07-10-2020, 09:00 PM(This post was last modified: 07-10-2020, 09:41 PM by karlssens.)
1. Written, 3 TPE
It was an interesting season to say the least for Karlstraße Scholz. Coming off a career season that saw him score 41 points, compete for the cup and secure a nomination for the Scott Stevens award, he took a bit of a step back in S54. On one hand he once again collected 41 points, including 10 goals which was 1 more than last year, but his defensive play took a huge hit with his CF%, giveaway/takeaway ratio and defensive rating all going down. He did manage to set a new career high in hits though. While not a poor season, he fell off towards the end of the regular season taking his name out of the running for Stevens in S54. As for the playoffs the Blizzard were unable to exit the first round and Karl was a big reason why collecting just 3 points, no goals, and an ugly -5 rating in 6 games. Needless to say both he and the Edmonton Blizzard are looking to bounce back in a big way in S55.
4. Written, 3 TPE
Looking back at S53 there are definitely a few teams that prospered in the new format (and sim engine) and some that struggled. My represented team, Norway, fell in to the latter category, collecting just 5 wins and being outstore 47-27 through 12 games. We do however have a young team with many players still yet to hit their peak so I'm optimistic we'll improve in S54. Two teams on the other end of the spectrum that did very well are the United States and Canada. Combining for 22 wins and just 1 regulation loss they dominated the competition outscoring their opponents 109-34. The states would go on to win the gold medal and Canada secured the bronze. I wouldn't be shocked if we saw either one or even both of those teams in medal contention again in S54. Also quick shoutout to Czechia that secured the silver. While not as dominant as Canada or USA they won when it mattered and I bet they'll be in the running again this year.
5. Written, 2 TPE
From the Specters I'm going to take the obvious choice and select Joe Kurczewski. One of the few, if not only, remaining players from the S31 draft, he has accumulated so many accolades there is no doubt he'll make hall as a first ballot entry. Nominated for an insane 13 awards, he's walked away with 4 wins including a Mexico, a Dar, a Razov and a Khan. Sauce in 6 all star team appearances and an insane 4 Challenge Cups... it's a no brainer here. From Hamilton there are a number of worthy names as well, but I'm going to select Tig Murphy. Not the biggest name on the roster, he's been nominated 3 times for the Steven's and won it once. He's been a two time 1st team all star and has 2 Cups in his cabinet too. The biggest takeaway is that the S43 selection just hit regression so he'll have many more seasons to pad those totals.
13. Written, 4 TPE
13a. Cain has had a strong career, but coming in to these finals he's unfortunately built a bit of a reputation as a bit of a choke. Kryyst on the other hand enters his 3rd consecutive final, the last 2 of which he won the playoffs MVP. No knock on brother Cain, but the advantage goes to Kryyst on this one.
13b. Wow both are defensemen too haha. Gabe stepped in to the limelight last season with a dominant regular season performance and a nomination for the Razov in the playoffs. He built upon that this season with a shiny 44 point regular season and very likely a nomination for defender of the year. Darnell on the other hand had just 9 points compared to the previously mentioned 44 Gabe collected. No knock on Darnell here, but at just over 16 minutes a game compared to Gabe's near 22 it's hard to argue in his favor. Advantage Hamilton again. They got the better dick.
13c. Hindsight is 2020, and with a dominant 4-0 series win you could definitely make a strong case head-to-heads provide a very accurate forecast for a playoff series as the Specters were a perfect 6-0 against the Steelhawks in S54. Regardless of the series going the way it did I still believe head-to-head matchups provide a greater wealth of information than overall stats. This goes double given that Hamilton was in the same conference as Tampa Bay, Baltimore and Toronto who combined for 26 wins, 2 less than the 4th worst team in the east.
13d. I mean I like Canada as much as the next person, but New Orleans is a no brainer here haha. Home of some of the most amazing food in the USA I would totally get my eat on and try everything I could get my hands on. In the evenings, assuming I hadn't already passed out due to over consumption, I would check on the insane night life and enjoy the fantastic culture.
14. Written, 2 TPE
As is often the case we have two very worthy nominations in the top forward and starting goalie for the Challenge Cup winning team. With a ridiculous 5 skaters cracking 20 points on the New Orleans roster it's difficult to differentiate who really stood out the most, but one thing is for certain and that is the dominant play of Aleister Cain between the pipes. Winning all 12 games for NOLA on their cup winning run he racked up a sparkling 0.923 save% and 2.89 GAA. What's most impressive is he did it while facing drastically more shots than the opposing finals goaltender.
07-10-2020, 11:52 PM(This post was last modified: 07-11-2020, 12:31 AM by awils13.)
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1. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
Reflection on your season - how did your player fare on the ice this season? Did you meet or surpass your individual player goals or did you come up short? Whether you excelled or disappointed - what can you attribute that to? What will you try to do better next season?
As a team we're a bit disappointed about how this season ended, even though making the finals in back to back seasons is not bad at all, but in any case, for me individually this was a great season because my player set career highs in assists, points, +/-, shots and hits. After this season I'm also at a point per game pace for my career with 300 points in 300 regular season games and hopefully I can continue scoring at this pace for quite a while. I would say the main reason I played well this season is tpe, I'm only 2 seasons away from my peak so my tpe is above average which makes a difference. I'm also my team's top center so I get the prime scoring opportunities, and I have great linemates. It was a breakout season for Hugh Jazz, and Flacko Lagerfield led the league in points once again, so as a line we did really well. It also helped that we played Tampa 4 times.
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4. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
S54 IIHF Predictions - with one FHM IIHF season under our belt, we've got a bit more of a sense of how the tournament might play out in the new sim engine. What are your predictions for the S54 IIHF or WJC tournament - how do you think your team will fare this season? Who do you think are the biggest contenders to take home the hardware and why?
Is it a coincidence that Hamilton failed to win the cup in Gabriel Johnson's first full season as Hamilton's co-gm? I don't think so. We should have never hired him, even though he doesn't do lines (does he do anything at all?), he brings bad luck. But on the bright side, now that Gabriel Johnson is no longer the GM of Canada, I think Canada finally has a chance to win. We did well in round robin last season but we didn't even medal lmao, which is exactly what you should expect from Gabe's teams. Now I don't know if Noka is a good fed head and I'm not sure who's the co now, but they can't possibly be worse than Gabe. I expect our main competition to be USA once again because they seem to do well every tournament, and Czechia should be pretty good once again because they have a lot of S43 players who just started regressing.
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5. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min.)
Which player from the Steelhawks or Specters has a great chance to make the Hall of Fame when their playing days are up? Make the case for that player's HOF bid.
I think there are a lot of potential HOF candidates on both teams but I have to go with my teammate Robert Phelps here. It feels like Phelps has been around forever but he's aging like fine wine and is still one of the top scorers in the league while most players in his draft class have retired or are close to retiring. Phelps doesn't have a lot of individual awards but when you look at his career stats, one thing you can say is consistency. Phelps is sitting at 904 points in 900 regular season games, he's never scored fewer than 40 points in a season and he should hit 1000 career points in the next 2-3 seasons.
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13. Written, up to 4 TPE Pick up to 4 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words.
a. These are absolutely two of the best goaltenders in the league in Cain and Kryyst - which team has the advantage in net in this series?
b. There are two Johnsons in this series - Gabriel (HAM) and Darnell (NOLA). In fact, the two used to host the Johnson & Johnson Podcast together, but they're now on the ice as bitter rivals. Which team has the better Johnson?
c. The Specters won both regular season matchups, but Hamilton finished with better team stats overall. Do regular season head-to-heads provide an accurate forecast for a playoff series? (answer predictively if it hasn't happened yet; reactively if it has.)
a. I would say neither team has the advantage in net because on one hand Cain is younger and has more tpe while on the other hand Kryyst has more experience and has carried his team multiple times, and he still has 1460 tpe after a couple of seasons of regression which is good enough for a goalie.
b. I think I've made it obvious that I don't like Gabe and in fact I've asked Hallsy to trade him multiple times, but I guess I have to admit that he had a nice season offensively and he wasn't a defensive liability this time unlike last season, so if I had to pick which Johnson to have on my team I'd pick Gabe.
c. Now that the series is over it's fair to say that the regular season was an accurate forecast, but generally you only play each team 2-4 times and that's a very small sample size, so if you tried to gather historic data I don't think you'd find a correlation between regular season and playoff results.
