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.
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. Neither of the teams have been relying on one or two superstar forwards to do all their goal scoring in playoffs, but if you had to pick a player you expect to carry their team to cup who would it be?
I think Baltimore is going to be more reliant on their star forwards of Bergmark and Olubori because my opinion San Francisco has stronger depth. They are some of the best players in the world though so they were built for this kind of pressure. It'll be interesting to see if San Fran can successfully shut them down.
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b. Looking at save percentage and goals against average it seems that Beau Kavanagh has the upper hand over Justin Time. Do you think they do or are those numbers misleading?
Yes, I think the save percentages coming into the finals are very misleading. Let's face the facts: the east has higher competition and better teams. This doesn't mean that a champion can't come from the west, it's just that the level of competition they have to face is not equal. In fact, maybe this leads to the west team being better rested and helps them in the final series?
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.
Done
5. Written, 3 TPE, Haven't I seen this already (150 words min.)
SHL has a playoffs setup that has teams in the same division playing each other for the first two rounds.With only 5 teams in each division it often means that same teams play versus each other season after season. This can lead to good rivalries but also get pretty repetitive. Do you think this is a good structure or would you like to see it changed? Why? You can but don't have to ignore limits of FHM.
I think in a league like the SHL, it is almost to difficult to get actual rivalries, as this is a league where you grow as a group, and users are switching teams more often than you would think, especially when they re-create over multiple players. Because of what I just said, I think this format is not very good, as it almost creates stale matchups season after season, especially if there is a clear number 1 team, with the others behind playing each other over and over for multiple seasons. If I were to change it, I would most likely change it to once the teams play each other through the regular season, it would be the best playoff team versus the bottom one, no matter what conference it was in, that way it actually means something to get the higher seeds. After the first round, it would continue to be the highest seeds versus the lowest, that way it would make it fair for those not in a division with 3 high potential teams for example.
3 TPE
11. Written, 2 TPE, Home Country (100 words min.)
Why did you choose your IIHF country? Is it where you’re actually from? Is it where your friends play? Was it for a specific role play reason? I want to know how you decided where your player comes from!
When it comes to the IIHF country that I have chosen, which is Finland, I chose them because it is a place I would love to visit some day, and it has some great players in real life that I love to watch. The only other reason why I chose this country because it has a reputation of winning, and Johnny Patey V2's goal for his career is winning, and that's pretty much it. He does not care much for the stats, so getting a few world championships on top of the few WJC medals he already has would be great,, and the main reason I chose Finland.
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.
verification: trivial
Quote:5. Written, 3 TPE, Haven't I seen this already (150 words min.)
SHL has a playoffs setup that has teams in the same division playing each other for the first two rounds.With only 5 teams in each division it often means that same teams play versus each other season after season. This can lead to good rivalries but also get pretty repetitive. Do you think this is a good structure or would you like to see it changed? Why? You can but don't have to ignore limits of FHM.
I'll answer this one since I have a similar opinion on the NHL's playoff structure. I think a divisional set up an definitely start to get old/annoying when playing the same teams a lot of the time. That get's magnified even more so when you have one division being stronger than the other. I recall the Great Lakes division in the past with a ton of very strong teams in it, namely Buffalo and Hamilton. They had both been good forever and were just roadblocking any other teams from making it out of the division. You can see this at times too with the NHL, the Atlantic for example has been really strong the last few years with Toronto, Tampa Bay, Boston and Florida all top teams, and then you have teams that have had playoff hopes in Buffalo, Ottawa and Detroit who just haven't been able to squeeze in. For those reasons I prefer (and miss) the old 1-8 conference format that the NHL used to use. I thought it gave more balanced matchups and you also got more variety in not playing the same teams over and over.
Quote:13. Written, 2 TPE - The Procrastinator Special! (100 words min.)
Looks like [TEAM] won Season 76! Who won and why? What could the other team have done differently to change the result? What was your favorite part of the series
San Francisco took home the challenge cup in 5 games, and I'm not entirely sure, but I believe this may be their 1st ever challenge cup? I don't know if perhaps they got one as Portland, but that was before my time. Either way, congratulations to San Francisco! The Pride offense was dominant these playoffs, even more so than what has been a dominant offense the last few seasons in Baltimore. I've felt as though the offense/defense has been a little imbalanced in favour of offense in Baltimore, perhaps they are just lacking that one missing piece on the blue line? I think they've still got some time in their core, so we'll see what happens.
