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 am very pleased with Abel Skinner’s on-ice performance in Season 56. Pretty much every single stat was up over last season. Goals 3 to 7, Assists 7 to 12, SB 59 to 82, Hits 10 to 45, Shot % a dismal 3.41% to a respectable 8.75%. Some of this improvement is due to my greatly increased ice time having gone to Seattle from Chicago in expansion. In Chicago Abel was logging an average of 12:49. In Seattle, Skinner logged an average of 20:41.

However, though some of the increase is due to playing more, not all of it is explained this way – the rate of these positive outcomes was higher in S56 as well. For instance, ice time almost doubled from S55 to S56, but Hits more than quadrupled. Takeaways increased by more than 8 times! (10 to 83)

Also, Giveaways increased by just 3 from 13 to 16 in spite of being on the ice almost twice as much in S56.

Improvement not due to additional ice time is probably due to hitting certain thresholds in attributes, which was made possible by increased activity in the league and better updating.


192 words


5. Written, 2 TPE
Write an SHL themed Haiku Sonnet (see link below) which I just learned is a real thing. The format is: Haiku Haiku Haiku Haiku Couplet

The Argonauts

Navy – darkest blue
Gold – shining in the sun's glare
Powder blue – most clear

In S56
Ancient warriors born afresh
From naught to new life

Noble Tig creates
from feverish mind- a dream
New dynasty born

Already they form
A band of brothers loyal
To a common dream

On Climate Pledge ice they glide
Conquering foes, thrilling friends.

6. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min.)

Which SHL or SMJHL team was the best team to not make the finals this season and why?


This should be fairly obvious. The best SHL team not to make the playoffs is the expansion Seattle Argonauts. Well, maybe not so obvious as many would probably take take “best” to mean most successful on the ice and off they would go running to the standings to pour over wins, points, takeaways and plus/minus ratings.



This is all important and one our ultimate goals. The Argonauts will surely have their day in this regard, but an even higher goal is to have fun with a band of brothers and sisters. In this light, Seattle looms large. Dropping into the Seattle LR is like plopping down into a favorite comfy chair with your favorite pals from college. It is like sipping a fine Kentucky bourbon. It does not draw the attention of the world’s elite, but it just feels right.


Our GM @notorioustig and co-GM @grok lead the way and all of my awesome teammates complete the whole. Thank you everyone for a truly enjoyable first season!


167 words

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

What's your prediction for this season's IIHF tournament? Which teams do you expect to do well (or not well)? Which players?

I see Great Britain going all the way once more. They have the pedigree, the coaching and the players. Having taken the Silver in S54 and then Gold in S55, Great Britain is no stranger to success. Could they be knocked off by one of the other powerhouses like the USA, Canada, Japan or the like? Sure, but I am ok putting my money on the Brits again.

One reason is the play of D-man, Abel Skinner. (Abel is my own player, but it is clear there is no bias here. lol ) But seriously, Skinner was starting to come into his own last year, but is now over the 1,000 TPE level and getting decent across all of the important attributes. When you have some attributes where they should be, but have gaping holes in others, you can rise to the occasion – on occasion – but you are also going to play miserably at other times. With Skinner eliminating those holes and the rest of the team developing in the past season, Great Britain is poised for great things.

179 words

8. Written/Graphic, 3 TPE (150 words min. if written)

The arenas in Buffalo and Hamilton want to make sure they're pulling out all the stops on the big stage. Help the concessions department of one of these two teams develop a new product, with marketing specifically pertaining to this finals series, to be sold at the arena during the finals. Describe the product and the marketing in 150 words or create a promotional poster showing the product, its name, the price, etc.

Buffalo needs to capitalize on its mascot – the mighty herd animal of the western prairies (so the town is called Buffalo, why again? And what does a buffalo have to do with the city?) and what this magnificent animal is known for in the minds of many. Yes, I am talking about its feces – buffalo chips.

Now an obvious move would simply be to serve some fries in a cup, maybe pour some gravy over it as our Canadian friends are wont to do and call it buffalo chips. But that is far too easy and it doesn’t have nearly the same look. Instead, the Stampede needs to serve something actually resembling the real thing – a sickly gray-brown swirling mass nestled in the prairie grass. So, I’m suggesting pouring out a glop of runny oatmeal dyed even grayer and letting it dry out a few days before selling at the rink.

Marketing? Well, I’m sure we all see they will sell themselves, but a possible slogan might be, “Stampede buffalo chips – for those brave or loyal enough to eat them.”

180 words

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.

Democracy

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?

After having a career year last season, I was pretty disappointed with how Sutton’s season went. He started the season off with a goal in his first game and then failed to record a point in his next 12 games. Over the next 37 games he was able to put up 30 points which is at a pace that would have seen him put up 40 points over 50 games, but it wasn’t just his point production that regressed. Sutton got really sloppy with turn overs while not taking the puck away as much. His physical play dropped off putting up the fewest number of hits in his career by quite a bit. I have no clue what this can attributed to, his line mates were the same from the previous season and his minutes were pretty consistent. Next season should be Sutton’s first in the SHL so I do not have high expectations from him, but it would be nice to see him at least hold his own and not be a liability on the ice. (176 words)

4. Written/Graphic, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
If the SHL needed to set up a playoff bubble (like the NHL did in Edmonton/Toronto or the NBA in Orlando), which city would be the best candidate to host as the hub city? What would the players do during their time in a playoff bubble? (For graphic option, make an advertisement [like a pamphlet/brochure] in support of a specific city as the hub city and highlighting the reasons why.)

If I were to be setting up a bubble for the SHL teams to play out the playoffs I would look at a few different factors. Proximity to a major airport, ability to host the players with the comfort that they would expect, and since the playoffs are transpiring in the winter months, I would look for a reasonable climate.

Considering all the above, I have chosen Tampa Bay to be the hub city for the SHL playoffs. It has a large international airport that could support bringing in the players from all over. There are plenty of high-end hotels that would have numerous amenities for the players to keep them entertained during their down time. It would also be warm enough so that the players could go outside and get fresh air without worrying too much about dying from the cold. I am assuming that since the team only recently located to Tampa that the arena would be modern with a good HVAC system to sustain the quality of ice required for these teams to play meaningful games. Also, there is no worry of the home team having any advantage because the Barracuda did not make the playoffs. (199 words)

7. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
What's your prediction for this season's IIHF tournament? Which teams do you expect to do well (or not well)? Which players?

I will start off with stating the obvious, Team Canada will defend their gold medal from the last tournament. It will not be a walk in the park for them, but the team has all the tools and will get it done. Theo Morgan’s dominant offense will carry over from the SHL season and lead the team offensively while Frans Eller steps up his play and shuts the door in goal, the tournament is theirs to lose. Great Britain will certainly put up a fight but will ultimately take home the silver. I believe the bronze will go to either USA or Czechia however teams like Japan, Sweden, and Switzerland will all put up fights and could very well replace either of those two teams in the Bronze game. I do not see the remaining teams like Ireland, Finland, or Latvia really improving upon their performances from last season and will likely see themselves at the bottom of the round robin standings. (162 words)

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. Both of these teams have an impressive set of skaters - without factoring in any coaching or tactical strategies, which team do you think has the better roster of skaters on paper?
b. Do you foresee the teams making any strategic adjustments during the course of the series? Should the teams be quick to switch tactics or stick with what they've been using?
c. These two teams hail from the Great Lakes Division. Which of the Great Lakes (Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior) do you think is the Greatest and why?
d. If, once it is safe to do so, you had to go hang out in person with one of the users on Buffalo/Hamilton, who would you hang out with and what would you do? (if you pick gabe you get -1 tpe)

a.      These two teams are very evenly matched when you look at total TPE with Hamilton having a slight edge. Breaking it down though and removing goaltending, Hamilton trails in defense by 300 TPE but have almost 800 more TPE upfront. Even with Buffalo having the better goaltender TPE wise Hamilton was second only to Calgary in regular season GA which tells me that their defensive core is more than capable of shutting teams down. I have to give Hamilton the edge when it comes to icing the better roster on paper (92 words)

b.      For both teams, I think they keep doing what they have been doing. Hamilton had the most successful regular season campaign since the SHL moved to FHM. Their playoff run hasn’t been the smoothest but ultimately got to the finals anyways after stifling one of the leagues best offensive teams in the Blizzard. The Stampede had a more of a difficult road to the finals but saw themselves knock out the Rage in 6 and then reverse sweep the Syndicate.

c.      I think all the lakes have their own beauty and wouldn’t mind a cottage on any of them. For the purpose of this task though I am going to choose between Lake Ontario for Hamilton, and Lake Erie for Buffalo. After eliminating it down to those two the answer for me is an easy one, Lake Ontario. Nothing against Lake Erie, but I grew up not far from Toronto and have always been around Lake Ontario. When comparing to Erie, Ontario has played a much larger role in settlements and is also the first lake that the St Lawrence Seaway connects to. (103 words)
d.      To be honest the only player that I really know from either team is Faelax and that’s because we played in Maine together. He would have to be my choice for that reason, but I think him and I could actually get a long. He plays disc golf and I have played once or twice so that would probably be how we hang out and maybe grab a beer after. (71 words)

16. CW TRIVIA, 3 TPE
Mojito

         

Trivia - 3 TPE
Verification Word: Yes


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?

In terms of my past season, I truly felt this was the best season of my career for my player Knox Booth. I have been waiting a long time to have such an impactful season and it finally arrived, and boy oh boy- did it ever feel good. I have always wanted to be a premier player in the league and so many times beforehand I would find myself in the good category, but not the great one. This past season I was in many ways the MVP of my team, the Los Angeles Panthers, and although we didn’t have the postseason success I would have wanted- we had a great year and a lot of that had to do with my play. I plan to keep this going as I have reached the build I wanted and can see myself remaining a strong goalie until regression comes knocking on my door. The nice thing is that I still have a couple of seasons ahead of me before that happens, so I am very pleased with how I have progressed so far.

(182 words)


Written, 2 TPE (100 words min.)
FHM's 12-team playoff bracket setup has received a fair bit of scrutiny. It re-seeds after the play-in round and for some reason puts the #1 seed and #2 seed on the same side of the bracket. I challenge you to come up with a different playoff format - can you come up with a format that's dumber/worse than this? be creative! Come up with the worst possible format for a 12-team playoff.

When I start thinking of a new playoff format and especially something that would be insane/even dumber of an idea, I kind of got to thinking that maybe we just throw conferences out the door right away and mix match a West and East team right off the bat. What we could do is still have the lower teams face the higher teams, however, have the conferences mix, so that the bottom of the East plays the top of the West for example. I know, I know, it’s ridiculous and it’s never going to fly as an idea, but I had to think of SOMETHING for this CW post and here it is. So, let’s just ruin the idea of conferences altogether and mix them together, it’ll spice things up and make them interesting and you’ll also have no control whatsoever on who you play each season. So, let’s just stop picking a side based on location, and make the SHL world one conference instead of two.