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14. Written, 2 TPE - The Procrastinator Special! (100 words min)
Welp, you waited until the last day to grind out your CW and the CC finals are longggggggg over by now. congrats to [TEAM], woo! Reflecting back on the series, who gets your vote for series MVP? Make the case why this player deserves it over any other.
When a team sweeps the opponent the goalie is usually a big reason why, so Cain is an obvious candidate and he recorded a .948 sv% with 2 shutouts which is definitely MVP worthy. Lil Manius led the league in points in the playoffs and he scored two huge hattricks in games 3 and 4 so he deserves to win it as well, but my vote would probably be Lyle Odelein III, he didn't contibute a lot offensively with only 1 assist in 4 games but he was really good defensively and in fact was never on the ice for a goal against and finished the playoffs with a +17 rating which is very impressive.
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16. CW TRIVIA, 3 TPE max - 1 TPE for participation, 0.5 TPE for each correct answer. This is now 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.
Quote:1. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
Reflection on your season - how did your player fare on the ice this season? Did you meet or surpass your individual player goals or did you come up short? Whether you excelled or disappointed - what can you attribute that to? What will you try to do better next season
Michael Fox didn’t quite have the season that he wished in terms of personal goals. Fox was unable to match his point total from last season and spent most of the season shooting sub-5%, despite heating up near the end. Overall, New Orleans made the playoffs and Fox couldn’t be too unhappy with his personal goals. The team is ultimately what matters in the end. Looking forward to next season, Fox hopes to find some consistency during the regular season and finally break that point-per-game hump. In terms of the postseason, though, Fox really couldn’t have asked for a better personal showing. Fox ended the playoffs with the 2nd most points on the team with 20 points, behind Lil’ Manius and Nicholas Williams, who both had 21 points. Rocking a 20+% shooting percentage, Fox didn’t struggle to score, netting a game-and-series winning natural hat trick in the 3rd period of Game 7 of the series against Los Angeles.
Quote:4. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
S54 IIHF Predictions - with one FHM IIHF season under our belt, we've got a bit more of a sense of how the tournament might play out in the new sim engine. What are your predictions for the S54 IIHF or WJC tournament - how do you think your team will fare this season? Who do you think are the biggest contenders to take home the hardware and why?
Last IIHF tournament, we saw the powerhouses really step up to the plate and take over. The United States seemingly cruised to another gold medal and isn’t looking back. Czechia had a much more confident showing than they had in the previous era and are looking to snipe another medal out from the likes of Canada and Great Britain. Buffalo’s tactics in the SHL proves that just about anything can happen, but I wouldn’t expect too much foolery out of this season’s IIHF tournament. Like last season, I expect the United States to make another dominant showing, especially if Aleister Cain brings his A-game. Michael Fox’s playoff showing proves he can handle the pressure as he looks to build off of a successful run last tournament that saw him netting a hat trick in the gold medal game. Whatever that kid is eating on deciding game days, someone make sure he gets double.
Quote:5. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min.)
Which player from the Steelhawks or Specters has a great chance to make the Hall of Fame when their playing days are up? Make the case for that player's HOF bid.
Quite honestly, I think the answer here is obvious: Joe Kurczewski. This man is undoubtedly going to be a first ballot Hall of Famer. The SHL leader in playoff points (correct me if I’m wrong), Kurczewski has had a career full of personal and team success. I mean, hey, you don’t get to be the league leader in playoff points without making the playoffs a ton. Heading into his final season, Joe has still been finding success on the Specters 3rd line. It’s hard to find success in this league, but Joe Kurczewski proves that the best are simply the best for a reason.
Quote:13. Written, up to 4 TPE Pick up to 4 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words.
a. These are absolutely two of the best goaltenders in the league in Cain and Kryyst - which team has the advantage in net in this series?
c. The Specters won both regular season matchups, but Hamilton finished with better team stats overall. Do regular season head-to-heads provide an accurate forecast for a playoff series? (answer predictively if it hasn't happened yet; reactively if it has.)
d. If SDCore offered you an all-expenses paid week-long vacation to either New Orleans or Hamilton, which city would you choose to go to? (tough choice I know lol.) How would you spend your time there?
a) Easy: the New Orleans Specters. Without looking at GAA or save percentage, I want to take a look at the quality of teams that both goalies have faced heading into the Cup. Cain had to stop two of the hottest offenses in the league in Edmonton and Los Angeles. Kryyst? Well, a simple glance at Buffalo’s tactics proves Kryyst had an easy time.
c) Looking back, it is clear as day why Hamilton has much better overall stats. Having free wins against teams like Baltimore, Tampa, and Toronto only boosts your personal and team stats. The head to head matchups proved key heading into the finals as New Orleans ended up sweeping Hamilton under the rug in 4.
d) New Orleans, 100%. Bourbon Street is always a good time, but there’s a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant (literally) that has the best crawfish alfredo and daiquiris (yeah I like fruity drinks, sue me). No matter what I do in New Orleans, I would definitely be making the trip back to that restaurant. Can’t forget the beignets, either.
Quote:14. Written, 2 TPE - The Procrastinator Special! (100 words min)
Welp, you waited until the last day to grind out your CW and the CC finals are longggggggg over by now. congrats to [TEAM], woo! Reflecting back on the series, who gets your vote for series MVP? Make the case why this player deserves it over any other.
My series MVP has to go to either Aleister Cain or Nicholas Williams. Williams led both teams in terms of points this series, vaulting himself from 4th or 5th on New Orleans heading into the series to tied for 1st in points with Lil Manius. Aleister Cain, however, came up huge in key moments. Without his monstrous Game 2 performance that saw him save 43 of the 44 shots he faced, who knows how that series would have ended up at the end. Despite this, I think the series MVP overall has to go to Nicholas Williams for his dominant performance on both ends of the ice.
Quote:16. CW TRIVIA, 3 TPE max - 1 TPE for participation, 0.5 TPE for each correct answer. This is now 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.
Quote:1. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
Reflection on your season - how did your player fare on the ice this season? Did you meet or surpass your individual player goals or did you come up short? Whether you excelled or disappointed - what can you attribute that to? What will you try to do better next season?
I'd like to think I had what I now consider to be an average season. I've become used to the fact that I am not going to be a 'superstar' but rather a role player. Of course I am still going to spend every offseason working to do better but on a team of giants I am happy to have an important role. Every team needs a role player like me, sure, I'd love to be as good or better than Cass and win a Stevens but I am happy to guard the blue line and give opposing players hell. Blocking shots, assisting on tough goals and providing our forwards with breakout passes. All important jobs and ones I am happy to do if it frees up our superstars to do their job and get us to another challenge cup title. Though, I would like to get back to Biscuit winning form, that much I can tell you.
Quote:2. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
Well, dang. Your team didn't make the finals this season - my condolences to you. Are you and your teammates planning on watching the finals even though you're not in it? If so, what are your watch parties like? If not, are you still following the finals or trying to ignore it completely? What are you and your teammates doing together (if anything) instead of following along? (if you're on Hamilton or New Orleans, or either of the 2 SMJHL teams that soon will be playing in the finals - congrats and sorry :p this one isn't for you!)
Ever since I joined the league, the SHL Commissioner has flown out as many players as possible to watch the finals. Last year, I went to Edmonton and I enjoyed the years before that. But now that we've got a new commissioner and now that I'm a little older, I've got no reason to travel to New Orleans or Hamilton on my dime to watch two teams I've got no stake in. So I've been ignoring the finals outright and have been spending time with my family and enjoying the little things. I believe some of my teammates had a watch party but after the Hamilton series I believe more of them are spending time putting pins in Hamilton voodoo dolls than they are watching the end of the season play out in Hamilton or New Orleans again. Though the more I think about it, I think Cass said he was going to go to Hamilton in his Buffalo sweater and just boo the entire time.
