11-21-2024, 03:34 PM(This post was last modified: 11-24-2024, 04:34 PM by mee. 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.
shuff
+3 TPE
Writing Prompts
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Written, 50 to 200+ words each. Short Prompts
2. Gnabe Dabson leads in both goals and points while Tony Soprano is second for both. Is that enough to give offensive advantage to Philadelphia?
3. Cale Salad is currently 6 points ahead of next defencemen in points for these playoffs, if they keep it up could we see defenceman winning Anton Razov?
4. High end offensive talent is cool and all but Justin Time is ahead of BASE PACK on save%, goals against average and goals saved above average. Can Philadelphia solve them or is it Time for another Challenge Cup in San Francisco?
5. San Francisco has more goals scored per games played than Philadelphia, mostly because of their depth scoring. Which players that aren’t part of first powerplay unit do you expect to have high impact in this series?
6. Which team to miss out from the Finals was best in your opinion? Why them?
7. This time for J: Who you got? Who wins the Four Star Cup? Why?
2) Heck ya. Tony and Gnabe are the best. It isn't even close. By the way they don't play on the same line so it isn't like they are feeding each other assists. Basically the Forge have the best two centers. Center is the most important offensive position. So Forge better offense. (51 words, +1 TPE)
3) Cale is having an unreal playoffs. Scored two more in game one by the way. Still it's mostly on the powerplay so hard to really say he is driving tons of offense. With what Gnabe Dabson and Tony Sparano are doing it terms of points I can't really see one of them not getting the nod. (56 words, +1 TPE)
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8. Written, 50 to 200+ words.
Both teams had to only face elimination in game during their journey to finals as San Francisco was taken to game seven by Calgary on second round, while Manhattan took Philadelphia to game 7 during their first round matchup. While both conference finals had multiple close matchups both teams should be coming to the finals being pretty confident to themselves. Both have also lost only one game at home so far, which would give advantage to Presidents’ Trophy winning San Francisco. But who do you think will end up lifting the Challenge Cup? Which team has the edge and why?
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9. Written, 50 to 200+ words.
During their 20 seasons in league Philadelphia has never missed the playoffs. Which is impressive but still there are other teams with longer playoffs streaks, while other teams clean the house others try to stay afloat and do a retool while still staying in playoffs, both with varying successes. Out of last 5 Challenge Cup winners both Los Angeles and San Francisco missed playoffs about 6 seasons before they won their cup while New England has been in playoffs since S67. What in your opinion is best way to achieve success in SHL? Is it better to have high but shorter peak or should teams try to aim staying close to top but likely never reaching it for longer, potentially almost indefinitely? Can they somehow do both?
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10. Written, 50 to 200+ words. But I Thought You Were Tanking
For first time since league changed to 66 game schedule all teams in league finished with more than 30 points and it wasn’t by small margin as Edmonton who finished last ended up with 38 points, which would have been enough to make playoffs ten seasons ago. Do you think it shows change in mentality of teams when it comes to tanking? Maybe they just got lucky? Or are we seeing the impact of the changes to how draft order is determined?
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11. Written, 50 to 200+ words. Finals Roadtrip
Your team has scheduled a road trip to go see games 1 and 2 of the SHL finals between San Francisco and Philadelphia (or to four-star cup finals between those games if your player plays for either team). You’re in charge of officially setting up the trip. The only rule? You gotta go by bus! Where do you stop along the way? Which of your teammates are you most excited to go on a trip with? Do you end up missing game 1 and 2 because of the many stops between your team’s home city to San Francisco that you’ve planned? Does the bus end up breaking down at any point? How does the trip go? If you’re on a team playing in the finals, plan a trip to the first away games instead (by bus ofcourse, for teambuilding and fun).
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12. Written, 50 to 200+ words. Old Reliable IIHF Analysis
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 do you expect them to change this time?
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13. Written, 50 to 200+ words. Five Nation Tournament
The only international tournaments in SHL are WJC and IIHF but in real life we have had Olympics, World Cups and now the 4 Nation tournament. What kind of tournaments besides of IIHF and WJC you’d like to see in SHL? How they would be different from the current tournaments? How often they would be played and would they be played instead of current tournaments or would both be held at the same time? Or would you think it would be instead better to restructure current tournaments?