Credits to OrbitingDeath, Tweedle, Incite, Wasty, and Slothfacekilla for sigs!
13. Written, 2 TPE - The Procrastinator Special!
The San Francisco Pride are your Challenge Cup Champions this season! Throughout the course of the playoffs in the SHL this season, it was a tossup as to who would make it all the way to the finals, but our final teams were Baltimore and the Pride. Both teams stumbled in Round 2, with San Francisco fighting to a Game 7 against LA, and Baltimore making it to Game 7 against Philadelphia. Once they met in the finals, unfortunately, it felt Baltimore was outmatched from the start. Baltimore tied the series 1-1, but failed to capture another win the entire series. I'm not sure there was much they could have done; the Pride were just riding momentum the whole way through, culminating in a dominating Game 5, where the Pride shut out the Platoon and cemented their championship victory.
14. Written, 3 TPE - But I thought the season was already over
I'm very late in this, but a huge congratulations to the Quebec City Citadelles on a great Four Star Cup run. They absolutely dominated in all of their sets, only dropping one game to the Newfoundland Berserkers in Round 3. Meanwhile, the Maine Timber fought tooth and nail to make it out of their Round 3, taking it all the way to a Game 7 with Carolina. But Maine unfortunately couldn't stack up with the behemoth that was the Citadelles this season, losing in Game 5. The Citadelles had leaders in Goals, Assists, Points, and even Plus Minus, not to mention their goalie leading the SMJHL in Wins this season. In Plus Minus specifically, their players took up 8 of the top 10 spots, the only other two players coming from Colorado. The Citadelles were on a roll this season, perhaps the most dominant one in the last few seasons, and it would have been a tall task for anyone to try and stop them.
1. CW TRIVIA, 3 TPE max - 1.5 TPE for participation, 0.5 TPE for each correct answer. Silmarillion
4. Written, 3 TPE, Presidents’ Trophy Curse (150 words min.)
Seattle Argonauts won both the Challenge Cup and Presidents’ Trophy in S68, but no team has won both during the same season since. Yet season 75 Los Angeles Panthers and season 72 Winnipeg Aurora both won the cup after being second best team during the regular season. Do you think that winning regular season has impact on playoffs performance outside of seedings and home advantage? Would you say San Francisco is better of coming into the series with second seed or will Baltimore get more out of their home advantage than any curse could hurt them?
San Francisco obviously has a better chance of winning the cup in large part due to the curse. As someone who grew up playing baseball and following the sport religiously, I cannot ignore the power of curses and superstitions like that. The Curse of the Great Bambino, where the Red Sox traded away Babe Ruth, or the curse of the Black Sox on the Chicago footwear-based team. Normally I am a man of scientific reasons but within sports? These curses absolutely have sway and hold. Even if there’s no real ghost or spirit or whatever maintaining it, the sheer mentality that comes along with the curse will affect the Platoon’s players and can subconsciously make them play worse. Both of the curses that I mentioned above were only overcome after some serious changes in management and how the team looked at playing the game, something that I don’t think Baltimore is going to come into the series with.
5. Written, 3 TPE, Haven't I seen this already (150 words min.)
SHL has a playoffs setup that has teams in the same division playing each other for the first two rounds. With only 5 teams in each division it often means that same teams play versus each other season after season. This can lead to good rivalries but also get pretty repetitive. Do you think this is a good structure or would you like to see it changed? Why? You can but don't have to ignore limits of FHM.
I enjoy the consistent rivalries, although unintentional, that this system of same division playoffs brings to the table. I know. It was a lot of fun my first season having a specific team to look to for wins and losses to try and beat for the playoffs, and while everyone would be getting into the playoffs anyways a similar idea can apply when you know who to look out for. This also comes with the downside of if those people you’re looking at are doing way better than your team that it can hurt morale and maybe instill some fatalist mentalities, but there’s also something to be said there about general locker room vibes and keeping up the excitement. In addition to all of this, it gives drafts even more of a kick, as you see the players that you know will eventually be playing against each other in early playoffs do the same in the J, or even playing together for some intense and naturally occurring player rivalries going on.
"I'm the best there is at what I do... and what I do isn't very nice."
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.
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3. Written, 3 TPE, Long Time Coming (150 words min.)