Quote:4. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
S54 IIHF Predictions - with one FHM IIHF season under our belt, we've got a bit more of a sense of how the tournament might play out in the new sim engine. What are your predictions for the S54 IIHF or WJC tournament - how do you think your team will fare this season? Who do you think are the biggest contenders to take home the hardware and why?
I've been blessed and grateful to play on a team with a winning culture since I turned pro and that is Team USA. We've always been dominate and forceful and not since the Irish dynasty has the league seen a dominate force like Team USA. There are a few teams that will definitely give us a run for the gold, Germany and Canada and you can never count out Great Britain with Nick Brain as its on ice leader. As far as hardware, I don't wanna jinx anything but I think the US has a real shot. The other teams listed will definitely be a roadblock we need to overcome. For individual awards, Darrow hands down for best Defenseman and Doyle as top goaltender. After their amazing SHL seasons, its hard not to pick them as frontrunners for any kind of international trophy. As for me, I'd be happy to just score more than 5 goals.
Quote:6. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
Occasionally, broadcast networks will bring an active player into the TV coverage of ongoing finals if their team has been eliminated, and that player is often to give unique insights from a current player's perspective. During this NOLA-HAM finals, which SHL player or prospect would be a good addition to the Challenge Cup TV coverage? Why would that player be a good addition to the broadcast team?
For me, hands down it would be Elizabeth Doyle from the Buffalo Stampede. You wanna talk to someone who has experience in facing off against Hamilton, who has shut them down and is relatively young and who will have a long career and multiple awards in their position. You also want them to be camera friendly, with the poise and the charisma to charm the camera and the viewers while having enough knowledge of on ice affairs, lingo and camaraderie to present what she is seeing on the ice to the hardcore fan and the casual fan and observer alike in a fair and neutral manner. Doyle is that kind of person, she's a pleasure as a teammate and a positive force in our locker room and is a great on ice leader. She worked her ass off against Hamilton and even though we as a team fell short, we couldn't be where we are or have accomplished what we did without her.
Quote:3. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min.)
It has been publicized a decent amount on this site but Hamilton prospect Andrei Kostitsyn's brother Sergei appears to be missing. Does anybody know where Sergei? What have you done/what can you do to help Andrei track down his brother?
With both brothers being Belorussian/Russian, my guess is Sergei found out that during the virus and pandemic that the US would not be receiving import shipments of Russian Vodka and decided that he needed to go home. American Vodka pales in comparison to the good stuff and as we all know, the brothers Kostitsyn just ooze the party attitude and can drink almost anyone under the table. So why stay here and drink water flavored with sadness when you can go home, drink the good stuff, eat a potato and turn it into Vodka at home. I would, if I were the family, search every potato farm and liquor outlet in Russia to find their missing man.
Quote:14. Written, 2 TPE - The Procrastinator Special! (100 words min)
Welp, you waited until the last day to grind out your CW and the CC finals are longggggggg over by now. congrats to [TEAM], woo! Reflecting back on the series, who gets your vote for series MVP? Make the case why this player deserves it over any other.
A team is only as good as its goalie and in this case, New Orleans goalie faced down a hot Steelhawks team and absolutely smoked them for four straight games. Alistair Cain is as good as advertised and has been for a long time. He's easily the MVP of this series, going 12-3 over the entire playoffs is a testament to his skill. Though where he might get dinged is the 51 goals allowed being the most of the entire playoffs. Still, a challenge cup ring and taking down a dynasty in the making? That's hard to ignore and because of that he gets my vote.
1. (3TPE)
When the season started expectations for my player were high. I was aiming for the leading goal scorer in the SMJHL. Half-way into the season, I struggled to get 5 goals, but I was leading the league in assists. I have no idea how that happened. My build is really focused on scoring goals, yet somehow it manages to be the best at dishing the puck. I was even first in points for a short period of time, then I fell off. My player had a big cold streak that ended with a 5-point game against St. Louis Scarecrows. Then Vítek slowly crawled a few spots higher in points leaders and ended on a respectable spot I am satisfied with. Now the only thing left to win is the Js. Currently, the score of the series is 2-2 and can’t be any closer. Kraken can definitely do it. If we win it, then I can call the season success.
3. (2TPE)
Andrei strong. Sergei no. Andrei play very good, yes? Sergei scared because brother Andrei is really better. Andrei is very sad because he want to play with his brother.
Well, apparently Sergei was kidnapped by the Russian mob for their own underground hockey matches. The police are really trying to find where these underground hockey matches take place. The rumor is that they change their location every month so it makes it impossible to track them down. Also, another rumor is that Sergei is leading in all the stats. Goals, assists, points, +/-, save percentage, GAA, shutouts, hits, penalty minutes. He is a promising prospect and if found, he could make it big in SMJHL.
4. (3TPE)
Last time I played at the WJC we ended up grabbing bronze. This time I honestly think we can get gold. The core of the team stays pretty much the same, but this time it’s even better. If Vítek can further improve his scoring then there’s no question who is winning. Another potential underdog, who I think has some chances to win is DACH. A lot of promising prospects ended up on their roster and having that is key to the victory. With some improvements on other teams, DACH probably has the biggest one. I think predicting a winner for these WJC is really tough, so all we have to do is to wait for the winner to emerge. Let’s hope that Canada can improve, they have quite the reputation with their national teams, but last season didn’t really go that well for them when it comes to WJC. Good luck to all teams!
8. (3TPE)
Detroit Falcons:
We were supposed to be the best team this year. Same as the last one. Something went wrong though. Our main star Williams didn’t play anywhere near the level at which he did last year. The goalies played really good though. Both of them actually. I think it was the production that failed us this year. A lot of the players are getting called up, so we can work on the next generation of players that will be even better than this one. We are cursed with the cups, and can’t win more than one in a row. The next generation of players will do it. We believe in our abilities to win a championship-caliber team. We thought we really had it this season and we were wrong. Being wrong gives us more experience towards building even a better team. We will slowly start heading towards rebuilding the team and make a super-team out of it.
13. (2TPE)
d)
The choice would be very easy for me. I don’t even know where Hamilton is without looking at the map. Canada? USA? I always wanted to visit New Orleans, so this would be a dream come true. The city looks absolutely sexy, and their hockey team is even sexier. No question there.
c) From my experience with the league, it can predict to some degree. It definitely doesn’t guarantee the winner, but can give a big insight. I used this logic for predicting SMJHL playoffs and ended up with fat paycheck on my account. Although it probably is a bigger factor in the Js because of the goalie fire mechanic.
16. (3TPE)
er
1. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
Reflection on your season - how did your player fare on the ice this season? Did you meet or surpass your individual player goals or did you come up short? Whether you excelled or disappointed - what can you attribute that to? What will you try to do better next season?
This is really a bit of a weird season for me. On 1 hand I find it to be really exciting and thrilling to see Jon Forty-One finally coming online and really continue to help the Blizzard and Great Britain. The fact that I had some of the highest +/- that tournament was really exciting. But the play-offs did not go very well and especially if a meh team like Nola ended up winning it all with ease that feels like it could've been us which sucks. So it is rather bittersweet if I had to sum it up. I am hoping that this can continue since I am pretty much still max earning in this league. My build is pretty good overall thanks to my General Manager and I am confident in time it will continue to get more insane. The goal is really to win it all though so I would take poor stats if it meant we win more games in the play-offs and actually win the final.
[173 words - New total = 6]
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4. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
S54 IIHF Predictions - with one FHM IIHF season under our belt, we've got a bit more of a sense of how the tournament might play out in the new sim engine. What are your predictions for the S54 IIHF or WJC tournament - how do you think your team will fare this season? Who do you think are the biggest contenders to take home the hardware and why?
I actually think the IIHF is a little in a hard place now since changing. I cannot see anyone other than Canada or the US winning it all without huge upsets that % wise shouldn't happen. The only case this doesn't happen is if they face each other before the finals since its competitive to get into the teams compared to other nations or teams. I hope that does not become the case cause that would be boring but I am confident the GB team can actually compete against damn near any other nations so maybe we can pull off the upset and fuck up the rest of the league for at least 1 of the medals. I now have every colour so I am hoping for a couple more by the end of Jon's career. Juniors I have no idea what is happening in but that is a crapshoot of RNG more than anything.