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14. Written, 50 to 200+ words.- The Procrastinator Special!
Looks like [TEAM] won Season 79 Challenge Cup! So who won and why? What could the other team have done differently to change the result? What was your favorite part of the series?
11-21-2024, 04:07 PM(This post was last modified: 11-22-2024, 10:54 AM by TheOPSquid. Edited 1 time in total.)
1. tentacles
+3 TPE
2. Philadelphia having both Dabson and Soprano in the top 2 spots for points and goals does showcase Philadelphia's ability to produce offense, but I don't think it necessarily gives them an advantage. Philadelphia has two players putting up crazy numbers but San Francisco is a deep team that can run 3 scoring lines and have everyone produce at or near a point per game. Philadelphia has been pretty solid defensively and has won 9 of their 20 playoff games by allowing 2 or fewer goals. Philadelphia will need to stifle the Pride's deep scoring lineup in order to win the cup this season, while San Francisco will need to have their depth continue to light the lamp against a defensive team like the Forge. (124 words) +2 TPE
10. I think that we are in kind of a transition period for the league right now, the teams that were tanking to get high draft picks that were affected by the draft order changes had already acquired a few top end or core prospects before the changes and have been surrounding them with talented players over the past couple drafts. The past few draft classes have all been pretty deep especially in the first round so the need to tank for the first overall pick hasn't been needed and you can still get an amazing user at 2nd-10th in my opinion. We are also in a spot where the teams that were tanking during the draft changes are trying to sneak their way into a playoff spot or trying to push for the playoffs slowly right now, while there also isn't any teams that have done major sell-offs to start a rebuild. We may see that in the next few seasons but with the lottery changes we may not really see that anymore. (173 words) +3 TPE
4. Justin Time is not human. He is some kind of outer god that doesn't even know what TPE is, much less care about it. Age means nothing to him; I'm not sure he even understands the concept of ageing. Humans transform whenever he blinks his eyes, and then abruptly stop working for some reason he is intellectually aware of but has not truly grasped. Hockey is the only means by which he can process the idea of time as a measure of motion: the puck is either in the net, moving towards the net, or moving away from the net, and time is the way one measures the interchange between those states. The game moves along a set number of temporal increments, a paltry attempt to measure and control the Endless Now of Justin's inhuman existence but at least somewhat intelligible to him, and then stops at an arbitrary point for an arbitrary reason. The only thing that isn't arbitrary is whether the puck is in the net. This is why the immortal chose to play goalie: he alone is the arbiter of whether or not a goal is scored. There are no assists, there are no bad passes, there are no teammates out of position - there is only Justin Time and the puck. And soon, there will be Justin Time and another Challenge Cup. (225 words - 4 TPE)
8. San Francisco is the best team in the league this season. The East can cope about the number of tankjobs in the West until the cows come home, but three factors combine to make that irrelevant here: first, most of those tankjobs are in the Central, while Frisco is in the Pacific; second, ascendant Calgary and archrival Los Angeles got shot after shot at the Pride but found them too tough to crack; third, none of those tankjobs make the playoffs. Frisco choke-slammed Calgary, who had in turn put LA away after an incredibly disappointing outing that suggests the Panthers took their upstart opponents lightly, then treated Texas, the perennial bridesmaid of the West, with all the kindness of an industrial wood chipper. Philly will put up a fight, but this is Frisco's series to lose. (136 words - 2 TPE)
10. Finally, this league has fixed its tank problem. Even basement dwellers actually build rosters of human beings and don't stuff themselves to the gills with as many 325 inactives as they can find. The kind of tanking we saw before the draft changes is gone for good and not a moment too soon. No one will mourn its passing. This also further undermines Eastern Conference cope about the West being "easier"; even the tanks aren't as easy outs as they were three seasons ago. I don't think there was or can be any mentality change in the tanking front offices. You want the highest draft picks you can get and you will do whatever you can to get those picks. You can't blame the GMs for tanking when the league rules reward doing so. I also don't think they just got lucky. One team can get lucky, but the entire platoon of tanks in this league all overperforming to an extent that would've been good enough for playoffs ten seasons ago at the same time simply doesn't happen. Not even FHM is that shit. Good on the league for stopping the egregious tanking we saw before and replacing it with more reasonable tanking. HO good. (205 words - 4 TPE)
Wrote enough for 10 TPE just in case a word counter screwed me over. I understand that the max to be earned from this task is 8.
