’t that crazy though, the city remained civil, we live in a society after all. It’s fun to see hockey thriving in a non-traditional market. The Tampa population has only had the team for a brief history, but they have built a rabid fanbase that rivals the best of them. Jones knew the Tampa area was a good hockey market after playing there on the road a few times.

Task Two: I’m rooting for Tampa. Elijah Jones has history with several of the Barracuda. I have seen this team grow from a land with little hope to one of the best teams in the league. Tampa winning the championship is something I would like to see compared to another Calgary championship. There are people in Calgary I would be happy for, but overall it would be real neat if Tampa could take home the challenge cup. They keep getting closer and they seemed as determined as any team ever has been. It’ll be interesting to see how this series plays out and how much support each fanbase gives.

Task Three: Yeah, let’s make it so that the playoffs extend. Let’s include all the teams. The regular season should just be viewed as a warm up. We play all these games before the post season, and are they really supposed to be as worthless as they are? We only make so much money for the regular season let’s count the off-season and get everyone paid for the extra games that are played. There’s a lot of hype surrounding the SMJHL, where all teams are making the playoffs. From a league standpoint, it’s great that all players are involved in the playoffs. So, make the playoffs include everyone. That’ll make the regular season a tune up for each team. They’ll have to prove themselves in the playoffs. We’ll see who rises, and which teams falls. I think it would be good for the SHL making players want to stay active and engaged.

Task Five: Get rid of offsides. I am sick and tired of being sick and tired, but my sickness and tiredness usually stems from a beautiful goal being called off or a good set up being stopped because a player had one skate across the line before controlling the puck. Get this silly and utterly ridiculous rule of the game, it’s ruining the greatest game on earth. You don’t want a player cherry picking in the other zone? Well don’t the other team get possession of the puck. Own up to your own weaknesses as a team instead of relying on this nonsensical rule to dictate where players can go before the puck gets there. If there’s anything that messes with the flow of a game more than the constant offsides being called, let me know, because I would love to prove you wrong on this. Get rid of offsides and make the game flow better.

Task Eight: Nolan Sawchuk will lead the league in scoring and take home several pieces of hardware. His play has been steadily improving each season and he’s nearly at the level to win awards already. With Flacko getting older, the Barracuda will increasingly rely on Sawhuk to generate offense. His time as a star in the league is coming sooner than later. He has been working hard in the off-season every year and comes out faster and stronger. He could make waves as soon as next season and bring home an MVP trophy in the next few seasons. He is the most underrated player in the series.

jRuutu · 11-07-2019, 04:46 AM

2. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min)
After a slow start to the regular season, the Dragons have surged of late and have rallied around the #CalgaWe notion of togetherness. On the other side, the Barracuda battled through a difficult East and are led by a very strong young core. Which team are you personally rooting for to take home the Challenge Cup and why?

Calgary has been clinical in the playoffs so far, but Tampa had the second most points in the regular season and indeed have young players as difference makers, tough pick to be honest. After seeing Calgary´s performance in the playoffs so far I have to give them the edge in my hopes, almost would be a shame to see run like that end in the finals. If they manage to win the cup, this playoff run has to be one of the better ones lately. Izzy-Bouchard-McGavin line has been insane, line like that deserves glory and that big crown with cup victory. That is all really, hoping still to see tight series, game seven would be nice way to decide the cup winner. (123)

1. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)
VIP Status babyyyyyyyy - your player has been invited to attend one of the first homestands of the CC finals as a VIP guest - all expenses paid, front row seats, any hotel you want - and it's all on the Commissioner's dime! Are you going to Games 1 and 2 in Tampa or Games 3 and 4 in Calgary? Why are you picking there? And what are you going to do in that city to run up Eggy's tab?? (This is the same prompt as last year but we've got different cities! be creative! Don't re-use what was written last season)

Game 1 and 2 in Tampa, main reason behind that is the weather, should be a lot warmer in Tampa and since Eggy is paying it all I´m planning on hitting the beach, perhaps rent couple jet skis and go crazy. I´m going to hire a random person to drive the other jet ski with me, so I don´t look so sad out there. Depending on how much fun I have with the random person - I could just give the jet ski to them and send the bill to Eggy.

The main focus of that trip is in the games though, when I leave the hotel to make my way towards the arena I want to experience the area little bit, so someone has to carry me to from the hotel to the arena. Classic piggyback is what I have on my mind, I´m a fairly big dude, so I need to find a strong person to carry me. Gym nearby could be a good place to find someone, then throw a wad of cash at them and we are on our way!

At the game, I will naturally order the most expensive foods and drinks, order round or two to the whole section! (190)

5. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)
Due to some controversial calls during the playoffs, the league is looking at updating the current rules(icing, offside, etc) What new rule or change to a room would you implement to better the game?

I think a hooking penalty should always result in a penalty shot, no matter where it happens. That is a professional move that brings scoring down by eliminating opportunities happening. If the league wants to increase the speed and skill - need to start making changes that make a difference. Scoring a goal is still a long way from happening if you just give two-minute minor penalty for hooking, if you make it an automatical penalty shot - players hopefully will stop hooking as much, which results in more scoring chances and more entertainment for fans.

The second change would be to eliminate shootouts completely if the game ends even after OT, make the games be decided by 3 on 3 overtime that goes on as long as needed. Penalty shots would still be in the game when you start using them to penalize teams for professional fouls, like hooking for example. Make the winner of the games be decided by teams going head to head by playing. (166)

7. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)
As competition ramps up for the playoffs, players (both those still in and those eliminated) work extra hard to improve areas of their game that are lacking. What one area of your game do you really needs to focus on improving and how will this benefit the team?

I need to score more goals, not the main job for defenders obviously, but I like to shoot the puck a lot, so I need to start hitting back of the net more often or just simply stop shooting as often and maybe look for passing opportunities instead. Perhaps a better area to focus on is my overall hockey IQ, pick my shots better and avoid shooting into traffic. When I do shoot, make sure it at least goes towards the net. Some wise man once said that 100% of the shots that don´t hit the net wont go in.

Another big one is avoid taking bad penalties, this year I got too many stick penalties when I tried to cut corners little bit and in all honesty I was careless with my stick at times, need to keep my skates moving and work harder. League is full of excellent skaters, if I don´t match that work effort - I´m going to be in trouble. Penalties and goals change games. (170)

8. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min)
Which player from Calgary or Tampa Bay would you bet on to win a regular season individual award in a future season? What player and what award? What makes you think they'll live up to their potential and take home the hardware?

Shooter McGavin from Calgary has the potential to score the most goals in one season and win the Jay McDonald award. Shooter scored 23 goals during this years regular season games, fourth best total in the whole league - best scored 27, so really close already. McGavin shot 213 times, 8th most in the league. Its that desire to shoot that makes me believe he could win the award, of course McGavin gets to play in a solid team with solid players, but that is only going to help. They know who to pass it to and McGavin is not afraid to bury them, no fancy plays - just good old fashioned goal scoring. (112)

15. Casual Member Special PM SENT

= 16 TPE

majesiu · 11-07-2019, 05:01 AM

0. 3 TPE for PBE/NSFL Affiliation

3. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)
Are there any changes to the playoff format you'd like to see implemented? More wild cards? Move to a single-elimination to bring about even more chaos? 999-game series to minimize chaos? Be creative!

One things I used to like and even implemented once in high school tournament was double elimination bracket, where each team gets a second chance even after losing series, keep in mind it increases amount of series needed by a lot so we'd need to condense them instead of inflating already very long postseason and maybe give GMs ability to adjust just at the start of the series instead of in between of every single game. We could also lower amount of games, but one of big points of double elimination bracket is elimination of fluke one series upsets, so that'd be counter-intuitive, since as mentioned main obstacle of timing isn't amount of games per se but giving ability to make changes, so we could actually make all series bo5/bo7 or even better as mentioned in the prompt to something 99999 to eliminate sths potatoeness to the minimum. Let's have all teams make playoffs while at it too.

7. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)
As competition ramps up for the playoffs, players (both those still in and those eliminated) work extra hard to improve areas of their game that are lacking. What one area of your game do you really needs to focus on improving and how will this benefit the team?

That's quite a difficult question given I was at my absolute peak, entering regression in the SHL for the first time, yet it wasn't nearly enough to bring Specters their first title, even after the 2nd best Regular Season for Czerkawski so far in his 11 season (8 in the majors) career. Now begins the grind to stay among most productive player and hope remains I'll be able to achieve it for far longer than I anticipated, since I was on the verge of giving up and never reaching this level. After 400 games I'll be at 295 points and I guess I'd like to reach at least 500 points or match my idol here Oisin Fletcher that got ~550 in 650 games, I'll obviously will need many more games, since Irish player had 0.1 higher PPG, so SHL should see Czerkawski for at least 6 more seasons and that longevity will be my focus and hopefully will benefit the team too.

12. Written, up to 5 TPE Pick up to 5 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words to qualify.
A. Each team enters these finals with a red hot superstar - longtime league legend Mike Izzy for Calgary and surprise breakout star Gunnar Soderberg for Tampa Bay. Which of these players will have a more dominant finals?

Mike Izzy for Calgary would be an easy answer here since I'm famillar with him, but I'm surprised to see hot goalie from Calgary snubbed from the question, nonetheless the Augment brings with him might be crucial in this final battle of the season, tough personally I'd love to see Tampa Bay win it all, since I was close to join their ranks when my FA rights were traded there ~5 seasons ago.

B. Kata Vilde and Benjamin Blue are two of the best goaltenders in the league - which team has the advantage in net?

Oh, nice already mentioned the 1st one in the previous task and while I'm huge fan of Blue, Vilde has been on a roll and if he continues the Tampa Bay will have to grind out every single win or at least make a big effort to get him out of his comfort zone, which won't be an easy task.

C. Do you expect this to be a high-scoring series or a low-scoring series? A mix? Do you think it'll be competitive or will one team run away with it?

I certainly expect it to be competitive, while Tampa Bay had better regular season, Dragons run away in playoffs demolishing Western Conference in unparalleled manner for Wild Card contender. Teams also look evenly matched, while they both have some strengths and weaknesses none seems to dominant to turn the series one sided and end in a sweep.

E. If you could choose any one of the following four options, which would you pick? 1. A chicken parm sandwich from Esa 2. A tray of cookies from c00kies 3. A custom feet pic from JSS 4. An hour long stick and puck session with Jepox

Can I pass on all of them? 1. that doesn't seem sanitary at all, 2. Cookies are unhealthy and Czerkawski already struggles with weight, 3. yikes 4. Jepox is a bust, but I guess that'd be least damaging option of all, since I'm spending whole off-season training anyway and getting someone to pass me pucks would be nice.

15. Send for 3 TPE

kuschy · 11-07-2019, 06:17 AM

1. Written, 3 TPE
I’m going to Calgary for Game 3 and 4, because I’ve never been there before, so it’s a opportunity for me to see the stadium, walking thrue the city and try the best restaurants in the city. I love to see new things on the world, see other cities and cultures, and Calgary is way different to Tampa in the sunny state with good an warm weather (what I prefere) so my first thing to do in Calgary is, go to a store and buy a warm jacked for me to walk thrue the city, to see Calgary Tower, visit the Zoo and the Heritage Park Historical Village, wow, looking forward to see all these exiting things during my visit. And I will seel in the “the Fairmount Palliser” Hotel, on Tripadviser I saw, that’s one of the best in Calgary. So I will spend my time there.

2. Written, 2 TPE
I think Tampa will go for the Cup, because of the stronger Regular Season results and the fact, that Tampa was better classified after the Regular Season. On the Tampa Roster you can find some more Depth as in the Roster of Calgary, so I think they will have more Strength left for the last (maximum 7 Games). If you have a spot of the Stats, you can find mostly the Tampa Players better classified as the opponent Player from Calgary. So, for me, it’s very clear, Tampa will do the Race for the Cup in this Season. But it’s still a Sport on a slippery Surface.

3. Written, 3 TPE
Why to change a Format, that is proven for the last decade. So, I stand for the current Format. But, if I have to Change it, for a reason I don’t know I will do following.
After the Regular Season, there will be a Second “Regular Season” – Cross the Groups. First from Group A and last from Group B, and so on … so you have two new Groups. They will play two Games against each Team. A Home and a Away Game. After this, the Points adds to the Regular Groups. From this Time on, there will be cross Groups Playoffs … First of Group A versus Last of Group B and so on. So there will be no Campion in each Group, just the Champ at the End of the Series. After this first Round, the best classified Team of Group A will play the worst Team of Group B and so on.

4. Written, 3 TPE
In these other Reality, there are all the same … but not the same as we think. We have the same results and the same winners as in our Reality. But, they have a other Counting System, not the most Goals and the Result as we know it counts go go forward in these Playoffs, no … there are the most Shot Blocked that counts as the Results. So the Teams score not that much Goals in the Games, try to Shot only if you have a good Chance to score and it’s more of a Passing Game. But, you have to Shot, because if it’s a Tie at the End of the Game, the Goals counts. But, as we have a closer look at our and the other Reality, we see, the Team scored the most goals, also have the most shot blocked, so, we have the same Teams going forward in the playoffs and the same winner of the Callenge Cup.

5. Written, 3 TPE
New Rules are not always easy to implement in a existing Game that went so far with these Rules, but with changes in icing and also with no two line passes the game is faster now. I think a change I would apply to the game is, no Hits in the Game. I think with this change, the game will be more faster, the skilled players, and the very good skaters are more in focus and can play a bigger role. With this change it’s more important to be a good Skater and work on it very hard during the practice, and there will be less aggressivity during the game, less injuries, and so, I think, this change will be a good one for the hockey sports. You can see this rule change in Switzerland’s junior hockey, and the results the men’s national team has in the last few years, good skills players, good skater and success with these new tactic elements.

7. Written, 3 TPE
I think Ursin is working very hard in the Juniors this year to improve his defensive skills. During summer, Ursin and I work Off-Ice real hard to get stronger, competitiver and on hockey sense, to make good decisions during a hard hockey game. On the defensive you have to be strong in 1 on 1 and that was a part Ursin, and also I worked on it in summer and during the Season. When we match these hard work to the stats, the stats were a bit better this, than last year, so still a way to go to improve our defensive hockey to play against the best players in the SHL. So, one of the big issues during next off season will be working on our strength, on our hockey sense on high pressure and also to work on a good 1 on 1 in the defensive zone. So that we will be ready soon to play the best.

15. Casual Member Special, 3 TPE max - 1 TPE for participation, 0.5 TPE for each correct answer - SEND ANSWER IN PM TO "PT DIRECTOR"
PM sent

***Fantobens*** · 11-07-2019, 08:59 AM

15. PM sent

dylanjj37 · 11-07-2019, 09:18 AM

Code:
1. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)

VIP Status babyyyyyyyy - your player has been invited to attend one of the first homestands of the CC finals as a VIP guest - all expenses paid, front row seats, any hotel you want - and it's all on the Commissioner's dime! Are you going to Games 1 and 2 in Tampa or Games 3 and 4 in Calgary? Why are you picking there? And what are you going to do in that city to run up Eggy's tab?? (This is the same prompt as last year but we've got different cities! be creative! Don't re-use what was written last season)

Eggy has very kindly decided to invite me to the Challenge Cup and as I don't actually know Eggy, I don't feel bad spending all their money. Firstly, I will of course be going to watch the games in Tampa Bay. I looked up plane ticket prices and it was about twice as expensive as going to Calgary. I also tried to find the most expensive hotel I could (but one that was also nice) and so we will be staying at the Don Cesar. Who is we? Well, I have decided to invite my good friend Monkey D. Luffy who was complaining that it was too cold to play golf wherever he is. There are lots of golf courses near Tampa and it is a lot warmer (or so I have heard). We will also go to the most famous place in Florida and go to Disney World. I have only been to the one in Paris but I have heard that the Florida one has monkeys which Monkey will hopefully love seeing. I'm not too interested in seeing the actual games, I would prefer to do more fun things with Eggy's money but I suspect Monkey will want to watch so we will have to.