I love the surprises that the IIHF used to have in the old game so I hope this can be the same.
[176 words. New total - 9]
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13. Written, up to 4 TPE Pick up to 4 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words.
a. These are absolutely two of the best goaltenders in the league in Cain and Kryyst - which team has the advantage in net in this series?
b. There are two Johnsons in this series - Gabriel (HAM) and Darnell (NOLA). In fact, the two used to host the Johnson & Johnson Podcast together, but they're now on the ice as bitter rivals. Which team has the better Johnson?
c. The Specters won both regular season matchups, but Hamilton finished with better team stats overall. Do regular season head-to-heads provide an accurate forecast for a playoff series? (answer predictively if it hasn't happened yet; reactively if it has.)
d. If SDCore offered you an all-expenses paid week-long vacation to either New Orleans or Hamilton, which city would you choose to go to? (tough choice I know lol.) How would you spend your time there?
A. If I am being 100% honest I have no idea who those players are cause I just do not care about other teams and especially goalies. So I will say Cain has the advantage purely cause he has a better name than the other dude. No clue what each others stats are nor what team they have but I'll declare he is the better of the 2 regardless! [68 words]
B. 100% Gabriel Johnson. I believe I know the dude from Vancouver Whalers and 1 of the better players in my draft. It sucks I never got a mention since Im the best center/forward but he is easily the better of the two Johnson players. I know his team lost but I still think he is better. [57 words]
C. I guess I am doing reactively since the play-offs apparently ended and Nola dicked them so I guess head-to-head matters more since they basically always had an answer for the total TPE team for this season. Whether the trades change much will remain to be seen but still Nola won this season. [57 words]
D.This is actually quite easily for me. I would pick New Orleans in a heartbeat over Hamilton. Maybe not right now since they are having huge Covid-19 issues but if this was not the case then 100% Nola. I liked when Wrestlemania was in it and a few were taking over Bourbon Street. It looks like good fun. [61 words]
[New total 13]
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16. CW TRIVIA, 3 TPE max - 1 TPE for participation, 0.5 TPE for each correct answer. This is now 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.
Quote:1. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
Reflection on your season - how did your player fare on the ice this season? Did you meet or surpass your individual player goals or did you come up short? Whether you excelled or disappointed - what can you attribute that to? What will you try to do better next season?
With McCarthy coming of a Bojo award winning season (something that still boggles his mind by the way) he knew this season would likely be different. His play remained on a very consistent level, offensively putting up 29 points (7 goals and 22 assists) and leading the team with an impressive 122 shots blocked, a marked improvement from last season, he proved that the Bojo award was no fluke. He also was able to help lead the Manhattan Rage to another playoff appearance, and although they were bounced early, McCarthy's career has been impressive since winning the Rookie of the Year award in his first season in the league (ironically also with 29 points at the time). Needless to say, Barret is happy with how his season played out, being a solid two way defenseman for a team that just keeps getting better!
Quote:3. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min.)
It has been publicized a decent amount on this site but Hamilton prospect Andrei Kostitsyn's brother Sergei appears to be missing. Does anybody know where Sergei? What have you done/what can you do to help Andrei track down his brother?
Twitter and the hockey world is abuzz with the fact that Andrei's brother Sergei Kostitsyn is missing. Luckily, the hockey world can rally behind the misfortune of the brothers. There have been Sergei sightings all over the world, similar to the hunt for the Winter Solider in Captain America: Civil War. However, Sergei doesn't have a metal arm (that we are aware of) nor is he a Russian killing machine working for Hydra (still can't confirm this either to be honest). Therefore, those who come into contact with Sergei Kostitsyn should approach with caution as he may be armed and dangerous! Hail Hydra!
Quote:4. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
S54 IIHF Predictions - with one FHM IIHF season under our belt, we've got a bit more of a sense of how the tournament might play out in the new sim engine. What are your predictions for the S54 IIHF or WJC tournament - how do you think your team will fare this season? Who do you think are the biggest contenders to take home the hardware and why?
I think it's safe to say that teams like Great Britain, Czechia, the United States of America, and Canada all pose the greatest threat going into this, the second season of the IIHF taking part in the FHM6 engine. Czechia, I know more personally being part of the team, had an unfortunate end to their gold medal run last season, being blanked by a USa team with a very slightly stronger skater core, however Czechia did pick up a new player this season, one Conner Tanner, a growing center who wanted to be able to make a roster, and Czechia is happy to have him to fill a depth role, allowing us to continue another strong run at the gold medal this season. I fully expect to see Czechia in the gold medal game, likely against one of the other three teams i mentioned previously.
Quote:5. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min.)
Which player from the Steelhawks or Specters has a great chance to make the Hall of Fame when their playing days are up? Make the case for that player's HOF bid.
I think one of the more likely candidates is Aleister Cain of the New Orleans Specters. His play has always been solid from is early days in the league, and being one of the more dominant goaltenders in the last few seasons only solidifies his case in my eyes. Winning the cup this season, putting up an MVP type performance against a strong Hamilton team which allowed them to sweep the defending champs, is a huge check mark as well, and I'm sure he will likely see anotehr cup in his future, as well as a few more individual awards going his way. @SlashACM
Quote:16. CW TRIVIA, 3 TPE max - 1 TPE for participation, 0.5 TPE for each correct answer. This is now 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.
Me
Quote:13. Written, up to 4 TPE Pick up to 4 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words.
a. These are absolutely two of the best goaltenders in the league in Cain and Kryyst - which team has the advantage in net in this series?
b. There are two Johnsons in this series - Gabriel (HAM) and Darnell (NOLA). In fact, the two used to host the Johnson & Johnson Podcast together, but they're now on the ice as bitter rivals. Which team has the better Johnson?
d. If SDCore offered you an all-expenses paid week-long vacation to either New Orleans or Hamilton, which city would you choose to go to? (tough choice I know lol.) How would you spend your time there?
a. Cain has obviously shown over his career that he has the better chance to stand out in this series. Kryyst has a solid offensive core ahead of him but when he has been tested previously, he hasn't been up to the task. Meanwhile, Cain has been peppered before and still put up a solid performance when it mattered.
b. Despite this question sounding like it's Rated-R question about players below the below, I think both players have an equal chance to make a difference in the series so picking just one is difficult. It comes down to if Gabriel doesn't fold under pressure vs Darnell stepping up in his flex role.
d. This one is easy. I'd take the money that would go into paying for the airfare, food, room and board, etc and I would then spend it on upgrading my gaming setup and my kitchen in my apartment. I'm looking to start streaming more cooking segments so please tune in!
07-11-2020, 08:00 AM(This post was last modified: 07-11-2020, 08:35 AM by Nokazoa.)
Code:
1. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
Reflection on your season - how did your player fare on the ice this season? Did you meet or surpass your individual player goals or did you come up short? Whether you excelled or disappointed - what can you attribute that to? What will you try to do better next season?
Man did my player improve. I have been a mediocre player for most of my career. My two trophies? Rode pine. Now, this season I went about a point per game and got four milestones. I was a consistent piece to our offense, and I'm happy about that. Do you know how it feels to finally start contributing at circa 1.1k TPE? I mean before the FHM switch my build was gonna be nasty, but then Gabe had to ruin that. I like to contribute my success to me and me alone but that isn't true. Tommy Salami asked me what I wanted to be player-wise, and he helped build me to whjere I needed to be. Without him, I would still be at 18 pts a season. If I could say one thing, I would say that I'm disappointed with my number of hits. I do not get the checks I used to. That was JPB's thing for the longest time.
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8. Written (150 words min.) or Graphic, 3 TPE
With only one champion in the SHL and the SMJHL per season, that means the other 26 teams came up just a bit short (or a lot short). Team owners know that fans can get frustrated by shortcomings, so they're always trying to keep optimism high in the fan base. Written option: give an excerpt from an ousted team's owner's press conference at the end of the season focusing on the team's bright future or however they can keep fans' optimism high. Graphic option: the team has rented a billboard in town with an inspiring message to fans to keep optimism high; show the billboard (must include team logo and whatever the optimistic message is).