(166 words)


Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
If the SHL needed to set up a playoff bubble (like the NHL did in Edmonton/Toronto or the NBA in Orlando), which city would be the best candidate to host as the hub city? What would the players do during their time in a playoff bubble? (For graphic option, make an advertisement [like a pamphlet/brochure] in support of a specific city as the hub city and highlighting the reasons why.)

My thoughts when it comes to having a hub city is trying to think of a location that is central in North America, or at least somewhat in the middle of it. This will make travel not as difficult for either party, or allow for everyone to literally, “meet in the middle.” Now, the first city that popped into my mind was Chicago, but I dismissed it right away because there are just too many people there. The reason why that is a bad thing is because of the virus itself, so you want a place that doesn’t have as many people and is relatively barren/stretched out so that you can limit exposure. This, my friends, is why I have settled on the Winnipeg Jets. I mean, let’s be real, why do people even live in Winnipeg? I don’t know the answer to that question but there can’t be many of them… has the virus even made it there? Certainly not as bad as other places. Plus, Winnipeg is pretty darn central and would be one of the easier places to get to, so let’s make it the hub, shall we?

(191 words)


Written, 2 TPE (100 words min.)
Which SHL or SMJHL team was the best team to not make the finals this season and why?

I know what you’re about to say before you even say it, and that’s that I am a homer, right? It’s because I believe that the Los Angeles Panthers were the best team not to make it, right? I get it, I should really choose another team that’s more worthy, but when I look at the teams that are worthy, it’s Los Angeles that sticks out in my mind. I mean c’mon, we have the offense, we have the defense, and we got a really good goalie – cough cough. So why not LA? It’s my humble opinion that we should have made it to the finals and won because by golly we’re good, so watch out for us next year.

(120 words)


Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
The arenas in Buffalo and Hamilton want to make sure they're pulling out all the stops on the big stage. Help the concessions department of one of these two teams develop a new product, with marketing specifically pertaining to this finals series, to be sold at the arena during the finals. Describe the product and the marketing in 150 words or create a promotional poster showing the product, its name, the price, etc.

Okay for this challenge I want to create a product that is for both teams, that way when you go into each of their arenas you have something special you can buy and bring home too! First off, we have the Buffalo Stampede, and what better thing to offer than a horned cap. First of all, it’s awesome to have something with horns on it so you can poke people or headbutt them and take out an eye with it, and second of all it falls into the theme of Buffalos, so it fits perfect. We’ll charge $25 each for a horned cap, which will also feature the team’s logo and color scheme. Second, we have the Hamilton Steelhawks and for them we will offer a cup you can buy to fill your beer that is shaped like a hawk and made of steel. These cups will keep your drinks nice and cold for as long as they are in your hand, plus they make a great weapon for hitting Stampede fans with. We shall sell the cup for $25 as well, to make things even.

(186 words)


= 16 TPE

1. It was a great season for Mat Smith. Even though there was definitely some down parts of it, I'm happy with the stats I finished with and the way I played. I spent the majority of the season in the SMJHL with the Quebec City Citadelles. There I had 14 wins in 37 games, which could have been better, a .911 save percentage, a 2.90 goals against average, and icing on the cake of five shutouts, when I didn't have any in my rookie season. I also got called up to Chicago for a few games, which was totally unexpected for me, and when I heard that I'd be playing in the SHL I thought I'd do terribly. To my surprise though I blew my own expectations out of the water with a 2-0-1 record which included two shutouts (surprisingly one of them was a shootout loss), a .951 save percentage, and a 0.65 goals against average.
157 words - 3 TPE

3. I've given this a lot of thought, and I think that you can't have the perfect postseason without first perfecting the regular season. Going from 50 games to 66 is a good step, but why stop there? I say go big, as big as the MLB, and make 162 game seasons. Think of all the backup games! Now with the regular season being perfect we can move on to the playoffs. Going into the playoffs we set the bar pretty high going as big as the MLB, but what's even bigger than the MLB? Why that's right little Timothy, the NFL is. So we go single-elimination games happening once a week. I heard from someone somewhere I think that the SHL always bases its playoff format on an actual league's playoff format, so this aligns with that rule while making each game count a lot more. I think this is a great system that compromises everyone's ideas, since instead of some people being very happy and some being upset, in this way nobody's happy since everybody gets screwed over! I guess we have to find a way to screw over the playoff champion, so to do that let's say that they automatically miss the playoffs the next season "to promote parity."
211 words - 2 TPE

4. If the SHL were to set up a bubble for the playoffs, it would have to be somewhere that the players would have no chance of catching Covid and spreading it. After much research, I have found that the perfect location for this would be Bodie, California. Bodie is a town that's packed with history, as it used to be an old mining town during the California gold rush years. It was your stereotypical Wild West town, complete with saloons that are still standing to this day. I mentioned earlier that there would be no chance of players catching Covid in Bodie, and if you were wondering why it's because the population is 0. Bodie is a ghost town, abandoned after the mine closed in 1942 in favour of the World War II war efforts. The mine never reopened, and so the town became a California state historic park. I'm sure conservationists would have no problem if the SHL built a couple hockey arenas in a state park in the middle of the desert and mountains too.
177 words - 3 TPE

6. In my very biased opinion, the Chicago Syndicate was the best team not to make the finals. They were eliminated in the semi finals in a reverse sweep by Buffalo, which was clearly a fluke and the series should be resimmed. In all seriousness, Chicago just has so much talent, including two players in the 2000 TPE club in Corey Kennedy and Lallo Selman, the league's 2nd highest point getter and goal scorer in Martijn Westbroek, and an elite goalie in Tibuk Soonika. Even though the Syndicate didn't make the finals this season though, they'll should still be good enough to make a push next season with many of their players hitting their peaks which should offset those getting hit by regression.
122 words - 2 TPE

8. The Steelhawks are going full savage mode these finals, as they decided to stock all of their arena's restaurants with buffalo meat. From everything to a buffalo steak to a buffaburger, if you're looking to try some American bison then Hamilton is the place to be. This sparked protests in Hamilton, however, as the buffalo is considered to be a "near threatened" species, not endangered but not exactly thriving either. They are doing better than a few years ago when they were endangered, however protesters argue that if we normalize the consumption of buffalo meat then the population could take another nosedive. There has been no comment from either the Steelhawks or Stampede organization, however rumours say that the Buffalo Stampede was planning on creating a similar promotion with certain species of hawks, but decided against it after they saw the public backlash that Hamilton has gotten. Instead of this, the Stampede has decided to go for a much simpler route, with player bobbleheads given to all attendees of home games.
171 words - 3 TPE

13c. There is an obvious answer here, that Lake Superior is obviously the greatest lake since it's literally Superior to all the others. I'm gonna ignore that one though because that's a copout. I'm gonna do this by process of elimination now. Lake Erie is out because of its name, I'm not gonna go swim in that lake, it's too Erie. Lake Ontario is out because it's tiny, which makes it hardly great, and also half of it isn't even in Ontario, it's in New York. Lake Michigan is also out for similar reasons, where's Wisconsin, Illinois, or even Indiana in that name? That leaves Lake Huron as the greatest lake, and it makes sense because Huron sounds like Heron and those are pretty cool birds.
125 words - 1 TPE

13d. There seems to be a lot of cool people in both Buffalo and Hamilton, I can't choose just one. I haven't had the chance to interact too much with anybody on the Steelhawks, but both my GMs from the Quebec City Citadelles, Evok and Faelax, play there. Those are two really awesome people and I'm so happy to have gotten to know them over the last couple seasons. I also haven't talked to Kalakar too much but he seems to have really good taste in music based on the streams so I'd hang out with him too.
97 words - 1 TPE

16. Hockey
1 word - 3 TPE (hopefully)

3+2+3+2+3+1+1+3=18 TPE (maximum 16)

Cristoforo Roccamontepiano | #10 | Centre | S78 | Citadelles | Whalers | Blizzard

SMJHL Regular Season Stats:
S76 | VAN | GP: 08 | G: 00 | A: 01 | P: 01 | +/-: -7 | PIM: 02 | S: 014 | HIT: 08 | BLK: 00 | TOI: 16:04
S77 | QCC | GP: 66 | G: 20 | A: 23 | P: 43 | +/-: 14 | PIM: 16 | S: 155 | HIT: 57 | BLK: 07 | TOI: 16:51
S78 | QCC | GP: 66 | G: 33 | A: 43 | P: 76 | +/-: 00 | PIM: 32 | S: 232 | HIT: 77 | BLK: 16 | TOI: 19:19
S79 | QCC | GP: 46 | G: 36 | A: 46 | P: 82 | +/-: 31 | PIM: 28 | S: 225 | HIT: 91 | BLK: 26 | TOI: 21:10

SMJHL Playoff Stats:
S76 | VAN | GP: 11 | G: 1 | A: 3 | P: 4 | +/-: -3 | PIM: 2 | S: 12 | HIT: 11 | BLK: 4 | TOI: 16:31
S77 | QCC | GP: 09 | G: 0 | A: 5 | P: 5 | +/-: -6 | PIM: 0 | S: 05 | HIT: 07 | BLK: 2 | TOI: 17:55
S78 | QCC | GP: 06 | G: 3 | A: 4 | P: 7 | +/-: -1 | PIM: 0 | S: 10 | HIT: 07 | BLK: 2 | TOI: 21:00

Trophy Case:
S77: Named to All-Rookie Team (SMJHL)

S77: Drafted round 1, 16th overall by the Quebec City Citadelles (SMJHL)
S78: Drafted round 1, 1st overall by the Edmonton Blizzard (SHL)
Portal

Mat Smith | #10 | Goaltender | S56 | Syndicate | Citadelles | Finland | Long Live Drog