Code:
2. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min)

After a slow start to the regular season, the Dragons have surged of late and have rallied around the #CalgaWe notion of togetherness. On the other side, the Barracuda battled through a difficult East and are led by a very strong young core. Which team are you personally rooting for to take home the Challenge Cup and why?

The team that I want to win the Challenge Cup is, of course, the Tampa Bay Barracuda. I get very invested in the players on teams and if there's no one I know on the team, I don't really care for them. The Calgary Dragons have exactly zero players that I know. Is this because none of their players are good? Probably. On the other hand, the Tampa Bay Barracuda have several players that I know. Nolan Sawchuk and Olivier Cloutier are both very good players and of course there is Benjamin Blue, the best goalie in the league and definitely the best player on the team. They also have Flacko Lagerfield who may or may not be good.

Code:
3. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)

Are there any changes to the playoff format you'd like to see implemented? More wild cards? Move to a single-elimination to bring about even more chaos? 999-game series to minimize chaos? Be creative!

The way I would change playoffs is this – getting rid of the playoffs. Playoffs are the stupidest thing ever invented (possibly). It leaves half the teams with nothing to do from the very beginning and gradually more and more teams have nothing to do but wait for playoffs to be over. No one cares about if a different team is going to win. The other problem with playoffs is that it is a stupid system. You play one team and you win or lose in order to move on but this is stupid because it is supposed to be the team that is better than all the other teams not just better than the teams they manage to beat. Different teams have different strengths and while one team might beat another team, the team that beats them might not have beaten the other team because of their differences. This is why every team should play all the teams several times and then whoever is the best at the end of this should be the winner. This is called the regular season and so now we just get rid of playoffs.

Code:
4. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)

Alternate Reality: Physicists and other smarties believe that this reality is just one of infinite realities existing alongside this one in parallel. Take us over to one of those realities in which everything is the same but these S50 playoffs have unfolded differently. What happened in this reality's playoffs and who's in the Challenge Cup over there?

There is another reality that not many people know about. There, everything is the same except the S50 playoffs have happened very differently. This is because in this other reality, efficiency is the most important thing and nobody has time to sit around for maybe four games, maybe seven (how do you even plan for this?!). Instead, there is a really easy one chance knockout system. The home team is decided by which team has the biggest revenue throughout the season as with less games, there needs to be more money from each game. The playoffs actually went very much the same as ours, with only minor difference being that Manhattan got through instead of Toronto. Oh, and the biggest difference – Hamilton Steelhawks make the Challenge Cup final instead of Tampa Bay Barracuda. This means the final game will be held in Hamilton due to its proximity to many very large hockey markets and the fact that Hamilton is just better. The game hasn't been played yet but I suspect that in this alternate world Hamilton would be lifting the Challenge Cup.

Code:
12. Written, up to 5 TPE Pick up to 5 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words to qualify.

A. Each team enters these finals with a red hot superstar - longtime league legend Mike Izzy for Calgary and surprise breakout star Gunnar Soderberg for Tampa Bay. Which of these players will have a more dominant finals?

I don't really know who either of these players are. I have never heard of Gunnar Soderberg at all and though I have of course heard of the infamous Mike Izzy I do not know much about him. I will have to say that Mike Izzy will be more dominant in the finals as he is the better player and I think he will do very well and score lots of goals. I do however think that maybe Soderberg will get the winning goal of the series.

Code:
12. Written, up to 5 TPE Pick up to 5 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words to qualify.

B. Kata Vilde and Benjamin Blue are two of the best goaltenders in the league - which team has the advantage in net

I have never heard of Kata Vilde. I don't know who they are and so I can only assume that they aren't actually that good. Thankfully, I do happen to know that Benjamin Blue is the greatest goaltender to ever tend a goal. There is no doubt in my mind that the Tampa Bay Barracuda have the advantage in net here.

Code:
12. Written, up to 5 TPE Pick up to 5 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words to qualify.

C. Do you expect this to be a high-scoring series or a low-scoring series? A mix? Do you think it'll be competitive or will one team run away with it?

I think that the Challenge Cup this season will be very exciting. In the two games that have been played between the Calgary Dragons and Tampa Bay Barracuda, there has been 5 goals and 10 goals, both high scoring games. This gives us good hope that the finals will be high scoring, very competitive series too although obviously Tampa will win.

Code:
12. Written, up to 5 TPE Pick up to 5 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words to qualify.

D. What's your favorite player NAME on either team? why? (note: not who's your favorite player. which player name)

The player with the best name in the Challenge Cup finals is without a doubt Shooter McGavin II. Not Shooter McGavin, who has a very boring, two-word name, but Shooter McGavin II. It's well known that the longer the name, the better the name Also Shooter McGavin is a pretty cool name on its own without the II.

Code:
12. Written, up to 5 TPE Pick up to 5 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words to qualify.

E. If you could choose any one of the following four options, which would you pick? 1. A chicken parm sandwich from Esa 2. A tray of cookies from c00kies 3. A custom feet pic from JSS 4. An hour long stick and puck session with Jepox

There is only one correct answer here and that is the hour longer stick and puck session with Jepox. This is because “stick and puck” is actually code for something else that I can't write here. I do however know lots of people who have been to a “stick and puck” session with Jepox for like an hour and the next they always say how sore they are the next day. I want to experience this.

DaftRaincloud · 11-07-2019, 10:28 AM

Quote:1. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)

VIP Status babyyyyyyyy - your player has been invited to attend one of the first homestands of the CC finals as a VIP guest - all expenses paid, front row seats, any hotel you want - and it's all on the Commissioner's dime! Are you going to Games 1 and 2 in Tampa or Games 3 and 4 in Calgary? Why are you picking there? And what are you going to do in that city to run up Eggy's tab?? (This is the same prompt as last year but we've got different cities! be creative! Don't re-use what was written last season)

Jonas Larsen was in the VIP suite to see Edmonton last year, and because he was on his best behavior the league have decided he should represent them once again. However, the Norwegian left winger has other plans this time around. Unbeknownst to the league Jonas is a huge Disneyphile and he has rented a car (on the league's dime) to take the hour and a half trek over to Orlando and then to Disney World for the day. Being on a California team he has the opportunity to make his way over to Anaheim and to Disneyland whenever he has a few days off in a row, but he has never before been able to go to the Magic Kingdom and he isn't about to miss his shot. Jonas takes the company credit card and makes sure to rack up the bill with churros and dole whip floats whenever the cravings hit him.

Quote:2. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min)
After a slow start to the regular season, the Dragons have surged of late and have rallied around the #CalgaWe notion of togetherness. On the other side, the Barracuda battled through a difficult East and are led by a very strong young core. Which team are you personally rooting for to take home the Challenge Cup and why?

As a player for the San Francisco Pride you may assume that I want the team that eliminated our President's Cup winning team from the playoffs to go on and lose in the finals. It's a safe assumption, and at first I would have felt that way, but looking at it now if we are able to say that the only team that was able to beat us was the eventual cup winner then that makes us look better by association, does it not? For that reason I am hoping that the Calgary Dragons continue to surge and put away the Barracuda.

Quote:7. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)

As competition ramps up for the playoffs, players (both those still in and those eliminated) work extra hard to improve areas of their game that are lacking. What one area of your game do you really needs to focus on improving and how will this benefit the team?