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9. Graphic, 3 TPE
The SHL has been outspoken about reducing its carbon footprint, which made it all the more surprising to see the unveiling of a brand new custom private jet for Head Office members. Not the type of move we like to see, to be completely honest. Anyway, what does the jet look like? Create a graphic of SHL HO's custom private jet (inside or out).
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13. Written, up to 4 TPE Pick up to 4 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words.
a. These are absolutely two of the best goaltenders in the league in Cain and Kryyst - which team has the advantage in net in this series?
b. There are two Johnsons in this series - Gabriel (HAM) and Darnell (NOLA). In fact, the two used to host the Johnson & Johnson Podcast together, but they're now on the ice as bitter rivals. Which team has the better Johnson?
c. The Specters won both regular season matchups, but Hamilton finished with better team stats overall. Do regular season head-to-heads provide an accurate forecast for a playoff series? (answer predictively if it hasn't happened yet; reactively if it has.)
d. If SDCore offered you an all-expenses paid week-long vacation to either New Orleans or Hamilton, which city would you choose to go to? (tough choice I know lol.) How would you spend your time there?
a. I'd have to give the edge to New Orlean's Cain. I don't know his stats off hand, but Cain is always held up to be the best goalie in the league right now. However, you also need to look at the team's defense to determine how good a goaltender will perform.
b. I know the meme is to say Darnell Johnson because Gabe is bad, but I do actually love Gabe and think he does a lot for the site as a whole. He gets bagged on all the time, but he takes it all in good humor. I also think Gabriel Johnson is an amazing player, and he is Canadian so I have to like him.
c. Turns out you can as NOLA won! My answer is that regular season head-to-heads do not give an accurate forecast for a playoff series because you can change your stats to work best against the other team. During the regular season, you usually do the stats that work best against everyone. I guess Nola did that better this time.
d. Who the fuck would say Hamilton. I mean I guess I could go see my fake hockey friends, but honestly, I still would go to NOLA instead. I would get drunk and eat really good food. Also, I would hit like every ghost tour with my fiancee. She would love that shit. Ugh, that sounds great. I loved Charleston, SC for a similar reason.
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16. CW TRIVIA, 3 TPE max - 1 TPE for participation, 0.5 TPE for each correct answer. This is now 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.
1. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
My player honestly had a mixed season. I felt like I would be slightly better than last season but in the end, I was just kind of the same again. I know I am on a very very good team, so it makes sense, as I am only in the third row, but I am excited to take a step forward one day and do better as a player and achieve more things. I just don't get enough ice time to really make any meaningful contirbution. The best moments were always when I had a meaningful goal, like my three game winning goals. I also had a huge goal in the playoffs, giving us a win in overtime, which was an absolute highlight of the season for me. It was awesome! Hopefully next season or in the near future, I can work my way up to the second line and in the end even the first line and I can be a bigger contributor for the team.
5. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min.)
Thomas Vanice has had a very slow start as a player, but I have to hype up my own player! I already got a championship now and who says I will stop? I will only get better every season and I have a lot of career left where I can really make a name for myself and show the voters that I deserve to be in the Hall of Fame. I think I will excel as one of the best Goal Scorers in the league and that will hopefully allow me to make a push for the Hall of Fame. I really don't know if I will have enough TPE to make that push here, but I would really love to try anyway. I need to make sure that I can be better.
14. Written, 2 TPE - The Procrastinator Special! (100 words min)
Congratulations to the New Orleans Specters! What a season we had. I am really pleased that I am on this fantastic team and we really had an amazing season and deserved the win. We had a fantastic run in the playoffs and managed to get wins when we needed to. The team really came together and our best players were just amazing, some people like Sloth and Jenny and Lil Manius were just crucial all year and lead us to the promised land. I think we really had a dominant run in the playoffs and we deserved everything this season. It really was a long time coming for us.
16. CW TRIVIA, 3 TPE - done (sloth)
13. Written, up to 4 TPE Pick up to 4 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words.
a. These are absolutely two of the best goaltenders in the league in Cain and Kryyst - which team has the advantage in net in this series?
Oh there is no doubt that Cain is the better goaltender. He is a crucial and huge part of the Specters success and he has lead the team all year and will do so again in the playoffs. When he is hot, he just grabs all the shots. He will hoist the trophy for us for sure.
b. There are two Johnsons in this series - Gabriel (HAM) and Darnell (NOLA). In fact, the two used to host the Johnson & Johnson Podcast together, but they're now on the ice as bitter rivals. Which team has the better Johnson?
Darnell Johnson on the New Orleans Specters are really fantastic and will definitely be the better Johnson. I love that they had the Johnson and Johnson podcast too, that is funny. Darnell has the clear edge though and the Specters will win it all. I think that there arguments made for both of them, but I think Darnell just has that little bit of oomph to make him better.
c. The Specters won both regular season matchups, but Hamilton finished with better team stats overall. Do regular season head-to-heads provide an accurate forecast for a playoff series? (answer predictively if it hasn't happened yet; reactively if it has.)
Well, in the end, the Specters won the playoffs series but in my eyes, the regular season matchup really rarely ever shows a clear indicator of what will happen. Small sample sizes are always tough to use as a predictor, I really don't think it had a huge effect. I tend to think that overall regular season record has a better indication but I don't really know either.
07-11-2020, 11:31 AM(This post was last modified: 07-12-2020, 10:19 PM by Bongo.)
1. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
Reflection on your season - how did your player fare on the ice this season? Did you meet or surpass your individual player goals or did you come up short? Whether you excelled or disappointed - what can you attribute that to? What will you try to do better next season?
Friedland had a breakout year in the SMJHL, posting 16 goals and 26 assists for 42 points - leading the entire J in defensive scoring. Last season, I posted an unimpressive 4 goals and 10 assists. It's safe to say that I posted far and away the best and most improved numbers of any defenseman (and likely any player in the league). I expect to recieve the awards that follow. If only I had posted these numbers last year - hamilton definitely got a steal in the draft. I also reduced my penalty minutes from 94 to 88.
13. Written, 4 TPE: various topics.
a. These are absolutely two of the best goaltenders in the league in Cain and Kryyst - which team has the advantage in net in this series?
- To be honest, this comparison is like an unstoppable force meets an immovable object - if you were asking me PRIOR to the series - which I have to acknowlegde, i May have my biases at this point - but I believe I' d say that Kryyst's career numbers are totally more convincing than Cain, with that being said, I would take either one - It really is about the defense in front of them, because the parity in net is so high.
b. There are two Johnsons in this series - Gabriel (HAM) and Darnell (NOLA). In fact, the two used to host the Johnson & Johnson Podcast together, but they're now on the ice as bitter rivals. Which team has the better Johnson?
- Let's face it - I know these two guys very well - everyone loves to chirps Gabe. he's an easy target - he doesn't fight back when chirped - he's meek and mild. it is definitely fun to pick on gabe. If you asked me 3 months ago, I'd say Darnell is far and away the best johnson, but Gabe has machiavellian instinct to build his way up as a household name in the SHL - Let's put aside the defensive numbers - Gabe: he's a real G who definitely moves in dead silence - he's playing the long game. However, Darnell is hilarious and a heavy hitter - but Gabe is better OVERALL...
c. The Specters won both regular season matchups, but Hamilton finished with better team stats overall. Do regular season head-to-heads provide an accurate forecast for a playoff series? (answer predictively if it hasn't happened yet; reactively if it has.)
- Writing this reactively, it appears as if regular season stats don't QUITE translate into playoff success, as New Orleans swept my hamilton Steelhawks. With that being said, I'm sure I'm not the only one who had a bias towards Hamilton due to last seasons success and their amazing roster. I'm sure nobody definitively predicted Specters in 4, but props to New Orleans for defying the odds and emphatically beating Hamilton - If i was called up to the steelhawks roster im not sure that it would've played out like that.
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d. If SDCore offered you an all-expenses paid week-long vacation to either New Orleans or Hamilton, which city would you choose to go to? (tough choice I know lol.) How would you spend your time there?
