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1. CW TRIVIA, 3 TPE max - 1.5 TPE for participation, 0.5 TPE for each correct answer. This is completed through a Google form linked below. Make sure to spell your answers correctly or you will not get credit. Post your verification word in your CW post.
CW TRIVIA LINK: V word is Squally
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2. Written, up to 4 TPE - Grab Bag: Pick up to 4 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words.
a. Winnipeg made the finals last year and came up just short against the Forge. Last year, their offense ran through Mikko Rashford - this year, their top line has been much more of a balanced attack, with Gonzo Gobbledygook and Lias Ekholm-Gunnarsson stepping up hard. Does this make Winnipeg a stronger team, or would it be better to spread this firepower out and run multiple scoring lines?
b. New England finds themselves in a similar situation to Winnipeg's last year: star winger Petr Svoboda has an absurd 30 points in 23 playoff games at the time this is posted. 18 of those are goals, 12 are assists: how do you shut this guy down?
c. Olof Karsikko has made 823 saves in these playoffs, nearly twice the number of saves made by Winnipeg's Rebecca Montagne. What can New England do to help their tendie out? Or should they settle on a strategy of allowing their goalie to face a high volume of low-danger shots to get in the zone and stay hot? Alternatively, how can they rattle Montagne?
d. If it ain't broke don't fix it: Who you got? Who wins? Why?
A: It certainly makes things look a lot better this year for Winnipeg. When more players are able to get on the board, the better. However this Aurora team has made it to the top of their Conference twice in a row now. This team feels like the Crosby era Penguins. Young but been to their first cup finals last yeah, tasting defeat. Now they are back after making adjustments.
B: Out of all teams, Winnipeg should know how to shut down a single hot scoring threat. The Aurora must not get too focused on just one player though. Least they leave things open to the Wolfpack's deep lineup. Most teams play differently and these two teams are no different. Simple play is to take away his time and space to do much.
C: Depends on their strategy. If they are the type of team to keep others to the outside, they can trust Olof. If they are simply letting too many through, block more. One thing is for certain, everyone on New England is confident in Olof Karsikko and trust him to come up big when the chips are down.
D: I predicted the Winnipeg Aurora to come away with the cup. This season they only lost 3 games going into the Challenge Cup Finals, made it here last year, adapted and improved upon last season. All of this combine feels like they should be able to take this one. As a bonus though, Olof and Petr are playing scorching hockey and if they can keep it up just four times before Winnipeg. They may just take this one.
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3. Written, 3 TPE, History Repeating (150 words min.)
Tell me about something good that happened in your SHL career which you hope will happen again! What is it, what will it look like? Did it happen to your current player or one of your former players? What can you do to stack the odds in your favor?
It is said that history does not repeat. But often rhymes. So to would i like that for August. My first player, Richard Physt made the Challenge Cup finals and played on a strong, competitive New Orleans team for the first four or five seasons of their history. Now he did not win said impossible chalice, and that of course would be the change i would love to see.
I cannot say there is a way for me to stack this in my favour. I am a goalie and no amount of building myself right is going to ensure the team plays well, develops fully, or even gets lucky. Nor can i saw what team that will be for. I cannot look that far ahead, instead i prefer to focus on simply remaining active and trying to have fun with each season. Its just as hard in the sim world to win the Challenge Cup, as it is aptly named as it is to win the Stanley Cup in real life.
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11. Graphic, 3 TPE, Offseason Hobbies
Show me how your player will be entertaining themselves this offseason, or any offseason in general! Get creative!
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16. Written, 3 TPE, Home Turf (150 words min.)
Rotating host countries is expensive and politically challenging. Local governments have to maintain sufficient arenas to host an event that comes around once a decade and popular sentiment is changing against olympic-style sports in general. We may have to pick a permanent home for the IIHF! Naturally, this should be your country, so state your case as to why your country is the best candidate to permanently host IIHF!
August von Hecht was born in Germany. So naturally the most wealthy and stable of European states. To say nothing about being very central amongst the various IIHF and WJC Federations would be the natural choice. Sure you have North America, but both Canada and America are used to long domestic flights and many frequently travel to visit the old world and unplug from hockey as it is.