SHL Regular Season Stats:
S56 | CHI | GP: 03 | W: 02 | L: 00 | OTL: 1 | SV%: .951 | GAA: 0.65 | SO: 2
S57 | CHI | GP: 05 | W: 04 | L: 01 | OTL: 0 | SV%: .940 | GAA: 1.18 | SO: 2
S58 | CHI | GP: 09 | W: 07 | L: 02 | OTL: 0 | SV%: .902 | GAA: 1.67 | SO: 0
S59 | CHI | GP: 54 | W: 38 | L: 14 | OTL: 2 | SV%: .905 | GAA: 2.35 | SO: 3
S60 | CHI | GP: 54 | W: 36 | L: 16 | OTL: 2 | SV%: .919 | GAA: 2.52 | SO: 7
S61 | CHI | GP: 54 | W: 32 | L: 22 | OTL: 0 | SV%: .909 | GAA: 2.64 | SO: 2
S62 | CHI | GP: 54 | W: 46 | L: 03 | OTL: 5 | SV%: .930 | GAA: 2.07 | SO: 7
S63 | CHI | GP: 55 | W: 36 | L: 15 | OTL: 3 | SV%: .912 | GAA: 2.35 | SO: 5
S64 | CHI | GP: 54 | W: 41 | L: 13 | OTL: 0 | SV%: .932 | GAA: 2.16 | SO: 2
S65 | CHI | GP: 53 | W: 36 | L: 15 | OTL: 1 | SV%: .919 | GAA: 2.63 | SO: 8
S66 | CHI | GP: 54 | W: 35 | L: 14 | OTL: 4 | SV%: .898 | GAA: 2.98 | SO: 4
S67 | CHI | GP: 55 | W: 29 | L: 20 | OTL: 5 | SV%: .898 | GAA: 2.73 | SO: 6
S68 | CHI | GP: 54 | W: 34 | L: 17 | OTL: 3 | SV%: .891 | GAA: 2.89 | SO: 5
S69 | CHI | GP: 56 | W: 35 | L: 15 | OTL: 4 | SV%: .903 | GAA: 2.78 | SO: 4
S70 | CHI | GP: 54 | W: 29 | L: 21 | OTL: 4 | SV%: .889 | GAA: 3.39 | SO: 3
S71 | CHI | GP: 55 | W: 28 | L: 21 | OTL: 5 | SV%: .891 | GAA: 3.75 | SO: 1
S72 | CHI | GP: 49 | W: 31 | L: 14 | OTL: 1 | SV%: .902 | GAA: 3.19 | SO: 6
S73 | CHI | GP: 54 | W: 26 | L: 25 | OTL: 3 | SV%: .900 | GAA: 3.67 | SO: 0
S74 | CHI | GP: 46 | W: 29 | L: 11 | OTL: 2 | SV%: .908 | GAA: 3.40 | SO: 3
S75 | CHI | GP: 42 | W: 18 | L: 13 | OTL: 1 | SV%: .881 | GAA: 4.40 | SO: 0
S76 | CHI | GP: 37 | W: 11 | L: 13 | OTL: 4 | SV%: .902 | GAA: 4.40 | SO: 1
TOT | CHI | GP: 951 | W: 583 | L: 285 | OTL: 50 | SV%: .909 | GAA: 2.75 | SO: 71

SHL Playoff Stats:
S59 | CHI | GP: 16 | W: 09 | L: 06 | OTL: 1 | SV%: .907 | GAA: 2.67 | SO: 3
S60 | CHI | GP: 23 | W: 15 | L: 07 | OTL: 1 | SV%: .919 | GAA: 2.75 | SO: 1
S61 | CHI | GP: 11 | W: 07 | L: 04 | OTL: 0 | SV%: .907 | GAA: 2.65 | SO: 0
S62 | CHI | GP: 10 | W: 06 | L: 03 | OTL: 1 | SV%: .903 | GAA: 2.79 | SO: 1
S63 | CHI | GP: 14 | W: 09 | L: 04 | OTL: 1 | SV%: .940 | GAA: 1.66 | SO: 4
S64 | CHI | GP: 23 | W: 16 | L: 05 | OTL: 2 | SV%: .917 | GAA: 2.61 | SO: 1
S65 | CHI | GP: 17 | W: 10 | L: 07 | OTL: 0 | SV%: .927 | GAA: 2.52 | SO: 2
S66 | CHI | GP: 14 | W: 10 | L: 04 | OTL: 0 | SV%: .909 | GAA: 2.58 | SO: 0
S67 | CHI | GP: 07 | W: 03 | L: 03 | OTL: 1 | SV%: .902 | GAA: 2.79 | SO: 1
S68 | CHI | GP: 15 | W: 09 | L: 05 | OTL: 1 | SV%: .890 | GAA: 3.48 | SO: 1
S69 | CHI | GP: 07 | W: 03 | L: 04 | OTL: 0 | SV%: .878 | GAA: 3.42 | SO: 0
S70 | CHI | GP: 13 | W: 06 | L: 06 | OTL: 1 | SV%: .895 | GAA: 3.27 | SO: 0
S71 | CHI | GP: 12 | W: 07 | L: 05 | OTL: 0 | SV%: .908 | GAA: 2.95 | SO: 1
S72 | CHI | GP: 12 | W: 05 | L: 06 | OTL: 1 | SV%: .897 | GAA: 3.88 | SO: 1
S73 | CHI | GP: 11 | W: 06 | L: 04 | OTL: 0 | SV%: .897 | GAA: 3.83 | SO: 0
S74 | CHI | GP: 05 | W: 01 | L: 03 | OTL: 1 | SV%: .906 | GAA: 3.58 | SO: 0
S75 | CHI | GP: 01 | W: 00 | L: 00 | OTL: 0 | SV%: .943 | GAA: 2.70 | SO: 0
S76 | CHI | GP: 01 | W: 00 | L: 00 | OTL: 0 | SV%: .829 | GAA: 7.93 | SO: 0
TOT | CHI | GP: 212 | W: 122 | L: 76 | OTL: 11 | SV%: .904 | GAA: 3.23 | SO: 16

SMJHL Regular Season Stats:
S55 | QCC | GP: 23 | W: 06 | L: 13 | OTL: 0 | SV%: .905 | GAA: 3.91 | SO: 0
S56 | QCC | GP: 37 | W: 14 | L: 20 | OTL: 3 | SV%: .911 | GAA: 2.90 | SO: 5
S57 | QCC | GP: 41 | W: 31 | L: 05 | OTL: 5 | SV%: .920 | GAA: 2.38 | SO: 6
S58 | QCC | GP: 34 | W: 23 | L: 07 | OTL: 3 | SV%: .918 | GAA: 1.96 | SO: 6
TOT | QCC | GP: 135 | W: 74 | L: 45 | OTL: 11 | SV%: .914 | GAA: 2.66 | SO: 17

SMJHL Playoff Stats:
S55 | QCC | GP: 10 | W: 04 | L: 06 | OTL: 0 | SV%: .920 | GAA: 2.98 | SO: 0
S56 | QCC | GP: 06 | W: 02 | L: 04 | OTL: 0 | SV%: .907 | GAA: 3.02 | SO: 0
S57 | QCC | GP: 13 | W: 07 | L: 04 | OTL: 2 | SV%: .902 | GAA: 2.58 | SO: 0
S58 | QCC | GP: 17 | W: 12 | L: 04 | OTL: 1 | SV%: .939 | GAA: 1.47 | SO: 5
TOT | QCC | GP: 46 | W: 25 | L: 18 | OTL: 3 | SV%: .919 | GAA: 2.31 | SO: 5

Trophy Case:
S55: Vyacheslav Onoprienko Trophy - Most Underrated Player (SMJHL)
S57: Laurifer Trophy - Best Regular Season Team Record (QCC - SMJHL - Starter)
S57: Challenge Cup - Champions of the SHL (CHI - SHL - Backup)
S57: Gold Medal - Champions of the World Juniors (FIN - WJC - Starter)
S58: Four-Star Cup - Champions of the SMJHL (QCC - SMJHL - Starter)
S58: Gold Medal - Champions of the World Juniors (FIN - WJC - Backup)
S59: Named to All-Rookie Team (SHL)
S60: Named to 1st All-Star Team (SHL)
S62: President's Trophy - Best Regular Season Team Record (CHI - SHL - Starter)
S62: Mike Honcho Trophy - Least Regular Season Goals Against (SHL)
S62: Gold Medal - Champions of the IIHF (FIN - IIHF - Backup)
S62: Named to 1st All-Star Team (SHL)
S64: Highest TPE Goalie (SHL)
S64: President's Trophy - Best Regular Season Team Record (CHI - SHL - Starter)
S64: Challenge Cup - Champions of the SHL (CHI - SHL - Starter)
S64: Gold Medal - Champions of the IIHF (FIN - IIHF - Backup)
S64: John McBride Trophy - Best Goalie (SHL)
S64: Mike Honcho Trophy - Least Regular Season Goals Against (SHL)
S64: Named to 1st All-Star Team (SHL)
S65: Highest TPE Goalie (SHL)
S65: Mike Honcho Trophy - Least Regular Season Goals Against (SHL)
S66: Highest TPE Goalie (SHL)
S66: Gold Medal - Champions of the IIHF (FIN - IIHF - Starter)
S66: International Award - Best Goalie (IIHF)
S68: International Award - Best Goalie (IIHF)
S72: All-Time Leader in Goalie Wins (SHL)

S55: Signed as a free agent with the Quebec City Citadelles (SMJHL)
S56: Drafted round 2, 30th overall by the Chicago Syndicate (SHL)
S76: Retired as a member of the Chicago Syndicate
Portal

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?

Cassius Darrow admittedly fell short a bit of past success, but still had an incredible season. After departing the Buffalo Stampede super team, many assumed Darrow’s production would slide with the newest expansion to Seattle. In his first season as captain of the Argonauts, Darrow was the model of a do-it-all #1 defenseman. He played over 23 minutes per game, including 4:20 of special teams time. He finished second on the team with 147 shots on goal and was fourth in team scoring with 6 goals and 25 points. He finished just outside the top 25 in hits (110) and was tied for 13th (with former teammate Alexander Selich) with 36 takeaways on the season. His 173 blocks were a career high, as well as good for 7th best in the league.

While some of his advanced stats don’t look as impressive, he played against the other team’s best players and in the biggest moments for the Argonauts each night. Considering that, his 3.6 takeaway-to-giveaway ratio is incredible, and his production in light of his team-low 95.4 PDO is also worth recognition.
More frequently than you’d like, Darrow would make a pass or force a turnover, but his teammates weren’t in a position to capitalize the way the Stampede had been able to for the rest of Darrow’s career. It took some adjustment to be at his most effective within the new scheme and with a new D-partner, but Darrow hit a rhythm late in the season. He hopes to capitalize on that and see the Argonauts add a little more skill to the forward group for S57 to capitalize on Darrow’s elite passing and offensive instincts.

2. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
Of the 10 most recent finals series, which do you think is the most memorable and why? Which will be remembered in history as the best/most important/most memorable series or victory? S46: BUF over NOLA, S47: WKP over CGY, S48: BUF over WPG, S49: EDM over NEW, S50: CGY over TBB, S51: HAM over EDM, S52: MAN over SFP, S53: HAM over EDM, S54: NOLA over HAM, S55: BUF over NOLA.

I think this really comes down to three series: S46, S50, and S55, all for different reasons. First of all, these are three of closer series in the last 10 seasons (all went to Game 7). Seeing longtime rivals @WannabeFinn and @JKortesi81 go head to head in Joe’s first season as an SHL GM in S46, and their controversial rematch almost a decade later objectively were both incredible series. For S50, Tampa Bay got off to a commanding 3-0 lead just to fall apart and get reverse swept by the old men from the Dragons. Because the CGY-TBB final is remembered more for infamy of JSS choking at his biggest moment (and the franchise meltdown that’s happened since), I will drop S50 from my consideration.

In the end it comes down to the two BUF-NOLA finals. I have to give the edge to S55, however. Buffalo was coming off one of the greatest seasons in league history winning 40 regular season games, and going a combined 8-2 against division rivals Chicago and Hamilton to win the Eastern Conference. New Orleans was a behemoth in their own right, dismantling the previously unstoppable Hamilton Steelhawks in the S54 Finals. They returned to the Challenge Cup and it was a bloody, back-and-forth 7 game classic, capped off by Buffalo captain, Monkey D. Luffy scoring the Cup clinching goal in overtime to seal the series. That was an incredible series that nearly killed poor @jfisherr from stress.

. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min.)
FHM's 12-team playoff bracket setup has received a fair bit of scrutiny. It re-seeds after the play-in round and for some reason puts the #1 seed and #2 seed on the same side of the bracket. I challenge you to come up with a different playoff format - can you come up with a format that's dumber/worse than this? be creative! Come up with the worst possible format for a 12-team playoff.]

Can I come up with something worse? You bet I can! We have an ongoing complaint about parity and league balance, so let’s do something about it. If you win the top seed in either conference, awesome! Now we play best of 5 series against every other team in the conference. After removing the bottom team in each division, you start with the team that finished 7th in the conference, and play best of 5 with them. Winner of that series played the 6th place team, and so on. Whichever team is the last standing after the gauntlet plays the final survivor from the other conference in the Challenge Cup finals. Wanna make the finals? Beat 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 back to back. Show you’re the big dog. In this version everyone gets a shot at the king, and there are plenty of chances to prove yourself.

5. Written, 2 TPE
Write an SHL themed Haiku Sonnet (see link below) which I just learned is a real thing. The format is: Haiku Haiku Haiku Haiku Couplet

STHS is
behind us; we are free now
Steel chickens rise up

Hamilton shoots and
Selich blocks; the puck is loose!
Steelhawks falling short

Lee Out and Lee In
Greasy hair lays on sweaty
Forehead of the champs

Goals scored, saves are made
Against all odds, Buffalo
are the champs again

Get a fucking haircut, Lee
Or drink all of Grum’s stale pee

6. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min.)
Which SHL or SMJHL team was the best team to not make the finals this season and why?

Chicago. They had a dominant top pair and all around were the second best team in the league behind Hamilton. Anyone who can battle through the gauntlet that is the Great Lakes is a very good team, and Chicago was very good this season. They unfortunately (again) got snakebit in the playoffs, unable to overcome their constant Buffalo bugaboo. Still, they are a damn good team. With how the playoffs are set up, Chicago was in the driver’s seat to make the finals without facing Hamilton or Calgary. Lallo Selman did all he could, putting up 14 goals in 16 games, and starting goalie Tibuk Soonika did all he could with 11 wins, 2.29 GAA, and 0.926 SV%. Unfortunately, Buffalo eliminated them for the third straight season  on their way to their second straight Finals and fourth since S46.

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.
c. These two teams hail from the Great Lakes Division. Which of the Great Lakes (Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior) do you think is the Greatest and why?

The answer is simple; it’s Lake Erie. Why? Simple, Lake Erie borders Ohio, and Ohio is the best state of the bunch. It brings much enjoyment to residents of Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Michigan. It also gives parts of Cleveland one of its best/worst features: lake effect snow. Sure, this could be true for other lakes, but Lake Erie has my heart. It’s a cold, dark place (my heart), but Erie is welcome there. Honorable mention to Lake Michigan, giving us the Upper Peninsula as well as giving life and fun to Milwaukee and Chicago.

The worst is Lake Ontario. I don’t need to explain why.

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.

Boomboom

M'Baku Olubori || #81 || RW

Drafted 4th overall in S64 SMJHL Draft by Regina

Drafted 95th overall in S65 SHL Draft by Baltimore

Won S68 Ryan Jesster Trophy (Rookie of the Year)

Cassius Darrow || #81 || RD
-------------------------------------------
SMJHL Stats:
S44 - S46 || COL  || GP: 150 || G: 15 || A: 85 || P: 100 || +/-: +1 || SB: 195
S47 - S55 || BUF  || GP: X || G: X || A: X || P: X || +/-: X || SB: X
S56 - S63 || SEA  || GP: 0 || G: 0 || A: 0 || P: 0 || +/-: 0 || SB: 0
-------------------------------------------
Drafted 8th overall in S44 SMJHL Draft to Colorado
Co-Winner of S44 Zach Miller Trophy
Drafted 4th overall in S45 SHL Draft to Buffalo
Named S45 & S46 Captain of the Colorado Raptors
3-time Challenge Cup Champion (S46, S48, S55)
Named Assistant Captain of Buffalo Stampede S53-S55
Drafted 1st overall S56 Expansion Draft by Seattle
Named Captain of the Seattle Argonauts in S56
Bojo Biscuit Winner S57, S58

Baltimore Platoon GM || S64 - present

SHL Executioner || S62 - S65
SHL Awards Committee || S57 - S66
SHL Historian Committee || S53 - S64
SHL Head Office || S60 - S61
SMJHL Awards Head || S48 - S57
Colorado Raptors GM || S48 - S53
Colorado Raptors Co-GM || S47
Team Germany Federation Head || S44 - S46
SMJHL HO Member - S45-S46
SMJHL Head Office Intern - S44 

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Thank you karey, OrbitingDeath Ragnar, and sköldpaddor for sigs! 

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?

This season I excelled on offense but lost some of my touch on defense. It wasn't on purpose, unfortunately. While I had focused a lot more on offense in the offseason, I thought that I still had a good defensive spirit. Maybe the opposition found out a weakness of mine. My takeaways and giveaways this season were pretty bad. Not atrocious. But bad. I had a sub-zero takeaway/giveaway ratio and in general I just couldn't strip most people of the puck.

Offensively though I did great, for about 15 games or so. I had an amazing start to the season. Being above a point per game in those initial 15 games. And while I did keep the assists coming. The 8 goals I scored during that stretch, where all I was able to get past any goalie. I'm currently on an, at least 35 game goal scoring draught. I'm hoping I can quickly fix that come next season. So that's what I want to improve on, together with my takeaways.

Code:

7. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
What's your prediction for this season's IIHF tournament? Which teams do you expect to do well (or not well)? Which players?

I'm gonna give a boring answer and say that I think this IIHF tournament will end very similar to the previous one. USA, Canada, Japan and Great Britain will be at the forefront. They're not getting any weaker and while Japan was a small surprise last tournament I think they can keep it up if management sticks around. I say this every year, but I think this is the year where Sweden will be able to compete for real again. I can see us fighting for a medal. Maybe not gold, but bronze isn't out of the picture.

When it comes to players I'm hoping I can stand out a bit more this time around. As mentioned in the other CW task I performed exceptionally well for a short number of games. And with the right coaching I'm sure I can make some magic happen during the IIHF tournament as well. But I of course also have to mention Wagstrom. He's always top-3 and I can't see him being any worse this time around.

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12. Podcast, 3 or 4 TPE
Record a mini-podcast on any of the below topics!
- Highlights of the S56 season (on or off the ice)
- S56 playoff round-up
- S56 Challenge Cup/Four Star Cup finals Breakdown
- S57 predictions

1 person Mini-Pod: 3 TPE for 5 minutes

https://soundcloud.com/kenvald/s56-cw-5m...zKZ5qVgc36
Sorry for the breathing and other random noises. I didn't have time to buy a professional podcast rig sadly. Unless you want me breathing in your ear I suggest not using headphones.

Code:

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. Both of these teams have an impressive set of skaters - without factoring in any coaching or tactical strategies, which team do you think has the better roster of skaters on paper?

On paper I have to give it to Hamilton. Actually, even including tactics and such. They did a great job collecting stars during the big FA season we had. And it's paying off. Right now they've played two games of the finals and they're dominating. Buffalo isn't coming back from this. Buffalo has an amazing squad, but no team beats Hamilton right now.

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b. Do you foresee the teams making any strategic adjustments during the course of the series? Should the teams be quick to switch tactics or stick with what they've been using?

Buffalo will have to. As mentioned, they're down 2 games and are being dominated. They'll have to come up with something to try and turn this around. And soon. I can't give you any suggestions as I'm too far away from their team, but I hope for their sake they spend tonight test-simming. On Hamilton's side, no. No need.

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c. These two teams hail from the Great Lakes Division. Which of the Great Lakes (Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior) do you think is the Greatest and why?

Lake Erie for the win! And definitely not because that's the only lake among these I've ever been to. Or that it connects to my state. I give it more points because of the previously great team name of the AHL team the Lake Erie Monsters. No known as the Cleveland Monster. Which is a clear downgrade if you ask me.

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d. If, once it is safe to do so, you had to go hang out in person with one of the users on Buffalo/Hamilton, who would you hang out with and what would you do? (if you pick gabe you get -1 tpe)

Dick Clapper/@5ympathies will be my choice. I know him from his time with New England and he's a great guy. Both in text and when playing games while in voice chat. We miss him dearly but he still visits us sometimes. And if anything he needs to show me his fancy, new and probably overpriced sneakers.

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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.

trivtriv

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Past Players

S51-71 || Sven Yxskaft || Defenseman || New England Wolfpack || 2315 TPE peak
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 187 lbs
Birthplace: Sweden
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Achievements:
**** S70 - Challenge Cup Champion ****
S70 - IIHF Silver Medal
S69 - IIHF Silver Medal
**** S68 - IIHF Gold Medal ****
S65 - Eastern Conference All-Star
S64 - IIHF Silver Medal
S64 - Eastern Conference All-Star
S62 - Nominated for the Scott Stevens(Best Defenseman) award
S62 - Nominated for the Joe McKeil(Best Coach) award
**** S62 - All-time TPE leader ****
S61 - Won the New England Wolfpack Nathan Russell Leadership Award
S61 - Nominated for the Lance Uppercut(Best GM) award
S61 - Most (current)TPE in the SHL
S60 - IIHF Bronze Medal
S60 - Eastern Conference All-Star Game representative
S59 - Won the Damian Littleton(Most Dedicated) Award
S59 - Won the New England Wolfpack Nathan Russell Leadership Award
**** S54 - 4 Star Cup Champion ****
S54 - Nominated for the Brodie Witzel Trophy(Playoffs MVP)
S54 - Nominated for the Quilha Agante Trophy(Best Defenseman)
S54 - Traded as a rental for a Reddit 1st
S53 - WJC Silver Medal
S53 - Nominated for the Quilha Agante Trophy(Best Defenseman)
S53 - Nominated for the Zach Miller Trophy(Most Dedicated)
S53 - SMJHL All-Star Team West
S52 - IIHF Silver Medal
S52 - WJC Bronze Medal
S51 - WJC Silver Medal
S51 - Nominated for the Commisioner's Award of Excellence
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Transactions:
S55 - Called up to the SHL, New England Wolfpack
S54 - Traded to Carolina Kraken
S52 - Drafted 5th Overall by NEW in the SHL Entry Draft
S51 - Drafted 14th Overall by VAN in the SMJHL Entry Draft

3 TPE - PBE PT

3 TPE - 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.
We're back bitches

2 TPE - 5. Written, 2 TPE
Write an SHL themed Haiku Sonnet (see link below) which I just learned is a real thing. The format is: Haiku Haiku Haiku Haiku Couplet

First San Francisco
Picked me in season fifty
But never played there

Played in Newfoundland
Back when they were Lethbridge Lions
Never winning, damn

Then to Manhattan
Won the cup, as a rookie
Then I left, IA

Now I'm back again
To win some more cups

https://www.twitch.tv/symmetrikal

Katharina Rosenthal || G || Newfoundland Berserkers || 208 TPE ||
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 154 lbs

Christian Kinsinger || D || Winnipeg Aurora || 2042 Peak TPE ||
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 212 lbs

Luca Veccelli || C || Retired || 1093 Peak TPE ||
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 208 lbs

Chris York || RW || Retired || 1817 Peak TPE || HOF ||
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 184 lbs

Prince George Firebirds GM (S34-S36)
Toronto North Stars GM (S37-S43)

16/16 TPE
CW S56

Question 1 - 3 TPE 172 Words
I think for a rookie season Zoltan Topalo played pretty well. Tampa is still in rebuild waiting for the new draftees to come up so I played a lot of minutes on the first line. I finished the season 3 points under a .5 ppg average. With 12 goals and 10 Assists that was definitely around my expectation. Avg time on ice was 21:04 which is pretty significant. I played a lot of PP mins as well. Although only 3 of my points came from being on the PP. I think with a nice little offensive boost and some more TPE in the offseason my production will increase in the coming year which I”m excited to see. Next season I would like to see more shots on goal for Zoltan. Only 99 Shots on goal this season which is just an avg of 2 per game. With the increased number of games next season i’m sure I’ll see an increase, but we’ll have to see if its in the cards!