Jonas Larsen has hung his hat so far on his goal scoring ability and it allowed him to shoot a scorching 33.3% during his rookie season, albeit on five minutes per night on the fourth line. However he is aiming to up his work load coming into his sophomore campaign and for that he needs to elevate himself to a level that the team deems acceptable. During this off-season Jonas will be working heavily on his defensive ability and his skating. The Pride emphasize playing a full two hundred foot game and for the most part Jonas has only been effective in the offensive zone. He knows that won't cut it long term so for Jonas his defense and his skating are the two deficiencies he will work to rectify. He plans to put more time in the gym than he has in any off-season before and spend at least every other day on the ice if not more. This will be the first year that Jonas does not take a vacation.

Quote:8. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min)

Which player from Calgary or Tampa Bay would you bet on to win a regular season individual award in a future season? What player and what award? What makes you think they'll live up to their potential and take home the hardware?

I believe that Benjamin Blue, the Tampa Bay net minder, should be up to win the John McBride Trophy. Blue went from a junior league goalie that set records for how poorly he played to now contributing to the success of the Barracudas and playing in the Challenge Cup finals. Ben sported a .922 save percentage for the season facing a total of 425 shots. I think that Blue has reached the pinnacle of a goalie's career and should also be in the running for the Anton Razov Trophy because without his high end play the Barracuda may not be where they are now. So for me I would like to see Blue get both of these trophies at the conclusion of the post-season. @"BoucherFan12"

Quote:9. Graphics, 3 TPE

Your team is looking to put a new mural outside the locker room. Design what the mural will look like and be sure to represent your team and city!

XLeafer · 11-07-2019, 10:33 AM

2. Which team am I cheering for. Which team would I cheer for. A team that did not have a great and there was no hope for them but then never gave up and gave it all they got at the end to make the playoffs and then making it to the Challenge Cup Finals led by Mike Izzy who had a great postseason. Or cheer for the team I play for. Pretty tough you ask me, not. The Tampa Bay Barracudas will always have my support because I play for them and I want to win the cup again and first one with the franchise.

7. Well one thing I want Austin Roenick to become is a very powerful offensive force. I want him to not only puck handle very well and also pass very well but I also want him to score goals very goals. He scored the team leading 22 goals this rookie season which is very good on him and I feel like that is just the start. His defending has been getting better and better because it is very important to be good defensively because when you are good defensively, you get the puck more and a bigger chance to score more goals and more possession. But one thing Austin Roenick needs to work on is his grit and aggression. He needs to be an aggressive player and a soft bitch which he is right now. He needs to throw a lot of hits because he needs to be seen as the chosen one and the passionate one.

8. Well obviously I do not know anything about the Calgary Dragons so I will name two players from the Tampa Bay Cuddas who I think will win an award in the future. First off is Soderberg. Soderberg can win the award for the most points in the league because why not. I think Soderberg already went on a mission and can fulfil to become the leading scorer. Austin Roenick is another player and I think he can win the award for most goals in a season as he was not that far off this rookie season to winning it so yeah, pretty good to see something like that happen one day or more than once.

13.
A. Mike Izzy will have a more dominant finals than Soderberg because of the experience Mike Izzy has as he has experienced being in the finals before and he dominated before and he can do it again. Izzy is already dominating the playoffs entering the finals so I can see the momentum continuing as they face Tampa.

B. I think Blue has an advantage in net because Blue has faced more tougher teams than Vilde has and so Vilde has not faced a tougher team like the Tampa Bay Cuddas while Blue has faced tough teams like Hamilton. So yeah, Blue has an edge because of past opponents and will have a better performance.

C. This will be a high scoring series because both teams have a power house offensive group and their top players are leading the league in playoff scoring right now. The defense will not like this series and the goaltenders will have a very tough assignment in this series so it will be a very close series and a high scoring series.

D. Anthony Archer is my favourite from both teams in the finals because it is literally the only name out of all that has both the first and last names being the first name. Anthony is a first name and Archer is a first name so yeah it is pretty nice to see that happen again.

E. Option A, I do not think Esa knows how to make a sandwich so it will be poo. Option B, I think I will eat the cookies but also be eaten by c00kies because I will have cookies inside myself and he'll want cookies. Option D, I'd rather die in lava than jepox teach so yeah, I want JSS's feet pics.

14. I think this is an unanonimous pick for the finals MVP and Mike Izzy deserves it. He absolutely killed it in the finals and was the reason Calgary won the championship. If it were not for him, Tampa Bay would have ended the series in 4 games but they belw it and I am still angry about it and I want to kill simon for making my life even worse and Mike Izzy loved it and gets to enjoy the finals MVP in his long lasting legendary oldman career. Also, did you know edmonton drafted Izzy and not Calgary, very fun fact.

Code:
15. Sent

C9Van · 11-07-2019, 11:21 AM

Code:
1. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)

VIP Status babyyyyyyyy - your player has been invited to attend one of the first homestands of the CC finals as a VIP guest - all expenses paid, front row seats, any hotel you want - and it's all on the Commissioner's dime! Are you going to Games 1 and 2 in Tampa or Games 3 and 4 in Calgary? Why are you picking there? And what are you going to do in that city to run up Eggy's tab?? (This is the same prompt as last year but we've got different cities! be creative! Don't re-use what was written last season)

First off, how in the hell does Jon keep getting these tickets? But anyway, Jon Forty-One will be going to Calgary, Canada for game 3 and 4 rather than the other option purely because it means Jon we be heading back to Canada which he just loves to visit. He did the same thing last season with Edmonton so he will just be returning to Alberta. He picked game 3 and 4 because if in the situation of a clean sweep he will see whatever team is winning lift the cup that night and also it means that the series is not as young. He can go into these 2 specific games already seeing what happened in Tampa Bay and see how the series has progressed. It should be quite interesting to see what else Jon does because he was a bit of a dick and kept eating in very expensive places, so maybe he will return to those places just to make his tab a whole lot bigger!

[170 words]

Code:
2. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min)

After a slow start to the regular season, the Dragons have surged of late and have rallied around the #CalgaWe notion of togetherness. On the other side, the Barracuda battled through a difficult East and are led by a very strong young core. Which team are you personally rooting for to take home the Challenge Cup and why?

Jon Forty-One has literally know horse in this battle. He just wants to see tears and broken bones and broken dreams. Both still appear on his revenge list who he will be gunning for next season so he is just hoping for heart break or someone messing up badly and costing his team the big one. You know, edgy stuff like that.

I personally do not know anyone from either team. So like Jon I have no horse in this. However, I have interacted with a couple of Calgary Dragon players (Compared to absolutely no-one on Tampa Bay) and I will be rooting for Calgary purely cause they have been nicer to me. Not much to go on but it was better than saying I do not give 2 flying fucks.

[133 words]

Code:
7. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)

As competition ramps up for the playoffs, players (both those still in and those eliminated) work extra hard to improve areas of their game that are lacking. What one area of your game do you really needs to focus on improving and how will this benefit the team?

I do not know player builds very well. But my General Managers do and if I had to guess it would be the stats that are around control. Like movement with the ice hockey puck or strength, control, speed. All that type of bollocks. Or maybe just having better passing or shooting. Jon Forty-One is still very young and is only at 700 Total Points Earned but it will not be long before he is hitting his prime.

I will put my points wherever they want me to put them to make me as good as possible and hopefully soon I can make Jon a key piece to the Chiefs' puzzle in making them a real contender.

How will this benefit the Chiefs? Well, I am the best player they have drafted in the past 3 seasons and having a stronger 3rd line would always help depth and overall the quality of hockey we are able to play. Also it heavily would then help Jon's revenge list against teams but at least that has had a great start to his majors career.

[183 words]

Code:
12. Written, up to 5 TPE Pick up to 5 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words to qualify.

A. Each team enters these finals with a red hot superstar - longtime league legend Mike Izzy for Calgary and surprise breakout star Gunnar Soderberg for Tampa Bay. Which of these players will have a more dominant finals?

