After yesterday announcements we are left to 5 people with whom Head Office will conduct a series of interviews in designated discord server and decide afterward who will be the final two people receiving the grand honor of leading two new expansion teams into SHL. My branding for a potential team (not an SHL one tough :( ) is still very much work in progress so I turned towards another expansion related topic.

As mentioned in my previous article I put my own bid and, though didn't really had much hope for it anyway, as it turns out I was right. Still, I'm not really salty, because I can't say I was a better candidate, especially from the SHL only perspective than any other person on this list:

• @artermis
  
• @Chris-McZehrl
  
• @jcfbey01
  
• @JKortesi81
  
• @Velevra
  

So without further ado let's learn something about each candidate, keep in mind this is written from the perspective of a person that joined SHL only last March, so apologies for any discrepancies and feel free to correct me. Don't treat it too much serious either!

Artemis joined the league back in May of 2014.
League Jobs: Prince George Firebirds GM, IIHF Commissioner, Czechoslovakia IIHF Head
Other leagues activity: Nothing I know of
Players: (S19) LW Marek Vyskoć - was a Wolfpack lifer that played for Vancouver Whalers in the SMJHL. He was able to win S23 Challenge Cup, but amassed just 64 points during his 8 seasons in the SHL. Was also avid Thunderdomer back in the day.
(S29) D - Barak Obrana - Teammate of McZehrl during S34 Rage cup run. Just 4 full seasons in SHL in a career that ended quite quickly due to early retirement.
(S36) RW - Dionýz Vyskoč - The current player and winner of challenge cup in S41 and S43 with the  
My Take: I have a pleasure to share   Locker Room with him and is a great guy here, with immense knowledge about SHL (well, like most of the candidates tbf) and certainly a worthy candidate in the Top 5! If there is a person that can finally open up SHL to some more interesting markets that would be Artemis with his love for the international competitions.
Probable Team Name:   Českoslovenští z Českých Budějovic
KEWL Rating (Average of the votes among  people in the community, with one limitation - they nick starts with one of the letters - K, E, W or L - ~20 people were questioned, thank you very much for the answer!): 6.308

Chris-McZehrl is Member of SHL since the start of 2012.
League Jobs: Head GM of LAP Co-GM of CGY (won the president trophy) Co-GM of SEA (won the Challenge Cup) Co-GM of MAN (won the Challenge Cup) Coach of BUF (came into the playoffs for the second time) GM and Coach of Germany for several times (won most medals and games of all GMs/Coaches in Germany history) Co-Head of Team Germany (S40-S43) Player Updater Head SHL (updated the whole league twice) Allstar Committee SHL HoF Committee SHL (currently Award Committee SHL (currently) Commish of IIHF (currently) Co-Commish of WJC in SHL
Other leagues activity:  GMing 4 different Teams in NHL09 Leagues (won 3 cups) GM in the FGMHL GMing overall 8 teams in different EHM Leagues /currently one Team in the last german EHM old version (won 2 Cups) Head Commish for one of the last dying NHL09 Leagues in Germany Trade-Commissioner for 2 NHL09 Leagues
Players: (S8) C - Chris McZehrl almost 800 points in that great career that was quite a journey, from Los Angeles via Calgary and Seattle to finally end in Boston, where he won S23 Challenge Cup. Hall of Fame player.
(S24) RW - Vincent-Leon-Anze Draisaitl-McZehrl 694 career points and three titles during that career. Hall of Fame, point record holder.
(S40) D - Gottlieb-Odilo-Dankward McZehrl Newest player, that while young is already accomplished and easily could become the cornerstone for up and coming expansion team.
My Take: Back in the day he had a penchant for some interesting series of articles:

Lewy's fan back in the day! As many posts & threads as opinions about him, but he certainly lives and breathes the SHL. Only one who won with more than 3 different teams a Challenge Cup (5: SEA (Co-GM), NEW, CGY, MAN (Co-GM) & WPG)
Probable Team Name: Borrusia Chicago Balls
KEWL Rating (Average of the votes among people in the community, with one limitation - they nick starts with one of the letters - K, E, W or L - ~20 people were questioned, thank you very much for the answer!): 4.923

jcfbey01 the youngest, in terms of SHL experience, joined the league in February and is the part of the same draft class as me.
League Jobs:  co-GM   ,   GM
Other leagues activity: GM in both GOMHL and NSHL 
Players:   (S41) D - Kristaps Ball young player, that I assisted on his first ever SHL goal! A little bit behind rest of his class in TPE but he certainly knows how to build a good player too.
My Take: He seems to be around and was already entrusted with big roles in the league, both managing in SMJHL and now at the SHL level. Still, a bit surprising for me he passed for the final 5, as you won't see huge activity from him whether, in form of articles, graphics or forums presence overall.
Probable Team Name: Riga Potaters
KEWL Rating (Average of the votes among people in the community, with one limitation - they nick starts with one of the letters - K, E, W or L - ~20 people were questioned, thank you very much for the answer!): 4.846

JKortesi81 is on the site for two years and a half, joining midway through 2016.
League Jobs:  Head Office,   GM, Banker,
Other leagues activity:  Active in NSFL, PBE (HO in the early days of the league), NSHL
Players:   (S31) RW - Joe Kurczewski the league MVP, 550 points already, 3 times champion on Hall Of Fame trajectory.
My Take: Least surprising name on the least and certainly a name that floated ever since expansion teams were announced. But is it surprising, he is certainly a great fit and perfect man for the job. I've had most of the interactions of all candidates with Joe and he is wonderful person that you can count on to support you and help when needed. Easily could've applied for another GM job in the SHL but stayed loyal throughout the years to the , until this season it was apparent that he will apply for an expansion team. While Kurczewski's career starts the twilight he is still MVP career player and his recreate will fit right into next generation that will lead expansion
Probable Team Name: Saint Louis Dragons/Calgary Scarecrows
KEWL Rating (Average of the votes among people in the community, with one limitation - they nick starts with one of the letters - K, E, W or L - ~25 people were questioned, thank you very much for the answer!): 7.692

Velevra joined the SHL in December of 2012.
League Jobs: IIHF Commissioner,    GM (I think as a duo with McZehrl back in S1x), SMJHL Commissioner
Other leagues activity:  Nothing that I know of
Players:   (S12) D - Shawn Velevra - 665 points in 953 games during 19 years career. Hall of Famer, back to back titles in S20 & 21.
(S32) LW - Luke Atmey - S38 Challenge Cup Winner with Rage and currently player for Stampede. Great pace, HoF like, with 568 points in 600 games.
My take: Seemingly a legend of the past I especially respect Commissioner role, since it's not an easy job, speaking from experience. Being responsible for IIHF going strong for ~20 seasons is yet another achievement and testament to Velevra commitment. Unfortunately for me we didn't have much opportunity to interact, since my IIHF career started to kick off when Velevra stepped down and the latest published article is presser dating back to middle though ~2017, league has also evolved a lot and most of both team and management business (at least in my case) is handled through Discords nowadays.
Probable Team Name: Quebec City Wheelers
KEWL Rating (Average of the votes among people in the community, with one limitation - they nick starts with one of the letters - K, E, W or L - ~20 people were questioned, thank you very much for the answer!): 7.231

I hope you enjoyed the read and I wish good luck to all the candidates during the interviews. Hopefully, you learned more about these pillars of SHL community, as did I, it was certainly interesting to research users for a time instead of other aspects of the league we usually focus on like players, results, teams. I think if you read an article you can see I have a personal favorite, but the league and expansion are in safe hands, no matter what Head Office decides, and these are never easy choices.