Both teams were competent in early S60s but ultimately didn’t end up winning the cup leading both into a rebuild shortly after. Now they are back at the top, looking to end long cup droughts. Making it to the finals isn’t easy and so both teams will want to make this one count. But there can be only one Challenge Cup Champion, leaving the other team to look ahead to next season.For which of the teams you think it is more important to win now and which is in better position to get back to the finals in the future? Why?
Well this is definitely a difficult question to answer as both teams are actually similar in age. I would say though it is more important for Baltimore Platoon to win now over the San Francisco Pride seem more setup to keep making the finals. San Francisco best players are just a few more young and they seem to have more players drafted after season 70. While Baltimore have the youngest player it seems their best players will age out faster than San Francisco that is why I think it is more important for Baltimore to to win this finals. Both teams have definitely built on a similar time line and have been the normal top teams in the finals but Baltimore has a smaller window I believe. San Francisco seems to have drafted a good core from 70 to 72 draft and traded for two players in the same age group.
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4. Written, 3 TPE, Presidents’ Trophy Curse (150 words min.)
Seattle Argonauts won both the Challenge Cup and Presidents’ Trophy in S68, but no team has won both during the same season since. Yet season 75 Los Angeles Panthers and season 72 Winnipeg Aurora both won the cup after being second best team during the regular season. Do you think that winning regular season has impact on playoffs performance outside of seedings and home advantage? Would you say San Francisco is better of coming into the series with second seed or will Baltimore get more out of their home advantage than any curse could hurt them?
Winning the Regular season doesn't have more of an impact than seeding and home ice advantage in my opinion. This is a big advantage when you get to have home ice advantage for the whole playoffs and even in the finals, it definitely give Baltimore a slight edge. I don't think it means they are guaranteed to win the series by any means. If you look at the standings closely you'll notice San Francisco only had two less wins but they also have plus twenty two goal difference over Baltimore as San Francisco had a better offence this season than Baltimore. Baltimore did have the better defensive team as they allowed less goals than San Francisco this year. So in my opinion this comes down to offence vrs defense opposed to who has home ice advantage. I think people might argue that San Francisco is the better team over Baltimore and I would pick San Francisco to win it all despite Baltimore finishing first this season.
05-23-2024, 02:15 PM(This post was last modified: 05-23-2024, 07:56 PM by Grum. Edited 1 time in total.)
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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.
+3
verification: yui
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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. Neither of the teams have been relying on one or two superstar forwards to do all their goal scoring in playoffs, but if you had to pick a player you expect to carry their team to cup who would it be?
b. Looking at save percentage and goals against average it seems that Beau Kavanagh has the upper hand over Justin Time. Do you think they do or are those numbers misleading?
c. Willow Söderberg-Snooks has 7 goals, 18 points, 18 takeaways and no giveaways, is that enough to make them best defenceman in finals? Who would you pick instead?
d. Which of the teams had easier path to finals?
e. Which one would win a fight, a lion or an eagle? How would it go?
f. If it ain't broke don't fix it: Who you got? Who wins? Why?
a. If I was to choose a single player that I would expect to carry their team to the cup, I would have to say Viktor Hargreeves from San Francisco. Hargreeves had a monster s76 run, putting up a league leading 59 goals and 125 points. All eyes will be on him to lead his team to victory and I expect him to step up in a big way.
d. Neither team of course had an easy path to the finals but if I had to choose, I would say San Francisco coming from the west had the easier path. San Francisco probably had the hardest matchup of all in Los Angeles but overall their first round and even conference finals matchups in my opinion were weaker than who Baltimore played.
e. This is unfortunately a pretty easy question to answer assuming the melee is a one on one fight. I think the eagle probably doesn't stand too much of a chance given the fact that one hit from the lion and it is most likely game over. I think it just comes down to how long the eagle can avoid the lion until it tires out.
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11. Written, 2 TPE, Home Country (100 words min.)
Why did you choose your IIHF country? Is it where you’re actually from? Is it where your friends play? Was it for a specific role play reason? I want to know how you decided where your player comes from!
I do not have any connections to my IIHF team, Germany, outside of just knowing quite a few people from there. I chose Germany because it was an up and coming international team at the time of my creation so I was confident that I would be able to win a medal or two with them. It was also ran by my long time (now former) general manager, Tomen. For my SHL players I don't like creating for the big power house nations like Canada or Sweden just cause I feel like the medal will mean a bit more for me and I don't have any connections to any other nation besides the USA anyway.