9) The teams simply cannot do both, with roster sizes as they are and the salary cap where it stands. It isn't possible to be consistently contentious, and the teams that aim for consistency are very aware of this. I would prefer if strength over time was rewarded with wins over time, but the way that the league's salary cap itself is structured means that fielding top talent season on season, year on year, is just something that can't happen. While it's possible that one may be able to, say, produce a roster that may be frighteningly dominant for a number of seasons, one must also remember that, because that is the clear dominant strategy, that everyone else will likely be doing the same thing - the teams which show consistent non-cup success are not playing the game "wrong" in any way, but they also aren't truly playing it to *win,* either. Simply put, you're *forced* to build as large a team as possible, and abandon as many of the future prospects that you'll need as possible, in order to have a shot at the greatest successes. I don't think this is necessarily good for the long-term health of the league, but there's also simply no other option if you want to win.
And if you want to win, you need to play to win.
[237 words], +4 TPE
12) Quebec is in the midst of building itself up as a franchise, scoring excellent pickups across the board that will, in time, lead it to incredible success. That said, the old roster has largely been gutted, and the state of the team at present is excellent and high in energy, but very low in TPE totals and chemistry overall - in the IIHF especially, that's a tough nut to crack - the salary cap is much more generous, and against large teams like the USA and Canada, there are many many many teams loaded to the brim with either 2k or near-2k levels of rosters, with which Quebec simply will not be able to compete - at least not yet. My boy, my Matthias, is going to do the best he can on the second line, but he has limitations that simply render him not truly viable within the tournament just yet - it sucks, but it also leaves him in a position to grow with his dman partner @Ara as things continue to develop and improve - we've begun fielding a nearly-all active roster, largely due to the trading efforts of @Revontulete and I - the future of the team looks bright, so long as we continue to find good talent, and treat it well!
11-21-2024, 06:29 PM(This post was last modified: 11-23-2024, 12:54 PM by Chris-McZehrl. Edited 2 times in total.)
1. Trivia (= 3 TPE)
2. Gnabe Dabson leads in both goals and points while Tony Soprano is second for both. Is that enough to give offensive advantage to Philadelphia?
In my opinion with this fact they should dominate the offense. On the other side you also never should forget the Defense Point of the opponents. It is always the question how good is the Offense and Defense of the series. I can see here the conflict that San Francisco could beat them up with the better defense. But we will see what will happen in the sim for sure. For me as neutral viewer I hope it will be thrilling and goes to 7 games. Small fact is also that after Dabson and Soprano we have seven San Francisco Pride players. That is also amazing to see. So maybe it will also be a clash of the offensive teams. (120 words = 2 TPE)
3. Cale Salad is currently 6 points ahead of next defencemen in points for these playoffs, if they keep it up could we see defenceman winning Anton Razov?
I always go with say never no to something. All can happen and it is also a question how good the individual players perform also in the Cup Final. If you do not see those players shine in the most important series all season long, then they should not deserve a Razov. If you have an overall top performance + top performance in the playoffs, then why not? We do not need always only the forwards or Goalies as Razov winners. Of course also Defender are very important and can bring up Gamewinners after Gamewinners. So I would say all is possible this Playoffs. (103 Words = 2 TPE)
6. Which team to miss out from the Finals was best in your opinion? Why them?
I will go with my boys the Texas Renegades. They had a hell of a season and on some point in the last reg season games the struggle began. It is frustrating if that happens so late and there is no turnaround. But they still was a fighting force in the playoffs and lost to the finalist the San Francisco Pride. They smashed the Seattle Argonauts and the Minnesota Monarchs until get also smashed by the Pride. Maybe the power was gone after this two smashing first series. But if Texas would be in the finals no one would blame about it. So yeah I go surely with the Texas Renegades. (111 words = 2 TPE)