- Bruh have you ever driven past Hamilton? it smells like feces. it's absolutely adhorrent and WHY woudl you want to go there for vacation. Gee, i wonder what i should do - hit the seafood capital of america, catch a saints games and dine creole acadian style or go to hamilton to smell the disgusting smoke and view all of the "SITES". fly me to louisiana ASAP. (sorry steelhawks fam)
14. Written, 2 TPE - The Procrastinator Special! (100 words min)
Welp, you waited until the last day to grind out your CW and the CC finals are longggggggg over by now. congrats to [TEAM], woo! Reflecting back on the series, who gets your vote for series MVP? Make the case why this player deserves it over any other.
My MVP goes to Alistair Cain - sure you could make an argument for guys like Jimmy Slothface, and of course, Lil Manius - their point totals were beyond impressive, but it takes a top notch goalie to secure a championship. Cain went an astounding 12-3-2 in this playoff run, posting a .923 save percentage. For some perspective Geezus Kryyst posted an 8-6-1 with a .912 and many believe Kryyst to be far and away the best goaltender of these playoffs. I can't really narrow it down because 5 NOLA players have combined for 99 Points, and 5 of them lead the playoffs in scoring (Manius, Fox, Williams, Slothface, Cloutier). But the real standout is ALASTAIR CAIN.
3 TPE: TRIVIA Verification word:
EpicWin
TOTAL: 9 TPE earned EXCLUDING trivia results.
Rich Moderators
S30, S31, S39 Challenge Cup Champion
Posts:3,016 Threads: 178 Joined: Jun 2015 Reputation:26
Discord: rich_shl
Pronouns: Undisclosed
Player: Adam Prpich
07-11-2020, 01:44 PM(This post was last modified: 07-11-2020, 10:33 PM by Rich.)
Code:
1. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
Reflection on your season - how did your player fare on the ice this season? Did you meet or surpass your individual player goals or did you come up short? Whether you excelled or disappointed - what can you attribute that to? What will you try to do better next season?
Season 54 was another tough one for Toronto, but not a surprising one. We knew what to expect. Individually, I’m pretty satisfied with how Lane did. I wouldn’t go so far as to say happy, but satisfied fits. 41 points and 18 goals on the 2nd worst team in the league isn’t too bad. I would have liked it if he had led the team in points, given that he is more offensively focused, but he was just 2 points behind Mika and had 3 more goals, so it was very close. Whether you look at this as success or failure, you can attribute it to different things. Obviously, if you look at it as a failure, it is because our team just isn’t good enough to compete yet. It is so hard to do well individually on a team that can’t maintain puck possession. If you look at it as a success, it is because in spite of the team being weak, the top forward line played quite well, and seemed to compliment each other nicely.
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5. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min.)
Which player from the Steelhawks or Specters has a great chance to make the Hall of Fame when their playing days are up? Make the case for that player's HOF bid.
I’m going way out in the future with this one, and a player that isn’t even on the Specters anymore. I’m predicting Mitchell van der Heijden will make the Hall. His first season in the SHL wasn’t anything amazing. He really turned it up in the playoffs, though. 12 points in 17 games as a rookie, including the cup winner, is outstanding. It shows that he can show up big when it counts, and that he has an extremely bright future ahead of him. Couple that with the likely hood that he will have a much bigger role earlier in his career in New England than he would have had in New Orleans. I’m pulling for him.
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13. Written, up to 4 TPE Pick up to 4 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words.
a. These are absolutely two of the best goaltenders in the league in Cain and Kryyst - which team has the advantage in net in this series?
Cain appears to be the most talented in the league, but for whatever reason, can’t seem to channel that talent. I’m taking Cain, just because I want to see him realize his potential, finally. In the playoffs, it looks like he is playing to the level we’d all hoped he could. But, if I’m going by history, I’d have to take Kryyst.
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b. There are two Johnsons in this series - Gabriel (HAM) and Darnell (NOLA). In fact, the two used to host the Johnson & Johnson Podcast together, but they're now on the ice as bitter rivals. Which team has the better Johnson?
It’s tough to compare then, because they’re fairly different, and are used differently by their teams. I’ll take Darnell. He has a smaller role in New Orleans, and doesn’t provide as much offense as Gabriel. That is the kind of guy I like to pull for, though. A more understated, undervalued depth piece on a good team. You need those guys.
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c. The Specters won both regular season matchups, but Hamilton finished with better team stats overall. Do regular season head-to-heads provide an accurate forecast for a playoff series? (answer predictively if it hasn't happened yet; reactively if it has.)
Turns out the head to head matchups predicted the outcome. I still wouldn’t have picked New Orleans to win. I don’t put a lot of stock in something like that if it is only 2 games. Feels like too little to go on. Hamilton seemed much stronger overall in the regular season.
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d. If SDCore offered you an all-expenses paid week-long vacation to either New Orleans or Hamilton, which city would you choose to go to? (tough choice I know lol.) How would you spend your time there?
As much as New Orleans isn’t really my scene, I’d still choose to go there. Lots of interesting culture and sites to take in there, and it’s the kind of place I’d like to go to just so I could say I did. I don’t honestly know what is in Hamilton that would make it worth visiting.
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12. Podcast, 3 or 4 TPE
Record a mini-podcast on any of the below topics!
- Highlights of the S54 season (on or off the ice)
- S54 playoff round-up
- S54 Challenge Cup/Four Star Cup finals Breakdown
- S55 predictions
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.
16. CW TRIVIA, 3 TPE max - 1 TPE for participation, 0.5 TPE for each correct answer. This is now 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.
07-11-2020, 02:24 PM(This post was last modified: 07-12-2020, 12:49 PM by st4rface.)
1. Written, 3 TPE (minimum 150 words)
It’s hard to be a defender in hockey simulation game, because it’s harder to get points as a defender. My second season was decent. I would say it could have been better, but I am happy that our team did good and my player improved his statistics in almost each category. He had more points as last season, achieved some milestones and basically did decent job in general. Next season I will continue to earn TPE. Since my player has already hit TPE barrier / cap of 425, I will just use my TPE to upgrade him to 425 and put all other TPE in the bank. Goal for next season is to get a bit more points and be more better in each category. Will help to make Play-Offs with Raptors aswell. Priority is our team, but individually - better performance statistics wise. Would be cool to hit 10 goal mark in one season. I already have one hat-trick, so at least that milestone is achieved. 30 assists mark would be sick aswell!
(174 words)
4. Written, 3 TPE (minimum 150 words)
Season have passed and there are new good players who have more TPE and better attributes, so it’s hard to predict IIHF and WJC. Japan, Great Britain and Canada is always good at IIHF and I think they could fight for medals. If we talk about WJC, then it’s really unpredictable, because of new players who have hit new TPE cap and have improved. A lot of players aren’t eligible to play for WJC now aswell. My player is from Finland and I am always loyal to my team and country, so I would say that Finland and Sweden will have fight for medals right there. Reason? I would say stacked roster and great coaching stuff. Al these countries have them all, so I think it’s possible that this can happen. IIHF and WJC are always unpredictable and even underdogs can come out undefeated and with gold medals. There will be really interesting and similar games.
(156 words)
5. Written, 2 TPE (minimum 100 words)
I think it’s obvious that any player with hard work can be in a Hall of Fame one day. But if we look at these teams, I would say the best chances is for players with most TOE. For Specters they are Rex Kirkby, Jimmy Slothface, Nicholas Williams and maybe even Mika Mayfield. For Steelhawks - Guy Zheng, Dick Clapper, Tig Murphy and maybe Gabriel Johnson aswell. All players have equally same chances to get to a Hall of Fame, but these players right now are a bit more better and one step ahed to other fellas in my opinion. There might be some rookies who improve themselves and in few seasons, this all might change.