Question 3 - 2 TPE 117 words
Look, just to build on my already amazing guide to Fantasy Drafting. Why not leave the playoffs in a coin hands. Just to myself a new mint 2020 quarter. All you have to do is FLIP the coin to determine the seedings. By coin I of course mean a twelve sided die. Each team is numbered of course. You roll the D12 and the first two numbers are the matchups. You keep going until all the teams are selected. If a teams number is rolled twice, you just skip them. After that, you go down to a six sided die and do a complete re-seed and so on and so forth. This is the recipe for success.

Question 6 - 2 TPE 120 Words
I”m honestly a little surprised here that Chicago wasn’t able to take the final game and put Buffalo on the golf course. Chicago finished the season 10 points ahead of Buffalo and they were really trucking through their playoff series. They had a great chance to win it all but it seems like Buffalo just had that fighting spirit as the underdog to mount a massive comeback. Both Westbroek and Selman had fantastic seasons and were doing the same in the playoffs. I’m very surprised that Buffalo is playing right now while Chicago isn’t. Even Goaltender Soonika in 16 games was posting a .926 SV% which is pretty incredible. Doyle right now with 4 more games played posted a .903.

Question 8 - 3 TPE - 166 words
I don’t think that the Hamilton Steelhawks really wanted this renegade selling “homemade” merchandise inside the stadium. Nobody can still figure out how the man managed to smuggle in multiple pallets of bricks with Jobin written on each face of the brick and a large capital A on the sides. GET YOUR BRICKS HERE ONLY FIVE DOLLARS! “Authenic bricks here!” “Bring home a little piece of Jobin!” “You don’t have to bring it home, just toss it through the window of your favorite buffalo fan!”. The man was out of bricks shortly after the end of the first period. Security searched for the man but could not find the mysterious vendor. After game two security was breathing a sigh of relief. Brick man didn’t even show up and the police only received 3 calls of bricks through windows at homes with Buffalo flags outside. Hamilton was forced to release a statement to their fans condemning the use of bricks. The local building industry was not enthused.

Question 13 -  three TPE earned here.

A I think just on paper its a pretty equal matchup but Hamilton has the slight advantage. I think Hamilton has the better all around team and is really balance in all of their positions. From Forwards to Defense (even with the loss of Tig) they get contributions from evey single line on the ice.

B I think that the teams definitely need to be switching up their tactics as the games go along. Its important to have more than one strategy going into a game and being able to change on the fly to another method of attack is important. Some players may work well in one role, but switching other players around can definitely have a big impact.

D.  If there was one player on either team that I would want to hang out with it would be that A. Jobin guy. Goalies are cool and he just seems like a fun dude to be around. Rumor has it this guy has lots of really cool hobbies and it would be fun to learn more about him by spending a day. THey always said “goalies are weird” and i’d like to find out how much of that is true.

Question 16 - Trivia, 3 TPE
Brick

 

16/16 TPE
 
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?
                
The season Zakkira Diporov had was just okay. He had 12 goals and 15 assists adding to 27 points, the most I have had so far in my career, after hitting 600 TPE. His +/- of -6. He is having a strong WJC this season. He had 119 shots on goal, and over 130 hits. He has really improved on his penalty minutes since his first season, so look for him to have less again. He has one more season with Detroit until he goes to Winnipeg next season, he wants to show out and win for his team, and he wants to pad his stats. I want to see my player grow more, and more, but I want to see him win a 4 Star Cup.
 
4. Written/Graphic, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
If the SHL needed to set up a playoff bubble (like the NHL did in Edmonton/Toronto or the NBA in Orlando), which city would be the best candidate to host as the hub city? What would the players do during their time in a playoff bubble? (For graphic option, make an advertisement [like a pamphlet/brochure] in support of a specific city as the hub city and highlighting the reasons why.)
                
The Bubble for the SHL playoffs should be in Detroit because the City of Detroit is the best city in the whole world, only living 45 minutes away from Detroit in IRL, I know the great night life Detroit has to offer, the 2 casinos that could act as the team’s hotels if necessary. In Detroit the food is out of this world, from Faygo, Better Made Chips, and the famous Detroit Style Pizza will have anyone coming back to Detroit for a second, and a third time. They have coffee shops that will be included into the bubble, boba tea shops as well. The players will really enjoy the clubs and the music down in Motown is the best music you will hear. With the 3 stadiums next to each other it sure will be a fantastic experience for whoever comes and adventures into the Bubble of the SHL. Go Falcons!!! SKREEE!!!
 
7. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
What's your prediction for this season's IIHF tournament? Which teams do you expect to do well (or not well)? Which players?
               
The IIFH is coming up fast, and we will see if Team Russia can bounce back from last season, they did not perform well, the TPE train is not stopping in Russia they are behind the mega horses like Canada, USA, Finalnd. The players we have coming up through the ranks will be making this team a lot better. I have seen other teams have really upping their game. Team Latvia has been busy with transfers and they will be a good team soon enough these young guys get a call up. Led by Thor he will be a great goalie to watch in the IIFH for Team Latvia. He has been outstanding for UCORCAL in the WJC. I want to see Team Sweden with their new goalie A. Jobin, who is in the finals of the SHL playoffs, he is another great goalie and we will see him in action for his new team. Good luck to everyone in the upcoming IIFH.
 
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. Both of these teams have an impressive set of skaters - without factoring in any coaching or tactical strategies, which team do you think has the better roster of skaters on paper?
                The Buffalo defense is a strong suit for the team, but Hamilton has a hot keeper, Jobin is a great goalie that has led me to third place in my fantasy group. So, I think Hamilton will win this series. The way these two teams have played this season, it is going to be a good one!!

b. Do you foresee the teams making any strategic adjustments during the course of the series? Should the teams be quick to switch tactics or stick with what they've been using?
                I would not change anything, it is going well and why change it up. “If it aint broke, do not fix it.” So, we see these two teams winning and now they have to face each other, yea you are going to be switching up some tactics maybe little things here or there, but you do not want to mess with it all. 

c. These two teams hail from the Great Lakes Division. Which of the Great Lakes (Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior) do you think is the Greatest and why?
                Now the Great Lakes are the best LAKES IN THE WORLD!! Being from Michigan, I will have to say the best lakes to me are Michigan and Huron… Where they meet we see one of the longest suspension bridges between anchorages in the Western Hemisphere. The Mackinac Bridge.  

d. If, once it is safe to do so, you had to go hang out in person with one of the users on Buffalo/Hamilton, who would you hang out with and what would you do? (if you pick gabe you get -1 tpe)
                Well… Gabe is definitely the guy I would hangout with. And I am not saying that because I will lose TPE if I do not. Gabe is the smartest, and best hockey player you will see in the SHL. He is also the guy who wins at everything he does.                       Gabe I will take my extra TPE now.
 
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.
Verification Code: TheSparkydEE

Drafted 2nd round 21st Pick by the Winnipeg Jets in S55 SHL Entry Draft 

GM of the UCORCAL in the WJC S55

S55 WJC Gold Medalist GM/Player for UCORCAL

Management Role for Russia in the IIHF

Recent Management Role / Head Coach for Winnipeg Aurora in SHL 

CO-GM St. Louis Scarecrows S57-S60

GM of the St. Louis Scarecrows S61-S72

S72 Challenge Cup Champion

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?

4-22-1, 4.79 GAA. What do you think? It was not a great season by any means for my player Cillian Kavanagh. I knew going into another rebuild season it was going to be a tough fight for wins. With our current caliber of players it was expected but not welcomed. I would say I came up short of my individual goal of trying to bring down my GAA. Last season I finished with a GAA just over 4 and I was really focusing on bringing that down during the offseason strengthening and maxing out both my positioning and reflexes. I'm not anywhere near where I want to be with my attributes and I continue to be a top earner. The results aren't there and it's frustrating. Over the offseason i'm going to put more work into both my blocker and glove attributes as well as stopping low shots and not allowing rebounds. I look to be the brick wall my team needs me to be and steal more games.

Word Count: 169

Code:

4. Written/Graphic, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
If the SHL needed to set up a playoff bubble (like the NHL did in Edmonton/Toronto or the NBA in Orlando), which city would be the best candidate to host as the hub city? What would the players do during their time in a playoff bubble? (For graphic option, make an advertisement [like a pamphlet/brochure] in support of a specific city as the hub city and highlighting the reasons why.)

When choosing a hub city in a difficult time such as this with COVID-19 affecting everyone's lives it's paramount to chose a city with the least amount of cases possible, while still confirming the city is capable of handling the playoff teams in a comfortable manner. Limiting the spread of this daily virus is the number one component of successfully hosting any sporting event during this pandemic. It would make the most sense to choose a central location to all of the SHL clubs. Chicago would be my first choice as it's a huge city in the midwest smack in the middle of many of the SHL teams. However, being from NYC I know very well how quickly and densely this virus spreads in the inner cities and affecting tons of thousands. Chicago would be no different. Which is why my choice for hub city would be the home of the Minnesota Monarchs in St. Paul Minnesota. A central city to those in the north, south, east and west. Doesn't have nearly the kinds of traffic Chicago has but big enough a city to host the greatest hockey league in the world.

Word Count: 192

Code:

7. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
What's your prediction for this season's IIHF tournament? Which teams do you expect to do well (or not well)? Which players?