Western Germany in particular would make the ideal location. It should follow naturally that his home city of Frankfurt takes centre stage in this bid. Being a main financial hub. Ice Hockey is rather popular in Germany as well and the DEL is one of the most well known European Leagues to North Americans. Many players both past and present have come from the DEL to join the SMJHL and become household names in the SHL. Legends such as Alexander Selich, Ludwig Koch Schroder, and Friedrich Muller have all represented the DEB or Deutscher Eishockey-Bund.
05-06-2023, 11:42 PM(This post was last modified: 05-12-2023, 08:17 PM by TheNextGreatOne. Edited 6 times in total.)
CW Trivia 3 TPE - Verification word: Verify
4. Written, 3 TPE, Dream Series
Being in the SMJHL, there's not many teams that I can choose from for a dream series, but the one that comes off of the top of my head, would have to be a series against the Regina Elks. That's a team that has an interesting dynamic with some of it's users and the users on Nevada. First off you have the two head GMs for each teams, Jess and Reno, being very friendly with each other, despite being opposing GMs, which a series could change that. Then you have the player JURT and Jess, also being very friendly with each other. Finally you have my connection with some of the players on the team, like bojo, who I had a decent relationship back in my first player, as well as Bayley, who I've had a decent bit of interactions with since returning to the sim league universe, and being able to stop them in their tracks would be good. And for RTR, just have to say F > R.
[169 words]
6. Written, 2 TPE, Hopeful Haiku
Season 71 is the next
There's one goal to accomplish
That's to win it all
15. Written, 3 TPE, Teams Can Be Rivers Now?
Ok this question is a great question, as it provides a wide variety of locations that can be chosen from. Could do something like the commonwealths, which would grab a crap ton of players, or another one being API, which covers a ton of area like Japan and China, and would have a decent amount of players located into the team, without having to grab ones from other countries. However, the answer I would go with for this, is Team Alps. And no I'm not picking the Alps because it overlaps the country my player is from. But in fact I'm picking the Alps because I feel like it would cover a good bit of players that would help fill a team, while also not leaving a ton of players behind, while also attracting some nations where hockey is popular and some nations where it's not. The only downside to the Team Alps, is that it'll overlap with the Team Rhine, but whatever.
05-07-2023, 12:52 AM(This post was last modified: 05-09-2023, 12:38 AM by MikeLiut. Edited 9 times in total.)
1. CW TRIVIA, 3 TPE max
CW TRIVIA LINK: MomSaysImSpecial
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3. Written, 3 TPE, History Repeating (150 words min.)
Tell me about something good that happened in your SHL career which you hope will happen again! What is it, what will it look like? Did it happen to your current player or one of your former players? What can you do to stack the odds in your favor?
During my time playing in the SMJHL, I had the honour of having wonderful teammates who helped me break our franchise point record. Everything seemed to improve during the course of the season, and it was kind of surreal. I think I tripled my points from my second to my third season.
Although attaining success on my own was rewarding, my experience was genuinely special because of the bonds I forged with my teammates. Our team chemistry, in my opinion, was very distinctive in Kelowna, and it was obvious that everyone was dedicated. I had the good fortune to be a part of a group that actually cared for one another. We encouraged one another when we were successful and stood by one another when we were struggling. I needed that feeling. I needed that group of amazing human beings and that is what I wish I will now find in my new team. This is, without a doubt, my “ something good that happened in [my SHMJL] career”.
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4. Written, 3 TPE, Dream Series (150 words min.)
Many teams have rivals they'd love to trounce in a playoff series. Maybe you as a player have another specific player you'd love to beat to win the cup and lord it over them for the rest of their lives. Tell me who you'd love to play in a playoff series and why! Why would you love to beat this team or player? What would it mean to you or your team? Keep it friendly.
Our club has had the opportunity to compete against outstanding teams and players throughout the past few seasons. I mostly have great regard for our rivals and their rich history; I have a great deal of appreciation for them and I don't keep grudges. One team that I have a great deal of admiration for is Detroit; it's amazing how they manage to get their new players involved and make a difference in their community.