(116 words)
6. Written, 3 TPE (minimum 150 words)
Finals are big day not only for finalists, but for entire SHL. It’s only logical that league needs some professional and interesting player to take over TV broadcast and I have few in my mind. One could be Ola Wagstrom. Reason - he is one of the best players in this league and have proved himself with his hard work and working mentality. Second could be Mike Izzy. Reason - he is really interesting and friendly guy and couldn’t lie ever - even in television. My third option would be Sven Svenson, because of his knowledge of hockey and how much he understands this game. All three players are really intelligent and can take the pressure of being on live television, so I think one of them need to get this chance. I will not say that I am great choice, because I am not SHL player yet. Of course, there are a lot of other players aswell and this is only my subjective opinion.
(165 words)
8. Written, 3 TPE (minimum 150 words)
“Everyone has their ups and downs. This season wasn’t our best season, but we already saw that at the end of the season we were much better than when season started. There are no easy games and never will be, but I can promise that next season everything will change. Boys are working much harder each day. We got more professionals helping with training, we train 6 days per week. We will have new rookies and our best players are even better now. Mark my words - our goal is not Play-Offs next season, but finals! All other teams will go rest in off-season, but we will work two times harder than we did in this season. We are not a team... We are a family! And family sticks together through everything. Always remember - after night comes day and after dark comes sun. We had our dark night and now it’s time to see sun rising up which turns our night in to a day!”
(166 words)
14. Written, 2 TPE (minimum 100 words)
I would give MVP trophy to Specters player Lil’ Manius who was unstoppable entire Play-Offs. First of all - Specters won title by sweeping previous champions. That’s the first reason why player is from Specters team. Second reason - Manius led Play-Offs in points. 17 games - 9 goals, 12 assists and incredible plus/minus: +16. Incredible accuracy and he was one of the biggest reasons why Specters are champions this season. Michael Fox, Nicholas Williams and Jimmy Slothface had only one points less than Manius, but I still think that Manius deserves this trophy more, because he was more needed and was better in other statistics.
1. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
Reflection on your season - how did your player fare on the ice this season? Did you meet or surpass your individual player goals or did you come up short? Whether you excelled or disappointed - what can you attribute that to? What will you try to do better next season?
I can't help but be happy with how Pepperoni performed this season. He looked like a clear MVP caliber player for the first 40 games of the season. While others caught up to him in the last few games of the season, he may still get some award nominations and a place on an all-star team. If not, that's okay too. Pepperoni put up career highs in goals, assists and points. While Pepperoni had personal success, I was not as happy with how the Blizzard did in the regular season/playoffs. Going into this season I think the Blizzard underestimated how well the rest of the league would adjust to the new systems the SHL had put in place. They may have not made the most optimal decisions instead hoping to give everyone on the team a chance to score and have good seasons. Hopefully Edmonton can learn and revise their strategies and play styles to become a bigger threat in the Western Conference.
[164 words, +3 TPE]
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3. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min.)
It has been publicized a decent amount on this site but Hamilton prospect Andrei Kostitsyn's brother Sergei appears to be missing. Does anybody know where Sergei? What have you done/what can you do to help Andrei track down his brother?
Nobody knows where Sergei is. I don't think it's going to be easy to find him either. In my mind, the issue is that Andrei Kostitsyn is now (clean) Andrei Kostitsyn. Sergei has yet to make that transition and it has put a major strain on the relationship between the two brothers. When Andrei became clean, Sergei ran off and vowed to go to a place where only non-clean people could find him. Despite Andrei's pleas, no one has been willing or able to get the level of intoxication that Sergei consistently finds himself in. The only way Andrei is going to be able to find his brother is to revert to the prior state of Andrei Kostitsyn. I don't know if it's a sacrifice he's willing to make.
[129 words, +2 TPE]
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5. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min.)
Which player from the Steelhawks or Specters has a great chance to make the Hall of Fame when their playing days are up? Make the case for that player's HOF bid.
I think Robert Phelps has a great chance at making the HOF when his career is done. While he doesn't have the awards that a lot of people look to when searching for potential HOF members, he definitely has the long-term success and consistency to make a great bid for the hall. with 906 points in 900 games played, Phelps is an absolute monster in terms of point-production. I can't think of any player in the history of the league who was a point per game player this late into their career. He has a very good chance at becoming one of the few 1000 point players in history.
[109 words, +2 TPE]
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13. Written, up to 4 TPE Pick up to 4 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words.
a. These are absolutely two of the best goaltenders in the league in Cain and Kryyst - which team has the advantage in net in this series?
b. There are two Johnsons in this series - Gabriel (HAM) and Darnell (NOLA). In fact, the two used to host the Johnson & Johnson Podcast together, but they're now on the ice as bitter rivals. Which team has the better Johnson?
c. The Specters won both regular season matchups, but Hamilton finished with better team stats overall. Do regular season head-to-heads provide an accurate forecast for a playoff series? (answer predictively if it hasn't happened yet; reactively if it has.)
d. If SDCore offered you an all-expenses paid week-long vacation to either New Orleans or Hamilton, which city would you choose to go to? (tough choice I know lol.) How would you spend your time there?
A) New Orleans has the advantage in net. Cain has the most raw talent in the league as far as goalies are concerned. While he hasn't always lived up to this potential, I think some of that falls on New Orleans defense. If I were creating a fantasy team, Cain would be my #1 pick for goalies every day of the week. [61 words, +1 TPE]
B) As much as I don't want to say it... Gabe is the better Johnson. If we're talking on the ice performance Gabe is much more integral to his team and is going to play a bigger part in this series than Darnell. Gabe has put up two straight 40 point seasons while Darnell hasn't cracked 15 points in his career. [60 words, +1 TPE]
C) Well, seeing as the series has already happened, it appears head-to-head is a good predictor of what will happen in the playoffs. Hamilton is a very well coached team but New Orleans has raw-talent that no one else has in the league. I think Hamilton out-played them in the series but their raw talent pushed them over the edge in the series. [62 words, +1 TPE]
D) Fly me to the moon Corey. In all seriousness, I'm going to New Orleans and it's not even close. As someone who has been to Hamilton way too many times in their life, I would rather pay my bills at home and just stay there for the week. New Orleans sounds like a lot of fun to visit and I never have! The food and the atmosphere seem amazing! [69 words, +1 TPE]
Code:
14. Written, 2 TPE - The Procrastinator Special! (100 words min)
Welp, you waited until the last day to grind out your CW and the CC finals are longggggggg over by now. congrats to [TEAM], woo! Reflecting back on the series, who gets your vote for series MVP? Make the case why this player deserves it over any other.
Series MVP (and playoff MVP in general) goes to Aleister Cain. Cain was an absolute standout in every series. New Orleans rarely out-shot or out-chanced their opponents yet they still managed to win the challenge cup. That comes down to one player in my mind, Aleister Cain. The numbers support the eye-test as Cain posted a .923 save percentage, and an average game rating of 81. Cain faced an average of almost 40 shots a game but only allowed 2.89 goals against per game. If we sort the playoff leaders by PDO, the first 9 are New Orleans players. They most definitely road a hot goalie through the playoffs.
[109 words, +2 TPE]
Code:
16. CW TRIVIA, 3 TPE max - 1 TPE for participation, 0.5 TPE for each correct answer. This is now 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.
07-11-2020, 04:51 PM(This post was last modified: 07-11-2020, 04:53 PM by Nhamlet.)
Code:
1. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
Reflection on your season - how did your player fare on the ice this season? Did you meet or surpass your individual player goals or did you come up short? Whether you excelled or disappointed - what can you attribute that to? What will you try to do better next season?
I think in the bigger picture of things, Minamino had almost a perfect season on an individual basis. Between being 2nd in goals scored and tied for the most points in the league, it’s hard to ask for much more in a competitive league where I knew going in, there were a lot of other skilled wingers who could easily have had the same performance if not better than me. A big part has to do with the fact that there was so much chemistry on my line and despite missing out on some of the opportunities such as playing with the top pair, line matching against weaker opponents, and less ice time, our line still overcame all those obstacles in having amazing seasons. I think it’ll be hard to imagine much changing next season on an individual level as if we can continue our success then status quo would be the way to go. Changes for myself, I wonder whether having as much stamina as I do will be the way to go if we have a lot of depth on our team. In the playoffs, stamina appears less valuable and in the end, that’s the most important success to achieve.