B. Kata Vilde and Benjamin Blue are two of the best goaltenders in the league - which team has the advantage in net?

C. Do you expect this to be a high-scoring series or a low-scoring series? A mix? Do you think it'll be competitive or will one team run away with it?

D. What's your favorite player NAME on either team? why? (note: not who's your favorite player. which player name)

E. If you could choose any one of the following four options, which would you pick? 1. A chicken parm sandwich from Esa 2. A tray of cookies from c00kies 3. A custom feet pic from JSS 4. An hour long stick and puck session with Jepox

A. I think it will be Mike Izzy. It is very hard to bet against Mike Izzy and whilst I do think Gunnar Soderberg is a good player and will only get better for Tampa Bay you are comparing him to someone who has a shot at the Hall of Fame and Gunnar needs to do more to even get at that level. So the advantage in superstars definitely goes to Calgary for me.

[73 words]

B. If I am being honest. I do not know either of these 2 teams very well past a handful of names. This is the same for the man between the sticks but I have heard of Benjamin Blue. So purely based of name recognition I will state that I believe Benjamin Blue will shine more during this series. Not based of TPE but just purely off Simon being Simon.

[69 words. Nice.]

C. I am going with a mix to be honest. I think both teams will start quite nervous and test the waters rather than go gung-ho attack just cause that can backfire. Perhaps game 2 and 3 will open up more and be an absolute goal fest. I do not know who will be winning the series but If I was a betting man I would say Calgary in 6 but Tampa Bay's wins are convincing snowball type wins.

[79 words]

D. Honestly? The reason I remember the name Benjamin Blue is because it reminds me of the Benjamin Button film. A lot of people have forgettable news in this sim league and are boring as fuck but he stood out purely because of that and the fact Blue is the best colour. Fuck Red. So out of both of these 2 teams I would say Benjamin Blue is my favourite name, cause I really like that movie too.

[77 words]

E. This 1 is quite easy for me. A tray of cookies from C00kies. He might be a completely shite cook and baker for all I know but if he gives it a legitimate try I would easily try 1 and if they are good I would most likely stuff my face with them. I do love cookies. The others do not massively appeal to me either in doing so I was always picking this option.

[75 words]

Code:
15. Casual Member Special, 3 TPE max - 1 TPE for participation, 0.5 TPE for each correct answer - SEND ANSWER IN PM TO "PT DIRECTOR" (tagged below)

A. As defined by draft class, who is the oldest player in this series?

B. What is the name of the Calgary Dragons' Arena?

C. Name 3 previous names of the Tampa Bay Barracuda franchise

D. From these two teams, which player had the most PIMs in the S50 regular season? (Look, I'll even give you a link to the index right below this code box. When I posted the link directly, it auto-corrected the colon + slash into a partial frown face; it looks funny and the link still works so i'm leaving it)

Sent.

ej27 · 11-07-2019, 12:47 PM

Code:
1. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)

VIP Status babyyyyyyyy - your player has been invited to attend one of the first homestands of the CC finals as a VIP guest - all expenses paid, front row seats, any hotel you want - and it's all on the Commissioner's dime! Are you going to Games 1 and 2 in Tampa or Games 3 and 4 in Calgary? Why are you picking there? And what are you going to do in that city to run up Eggy's tab?? (This is the same prompt as last year but we've got different cities! be creative! Don't re-use what was written last season)

Leo Lockhart would definitely choose to attend games one and two in Tampa because his former Armada teammate and bff Olivier Cloutier plays for Tampa and Leo wouldn't want to miss supporting him at those first two home games. As far as running up a tab on Eggy's dime, I think that might be a little hard to do in Tampa. I don't think Tampa is the ritziest place. It looks like the most expensive hotel is only $250 a night. But even though Leo could absolutely crash at Cloutier's place, he'll stay at the Epicurean just for shits and giggles. Because that's the name of the game, right? He'll have dinner at Council Oak where he can have a 12oz Japanese A5 Wagyu ribeye steak for $115. And that's just the entree. He'll make sure to order a really expensive bottle of wine to go with it, and maybe a couple of appetizers. Or he'll bring a friend and order two entrees that cost more than his hotel room. It'll be a good time.

Code:
2. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min)

After a slow start to the regular season, the Dragons have surged of late and have rallied around the #CalgaWe notion of togetherness. On the other side, the Barracuda battled through a difficult East and are led by a very strong young core. Which team are you personally rooting for to take home the Challenge Cup and why?

You might think this would be an easy one for me to give to Calgary since my last player played for Calgary, won a cup with the team, and retired from there. But not only does Olivier Cloutier play for TBB which means they automatically get my support by default, but Calgary swept the pride and knock us out in the second round this season so that killed any lingering loyalty I might have had there. I hope they go down in spectacular fashion, and I'm counting on Tampa Bay to kick some ass for me. I'll be wearing my Cloutier jersey and waiving that barracuda pennant high.

Code:
4. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)

Alternate Reality: Physicists and other smarties believe that this reality is just one of infinite realities existing alongside this one in parallel. Take us over to one of those realities in which everything is the same but these S50 playoffs have unfolded differently. What happened in this reality's playoffs and who's in the Challenge Cup over there?

In an alternate universe, I've got to give the round 2 San Francisco versus Calgary win to the Pride. We had a hell of a regular season, so it was just completely disheartening to go out in a fucking sweep. So assuming the Pride won that matchup and also won round 3, it'd be a Pride vs Barracuda finals which I'd love to see. That would be an interesting series too, in my opinion. We played them twice during the regular season and couldn't finish it in regulation either time. One of the games ended in an overtime win for the Pride and the other was a shootout win for Tampa Bay. So it would turn out to be a super close and super exciting series, but since this is my alternate reality, of course the Pride would take the cup home in an epic game 7 double overtime game. It'd be one for the record books, that's for sure.

Code:
7. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)

As competition ramps up for the playoffs, players (both those still in and those eliminated) work extra hard to improve areas of their game that are lacking. What one area of your game do you really needs to focus on improving and how will this benefit the team?

Lockhart has a pretty strong defensive game, but as an offensive defenseman, he really needs to step it up as far as scoring is concerned. He can't buy a goal to save his life, and with scoring as a strength, that's something that definitely needs work. I can't really say how that'll help the team, because I'm not sure how this offseason will shake out and if the team will even be the same, but if he stays on the pride, scoring more goals would certainly help a team with a couple of holes in the forward position. If he doesn't stay with the pride, what team wouldn't be improved by someone who scored a bunch of goals? I guess after that, Lockhart will need to work on his physical game and start putting some work into checking and strength. He's not a very heavy hitter right now, but as a big player he definitely could be. Scoring and checking...two opposite ends of the spectrum. But Lockhart is gonna work on both.

Code:
12. Written, up to 5 TPE Pick up to 5 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words to qualify.

A. Each team enters these finals with a red hot superstar - longtime league legend Mike Izzy for Calgary and surprise breakout star Gunnar Soderberg for Tampa Bay. Which of these players will have a more dominant finals?

B. Kata Vilde and Benjamin Blue are two of the best goaltenders in the league - which team has the advantage in net?

C. Do you expect this to be a high-scoring series or a low-scoring series? A mix? Do you think it'll be competitive or will one team run away with it?

D. What's your favorite player NAME on either team? why? (note: not who's your favorite player. which player name)

E. If you could choose any one of the following four options, which would you pick? 1. A chicken parm sandwich from Esa 2. A tray of cookies from c00kies 3. A custom feet pic from JSS 4. An hour long stick and puck session with Jepox

D. I'm gonna go with Clifton Outlaw as my favorite name in the series, just because it sounds kinda badass. Think about the announcer calling a goal for Outlaw over the loudspeaker. Outlaw probably looks pretty bitchin on the back of a jersey, too. I bet that one sells, even if Outlaw sucks. I'm not saying he does suck, tbh I have no idea. This is just about the name, right?