9. Written, 50 to 200+ words.
During their 20 seasons in league Philadelphia has never missed the playoffs. Which is impressive but still there are other teams with longer playoffs streaks, while other teams clean the house others try to stay afloat and do a retool while still staying in playoffs, both with varying successes. Out of last 5 Challenge Cup winners both Los Angeles and San Francisco missed playoffs about 6 seasons before they won their cup while New England has been in playoffs since S67. What in your opinion is best way to achieve success in SHL? Is it better to have high but shorter peak or should teams try to aim staying close to top but likely never reaching it for longer, potentially almost indefinitely? Can they somehow do both?
In my opinion there is not the one way. You can do it like Buffalo, having a nice core and bringing in from time to time new prospects and they replace from time to time the open roster spots or you do a very hard rebuild and being ready after 3-5 seasons for the playoffs. You also can try with Free Agencies and trades to stay up and in the playoffs. So it is too easy to say there is only one way because that is not true after all. Any GM need to have their vision and bring up cojones to make their vision comes true. Without creativity and vision the teams would be wasted. (116 words = 2 TPE)
Chris McZehrl III - Anchorage Armada
Challenge Cup Wins:
S18 - Seattle Riot (with Chris McZehrl)*
S23 - New England Wolfpack (with Chris McZehrl)*
S27 - Calgary Dragons (with VLAD McZehrl)**
S34 - Manhattan Rage (with VLAD McZehrl)
S37 - Winnipeg Jets (with VLAD McZehrl)
S46 - Buffalo Stampede (with GOD McZehrl)*
*first ever Challenge Cup of Franchise History
**first ever Challenge Cup win after 0-3 in Finals Series
Four Star Cup Wins:
S24 - Vancouver Whalers (with VLAD McZehrl)
S39 - St. Louis Scarecrows (with GOD McZehrl)
On Paper, I can see it being a advantage to the Forge. Both players have been outstanding this year and they could easily take control of a game. However, The Pride have a bit more consistent scoring throughout their lineup so it will depend how much the rest of the Forge will perform as well.
(55 words)
Short Prompt 3:
Cale Salad has been amazing these playoffs, arguably the best defenceman in the playoffs right now. If Cale plays even better in the finals, I can definitely see them winning the Anton Razov. However, with the amount of great players in the playoffs right now, it might be a tall task to achieve.
(53 words)
Short Prompt 4:
There is a reason why Justin Time won the John McBride Trophy and was nominated three times for it. They are arguably one of the best goalies in the entire league. Philadelphia will have a tough time solving them if they are totally locked in. It all depends if the Forge's top end talent can find a way to get pucks past them.
(63 words)
Short Prompt 5:
One player I think will have a big impact is Mercedes Bayle. The big winger is always an offensive threat and has been great these playoffs. Viktor Hargreeves has always been scoring machine so they are always a player to look out for. Edzus Ozolins is another threat to keep an eye on too.
mee![[Image: x17WALp.png]](https://i.imgur.com/x17WALp.png)
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![[Image: TheOPSquid.gif]](https://sig.grumpybumpers.com/host/TheOPSquid.gif)
![[Image: v2ZHYxx.png]](https://i.imgur.com/v2ZHYxx.png)
![[Image: ZergRush.gif]](https://sig.grumpybumpers.com/host/ZergRush.gif)
![[Image: McZehrlIII.jpg?ex=667c5d3b&is=667b0bbb&h...3f94d487d&]](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/540045845895184387/1255227528914931892/McZehrlIII.jpg?ex=667c5d3b&is=667b0bbb&hm=6a702fde9a7998a581d9203dc9c63398c797d22ee73d94bd6bc8c3e3f94d487d&)
Seattle Riot (with Chris McZehrl)*
New England Wolfpack (with Chris McZehrl)*
Calgary Dragons (with VLAD McZehrl)**
Manhattan Rage (with VLAD McZehrl)
Winnipeg Jets (with VLAD McZehrl)
Buffalo Stampede (with GOD McZehrl)*
Vancouver Whalers (with VLAD McZehrl)
St. Louis Scarecrows (with GOD McZehrl)
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