Code:
2. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
Well, dang. Your team didn't make the finals this season - my condolences to you. Are you and your teammates planning on watching the finals even though you're not in it? If so, what are your watch parties like? If not, are you still following the finals or trying to ignore it completely? What are you and your teammates doing together (if anything) instead of following along? (if you're on Hamilton or New Orleans, or either of the 2 SMJHL teams that soon will be playing in the finals - congrats and sorry :p this one isn't for you!)
Hoped that this prompt wasn’t going to apply for me but at least there’s a way to release my somber mood now that the Berserkers are out. I think it’ll be hard not to ignore the finals despite how much it hurts not being part of it. Probably won’t have a watch party especially with how crazy things were when we were still in it. If anything I’m sure that maybe some of us will be cheering for the Outlaws. Chances are we’ll probably take some time off because I think this has been a heavy emotional investment for the lot of us. A couple will be moving on so saying goodbyes in that way was tough. For those staying here, since we have a number of S55 guys reaching their 3rd season, their next build will likely dominate the conversation and start the excitement anew for next season. In the meantime, I’ll be turning my focus to WJC which is a breath of fresh air in terms of looking at working with different players and against different opponents.
Code:
3. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min.)
It has been publicized a decent amount on this site but Hamilton prospect Andrei Kostitsyn's brother Sergei appears to be missing. Does anybody know where Sergei? What have you done/what can you do to help Andrei track down his brother?
Being a member of the Berserkers family, I know that we have been struggling with Andrei with his personal quest to find his brother. As part of a daily routine, we pool any new sources of information that may lead to the whereabouts of Sergei but since Andrei originally joined, there has been less and less new crumbs to follow. Even Andrei himself seems to have become crestfallen with the lack of new developments in that he does not ask us as often about his brother or new faces that he bumps into. To keep his spirits up and our efforts ongoing for the search, we’ll be hosting a (clean) bake sale where the funds go towards the efforts of finding Sergei and hopefully reuniting the Kostitsyn brothers.
Quote:12. Podcast, 3 or 4 TPE
Record a mini-podcast on any of the below topics!
- Highlights of the S54 season (on or off the ice)
- S54 playoff round-up
- S54 Challenge Cup/Four Star Cup finals Breakdown
- S55 predictions
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.
13. Written, up to 4 TPE Pick up to 4 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words.
a. These are absolutely two of the best goaltenders in the league in Cain and Kryyst - which team has the advantage in net in this series?
b. There are two Johnsons in this series - Gabriel (HAM) and Darnell (NOLA). In fact, the two used to host the Johnson & Johnson Podcast together, but they're now on the ice as bitter rivals. Which team has the better Johnson?
c. The Specters won both regular season matchups, but Hamilton finished with better team stats overall. Do regular season head-to-heads provide an accurate forecast for a playoff series? (answer predictively if it hasn't happened yet; reactively if it has.)
d. If SDCore offered you an all-expenses paid week-long vacation to either New Orleans or Hamilton, which city would you choose to go to? (tough choice I know lol.) How would you spend your time there?
A. I think it has to be Cain. It’s definitely a slight one but still believe that they’re riding off the back of Cain harder than Hamilton relies on Kryyst. While TPE is part of it, they’re both fairly similar goalies with Cain having a much better overall shotblocking ability in all the main categories of blocker, glove and low shots. I think the main advantage Kryyst has is slightly being better in stopping those second chances and playing the puck, albeit very slight in that latter category.
B. Hard to not go with Gabe Johnson as the better Johnson of the two. Not only did he dramatically surpass Darnell in TPE earned, he even has his own rocket league cult, has people making contract clauses referring to him specifically and broke the hearts of Buffalo fans everywhere. That last one might actually knock him down in my books just because of him hurting my TPE predictions but still means something I guess.
C. I think they certainly can if there’s enough data/games to demonstrate a relatively strong reliability for future forecasts in a playoff series. With two games, the Specters won on a 2-1 shootout (basically a coin flip) and a 6-4 win later in the season, I think Specters have to feel at least a little bit more confident about a competitive series despite the fact that Hamilton has had significantly better stats in the arguably more top heavy conference.
D. I really wanted to give Hamilton a fair shot but honestly it’s impossible not to pick New Orleans. Even the Creole cuisine is enough for me to automatically sign up. If I’m not spending a good half of my day out and about eating that and Cajun cuisine, I’m probably going to be walking around enjoying the sights whether that’s going to somewhere like the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park or catching some live performances at the Marigny Opera House.But really it’s just about the food, that’s about 80% of it though the other 20% sounds fantastic to experience.
Code:
16. CW TRIVIA, 3 TPE max - 1 TPE for participation, 0.5 TPE for each correct answer. This is now 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.
4. 160 words
Team United States will have a deep run in this year's IIHF. They have a great roster for the tournament and will be alongside Team Canada and Team Germany the hardest team to beat. Never let Team Sweden out of your eyes. When there superstar Ola Wagstrom gets on a hot streak he could carry that team to new highs. But with the depth of team USA they should bring the gold medal home. A look at my team, it shows that we will have some problems again this year. Once again Austria goes into a IIHF tournament without a defense that could catch up to the rest. So we will heavily relay on what the offense could produce. With Lagerfield they have the SHL point leader in the lineup and the never getting older Mike Izzy with his Dragons crew staying behind him. If the offense is able to score oft enough Austria maybe could make the medal rounds.
5. 121 words
If you look at the teams there are a lot of names that will end in the hall of fame. But there is one player shining that bright above all others. Joe Kurczewski started his SHL journey two decades ago and is still kicking around, maybe not to long anymore. Retire with a cup in his hands is probably what he was waiting for. He has 4 cups under his belt, 6 all star team appearances and did win many awards (1x Mexico, 1 Dar, 1 Richan and 1 Khan). He got nominated for at total of 13 awards during his long career. He will be a first ballot hall of famer in the year he is available to vote for.
8. 191 words
Hello fans, here is your former most hated GM from the Texas Renegades. I am sorry we missed the playoffs again, but like all of you could saw it was so damn tight. Just missed it because of the tie breaker to Calgary is still hurting my feelings. And I am pretty sure your guys fell the same way like I do. I can't remember how often I told you guys to stay cool we will have a few down years, because we have to rebuild or we are in the middle of a rebuild. But today is day where I can say, the rebuild is over. We are now in the situation to let the dark years behind us. Our prospects have done a great improvement and most of them are ready to come up and give us more depth in the bottom 6. While we had a great 1st line last season and they had to carry us, we can now say that we will have a 2nd line that doesn't have to hide. All of them are established players now a day and are ready for another jump....
13.
a. 66 words
Looking at booth and you see indeed two of the best that plays the game, or are crazy enough to call the space between the pipes there lovely home. While Cain leads in TPE the better stats are on the side of Kryyst. Not only in the playoffs but also in the regular season. But that could be because Cain plays in a very hard division.
b. 58 words
Looking at booth and you see indeed two of the best that plays the game, or are crazy enough to call the space between the pipes there lovely home. While Cain leads in TPE the better stats are on the side of Kryyst. Not only in the playoffs but also in the regular season. But that could be because Cain plays in a very hard division.
c. 54 words
As it turned out the regular season matchups haven't been just two lucky wins, because the Specters swept the Steelhawks in the finals. Pretty sure the Steelhawks only had the better team stats overall because of the Tampa Bay and Toronto cases. While the Specters had to fight in a very tight western conference.
d. 59 words
Hamilton, no thanks, don't want to spend my time there, didn't like the name of the city. But that's not the city's fault, pretty much because I didn't like the formula one driver with the same name. So I would go to New Orleans, so much history and who doesn't want to get a little bit of voodoo magic.
14. 120 words
Congratulation to the New Orleans Specters for going home with the cup this season. After a questionable appearance in last year's playoff and a lot of shit they had to go throw they come back great this year. After a heartbreaking seven game series against the Los Angeles Panthers it seems that they wanted to win the finals fast and they did it in fashion, they wiped the floor with the defending champion. And one big facture for New Orleans was the performance of Jimmy Slothface and my choice for finale MVP. He got points in every game and got stronger from game to game. Just to put up a 4 point game in the final game of the season.
16.
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