Not biased or anything but I really like the work Captain Scianna is doing with Norway as a huge up and coming powerhouse in the IIHF. Strong d core and offense juggernaut with veteran players and upcomers alike! They also have a decent goaltending tandem if I do say so myself. Norway took down Ireland and Canada last season; expect Norway to be a huge player in the near future in the IIHF. For gold this year I really like Great Britain with that young stud in pads Luca Del Vecchio who went 8-1 in the round robin last year putting up a .940 save % and a 1.32 GAA including 2 shutouts. With a strong d core I don't see many pucks getting past him when he's in net for Great Britain. USA and Canada also have lots of potential and will continue to be on the rise in years to come. Ireland has Doyle. Doyle wins, plain and simple. D Luffy is the star for Japan who had a great round robin last season as well. I expect them to be in the medal race this season again.

Word Count: 189

Code:

8. Written/Graphic, 3 TPE (150 words min. if written)
The arenas in Buffalo and Hamilton want to make sure they're pulling out all the stops on the big stage. Help the concessions department of one of these two teams develop a new product, with marketing specifically pertaining to this finals series, to be sold at the arena during the finals. Describe the product and the marketing in 150 words or create a promotional poster showing the product, its name, the price, etc.

Stampeders. They are raging hot, juicy, tender buffalo wings that come in 6 or 12 box mixed with scallions and topped with a ranch dressing drizzle. These will be a staple at Key Bank Center in Buffalo, NY. The wings also come in a medium and mild hotness so they can be enjoyed by all. During the intermission 5 lucky fans will face off at center ice for a buffalo wing eating competition. First fan to finish 24 boneless stampeders will win 2 tickets to a home game next season. The box the wings will come served in will feature a buffalo with steam coming out of it's ears with 'Stampeders' text across the front. To increase marketing for this product, every that enters the arena will be greeted by a staff member handing out coupons to take 2$ off a 12 count box of stampeders. Truly a fan favorite that even the opposing team will want some of.

Word Count: 159

Code:

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. Both of these teams have an impressive set of skaters - without factoring in any coaching or tactical strategies, which team do you think has the better roster of skaters on paper?
b. Do you foresee the teams making any strategic adjustments during the course of the series? Should the teams be quick to switch tactics or stick with what they've been using?
c. These two teams hail from the Great Lakes Division. Which of the Great Lakes (Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior) do you think is the Greatest and why?
d. If, once it is safe to do so, you had to go hang out in person with one of the users on Buffalo/Hamilton, who would you hang out with and what would you do? (if you pick gabe you get -1 tpe)

a. I believe Buffalo has the better roster of skaters on paper without a doubt. Luffy, Sharp, Kholin and Passamus highlight the forwards while Scoop, Selich and Wang round out a great blue line. Doyle in net; golden. I wouldn't say Hamilton's roster is bad by any means and may even have stronger forwards than Buffalo. Overall I like BUF's roster over HAM. 62 Words

b. I would say both teams should stick with the strategies they have been using because it has gotten them this far. These are the top 2 teams in the SHL and have the whole package, scoring, defense and goaltending. That is what got them here. They absolutelytley have the talent to win it all, looking forward to these two powerhouses to clash! 62 Words

c. After doing a quick google search on the great lakes I have found that they are all pretty awesome. I am a monster fisherman so naturally I will choose the one with the best fish. After doing more research I have come to find out that all the Great Lakes are densely populated with fish and you cannot go wrong. However Lake Erie is home to an abundance of walleye and that is one of my favorite freshwater fish to catch! Lake Erie is clear winner for me. 88 Words

d. I would hang out with Elizabeth Doyle and learn about how she stops pucks so incredibly well. Goaltenders are odd creatures and I'm sure Doyle is no different. Creatures of habit I would love to pick the brain of Doyle, learn about her background and how she got into stopping pucks for a living. May be able to steal a few pointers off her that I can apply to my own game as well. 74 Words

3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 4 = 16 Total TPE

 

Beau Kavanagh | Goaltender | Great Falls Grizzlies

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BIRTHPLACE: Kilkenny, Ireland

HEIGHT: 6'4

WEIGHT: 205 lbs

JERSEY NUMBER: 29

PLAYER TYPE: Hybrid Goalie

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SMJHL Career Regular Season Statistics

Cillian Kavanagh | Goaltender | Texas Renegades | S51-S70 

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BIRTHPLACE: Limerick, Ireland

HEIGHT: 6'4

WEIGHT: 205 lbs

JERSEY NUMBER: 30

PLAYER TYPE: Hybrid Goalie

PEAK TPE: 2084

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SMJHL Career Regular Season Statistics

KEL S51: GP: 5, W: 1, L: 2, OTL: 1, SAVE %: .840, GAA: 4.30

KEL S52: GP 20, W: 8, L: 8, OTL: 2, SAVE %: .897, GAA: 2.97

KEL S53: GP: 44, W: 27, L: 14, OTL: 3, SAVE %: .906, GAA: 2.43

KEL S54: GP: 39, W: 22, L: 11, OTL: 6, SAVE %: .915, GAA: 2.14

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SHL Career Regular Season Statistics

SFP S55: GP: 50, W: 15, L: 32, OTL: 2, SAVE %: .901, GAA: 4.06

SFP S56: GP: 32, W: 4, L: 22, OTL: 1, SAVE %: 9.16, GAA: 4.79

TEX S57: GP: 37, W: 23, L: 13, OTL: 0, SAVE %: 9.26, GAA: 2.36

TEX S58: GP: 37, W: 30, L: 6, OTL: 0, SAVE %: .914, GAA: 2.17

TEX S59: GP: 42, W: 30, L: 10, OTL: 2, SAVE %: .923, GAA: 2.16

TEX S60: GP: 54, W: 32, L: 19, OTL: 3, SAVE %: .914, GAA: 2.57

TEX S61: GP: 54, W: 39, L: 14, OTL: 1, SAVE %: .911, GAA: 2.56

TEX S62: GP: 54, W: 38, L: 10, OTL: 5, SAVE %: .914, GAA: 2.36

TEX S63: GP: 54, W: 38, L: 14, OTL: 2, SAVE %: .924, GAA: 1.92

TEX S64: GP: 54, W: 35, L: 12, OTL: 7, SAVE %: .911, GAA: 2.64

TEX S65: GP: 58, W: 16, L: 34, OTL: 5, SAVE %: .911, GAA: 3.94

TEX S66: GP: 53, W: 17, L: 30, OTL: 5, SAVE %: .900, GAA: 3.92

TEX S67: GP: 54, W: 11, L: 37, OTL: 2, SAVE %: .887, GAA: 4.62

TEX S68: GP: 49, W: 11, L: 35, OTL: 3, SAVE %: .887, GAA: 4.87

TEX S69: GP: 29, W: 6, L: 14, OTL: 0, SAVE %: .892, GAA: 4.54

TEX S70: GP: 26, W: 9, L: 8, OTL: 1, SAVE %: .916, GAA: 4.71

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Transactions

S51 - Signed by the Kelowna Knights for $3M ($2M HO Bonus)

S52 - Drafted 22nd Overall by the San Francisco Pride in the SHL Entry Draft

S52 - Signed 1 Year, $2.5M with the San Francisco Pride

S53 - Signed 2 Year $4M (S55 $2M) with the San Francisco Pride

S57 - Signed 3 Year, $4M a Year, with the Texas Renegades

S60 - Signed 3 Year, $6M a Year, with the Texas Renegades

S63 - Signed 1 Year, $6M with the Texas Renegades

S64 - Signed 2 Year, $5M a Year, with the Texas Renegades

S66 - Signed 2 Year, $5M a Year, with the Texas Renegades

S68 - Signed 1 Year, $4M a Year, with the Texas Renegades

S69 - Signed 1 Year, $3M a Year, with the Texas Renegades

S70 - Signed 1 Year, $3M a Year, with the Texas Renegades

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Awards & Honors

S51 - Silver Medal at the WJC as Team Sweden's Starting Goaltender

S53 - Finalist for Tom Corcoran Trophy for SMJHL's Best Goaltender

S54 - Recipient of Tom Corcoran Trophy for SMJHL's Best Goaltender

S54 - All-SMJHL Team (1st Team)

S57 - SHL 2nd Team All-Star Participant

S59 - SHL Western Conference All-Star Team Participant

S59 - Texas Renegades, Challenge Cup Champions

S59 - IIHF Bronze Medal, Team Norway

S59 - Finalist for John McBride Award for SHL's Best Goaltender

S59 - Recipient of Anton Razov Award for SHL Playoff MVP

S59 - Recipient of the Mike Honcho Award for Lowest Goal Against Average

S59 - SHL 3rd Team All-Star Participant

S60 - SHL All-Star Participant

S60 - Recipient of the Mike Honcho Award for Lowest Goal Against Average

S61 - IIHF Best Goaltender, Team Norway

S62 - Texas Renegades, Challenge Cup Champions

S62 - Recipient of Anton Razov Award for SHL Playoff MVP

S63 - Recipient of the Mike Honcho Award for Lowest Goal Against Average

S63 - Finalist for John McBride Award for SHL's Best Goaltender

S63 - SHL 2nd Team All-Star Participant

Charlie Conway | Center | Colorado Mammoths | S26-S30

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BIRTHPLACE: St. Paul, Minnesota

HEIGHT: 5'11

WEIGHT: 200 lbs

JERSEY NUMBER: 96

PLAYER TYPE: Playmaker

POSITION: Center

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Awards & Honors

S25 - Drafted 4th Round, 32nd Overall by the Colorado Mammoths

S26 - Named Assistant Captain of the Colorado Mammoths

S26 - Colorado Mammoths, Four Star Cup Champions

 

ISFL UW PT +3

Trivia Verification Word: Posted +3

Code:

[color=#333333][size=small][font=tahoma, helvetica, arial, sans-serif]1. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)[/font][/size][/color]

[color=#333333][size=small][font=tahoma, helvetica, arial, sans-serif]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?[/font][/size][/color]

Kobo is playing for the Vancouver Whalers of the junior league and I think he had a great season. He helped the Whalers finish the season with the best record in the entire league and are now in the finals with the series tied at 1 win each. As far as statistics are concerned Kobo improved in pretty much every stat this season. He had 12 goals, 8 assists, a +6 plus minus, 73 shots on goal, 30 hits, 13 takeaways, and 27 shots blocked. Last season he only had 4 goals, 4 assists, a 0 plus minus, 39 shots on goal, 24 hits, 9 takeaways, and 57 shots blocked. Kobo tripled his goals and doubled his assists. He went from 8 points scored total last season to 20 this season. That's a huge difference. The only stat he did worse in was shots blocked. That is probably mostly because the Whalers were possessing the puck much more often this year than they were last year. I can't wait to see what Kobo does next season.