10 Mark started out on team British Isles but didn’t play in his first season there. When the opportunity came to be an active player on Latvia Mark jumped at the offer. After all Robosven is there and his dad played with Sven before he became a robot or cyborg or whatever. I see not many people have faith in Latvia to go far this year. I am confident we will put up a show. We got some solid transfers including myself. As always USA and Canada are big threats due to the large pool of players they have. I wouldn’t count Latvia out but we might make a better showing next season once we have gelled a bit. Mark looks forward to winning faceoffs and trying to show he has the skills to follow in his fathers footsteps. He hasn’t been able to show that yet in the SMJHL so the WJC might be the first real chance to show what he’s got.
164 words
6/8 TPE
11 My first player was modeled oddly after my long ago persona on rockbank. I was a German bass player. So I chose to be from Germany. I Decided to try and play somewhere else and transferred to Great Britin. Then when I made this character I started in Britin because I knew them. No one really said anything to me from Britin and I didn’t play. So after my second season I was asked to join Latvia. I took that chance since I had no idea if I would even play for Britin and Latvia wanted to play me. I have been happy interacting with the Locker room and think I made the right choice.
116 words
8/8 TPE
05-23-2024, 02:33 PM(This post was last modified: 05-23-2024, 02:33 PM by Bongo.)
4. Written, 3 TPE, Presidents’ Trophy Curse (150 words min.)
Seattle Argonauts won both the Challenge Cup and Presidents’ Trophy in S68, but no team has won both during the same season since. Yet season 75 Los Angeles Panthers and season 72 Winnipeg Aurora both won the cup after being second best team during the regular season. Do you think that winning regular season has impact on playoffs performance outside of seedings and home advantage? Would you say San Francisco is better of coming into the series with second seed or will Baltimore get more out of their home advantage than any curse could hurt them?
Winning in the regular season absolutely has an impact on playoff performance. There is a bar for the top team, and they set the gold standard of performance. The teams aforementioned were diamonds built under pressure. Teams who can close out the regular season with the best record and take their momentum into the playoffs and finish the job are commendable. There is a reason it is such a rare occurence. It is difficult to do. Many presidents trophy winning squads crack under pressure and let the weight of the league crash down on them. A 2nd place team can always brush it off, if they're beaten by #1, it's an easier pill to swallow. "Maybe next year" works if you haven't won the presidents trophy. I also think that playoff success mostly has to do with matchups and probability. Some play styles are just not built for the playoffs. Consider the Manhattan Rage - they were an excellent regular season team but did not have the grit and resilience needed for a CHAMPIONSHIP team.
5. Written, 3 TPE, Haven't I seen this already (150 words min.)
SHL has a playoffs setup that has teams in the same division playing each other for the first two rounds.With only 5 teams in each division it often means that same teams play versus each other season after season. This can lead to good rivalries but also get pretty repetitive. Do you think this is a good structure or would you like to see it changed? Why? You can but don't have to ignore limits of FHM.
I may be in the minority, but I think regardless, the top 2 will be the same. As the old homage goes, you have to beat the best to be the best. There are no easy rolls in the SHL playoffs, so whether you are playing the Montreal Patriotes or the Los Angeles Panthers, you can be beaten, and you are capable of beating them. I think the regular season should count for something, so personally, I'd like to see a 1v8 setup. To be honest, I wouldn't die on this hill, but I just think it creates more diversity, and it benefits teams who have come in the top 3 specifically. It is statistically possible that the 2nd and 3rd seed in the east meet in the first round due to the divisional matchups. This is not something I feel strongly about. To be honest, I'd probably like an NFL style divisional matchup. At least the way the NFL used to be. 7 and 8 seed do NOT qualify, 3rd plays 6th, and 4th plays 5th. 2nd and 1st get a bye, and play the appropriate team based on which seed is lower. That begs the question, has a 7th or 8th seed ever won the challenge cup?
6. Written, 3 TPE, Next season will be ours (150 words min.)
With only one champion in the SHL and the SMJHL per season, that means the other 34 teams came up just a bit short (or a lot short). Team owners know that fans can get frustrated by shortcomings, so they're always trying to keep optimism high in the fan base. Give an excerpt from an ousted team's owner's press conference at the end of the season focusing on the team's bright future or however they can keep fans' optimism high.