E. First of all, what the heck is wrong with you? Why are you even making me read the words "custom feet pic" while I'm just out here trying to live my life and do my damn CW tasks? I'm gonna go with a chicken parm sandwich from Esa because I'm hungry and I don't trust any cookies that come from a team with Zach on the roster.

Code:
15. Casual Member Special, 3 TPE max - 1 TPE for participation, 0.5 TPE for each correct answer - SEND ANSWER IN PM TO "PT DIRECTOR" (tagged below)

A. As defined by draft class, who is the oldest player in this series?

B. What is the name of the Calgary Dragons' Arena?

C. Name 3 previous names of the Tampa Bay Barracuda franchise

D. From these two teams, which player had the most PIMs in the S50 regular season? (Look, I'll even give you a link to the index right below this code box. When I posted the link directly, it auto-corrected the colon + slash into a partial frown face; it looks funny and the link still works so i'm leaving it)

**Important**: Send the answers to username "PT Director" with the subject of the message titled “S50 CW" - Do not send it to my personal account; those will not be graded. Do not post the answers in here; you will not get credit for the task.

PMed!

FuzzSHL · 11-07-2019, 01:01 PM

Quote:1. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)
VIP Status babyyyyyyyy - your player has been invited to attend one of the first homestands of the CC finals as a VIP guest - all expenses paid, front row seats, any hotel you want - and it's all on the Commissioner's dime! Are you going to Games 1 and 2 in Tampa or Games 3 and 4 in Calgary? Why are you picking there? And what are you going to do in that city to run up Eggy's tab?? (This is the same prompt as last year but we've got different cities! be creative! Don't re-use what was written last season)

Disheartened by being swept, Fox is left with a tough decision. On one hand, why would he want to go see Games 3 and 4 in the city of the team that he got swept by? Well, Fox does happen to be a huge fan of chicken parm, so visiting the notorious Big Parm would be a classic. However, there's only one real choice here, and that's Tampa. Fox couldn't turn down a trip to see his pal Nik Evans. All expenses paid? Come on 'Cuda, let's go have ourselves a nice dinner and get you ready for Games 1 and 2. On second thought...Fox had a better idea. With Calgary in town preparing, Fox pulled a few strings and decided to get the Dragons together and take them out to celebrate knocking off the Specters. Rumor had it Izzy was a fan of beer, so Fox could only hope that the hangover would be too bad for Izzy to deal with in Game 1.

Quote:2. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min)
After a slow start to the regular season, the Dragons have surged of late and have rallied around the #CalgaWe notion of togetherness. On the other side, the Barracuda battled through a difficult East and are led by a very strong young core. Which team are you personally rooting for to take home the Challenge Cup and why?

As you could probably see from the first prompt, I'm personally rooting for the Barracuda. While I have a lot of respect for Esa and Izzy and have some of my J guys in their system, I just can't find it in me to root for the team that knocked Fox and the Specters out of the playoffs. The Barracuda have been up and down over the past few seasons and honestly deserve something to go right for them. Heck, they shelled out for two players that helped get them to this point. It might take them actually winning the cup to give them a little more peace of mind from that trade.

Quote:3. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)
Are there any changes to the playoff format you'd like to see implemented? More wild cards? Move to a single-elimination to bring about even more chaos? 999-game series to minimize chaos? Be creative!

While you may be looking for creative, my idea is a little more tame but I think would make a little more sense. As it stands right now, 5 teams from each conference makes it into the playoffs. This makes for some odd matchups to begin with 3 teams having a bye and 2 teams playing a play-in series. Firstly, I'd limit the playoffs to 8 teams instead of 10 and get rid of divisions again. W1vW4, W2vW3, E1vE4, E2vE3. Best-of-7. Here's the catch: double elimination. The "lower bracket" would stay within conference, so west teams would never face east teams before the finals. The "lower bracket" would also be Best-of-5 instead of Best-of-7 like the "upper bracket." The conference finals would be Best-of-7 with no advantage, and the finals would be Best-of-7. This is not feasible with SimonT as is, so.

Quote:12. Written, up to 5 TPE Pick up to 5 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words to qualify.
A. Each team enters these finals with a red hot superstar - longtime league legend Mike Izzy for Calgary and surprise breakout star Gunnar Soderberg for Tampa Bay. Which of these players will have a more dominant finals?

B. Kata Vilde and Benjamin Blue are two of the best goaltenders in the league - which team has the advantage in net?

C. Do you expect this to be a high-scoring series or a low-scoring series? A mix? Do you think it'll be competitive or will one team run away with it?

D. What's your favorite player NAME on either team? why? (note: not who's your favorite player. which player name)

E. If you could choose any one of the following four options, which would you pick? 1. A chicken parm sandwich from Esa 2. A tray of cookies from c00kies 3. A custom feet pic from JSS 4. An hour long stick and puck session with Jepox

A) Calgary has only lost 1 game the entirety of the playoffs so far. While I believe this will end, I think Izzy will still find a way to put on the best performance of his career to date and make it as hard as possible on Tampa to succeed in taking home the Cup.

B) The advantage in net at the moment has to go to Kata Vilde. 12-1-0 in 13 starts this postseason, .931 save percentage and an even 2.00 GAA. Vilde has the hot glove in the playoffs, so for TBB to come away with the series, Blue will have to find a way to top Vilde, which is going to be quite the task.

C) Looking at the goalie stats heading into this series, this will likely be a very low scoring series. However, I think SimonT likes to go against the grain in these scenarios, so I would expect scoring to be up in this series compared to the previous rounds of the playoffs. Only time will tell how it will truly play out though.

D) Maui. I mean, come on, there's just something about a mononymous name that makes that person that much cooler. "What jersey are you buying?" "Maui." "Maui who?" "Just Maui." There are some other names that are close, but ultimately Maui takes the cake (or, in essence of the series, he takes the parm) in this one.

E) While the first two options sound really enticing (and the last two......uh), I'm gonna have to go with a chicken parm sandwich from Esa. I am a slut for some chicken parm and would do some pretty terrible things for some chicken parm right about now. I hate that I'm doing this during lunch, too. Stupid CW making me hungry. I hope you're proud!

Quote:15. Casual Member Special, 3 TPE max - 1 TPE for participation, 0.5 TPE for each correct answer - SEND ANSWER IN PM TO "PT DIRECTOR" (tagged below)
A. As defined by draft class, who is the oldest player in this series?
B. What is the name of the Calgary Dragons' Arena?
C. Name 3 previous names of the Tampa Bay Barracuda franchise
D. From these two teams, which player had the most PIMs in the S50 regular season? (Look, I'll even give you a link to the index right below this code box. When I posted the link directly, it auto-corrected the colon + slash into a partial frown face; it looks funny and the link still works so i'm leaving it)

**Important**: Send the answers to username "PT Director" with the subject of the message titled “S50 CW" - Do not send it to my personal account; those will not be graded. Do not post the answers in here; you will not get credit for the task.

PM'd

Aleksi Kettu

***Leafs4ever*** · 11-07-2019, 01:02 PM

Task 1:

So I got a call from the commissioners' office asking to speaking to me. You get a call like that and assume the worst, but this time is was good news. Eggy informed me that he wants me to be the Blizzard representative for two games of the Challenge Cup Final. I graciously accepted, of course. He told me to choose between Games 1 and 2 in Tampa or Games 3 and 4 in Calgary. While it was tempting to choose Calgary so I could watch them lose the cup in their own building and bathe in Dragon tears, I just couldn't go to Calgary, so I chose going to Tampa.