Code:

[color=#333333][size=small][font=tahoma, helvetica, arial, sans-serif]3. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min.)[/font][/size][/color]

[color=#333333][size=small][font=tahoma, helvetica, arial, sans-serif]FHM's 12-team playoff bracket setup has received a fair bit of scrutiny. It re-seeds after the play-in round and for some reason puts the #1 seed and #2 seed on the same side of the bracket. I challenge you to come up with a different playoff format - can you come up with a format that's dumber/worse than this? be creative! Come up with the worst possible format for a 12-team playoff.[/font][/size][/color]

Without doing something obvious to make it worse like pairing off the teams so the highest seeds play each other in the first round or something else obvious like that I think something that could potentially be worse is a completely randomized playoff bracket. Seeds don't matter anymore it only matters if you made the playoffs. All the teams in the playoffs regardless of division or conference are placed into a pool and matched up. Since there are 12 teams the first 8 teams to come out of the randomizer play in round 1 while the 4 that don't get picked automatically move to round 2. The winners of the round 1 series are then placed into another randomizer along with the teams that got a bye, and round 2 is played. After round 2 the four remaining teams are again randomized to see who plays who to get into the final round. The other aspect I didn't mention is that the randomizer also randomly picks which team is the home team and which is the away team for each series. So potentially in the first round the team with the best record could have to play another team on the road.

Code:

[color=#333333][size=small][font=tahoma, helvetica, arial, sans-serif]4. Written/Graphic, 3 TPE (150 words min.)[/font][/size][/color]

[color=#333333][size=small][font=tahoma, helvetica, arial, sans-serif]If the SHL needed to set up a playoff bubble (like the NHL did in Edmonton/Toronto or the NBA in Orlando), which city would be the best candidate to host as the hub city? What would the players do during their time in a playoff bubble? (For graphic option, make an advertisement [like a pamphlet/brochure] in support of a specific city as the hub city and highlighting the reasons why.)[/font][/size][/color]

In order to keep all the players safe and away from distractions as well as people who could potentially give them coronavirus the best place for a playoff bubble is Greenland. With an incredibly small population density of roughly a person for every three square miles there is tons of land ripe for a hockey bubble to be built with no distractions or anything else for miles. Players won't be distracted with all the things to do in Disney World like the NBA players were. They will also be far away from any actual humans or anything else for that matter. Players will fly to Greenland and stay in isolated areas for two weeks after they arrive where they will have no interaction with another human in order to make sure they didn't bring the virus with them. After that all the players will be moved to a housing area that is built to make it easy to social distance while also interacting with your teammates. Four different practice spaces have been built and teams schedules have been worked so that each team can have their own practice time. The arena that was built for the actual games is unique in that it has a locker room space for every team in the playoffs, so no teams have to share a locker room space. Also, as suicide is so high in a desolate place like Greenland where there is literally nothing the players will all be monitored both physically and mentally.

Code:

[color=#333333][size=small][font=tahoma, helvetica, arial, sans-serif]6. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min.)[/font][/size][/color]

[color=#333333][size=small][font=tahoma, helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Which SHL or SMJHL team was the best team to not make the finals this season and why?[/font][/size][/color]

Well the Tampa Bay Barracudas were not the best team on the ice this season, but they were the best team in my heart.  The best team to not make the finals is probably the Calgary Dragons. They finished with an impressive record of 38-8-4, but didn't make the finals. Now is that a sign that the Western conference was just not that good and the Dragons dominated lesser competition and then when they got to the playoffs the Eastern conference showed it's dominance? If that is the case than the Chicago Syndicate are the best team to not make the finals. The Syndicate were probably the 2nd best team in the league only behind the obvious top dog Steelhawks.

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?

Nicolae Antonescu largely fell short of his goals this season. While his individual stats all improved from his sophomore year, setting new SMJHL career highs in GR (72) and SV% (0.910), his team stats either stayed the same or were worse than S55. In both this season and last, Antonescu sported the exact same record, 16-25-3, and his GAA ballooned to 3.36 this season. He played in 1 fewer game, and just under 100 minutes fewer than last season, so staying the same in something of a personal disappointment record-wise. With next season likely to be his last in the SMJHL before being called up, Anonescu not only wants to go out with a bang in the regular season, but in the playoffs. After making it to the semi-finals in his rookie season in net for the Scarecrows, Antonescu hasn’t made it past the preliminary round of the playoffs for two seasons straight, and is aiming for nothing less than a 4-star cup next season.

4. Written/Graphic, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
If the SHL needed to set up a playoff bubble (like the NHL did in Edmonton/Toronto or the NBA in Orlando), which city would be the best candidate to host as the hub city? What would the players do during their time in a playoff bubble? (For graphic option, make an advertisement [like a pamphlet/brochure] in support of a specific city as the hub city and highlighting the reasons why.)

Honestly, given the spike in COVID-19 cases in most places, mainly in Canada and the US, it still looks like the bubble cities should be in Canadian cities. For the SHL, the bubble would likely mirror the NHL, with a bubble city for the Western Conference in Edmonton and one for the Eastern Conference in either Toronto or Hamilton. With the NHL bubble being an overall resounding success, the SHL shouldn’t fix what isn’t broken. Now, when it comes to the SMJHL bubble, things are a little trickier. Quebec would be an initially good thought for a bubble location, but Quebec has been hit harder than most provinces, and much of the populace is ignoring COVID and the following protocols altogether. A safer choice for the Eastern Conference would be St. John’s, home of the Newfoundland Berserkers. Out West, the interior team gets the nod, with Kelowna being the host city for the Western Conference.

5. Written, 2 TPE
Write an SHL themed Haiku Sonnet (see link below) which I just learned is a real thing. The format is: Haiku Haiku Haiku Haiku Couplet

Four Star Cup Final,
But wait, where is the Scarecrow?
There, out in the field

Tending to his crop,
Cultivating the young ones,
Still small shoots of wheat

Soaking up the drink,
He smiles as they grow stronger,
Soon a mighty wave

Red eyes against cold sky, the
Field stretches on forever

7. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
What's your prediction for this season's IIHF tournament? Which teams do you expect to do well (or not well)? Which players?

Given the groupings, it is always exciting to see a Canada-USA matchup in the group stages, and you can easily see both in the medal rounds. The North American derby is always a treat, but we’ll see if Sweden or Austria can sneak into a top 2 spot in group A. Group B looks more like the group of death due to there being the powerhouse of returning champions Great Britain, and a solid smattering of good teams in Czechia, Japan, Switzerland and Germany, with Russia and Finland positioning themselves to make some upsets. As for individual players, look no farther than the top players for Great Britain, the four forwards in Nick Brain, Jimmy Slothface, Guy Zheng, and Rex Kirkby. All are around the 2k TPE mark, and with such quality players throughout the team, look for GB GMs to split the four around, perhaps 2 on the top line and 2 on the 2nd. With solid teammates, look for all of their individual stats to be quite spectacular.

6. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min.)
Which SHL or SMJHL team was the best team to not make the finals this season and why?

For all of the struggles the Scarecrows gave them in the first round, I was quite surprised that Maine didn;t make the finals this season. With 12 capped players, and 4 more above 350, they seemed to have a great amount of capped players that usually indicates a finals appearance with FHM. Not only that, but the Scarecrows themselves had sent over their captain, Elwulf Jericson, to Maine earlier in the season, I was personally hoping that they would go the distance with the Timber after we were knocked out. They had a few S58’s along for the ride, unlike other teams that are loaded up for playoff runs, but few of them saw any playing time, only acting as unrostered DFAs. Running into a Berserkers squad that had taken a couple of hits from call-ups looked like a winnable matchup for the Timber, but credit to Newfoundland, they are still very stacked and have a great S56 class, which allowed the still solid core of the Berserkers to do their thing and get them to yet another SMJHL Four-Star Cup Final.

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.

Verification word:
Crows


Total Claim:
16 TPE

Thank you to Ham and Sulo for the sigs!

Jon Tellofsen, Defenseman for LAP/BUF/CAL/TEX/MIN (RETIRED)
Drafted 52nd OA in S38 SMJHL Draft by the St. Louis Scarecrows
Drafted 11th OA in S39 SHL Draft by the Minnesota Chiefs
4-Star Cup Winner (St. Louis S39)

Basil Magnicotta, Defenseman for St. Louis and New Orleans (RETIRED)
Drafted 33rd OA in S45 SMJHL Draft by the St. Louis Scarecrows
Drafted 53rd OA in S45 SHL Draft by the New Orleans Specters
Two-time 4-star Cup Winner (St. Louis S45 and S46)
WJC Gold Medal with Team World (S45)
Three-time Ondrej Ravchitikov Award winner (S47, S48, S49)
S55: Ravchitikov Award Re-named to Basil Magnicotta Award

Nicolae Antonescu, Goaltender for St. Louis and San Francisco (RETIRED)
Drafted 26th OA in S54 SMJHL Draft by the St. Louis Scarecrows
Drafted 27th OA in S55 SHL Draft by the San Francisco Pride
Named to SMJHL All-Rookie Team (S54)
Four time Friedrich Schmidt Award Winner (S54, S55, S56, S57)
SMJHL All-Star, 1st Team (S56)
Nominee for Ryan Jesster Award (S58)
Named to SHL All-Rookie Team (S58)
Named to SHL All-Star Roster (2nd Team) (S59)
Nominee for John McBride Award (S59)
Named to SHL All-Star Roster (2nd Team) (S61)
Nominee for John McBride Award (S61)
IIHF Silver medal with Switzerland (S63)
Named to SHL All-Star Roster (S65)
Winner of John McBride Award (S65)
IIHF Gold medal with Switzerland (S65)

Ignacio Garza, Winger for Anchorage and San Francisco
Claimed on entry waivers by Anchorage during the S67 SMJHL season
Drafted 20th OA in the S68 Draft by the San Francisco Pride
 


Jon Tellofsen, General Manager and Coach
S54 - WJC GM (Team Finland) - 8-5-1 Record - Bronze medal
S55 - WJC GM (Team DACH) - 7-5-1 Record - Quarterfinals
S56 - WJC GM (Team DACH) - 8-4-1 Record - Quarterfinals
S57 - WJC GM (Team DACH) - 10-3-1 Record - Quarterfinals
S58 - WJC GM (Team DACH) - 12-3-0 Record - Silver Medal
S59 - WJC GM (Team DACH) - 12-2-1 Record - Gold Medal
S60 - WJC GM (Team DACH) - 10-4-1 Record - Bronze Medal
S61 - WJC GM (Team Finland) - 10-4-1 Record - Bronze medal
- WJC Career as GM - 77-30-7 Record -

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?

In a year that seemed like deja vu, Wagstrom was highly disappointing, failing to achieve the 60 point mark, barely hitting 25 goals, and not seeming like a top player in the league or even his team. Who knows what it is; maybe he just doesn't gel on an all scoring line, maybe he's better when he's flying solo or has more defensive minded folks to back him up. Maybe he tried too much to focus more on defense and neglected improving his declining offensive output. He has proven he has the skills in IIHF, so it's a mystery why his offensive prowess from international play does not carry over to the SHL. The Rage deserve better out of him, so he will focus perhaps on improving his passing next season; if he can't put the put in the back of the net, he needs to at least do more to help his teammates. That assists column and that points column need to improve going forward.