Hotdog reluctantly steps up to the podium. He is wearing his bright red triple striped ADIDAS tracksuit, gifted to him by Drake. Sweat dripping down his brow, he clears his throat, and takes a swig of LIQUID DEATH (the canned water you see los angeles podcast grifters sip on.. it is different than normal water because it has a skull on the can). A reporter wearing a trenchcoat, and who appears to look like Micool132 with a moustache asks the hotdog "Tough first round exit there big guy.. I'm just wondering, what's next? Which direction are we going in here in Atlanta?". Hotdog is very blunt with this fellow. He states "First, we must acquire some goaltending. I mean, with the acquisition of resources, this is possible. We are thinking about shipping out a few young guys - a few good young guys. But honestly, there are no solutions, there are no answers - we need to get back in camp and run it back. This is a young team, and we're finding our bearings out here. There was a lot of experience on the other side and we just need to keep chipping away. I think we are a few pieces away from really competing". The reporter began to cry and run, Im not sure why but this was not the answer he wanted to hear.
8/8 TPE.
Jorec Registered
S11, S22, S34, S38 Challenge Cup Champion
05-23-2024, 02:35 PM(This post was last modified: 05-23-2024, 02:55 PM by Jorec. Edited 1 time 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: trival
10. Written, 3 TPE, IIHF Analysis (150 words min.)
Write your predictions for this year's IIHF tournament or WJC! Tell me about your team! What are your expectations for your player? What teams are you watching out for this time around? Did last season's results surprise you and how much you expect them to change this time?
Sweden is coming into this years tournament as the reigning champions and I am putting it all on them repeating this season. Generally, we've seen an improvement in their players from last season and they have some real good young guns coming up on the team. For example, Andren Akerson finished last tournament with half a point per game with 6 points in 12 games, tied for 9th on the team. Not bad a fourth line winger on the team who didn't get a lick of any kind of power play time. Since he has been training hard. Andren has improved immensely since last season though and can be hopefully expected to move up into the third line and maybe even some tertiary power play time. If he was scoring at half a point per game last season, we can expect that to drastically improve with a little bit of love from the coach.
154 words.
11. Written, 2 TPE, Home Country (100 words min.)
Why did you choose your IIHF country? Is it where you’re actually from? Is it where your friends play? Was it for a specific role play reason? I want to know how you decided where your player comes from!
About a decade ago, I visited Sweden for a while and really loved my time there. I visited Stockholm in the winter and it was a wonderful experience. Enough like my home of Canada that I felt like I could live there but with this wonderful feeling to the city. The language, the people, it was all a great experience. In the SHL, I've almost always had Russian players, for no particular reason other then they were all theoretically related to one another but after my last player was mediocre at best, I decided to start a new line of players. Sweden was on my mind when I made Akerson, I hadn't travelled in years and was thinking fondly of my European adventure so my new player line will be Swedish as a result.
134 words.
Andren Akerson (Present)
Adrik Baranov (S55 to S70)
Rurik Razin (S32 to S44)
Roy Razin (S17 to S32) (HOF/Rage HOF)
Audun Wissink (S5 to S15)
05-23-2024, 03:18 PM(This post was last modified: 05-23-2024, 03:18 PM by CptSquall.)
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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.
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. Neither of the teams have been relying on one or two superstar forwards to do all their goal scoring in playoffs, but if you had to pick a player you expect to carry their team to cup who would it be?
b. Looking at save percentage and goals against average it seems that Beau Kavanagh has the upper hand over Justin Time. Do you think they do or are those numbers misleading?
c. Willow Söderberg-Snooks has 7 goals, 18 points, 18 takeaways and no giveaways, is that enough to make them best defenceman in finals? Who would you pick instead?
d. Which of the teams had easier path to finals?
e. Which one would win a fight, a lion or an eagle? How would it go?
f. If it ain't broke don't fix it: Who you got? Who wins? Why?
C: I think it does. Snooks had all that in just the 16 games San Francisco played to make the Challenge Cup Finals. Over a point per game and NO mistakes make Big Willow a stand out performer. Expect more to come especially in the event that the Pride take the cup.
D: Gonna go back out West again on this one. Both teams won their Conference Finals in 5 games and to get there, both went through grueling Game 7s in round 2. But the Pride made short work of Chicago, where Baltimore had to gut out 6 against the Inferno. That rest, and 2 less games might give San Fran just that much more gas in the tank.