After this season, Yukon is on the list for sure. The puppies played outstanding playoffs. They were able to succeed after we fell to them in 7 games. Numerous rookies appeared to have made significant contributions and will be fascinating to watch in the upcoming seasons.
Lastly, there are the Berserkers. They defeated us last year, and they performed admirably this year, taking the Cup from Maine in just four games. I'm aware that I did not respond to the question, but it provided me the chance to express my gratitude for some of the excellent franchises in our community.
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5. Written, 3 TPE, Blood on the Ice (150 words min)
Continuing with the branding wars: this year's final features the return of the glowing bear god against a fresh opponent - a mighty wolfpack! This one seems slanted in the bear god's favor, but don't count the wolves out so easily! Tell me who wins and why! The arena and the rules of the fight can be whatever you desire. Get creative!
What the hell is that question? Last season, we made it clear that the glowing mysterious God Bear was in fact a Care Bear and that their enemies would have no chance against their powers. A wolfpack? Really? What is wrong with you?!? They would send Wish Bear - the turquoise one granting wishes – to fight a Balrog. Now you want a fight with little puppies?!?
In no way I see the wolves succeed. Even if Wish Bear – the genie care bear – do not get involved, I still think the Care Bears have a chance. There is a lot of things that can get done with positivity and kindness. YEAH, defeating a wolf pack with fu*king positivity, that would be my plan. Make the puppies roll on their backs for some love. Blind their eyes with sheer positivity and backstab them all. The arena can be anything you want, I would bet on the bears all the way.
6. Written, 2 TPE, Hopeful Haiku (5 words min.)
Write a haiku telling me what you hope to accomplish in Season 71! A haiku is a three line poem where the first line is five syllables, the second is seven, and the third line is five again. None of your lines may rhyme with each other.
Beneath Baltimore's flag, A special rookie season Fighting with new friends
05-07-2023, 04:32 AM(This post was last modified: 05-07-2023, 04:40 AM by High Stick King. Edited 1 time in total.)
Quote:2. Written, up to 4 TPE - Grab Bag: Pick up to 4 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words.
a. Winnipeg made the finals last year and came up just short against the Forge. Last year, their offense ran through Mikko Rashford - this year, their top line has been much more of a balanced attack, with Gonzo Gobbledygook and Lias Ekholm-Gunnarsson stepping up hard. Does this make Winnipeg a stronger team, or would it be better to spread this firepower out and run multiple scoring lines?
b. New England finds themselves in a similar situation to Winnipeg's last year: star winger Petr Svoboda has an absurd 30 points in 23 playoff games at the time this is posted. 18 of those are goals, 12 are assists: how do you shut this guy down?
c. Olof Karsikko has made 823 saves in these playoffs, nearly twice the number of saves made by Winnipeg's Rebecca Montagne. What can New England do to help their tendie out? Or should they settle on a strategy of allowing their goalie to face a high volume of low-danger shots to get in the zone and stay hot? Alternatively, how can they rattle Montagne?
d. If it ain't broke don't fix it: Who you got? Who wins? Why?
2a - Hindsight is 20/20 and knowing now that the team lost it is easy to question the changes but I would argue that it did in fact make us a stronger team and that a 7 game series cup loss isn't something that should be over-analyzed (ahem Vancouver Canucks). It is basically a coin toss at that stage.
[ 58 words ] +1 TPE
2b - I think for the most part Winnipeg did a pretty good job against Petr Svboda. He was held to less than a point a game in the finals. The issue was that the other players of New England popped off and we weren't able to reign them in as their offense proved to be too potent in the end.
[ 59 words ] +1 TPE
2c - I haven't analyzed the stats a ton, just a quick glance and it looks like the New England Wolfpack just overpowered the Winnipeg Aurora. Both teams had some huge offensive games but Karsikko made the key saves when it matter the most and didn't get too high or low. A well played series.
[ 53 words ] +1 TPE
2d - I am posting this after the fact but if I am being honest, I would have chosen Winnipeg Aurora. Not just because of my homer vision but it felt like the team was due and had what appeared to be a much higher TPE advantage. However sports are sports and anything can happen as we see. That's why the games are played and hats off to the better team.
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Quote:3. Written, 3 TPE, History Repeating (150 words min.)