Code:

FHM's 12-team playoff bracket setup has received a fair bit of scrutiny. It re-seeds after the play-in round and for some reason puts the #1 seed and #2 seed on the same side of the bracket. I challenge you to come up with a different playoff format - can you come up with a format that's dumber/worse than this? be creative! Come up with the worst possible format for a 12-team playoff.

Here's a wonderful, terrible, awful idea; have 1 and 2 play each other in the first round in a winner takes all game, while all the other teams play a best of 21 series. There should only be one good team in the playoffs, it's only fair to the bad teams right? Then, now down to six teams, they all go into a division and play some round robin games, with the best team and the bottom two teams moving on. The top team must beat both of the bottom two teams to move on to the finals, or else those two teams will be in the finals; since the top team has such an advantage in skill, they should have to work harder right? Then, a single game faceoff will decide the finals, with no overtime in case of a tie, just directly to a shootout because I can.

Code:

4. Written/Graphic, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
If the SHL needed to set up a playoff bubble (like the NHL did in Edmonton/Toronto or the NBA in Orlando), which city would be the best candidate to host as the hub city? What would the players do during their time in a playoff bubble? (For graphic option, make an advertisement [like a pamphlet/brochure] in support of a specific city as the hub city and highlighting the reasons why.)

I would say Seattle is an excellent candidate for a bubble city, as they have an SHL team and have some competent leadership, one of the few places in the States that was on their game when COVID-19 started spreading. They also have tons of food options and a nice city skyline for players to observe, it’s not in the middle of nowhere, so hopefully the players won’t feel like they’re locked away from the world. What would they do in there? Bring in all sorts of movies and video games, line up food trucks just for them like the NHL did, set up a basketball court for some change of pace physical activity, have them Zoom with fans to keep them engaged even if the games have to be viewed remotely. They could also have the best training facilities nearby, separate from the game rinks, so the ones who want to take it serious can practice between the games.

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7. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
What's your prediction for this season's IIHF tournament? Which teams do you expect to do well (or not well)? Which players?

This is Canada’s year, at least according to the tests, so I imagine they are the favorites to win the gold. They should have no troubles making it to the medal round barring any shocking surprises, and then no further trouble eliminating the teams on their side of the bracket to get to the gold medal game. I would expect Sweden and USA to put up a fight; after eliminating the United States in a thrilling upset last year, Sweden is probably looking at having to do it again to get to the semi finals. They got a really unfortunate group pairing with both USA and Canada on their side so it will be very difficult. On the other side, it will be a real scrap between a Great Britain and Japan to get the other slot in the gold game. Monkey D. Luffy is expected to carry Japan once again, and can be watched as one of the top players in the tournament. His points output should at least be top 3 in the IIHF, and he is always a player to watch out on the ice.

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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.

I would say, even though Hamilton were the winners, the best player on the ice was easily Monkey D. Luffy. He was the reason for Buffalo’s success, really someone that stands out above the crowd. With an astonishing 30 points over the playoffs, he was a threat to make something happen every time he set foot on the ice. Nobody on Hamilton was even close to 30 points, so despite them being the champs, I don’t see how you can make a case for anyone but Luffy. There just was only so much he could too, but there is not a time in recent league history that we have seen someone with such a prolific scoring ability at this time of year.

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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.

Verification: Sunday

[img=0x0]https://i.imgur.com/ByNN8Jn.gif[/img]

16. Gritty

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3/16TPE

13.
a.  It is pretty clear to me that the Hamilton Steelhawks have the better roster as they performed better over the entire regular season and have thus far dominated the championship series with commanding victories in the first two games.  Buffalo just can not compare with the top end talent that Hamilton has assembled this season and it will be very difficult to beat them.
b.  At this point, you ride the horse that got you here in my mind.  The tactics have worked well for Hamilton and there is no real reason to change them up.  Since Buffalo got smoked in the first game, we did see them shift their tactics a bit in the second game.  While that helped them get evened up in shot totals, they still got smoked.
c.  I have only been around one lake close enough to judge it and that was Lake Michigan from the shores of Wisconsin and in Chicago.  I have to say, in the right light, it was as blue as the Caribbean Sea which was spectacular to look at.  It is a very cool look so that is the one that I would pick to be my to choice of all of the great lakes.
d.  I would pick Theo Morgan as he has been an absolute stud for us this season.  I want to learn how to score more goals like he does on a regular basis.  It has been a great time being part of this awesome team so anyone else I could have picked would have been equally great.

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7/16 TPE

7.  This season I expect more of the same from the top countries who have dominated this tournament of late.  Great Brittan, not known for their hockey talent has taken the world by storm these last few seasons and will be a top contender.  The United States is always a strong team and a favorite to win gold.  Canada, the land where hockey was born (at least it seems like that is the case) is also a very strong contender.  In the end, I expect one of those three teams to win gold and the other two to finish silver and bronze.  My money is on Great Brittan taking the gold though.  If there was going to be a team that was not mentioned above that could possibly break through this year, it could be team Japan who always seems to make themselves relevant in these tournaments.  It is clear they have a good team and always cause trouble for the power houses when it comes time for the elimination games.

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170 Words 10/16 TPE

1.  This season was a complete surprise for my player, Guy O'Shea.  What started out with a whirlwind of trades beginning with me in Texas being unprotected to being drafted by Atlanta and then immediately traded to my current team Hamilton, it was anything but boring.  Ultimately I was very lucky to end up here as we are now competing for the championship and are just two wins at the time of writing this away from taking the crown.  I also started off the season on a historic pace for scoring for someone at my TPE level.  I always knew that the law of averages would eventually slow me down but man was it a fun ride while it was going on.  For a large stretch of the season, I was averaging over a point per game and spent a good amount of time in the top 10 in points.  I ended up finishing a little slow but still good enough for top 5 in scoring for defenseman which was pretty cool.

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171 Words 13/16 TPE

8.  In honor of our opponents down the road in Buffalo and also because I am just a huge fan of them, the easy choice was to offer some special buffalo wings as our featured championship concession stand food.  There are a lot of ways to make buffalo wings but we decided to go with a barbecue siracha with some blue cheese on the side.  These things were huge as we were able to find a great source that had some meaty wings.  Offered both in fried, breaded and fried, and grilled, you really could not go wrong with any of the choices.  Of course we also offered standard buffalo hot sauce as a basic option but anyone who missed out on the BBQ siracha really missed out.  We almost sold out over the first two games of the series and with the way things are looking, we may not get a chance to have another home game.  I would expect Buffalo to come out hot in front of their home crowd though so we are restocking just in case.  If they do not get to be eaten at the stadium, we'll serve them up at the victory parade.

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198 Words 16/16 TPE

Gritty McGritterson Player Page
Gritty McGritterson Update Page

S53 Four Star Cup Champion- Detroit Falcons
S56 Challenge Cup Champion - Hamilton Steelhawks

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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?

Unfortunately, I think that Anders had a disappointing season and that he should have done better, since he had similar ice time to what he had during season 55. Offensively, Anders production was slightly down from last season since he went from 25 points to 21 points. But I don’t think Anders underperformed in the offensive zone, I think most of his problems during the last season came from his all-around game and his defensive game more specially. Anders ended the season with a small +6 which is really disappointing since he played on one of the best teams in the league. When you dig a little bit deeper in the stats, it looks like Anders was holding his team back which means that the Dragons were way better when he wasn’t on the ice since Anders ended the season with a relative Corsi of -8.4 and a relative Fenwick of -8.9.

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3. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min.)
FHM's 12-team playoff bracket setup has received a fair bit of scrutiny. It re-seeds after the play-in round and for some reason puts the #1 seed and #2 seed on the same side of the bracket. I challenge you to come up with a different playoff format - can you come up with a format that's dumber/worse than this? be creative! Come up with the worst possible format for a 12-team playoff.

We will split the 12 teams in two brackets. During the first round only teams that finished from positions 5 to 12 will play. The team that finishes fifth will play against the team that finishes twelfth and the team that finished sixth will play against the team that finished eleventh and so on. This format get dumb at the start of the second round, since we divided the teams in two brackets, team who finished from first to fourth will face each other, while the team that won the first round will face each other. With no reseeding for the next rounds, the final will be between a team that finished from one to four and a team that finished from five to twelve. 

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4. Written/Graphic, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
If the SHL needed to set up a playoff bubble (like the NHL did in Edmonton/Toronto or the NBA in Orlando), which city would be the best candidate to host as the hub city? What would the players do during their time in a playoff bubble? (For graphic option, make an advertisement [like a pamphlet/brochure] in support of a specific city as the hub city and highlighting the reasons why.)

There is plenty of good candidates’ cities that host an SHL team and could make a good host city for the league. However, if I had to choose the best city with the objective of pleasing the most players, I think I would choose New Orleans. First of all, New Orleans has a nice climate all year round, except the occasional hurricane, which the player could enjoy by being able to spend time outdoor. The best thing about New Orleans would probably be the insane amount of good food option you can find around the city. The league would arrange delivery with different restaurants every day, so the players and staff could enjoy a massive diversity of options. The league would also arrange guided tours for every team, so they could get to know the history of the town on their off day. Finally, teams would also have access to the Superdome to have some off-ice training sessions in a state-of-the-art facility.

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6. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min.)
Which SHL or SMJHL team was the best team to not make the finals this season and why?

I know that I’m biased when I say this, because I play for them, but I think the Calgary Dragons were the best team to not make the playoffs this season. The main against choosing them would be that the Eastern Conference was stronger the Western Conference this season. Calgary needed the regular season with the second-best winning percentage, they also had the best defense in the league since the only gave up 85 goals during the regular season. They also had the second-greatest number of wins with 38 behind the Steelhawks who made it to the final. Unfortunately, the face their biggest rival during their first playoffs round and ended up losing.

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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.

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a. Both of these teams have an impressive set of skaters - without factoring in any coaching or tactical strategies, which team do you think has the better roster of skaters on paper?

On paper, I think the Hamilton Steelhawks have the best roster of the two teams. Mainly because their start power is incredible since they have four players with more than 2000 tpe and all of them are forwards, which means they always have to ability to score another goal no matter how much the other team score.

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b. Do you foresee the teams making any strategic adjustments during the course of the series? Should the teams be quick to switch tactics or stick with what they've been using?

Considering the massive offensive power that you can find on the Hamilton Steelhawks forward lines, I think that the Stampede will have to take a more defensive approached in this series than they did against the other opponents they face up to this point. The Steelhawks will also have to be careful, because the Stampede could make them pay on the counterattack.

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c. These two teams hail from the Great Lakes Division. Which of the Great Lakes (Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior) do you think is the Greatest and why?

The best great lake is Lake Superior. First of all, as stated in his name, it is the superior lake. Second, Lake Superior covers the biggest area of between the five of them and has the highest water volume. Finally, it’s also the northernmost of these lakes, which means it’s colder than the other lakes, which makes him harder to swim in.

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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.

norway

Nor Ge

Salzberger Lillehammersson

Anders Christiansen