Flying to Tampa was great, since it was on the official league private jet. We landed, got our 5 star hotel and settled in. I immediately ran up the tab with some room service. I planned on making the league spend a lot of money on me so I had to start right away. The day we landed, it just so happened that the Buccaneers were playing at home so I went to that football game, on the league's dime of course. We got ready for game night and we were seated right on the glass. It was actually cool to get that perspective of the game. I ordered a ton of food and drinks just to squeeze the most out of the trip. After the games, we got flown back and after looking at my tab, I was informed I wouldn't be chosen as a representative again.

(259 words)

Task 2:

Anyone who knows anything about me knows exactly who I'm rooting for in this Challenge Cup. I live to curse the Calgary Dragons name and I sure as hell ain't rooting for them in this series or ever. Once again, the Dragons have lucked their way to a final and no one seems to know how they keep doing it. Average players, suspect coaching, and a terrible home atmosphere, it's almost as if it's happening to spite everyone in the league. I will pray to every god that Tampa Bay puts the Dragons out of their misery an does everyone a favour and wins the Challenge Cup. It's what's best for the league and its fans.

(116 words)

Task 7:

I came up through the ranks as a sniper. It was my calling card and my best skill. The Raiders drafted me as a sniper, expecting me to rack up the goals. The Blizzard drafted me, hoping the same. Now, 13 seasons later, I'm not scoring near as much as I should be.

It's not like I'm not getting points, but it's more assists than goals. I spent my whole career perfecting my shooting so it's hard to believe I'm a passer now. I really want to become the sniper I intended to be so this off-season I'm only focusing on shooting. I will ignore every other facet of my game and just shoot. If I can actually become a sniper, that will help the team out big time because our opponents would actually have to key in on that and not just ignore any threat of me shooting. I'll still have the passing, but now they'll have to anticipate my shot because it'll actually be effective. That's my hope anyway. Now, to grind it out this off-season and become the sniper I always wanted to be.

(187 words)

Task 12:

A. Each team enters these finals with a red hot superstar - longtime league legend Mike Izzy for Calgary and surprise breakout star Gunnar Soderberg for Tampa Bay. Which of these players will have a more dominant finals?

Gunnar Soderberg will have the better finals because the Dragons will be stifled by Tampa's defense and put up terrible numbers. The Barracuda are going to expose Calgary and Gunnar is going to eat their defense on the ice. Tampa is the better team and Gunnar is going to take advantage of that and light the lamp all series long. (60 words)

B. Kata Vilde and Benjamin Blue are two of the best goaltenders in the league - which team has the advantage in net?

Give the edge to Benjamin Blue. He's been tested more during this playoffs and put up great numbers. Kata has good numbers, but that's because their opponents haven't really tested them. Vilde has faced a small number of shots through 13 games, 45 less than Blue, so I don't trust Kata to be ready for the barrage that Tampa will put on. (62 words)

C. Do you expect this to be a high-scoring series or a low-scoring series? A mix? Do you think it'll be competitive or will one team run away with it?

This will be a one-sided series. Tampa Bay is going to dominate Calgary all over the ice. It's going to be a high scoring series, but only because of the Barracuda. I expect them to lay a beating on the Dragons. The Dragons won't score much, will give up a ton, and get washed in 4 games. It's going to be great to watch as a fan. (67 words)

D. What's your favorite player NAME on either team? why? (note: not who's your favorite player. which player name)

How can you not choose Maui? Named after the great and powerful Maui from Disney's Moana, Maui is a great name for a big, strong defender on the Tampa Bay Barracuda. He's even on a team with a sea creature as the mascot. It's perfect in every way. No contest, Maui is the best name on either roster. (58 words)

E. If you could choose any one of the following four options, which would you pick? 1. A chicken parm sandwich from Esa 2. A tray of cookies from c00kies 3. A custom feet pic from JSS 4. An hour long stick and puck session with Jepox

Give me the one hour stick and puck session with Jepox. I'm a hockey junkie so I'll be more than happy doing some hockey drills with another player. Sawchuk is having a great post-season as well, so maybe I'll pick up a thing or two as well. You never stop learning as an athlete so I'll take this chance to try and improve my own game. (66 words)

Task 15:

PM'd

Guy Incognito - D - #24
Texas Renegades
Season 81
0-0-0
Regular Season - [G 0] [A 0] [Pts 0] [+/- 0] [PIM 0] [Hits 0] [SB 0]
[Image: ERs3IrD.png]

ArGarBarGar · 11-07-2019, 01:14 PM

1. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)

I want to go game 1 in Tampa. It is the franchise's first appearance in the Challenge Cup Finals since S26 (25 years), and the franchise's first appearance in the Challenge Cup Finals since they moved from Seattle. This means that the crowds in Tampa are going to be rocking and they will be so loud that I have to be a part of that atmosphere. Who wouldn't want to be a part of the jubilation of seeing your team skate on the ice for the holy grail for the first time, and who wouldn't want to be a part of history when they score their first goal on home ice? I think it is going to be an incredible moment and something I want to be a part of for sure. Who wouldn't want to take all that in and enjoy the environment? I can't think of anyone.

6. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)

I can't think of a player who never made it to the Challenge Cup Finals, but I can think of a player who was never able to win himself a cup. Jed Lloren played multiple seasons with the West Kendall Platoon and the Seattle Riot, moving from team to team on a regular basis. He started his career in S20, and then was able to make the Challenge Cup Finals in S25. However, the Platoon lost in a grueling seven game series to the Winnipeg Jets. From then on, he would never make it to the Challenge Cup Finals ever again, leaving behind a career of failed post-season success. Despite this, he scored over 800 points and played over 1000 games, making him a top-tier hall of fame forward that was a force on every team he played for. It is a shame he was never able to win himself a Challenge Cup, but he still had one of the more successful careers in the SHL.

5. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)

I would argue that the biggest rule that needs to be changed in the SHL is offsides. We have too much fascination with the offsides rule and I think that we should get rid of it. Why even worry about if people cross the line? Let the players play wherever and maybe we will get some good odd man rushes going. What else do we have to lose? Considering it is a lot harder for superstars to score points in this league, I think it would be beneficial for the rule to be removed to allow a little more space for forwards to operate and not have to worry about the blue line to get into a position to be open. It will also make a big difference between those defensemen who are mobile and who are not, allowing teams with more agile defensemen to make a bigger impact on the game. I don't think there is any downside to making this rule change.

11. Podcast, 4 TPE
Record a mini-podcast on any of the below topics!
- Highlights of the S50 season (on or off the ice)
- S50 playoff round-up
- S50 Challenge Cup finals Breakdown
- Offseason outlook

https://soundcloud.com/argarbargar/csp

5. Casual Member Special, 3 TPE max - 1 TPE for participation, 0.5 TPE for each correct answer - SEND ANSWER IN PM TO "PT DIRECTOR" (tagged below)
Sent

Alonzo Garbanzo Final Tallies (Among Defensemen):
2nd in Goals (208), All-Time Assists Leader (765)*, All-Time Points Leader (973), 3rd in Hits (2587), All-Time Blocked Shots Leader (1882)*
*All-Time Leader Among All Skaters
Player Profile | Update Thread
[Image: IeEV7Iv.png]

***39alaska39*** · 11-07-2019, 01:23 PM

1. I don’t know why I keep getting invited to these things, I didn’t even have a good season this year. That being said, spending Eggy’s money is always a good plan if you ask me. So, rather than me flying back to Prague to prepare for the World Championships, I hopped on a plane at JFK International and flew on down to Tampa. Now, to be clear, not actually a huge fan of warm weather, but I do love the ocean. First things first though, I’m eating two meals on Eggy’s dime: breakfast at Nicki’s Omelette and Grill and then dinner at Eddie V’s Prime Seafood. Obviously you get an omelet at Nicki’s, it’s what they’re known for and what they do best. This would be the cheaper meal. At Eddie V’s however, I’m going full out, 3 course meal. Appetizer: jumbo lump crab cake served with spicy chive remoulade. Second course: Maine lobster bisque. Main course is the fun one. Of course however, it would be silly not to get seafood. I’m thinking the Swordfish Steak, served with avocado, pink grapefruit, cilantro and red chile. Dessert of the day for the finisher with a nice cup of coffee. I guess I would go to the game too, but since my team isn’t playing, it would be secondary. WC: 218