Tell me about something good that happened in your SHL career which you hope will happen again! What is it, what will it look like? Did it happen to your current player or one of your former players? What can you do to stack the odds in your favor?
I mean, the easiest thing to point at is where I was drafted. Although we haven't won a cup yet, we've been extremely competitive and a top team for the majority of my career now and it is looking like the team will continue to be a threat in the future. Jarrow has been extremely lucky to be in such a great organization who has some wonderful members/players. Even if he hasn't been as vocal or active in the locker room as he should be. Things can always change of course, and Spack could be shipped off. There is always pressure to win and not doing so will always put pressure on roster changes but Jarrow is enjoying whatever happens and is doing the only thing he can do. Be loyal to the organization and do whatever he can to help the team achieve its ultimate goal. Win the damn cup!!! Thank you Winnipeg Aurora, players and management. It's been a pleasure so far and I hope many more seasons of Aurora hockey!
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Quote:4. Written, 3 TPE, Dream Series (150 words min.)
Many teams have rivals they'd love to trounce in a playoff series. Maybe you as a player have another specific player you'd love to beat to win the cup and lord it over them for the rest of their lives. Tell me who you'd love to play in a playoff series and why! Why would you love to beat this team or player? What would it mean to you or your team? Keep it friendly.
There are a lot of teams I could choose as deep seeded rivals but there hasn't been one single team. Chicago Wolves were probably the first step who knocked Winnipeg out a couple years back in the 2nd round. Philadelphia Forge who beat us in 6 games in the cup finals last season. However as often happens, recent scars hurt the most so I am going to have to go with the New England Wolfpack who just beat us in 7 games in the cup finals. Another tough loss but against some Anchorage Armada alumni. Cup Noodle and Paul Koivu of the Wolfpack being season 62 players with Jarrow makes it extra bitter although happy for my junior teammates having the taste of victory. I would love for it to turn into a rivalry and I hope that we meet again in the finals next season and we can go at it again. That is my newest choice as who is Jarrow's rival. Friendly of course.
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Quote:5. Written, 3 TPE, Blood on the Ice (150 words min)
Continuing with the branding wars: this year's final features the return of the glowing bear god against a fresh opponent - a mighty wolfpack! This one seems slanted in the bear god's favor, but don't count the wolves out so easily! Tell me who wins and why! The arena and the rules of the fight can be whatever you desire. Get creative!
I mean, we did this last season and it was definitely a bloodbath in the favour of the God Bear. I can't envision this ending any differently but let's play this out.
Once again. God Bear with literal powers against... a bunch of dogs. Looking it up, a wolfpack is anywhere between 4 and 10 wolves. So lets be generous and say that they are uber popular pack and there are a dozen. The pack is exploding with alpha power. 12 wolves versus one polar bear? Bear EASY!!!! Bear with God powers? C'mon. That's like putting the Millennium Falcon against the International Space Station in a fight. Last season was a really easy win for the bear but this year has to be a landslide right? Nobody can honestly choose a dozen dogs against a 2k+ bear. Insanity to even try it.
Maybe if it was a dogsled race. Then I could see a closer competition.
[ 156 words ] +3 TPE
Quote:One (1) affiliate claim from either PBE, WSBL, SSL, or the ISFL will be accepted for 3 TPE! *if you’re claiming this and have a different username on the affiliate's site then you need to state that in your post to get credit.*
The New England Wolfpack is fine, they don't need to help Karsikko. He will be fine on his own, as guess what, Rebecca Montagne seems to be cursed. As the goalie with the most wins in the league she was carried by her team and not any help. She can't even get 3 milestone tpe on her own. So Montagne does not have to be rattled, she is doing a fine job of being horrible on her own.
2 TPE: 6. Haiku:
Persistence pays off,
Aurora rises once more,
Winnipeg's champion.
Congratulations to the New England Wolfpack on winning it all. It is a weird feeling that the two founders of the Wolfpack (me and Ace) are facing them on the different side. We had a wonderful season in Winnipeg and we were the clear favorites to win it all. But FHM is a shitty sim that parks my goalie outside of the net on some of the New England goals, so no, the finals did not go as I expected and I’m really sad about this. I am now 6 months and 2 weeks off a 10 year SHL anniversary of my last cup win. So I can’t take these losses anymore. Lets hope we win next year and the playoffs will go as we expect them to go. Aurora on top.