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5. Written, 3 TPE, Haven't I seen this already (150 words min.)
SHL has a playoffs setup that has teams in the same division playing each other for the first two rounds.With only 5 teams in each division it often means that same teams play versus each other season after season. This can lead to good rivalries but also get pretty repetitive. Do you think this is a good structure or would you like to see it changed? Why? You can but don't have to ignore limits of FHM.
Without looking at anyone’s answers above or below or anywhere else in the replies here you’re gonna see basically two camps predominantly. Camp one is going to be in favour of the divisional scheme and leaving it like it is or any sort of combination of the two it was in the IRL NHL in the 80s and beyond where you had these sort of divisional rivalries and then look back on somewhat fondly and I’m sure if things were to change we would too with how this scheme set up, something mildly to being able to say when you get to making the conference finals that you were the best team in your division clearly because you beat the other teams in your division who made it out of the who made it through the playoffs. You can hang on even if you aren’t the superior portion of the conference or the superior division and someone.
Now, the other specially if you want the contrarian, we should change. Things opinion is moving to one versus eight. Sure you can have your division winners have the top two spots automatically. It’s likely they would. It might slightly change things so you’ll have a little bit of frustration here, there , how much more having two really good teams from the same division having had taken different paths to get there you’ve got a really strong division where like how the Northeast division was for example, this season and by strong I don’t mean the top team they were all the top teams. I mean every team was right around each other. They were battling for the for Every spot together how much more fun would it be then you might see some of the matchup against each other and then you have I don’t know maybe the teams from the other divisions maybe Baltimore ends up playing safe Philadelphia in the conference finals and that goes seven and it feels a little more entertaining as opposed to Getting through that grilling session Hamilton and going well the matchups get different. It’s sort of seems to trick you into feeling a little more fair even though functionally anytime the argument goes through between one versus eight or divisional. Is that nine times out of 10 you might change one match up a year tops , it’s not like you know a team is missing out on the playoffs over personally I would like to just return to that sort of era.
05-23-2024, 04:06 PM(This post was last modified: 05-23-2024, 04:27 PM by Jumbobone19. Edited 1 time in total.)
1. CW Trivia - 3 TPE
Verification Word - Jumbo
11. Home Country - 2 TPE
I, Lord Raiden, chose USA to be my IIHF country. In real life that is my real home country. And if you play hockey, getting to play to Team USA is like the ultimate dream. I cant imagine playing for any other team and it was an honor. I came into the SHL without knowing anyone so really did not decide on anything because of someone else. I think it was a great decision for me as I played in several tournaments but as old age does it caught up to me and I have been surpassed by some really great young American players.
-104 words
14. But I thought the season was already over - 3 TPE
So as I am always real late to these, the Four Star Cup finals is over. It was a showdown of the #1 team (Quebec City) in the league versus #3 team (Maine) in the league. However both were respectively #1 teams in their conference. So it was a matchup that was not surprising to see. Quebec City was easily the favorite heading into the finals. They were a force all season long and that did not stop in the playoffs. Quebec City only lost 1 game in the playoffs, sweeping two of the teams. Maine did not dominate like that but still did very well only losing 5 games. Game 1 was a thriller. Teams trading goals and went into Overtime with QCC winning on a Solberg goal. Game 2 - Maine's offense took off and scored 8 goals taking that. And that was about it, Quebec City had enough. They easily took Games 3 and 4, only allowing 2 goals total while scoring 11. Game 5 was a much closer game. But QCC potent offense proved too much for Maine. QCC wins and takes home the cup.
-188 words
3. Written, 3 TPE, Long Time Coming (150 words min.)
Both teams were competent in early S60s but ultimately didn’t end up winning the cup leading both into a rebuild shortly after. Now they are back at the top, looking to end long cup droughts. Making it to the finals isn’t easy and so both teams will want to make this one count. But there can be only one Challenge Cup Champion, leaving the other team to look ahead to next season.For which of the teams you think it is more important to win now and which is in better position to get back to the finals in the future? Why?