2. Can’t bring myself to root for a divisional rival, so I guess I was rooting for Calgary in this one. Not that either team is particularly inspiring to me or gives me a strong reason to support them. It was nice to see Bernik Vrzala win the Cup though, he’s a good teammate of mine with the Czech National Team. Felt a little bad for Anastasia O’Koivu though. Having met her at a few Raptors alumni events over the years, and she was always super nice. Unfortunately though, Tampa blew a 3-0 and here we are now. Things happen, I suppose. WC: 101

3. I wouldn’t change the playoff system much, however, there is one specific way that I would change the system. It’s not specifically a playoff system, but is a standings issue that would, in turn, affect the way the playoffs are played. In the NBA (I don’t know if they still have this), there used to be a mechanism in place for having a division leader be ranked lower than a non-division leader who has more points. Take the S49 season for example, and specifically the Eastern Conference. The standings finished with New England in first with 70 points, Buffalo in second with 57 points, Manhattan in third with 68 points, West Kendall in fourth with 65 points, and Tampa in fifth with 53 points. Someone explain to me how that makes sense. Buffalo gets the benefit of their division being weaker (no other playoff teams) and by virtue of that, they get the second seed and home ice over Manhattan and West Kendall. I would change that. WC: 167

4. In my alternate reality, Manhattan doesn’t get stunned by the one man team that is Toronto. Despite another set of strong performances from Alex Winters and Luke Thomason, they don’t put points up in vain this time and Manhattan makes it to the next round. Handling their business with superior depth and scoring from players like Herb Robert and Jax Aittokallio, the Rage would then knock off the Barracuda in just 5 games, preventing their return to the Finals in this alternate reality. Yet another Manhattan-Buffalo matchup would occur in the Conference Finals, with a similar outcome to the last time these two teams played in the playoffs, with Manhattan winning a tight 6 game series, and Goku Muerto scoring the overtime, series winner in the sixth game. The Challenge Cup Finals was much of the same for Manhattan, a tightly fought 7 game series against the Edmonton Blizzard that ended with David Vent scoring what would be the Cup winning goal because lord knows that it’s your glue guys that scores those goals. WC: 174

13.
a. Mike Izzy is always the answer to any conversation of who would win, Izzy or <insert random rookie player here>. I get it, good rookie season is worth noting, but until proven otherwise, my money will always be on Izzy. Guy is the second best player in the league, and that’s not changing soon. WC: 54
b. Benjamin Blue is lights out every other season in the SHL, whereas Kata Vilde has been one of the most consistent, safest picks in the net since coming into the league. Vilde is going to be my pick between the two choices, and I like Calgary’s chances with Vilde in net. WC: 51

15. Sent

Alex Winters (retired)
Matej Winters (retired)
Dominik Winters
S45 Jesster Trophy Winner
Challenge Cup Winning Goal Club: S52

***DrunkenTeddy*** · 11-07-2019, 02:17 PM

Code:
2. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min)

After a slow start to the regular season, the Dragons have surged of late and have rallied around the #CalgaWe notion of togetherness. On the other side, the Barracuda battled through a difficult East and are led by a very strong young core. Which team are you personally rooting for to take home the Challenge Cup and why?

I really can't bring myself to root for either team in this case. After being eliminated by Tampa I feel we are building a bitter rivalry with them here in Hamilton and I can't bare the thought of them winning. They do have a few players I don't mind but overall I just can't stomach it. That being said I think Calgary has had more than enough success through my time in this league and I could go for seeing something a little different in the finals. Unfortunately it's not a choice I really want to make, but if I was pressed I would probably give it to Calgary.

Code:
6. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)

Who's the best player that you have witnessed in the SHL never to make it to the Challenge Cup finals? Or what player that hasn't made it to the finals is most deserving and why? Were they close? Was theirs a story of hearbreak? Is there still hope in the future? (150+ words)

See now I feel like you're taking a shot specifically at me lol. Robert Phelps is clearly one of these, he's played 14 SHL seasons so far, made the playoffs in 10 out of 14, but never once made it to the cup finals. At this point it seems to come down to just being unlucky. Hamilton has had some great teams that contended for presidents trophies, but in the playoffs they just can't get past the 2nd round. In 5 out of the 10 times they have made the playoffs they made it past round 1 and onto the conference finals. You'd think out of 5 attempts they would have made it to the finals once, but they haven't. There is still hope for Phelps though, he might be entering his twilight years and regression is slowing him down, but after a 55 point season this year it wouldn't be surprising for old Phelps to keep pushing for the playoffs next year and with some luck, maybe, just maybe, getting all the way to the finals for the first time in his career.

Code:
8. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min)

Which player from Calgary or Tampa Bay would you bet on to win a regular season individual award in a future season? What player and what award? What makes you think they'll live up to their potential and take home the hardware?

Mike Izzy of the Calgary Dragons seems like an easy choice here, the guy has won awards in the past as a two way forward and I could absolutely see him winning another one. He plays a tough game that in most cases would really wear down your body over time, but here he is 16 seasons later still playing hard and leading his squad. Personally I think he's got a window of the next 3-4 seasons to pick up another award and I wouldn't be too surprised if he managed to pick up 2 more awards in that time.

Code:
11. Podcast, 3 or 4 TPE

Record a mini-podcast on any of the below topics!

- Highlights of the S50 season (on or off the ice)

- S50 playoff round-up

- S50 Challenge Cup finals Breakdown

- Offseason outlook

1 person Mini-Pod: 3 TPE for 5 minutes or 4 TPE for 7 Minutes

2 person Mini-Pod: 3 TPE for 6 Minutes or 4 TPE for 8 Minutes

Post the direct link to your podcast.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1F1J_uZZ...p=drivesdk

Code:
12. Written, up to 5 TPE Pick up to 5 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words to qualify.

A. Each team enters these finals with a red hot superstar - longtime league legend Mike Izzy for Calgary and surprise breakout star Gunnar Soderberg for Tampa Bay. Which of these players will have a more dominant finals?

E. If you could choose any one of the following four options, which would you pick? 1. A chicken parm sandwich from Esa 2. A tray of cookies from c00kies 3. A custom feet pic from JSS 4. An hour long stick and puck session with Jepox

A. I expect Izzy to be really dominant for Calgary since they don't really have a lot of other superstars on the team and he will have to carry a lot of the load if they are to make a splash in the finals or win the cup. Soderberg looks good, but is still a bit younger and developing, so the edge definitely goes to Mike Izzy.
E. I tend to think with my stomach and don't have a foot fetish so this comes down to a chicken parm or tray of cookies, I just ate a donut so I definitely would lean towards the parm. Not only is the chicken parm a fantastic sandwich but it's what Esa has been known for for years and years, if you're known that well for something it's got to be pretty damn delicious.

Code:
15. Casual Member Special, 3 TPE max - 1 TPE for participation, 0.5 TPE for each correct answer - SEND ANSWER IN PM TO "PT DIRECTOR" (tagged below)

A. As defined by draft class, who is the oldest player in this series?

B. What is the name of the Calgary Dragons' Arena?

C. Name 3 previous names of the Tampa Bay Barracuda franchise

D. From these two teams, which player had the most PIMs in the S50 regular season? (Look, I'll even give you a link to the index right below this code box. When I posted the link directly, it auto-corrected the colon + slash into a partial frown face; it looks funny and the link still works so i'm leaving it)

**Important**: Send the answers to username "PT Director" with the subject of the message titled “S50 CW" - Do not send it to my personal account; those will not be graded. Do not post the answers in here; you will not get credit for the task.

PM Sent

|

Navigation

Extra Menu

About us