2. Written, up to 4 TPE - Grab Bag: Pick up to 4 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words.
A. I think it is better for the Winnipeg to have more scoring options, whether it’s on one line or spread out is hard to say. Having all the firepower on one line puts them at risk of getting shutdown. But They can only get shutdown if New England is capable of stopping those weapons.
B. Home ice is going to be important for Winnipeg shutting down Svoboda. They will have to send out the appropriate counters to really stop Petr Svoboda and keep him from finding the back of the net. Expect them to be countering Svoboda with their 3rd or 4th line to really shutdown Svoboda and keep the scoring limited.
C. New England needs to control the puck and smother Winnipeg whenever they have the puck. New England will need to forecheck like they have never forechecked if they are going to limit the shots their net minder is facing. Best way to keep the other team from shooting the puck is to not let them get the puck in the first place!
D. This is kind of a toss up to me. This series could go either way. I don’t expect Winnipeg to blow through New England like they did Seattle or Chicago. Likewise, I think New England, who has gone the distance with Philly and Montreal, will have a long drawn out series against the “god bears”. I don’t know who will win the series, but I fully expect a game 7 to decide the S70 Challenge Cup winner.
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3. Written, 3 TPE, History Repeating (150 words min.)
Season 30 was my first season as a member of the SHL. I joined the Halifax Raiders, Team Finland, the Cincinnati Silverback for WJC, and all of those teams won championships. I was rolling in the Four Star Cup, IIHF Gold, and WJC Gold medal. This trifecta of championships was quite the way to start my journey in the SHL. Then, my first player went on to win the Challenge Cup as a rookie player with New England. I can’t exactly replicate all this at this point in my current player’s career, but I can try to with my next recreate. It will take catching lightning in a bottle. I will have to get on some good teams and wish for the best. Certainly, I can hit the gym and train as hard as possible to better myself and contribute to my teams, but as we know, hockey is a team sport so there is a lot at play for winning 3/3 championships in your first season.
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5. Written, 3 TPE, Blood on the Ice (150 words min)
Now this right here is a good fight. An old fashion throw down between the Bear God and a mighty wolf pack. I am not familiar with the bear god, but I have experience with the wolf pack (awoo) and I know it is a formidable foe that will give the Bear God a good run for its money. I would say that the perfect arena for this fight is a typical forest, perhaps a snowy one. Let these two Goliaths go at it. And yes, I consider a wolfpack a Goliath, because you have to consider the entire wolf pack. One wolf might not be a Goliath, but multiple wolves together? That is definitely a Goliath that will give the Bear God a tough challenge. However, the bear god, that implies it is omnipotent. Who can contain the power of a bear god? Wolves? I am not convinced yet. This is a toss up of a fight and it will be entertaining to watch, albeit dangerous.
05-07-2023, 11:29 AM(This post was last modified: 05-11-2023, 12:10 AM by SimmiZ. Edited 4 times in total.)
1. CW TRIVIA, 3 TPE max - 1.5 TPE for participation, 0.5 TPE for each correct answer. This is completed through a Google form linked below. Make sure to spell your answers correctly or you will not get credit. Post your verification word in your CW post.
Verification Word: Miz
7. Milestones, up to 3 TPE
Milestones are folded in with CW. So just link your Milestone claim as task 7 for up to 3 TPE towards your 16 total.
2. Written, up to 4 TPE - Grab Bag: Pick up to 4 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words.
a. Winnipeg made the finals last year and came up just short against the Forge. Last year, their offense ran through Mikko Rashford - this year, their top line has been much more of a balanced attack, with Gonzo Gobbledygook and Lias Ekholm-Gunnarsson stepping up hard. Does this make Winnipeg a stronger team, or would it be better to spread this firepower out and run multiple scoring lines?
b. New England finds themselves in a similar situation to Winnipeg's last year: star winger Petr Svoboda has an absurd 30 points in 23 playoff games at the time this is posted. 18 of those are goals, 12 are assists: how do you shut this guy down?
c. Olof Karsikko has made 823 saves in these playoffs, nearly twice the number of saves made by Winnipeg's Rebecca Montagne. What can New England do to help their tendie out? Or should they settle on a strategy of allowing their goalie to face a high volume of low-danger shots to get in the zone and stay hot? Alternatively, how can they rattle Montagne?
d. If it ain't broke don't fix it: Who you got? Who wins? Why?