I think San Francisco deserves the cup more because I was part of the team that shut them down in S52. That means that since I did not get a chance to squash their dreams this time around again, they deserve to go all the way. For a while now they have been on the cusp of victory. A great GM who is a whiz at lien strats and player stats. They have been edging around being a great team even while working around their deficiencies. They have had nothing short of a miracle run this season and I, for one, would like to see that cinderella story go all the way. Unfortunately for the other team, they are rivals in my division and I don't want to see any success coming to anyone in the east if it is not the wolf pack. Next season well be back there for sure!
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. Neither of the teams have been relying on one or two superstar forwards to do all their goal scoring in playoffs, but if you had to pick a player you expect to carry their team to cup who would it be?
I pick Viktor Hargreeves. He has been a nice sleeper agent in fantasy for a while now which means he has been quietly carrying the San Francisco Pride team into the deep end in the last two or three seasons. That man deserves a hefty star power recognition in this late stage and an award or two.
b. Looking at save percentage and goals against average it seems that Beau Kavanagh has the upper hand over Justin Time. Do you think they do or are those numbers misleading?
Justin Time has been doing great when he was in EDM and now he's doing great that he is in San Francisco. That is the real truth. Sometimes a team gets an explosive goal tender that just rockets them past the competition. This is Justin Time. The guy has been clutch in regular season and he has proven time and time again that he can save with the best. I do not think that Beau is ready for playoff time and we will just have to wait and see.
Credit to Vulfzilla for the awesome render pic ||
karlssens Registered
S28, S45, S49 Challenge Cup Champion
Posts:4,031 Threads: 182 Joined: May 2015 Reputation:73
Discord: karl#3942
Pronouns: He/Him
Player: Oskar Scholz
05-23-2024, 05:03 PM(This post was last modified: 05-23-2024, 05:22 PM by karlssens. Edited 1 time 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.
verification word = karl
Code:
2. Written, up to 4 TPE - Grab Bag: Pick up to 4 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words.
a. Neither of the teams have been relying on one or two superstar forwards to do all their goal scoring in playoffs, but if you had to pick a player you expect to carry their team to cup who would it be?
b. Looking at save percentage and goals against average it seems that Beau Kavanagh has the upper hand over Justin Time. Do you think they do or are those numbers misleading?
c. Willow Söderberg-Snooks has 7 goals, 18 points, 18 takeaways and no giveaways, is that enough to make them best defenceman in finals? Who would you pick instead?
d. Which of the teams had easier path to finals?
e. Which one would win a fight, a lion or an eagle? How would it go?
f. If it ain't broke don't fix it: Who you got? Who wins? Why?
A. I don't believe many people had Winters finding this level of excellence so early in his career. He had a strong season with 75 points, but he's found another level in the post season, leading all scorers through all 3 rounds thus far. I don't expect him to fall off in the final stage so I'd lock him in as my pick to continue carrying the load offensively.
C. I agree, I believe that makes him the best in the finals. He also led all defensemen in scoring during the regular season so this certainly isn't out of the ordinary for Willow Soderberg-Snooks. His lanemate Toasty and opposing #1 defender Bellamy Blake would likely round out the top 3 in the finals this year.
D. As the 2 top teams during the regular season, the top from each of their respective conference, they both had their share of favorable matchups on their way to the finals. I'd give the edge to Baltimore though. Hamilton and Philadelphia are certainly no pushovers, but San Francisco had a second round matchup with Los Angeles that required all 7 games and was likely the toughest opponent either team had to face prior to the finals.
F. As a draftee and member of the San Francisco Pride I'd pick my lions 10 times out of 10. Bias aside I do think this is a very even matchup with no significant favorite. Based on regular season performances the edge would go to Baltimore, but San Francisco is on another level production wise and if Baltimore lets them fill the net this thing is over.
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13. Written, 2 TPE - The Procrastinator Special! (100 words min.)
Looks like [TEAM] won Season 76! Who won and why? What could the other team have done differently to change the result? What was your favorite part of the series?
The Pride won because they were the better team and managed to secure 4 wins before Baltimore did... On paper it looked a bit one sided. The top 2 seeds only needed 5 games to settle a best of 7, but aside from the 5-0 thumping in game 5 you could argue the series could've gone either way. In the case of Baltimore they needed to do better on the road in this series. Tied 1-1 going to San Francisco they dropped the game 3 and 4 decisions and were outshot by the home team. Game 4 was very close, but San Francisco snatched it away to earn the 3-1 series lead going back to Baltimore. My favorite part was when we won.
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