A. A lot of people would think that spreading the firepower is the key, but I think having one very strong line is the way to go, it worked for the Forge last season. Put your strongest player together, and put them on the ice as often as it is humanly possible you have to put your body on the line for a cup. (63 words)
B. There is almost no way to stop a guy on a roll like that. Of course you put your best defenseman and defensive forward against him, but until this point, Svoboda has found a way to still put a lot of point on the board. You just hope that as a team, you score more than him alone and hope that your goaltender will do the job. (68 words)
C. I think that could be a deceding factor in this final. Karsikko is on fire right now, and I dont think NEW has to change the way they played until then. Karsikko seems to be better the more shot he have, so just make sure that the shots are done outside of the box, and clear player in front of him, that should do the tricks. Montagne has not been tested yet, so just take all the shots you can. (81 words)
D. Im gonna give this one to WPG. They're still the team with the highest TPE per player, and they are dominating playoff right now. I would like more to see NEW wins tho, Im tired to always see WPG on top, but the stats dont lie, I think we wont have a surprise this season, but I hope for a long final. (63 words)
16. Written, 3 TPE, Home Turf (150 words min.)
Rotating host countries is expensive and politically challenging. Local governments have to maintain sufficient arenas to host an event that comes around once a decade and popular sentiment is changing against olympic-style sports in general. We may have to pick a permanent home for the IIHF! Naturally, this should be your country, so state your case as to why your country is the best candidate to permanently host IIHF!
First of all, I think we need to setgle one thing for a debate like that. Hockey is a winter sport, so country that dont see an inch of snow should not even be considered. With that in mind, I think that the best country to have the IIHF would be Norway. I know that Canada pop in a lot of people mind first, but North America already have a lot of action on their side, all the SHL team come from there, so for this internatiomal championship, we need to move on the other side of the ocean. Norway is a beautiful country, with amazing winter view. They even have a lot of great lake to skate on, we could even do a part of the tournament outside to return to this sport root. This is a great city for tourism, and the organisation would have no trouble to fill up arena and make money with this tournament if they ever choose Norway. (165 words)
6. Written, 2 TPE, Hopeful Haiku (5 words min.)
Write a haiku telling me what you hope to accomplish in Season 71! A haiku is a three line poem where the first line is five syllables, the second is seven, and the third line is five again. None of your lines may rhyme with each other.
Lund bad this season
Need to improve defense
Or useless he is.
Quote:1. CW TRIVIA, 3 TPE max - 1.5 TPE for participation, 0.5 TPE for each correct answer. This is completed through a Google form linked below. Make sure to spell your answers correctly or you will not get credit. Post your verification word in your CW post.
finallymadeit
Quote:2. Written, up to 4 TPE - Grab Bag: Pick up to 4 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words.
a. Winnipeg made the finals last year and came up just short against the Forge. Last year, their offense ran through Mikko Rashford - this year, their top line has been much more of a balanced attack, with Gonzo Gobbledygook and Lias Ekholm-Gunnarsson stepping up hard. Does this make Winnipeg a stronger team, or would it be better to spread this firepower out and run multiple scoring lines?
I would like to think having multiple strong scorers on your team is better than have one or two that handle 80% of it. If you only have one line or a few players that are truly dangerous it makes it easier for your opponents to shut them down. Because they don't have to focus on anyone else.
Quote:b. New England finds themselves in a similar situation to Winnipeg's last year: star winger Petr Svoboda has an absurd 30 points in 23 playoff games at the time this is posted. 18 of those are goals, 12 are assists: how do you shut this guy down?
What else can you do other than have someone shadow him? It really comes down to always keeping an eye on him, to see where he is on the ice at all times. When they're in the offensive zone the defense simply have to have someone covering any and all passing lanes to Petr. But then you're at the risk of giving up passing lanes to other players.
Quote:c. Olof Karsikko has made 823 saves in these playoffs, nearly twice the number of saves made by Winnipeg's Rebecca Montagne. What can New England do to help their tendie out? Or should they settle on a strategy of allowing their goalie to face a high volume of low-danger shots to get in the zone and stay hot? Alternatively, how can they rattle Montagne?
So far the strategy of letting Olof handle all the shots have worked out quite well. But New England's skaters aren't just standing around. They have a massive amount of blocked shots. NEW is letting their opponent bombard them, but it ends up as quantity over quality. While NEW on their own tries the opposite. Few, but dangerous shots.
Quote:d. If it ain't broke don't fix it: Who you got? Who wins? Why?
I believe in New England mainly because of Olof Karsikko. People say goalies don't matter but this playoff run Olof certainly has. He has, sometimes single-handedly, kept New England in the games and won a couple as well. Winnipeg will clearly win the shots and possession stats, but Olof is playing out of his mind.
Quote:3. Written, 3 TPE, History Repeating (150 words min.)
Tell me about something good that happened in your SHL career which you hope will happen again! What is it, what will it look like? Did it happen to your current player or one of your former players? What can you do to stack the odds in your favor?
Winning the cup would be the obvious answer. And, it actually is the main answer. But to think deeper than that I'd say seeing one more award or all-star nomination would be exciting. Nowadays Yxskaft isn't really that high up in the individual leaderboards, so the days of individual awards or recognition are well in the past. While winning the cup is clearly the highlight of my SHL career so far, the individual stuff was always a nice extra surprise. Telling me that my player was a major contributor to my team's success at the time. But for the next season I think the only thing I can even hope for with Yxskaft is a defensive defenseman nomination. But even then it's unlikely I can get high up enough in terms of plus-minus, blocked shots, takeaways, and whatever other stats the award committee looks at. Regression has hit hard yet again and I'm even below the TPE amount I was when I was first called up.
Quote:6. Written, 2 TPE, Hopeful Haiku (5 words min.)
Write a haiku telling me what you hope to accomplish in Season 71! A haiku is a three line poem where the first line is five syllables, the second is seven, and the third line is five again. None of your lines may rhyme with each other.
Following the win
Celebrate then go again
A victory lap
05-07-2023, 12:57 PM(This post was last modified: 05-13-2023, 12:53 AM by Count Chocula. Edited 9 times in total.)
Code:
1. CW TRIVIA, 3 TPE max - 1.5 TPE for participation, 0.5 TPE for each correct answer. This is completed through a Google form linked below. Make sure to spell your answers correctly or you will not get credit. Post your verification word in your CW post.
JNH
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2. Written, up to 4 TPE - Grab Bag: Pick up to 4 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words.
Code:
b. New England finds themselves in a similar situation to Winnipeg's last year: star winger Petr Svoboda has an absurd 30 points in 23 playoff games at the time this is posted. 18 of those are goals, 12 are assists: how do you shut this guy down?
I don't know that you can shut down Svoboda. He has looked lights out for the Wolfpack since the first series. The only thing Winnipeg can do is double team him to limit his chances. The only problem is they are gonna have trouble stopping the other players if they do that. Although it seemed to work against Rashford last season.
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c. Olof Karsikko has made 823 saves in these playoffs, nearly twice the number of saves made by Winnipeg's Rebecca Montagne. What can New England do to help their tendie out? Or should they settle on a strategy of allowing their goalie to face a high volume of low-danger shots to get in the zone and stay hot? Alternatively, how can they rattle Montagne?
Olof is a battle tested winner, already having a cup with Los Angeles. He was the backbone of that team and now the backbone of the Wolfpack. The Wolfpack don't need to do anything, they just need to let Olof keep cooking in his net. He knows what he's doing and will carry them across the finish line.
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d. If it ain't broke don't fix it: Who you got? Who wins? Why?
d. I say the Wolfpack wins, I just feel it. They are doing something special with all the game 7 wins upsetting each team along the way. Something tells me they will do it again and in another game 7 win. Olof is a winner and he has brought that confidence to New England. He's already made double the saves of his competitor, because he is a gamer who comes to win.
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6. Written, 2 TPE, Hopeful Haiku (5 words min.)
Write a haiku telling me what you hope to accomplish in Season 71! A haiku is a three line poem where the first line is five syllables, the second is seven, and the third line is five again. None of your lines may rhyme with each other.
Rookie of the year
Fight Everyone in the league
Party like a champ
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7. Milestones, 3 TPE
Milestones are folded in with CW. So just link your Milestone claim as task 7 for up to 3 TPE towards your 16 total.
14. Written, 3 TPE, IIHF Analysis (150 words min.)
Write your predictions for this year's IIHF tournament or WJC! Tell me about your team! How far do you realistically expect to go this year? What nations do you want to match up against, and which do you dread? What are your expectations for your player?
This year should be another exciting year for the IIHF tournament. Last seasons tournament did not go quite as planned for us in France. We though we would be able to harness the energy of the home crowd and the underdog fight. However we learned that the more established nations just had too much skill to overcome. We did no even make it into the medal rounds like we had expected. It was however a fun tournament and a learning experience for the team. We can take that experience into this upcoming tournament, and improve upon what we learned. We are switching things up this time with some young blood on the blue line with Sydney Shaw and Elena Maximova. They both look like elite prospective talents and will develop some good chemistry playing together on the 3rd pair. The team will once again be lead by Mackenzie and Hefeweizen who both are coming off tremendous seasons. I will be realistic this time and say France takes significant steps forward and finished top 3 in their group.
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17. Written, 2 TPE - The Procrastinator Special! (100 words min.)
Congratulations, procrastinator! Through my most gracious scheduling error, you’ve won a special task! [TEAM] has won it all! Were the playoffs as you expected this year, or were there some surprises? Who were you hoping would take it - Winnipeg's redemption tour or the fresh-faced Wolfpack? What did you like or not like about this season?
Congratulations to the New England Wolfpack on their historical playoff run. At the beginning of the season, I didn't even think NEW was a playoff contender let alone cup contender. I probably wouldn't of been able to name a single player on their roster. Yet they were able to knock off every team in 4 straight game 7 victories on their road to the Challenge Cup. It is quite spectacular winning each series in game 7 and knocking out heavy cup favorites like Montreal and Winnipeg. To make things even stranger I got traded to the team this off-season, so now I know a lot of the players.
Task 3: History Repeating (9/16)
I've been lucky to have a decent number of good things happen to me in my Simulation Hockey League career so far, both as a user and as each of my players James Kimanje and Graj Virrok. I have one from each career that I'd like to relive, but we'll start with Kimanje's good thing since he's the oldest. During the final season of James' career, he wasn't super great on the ice, but during his final IIHF tournament, playing for Sweden as always, James scored the game winning goal to give Sweden their first gold medal in quite some time, and that was an awesome moment. Then for Graj's career, it definitely is his SHL Championship in S69. Not only was he able to win, but he was able to win in the funny number season, and it's something that I can't specifically recreate but the Forge can win again, and I look forward to that hopefully happening. (159)
Task 5: Blood on the Ice (12/16)
In a battle of the Aurora and the Wolfpack in the wide world, it's nearly impossible to declare a winner. The Aurora is a phenomenon of light said to represent the god of bears, whereas the Wolfpack is just that, a group of wolves prowling for their next meal and providing support for all members of the pack both weak and strong. The Aurora is something that cannot be beaten unless either the world ends, global warming fucks the entire planet to the point where the phenomenon is no longer possible, or if they are simply outlasted. And I think that the Wolfpack could potentially do that? The Wolfpack is essentially a strong family unit that is almost impossible to kill. The wolves will put the strongest at the back to protect themselves from sneak attacks, the weakest at the middle to prevent them from being killed, and have scouts at the front side to ensure that they don't walk into a shit situation. Combining all of this makes them nearly unbeatable outside of extreme situations, and I have to say that I've come to the same conclusion for both. If neither can be beaten except in extreme circumstances, then we have to just flip a coin to decide who wins. (211)
Task 6: Hopeful Haiku (14/16)
Additional Goals
Far Better Defensive Play
Perfect Plus Minus
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