I went to my home town in Sweden after the end of the Jets season, which is Gothenburg. I wasn't sure I was even going but my team told me not to miss the opportunity and to go. I think they were just proud of a player coming from there to the SHL, it's a big deal. My family showed up to pick me up and took me to a small parade in my honor. Hundreds of supporters and friends turned out waving signs of encouragement. I received a trophy from the mayor honoring my accomplishments and it felt really special, I am glad I went. Cameras filmed all of the ceremony so now it's on youtube and it was all over the evening news there. I didn't realize how big of an impact my pro career had made on my city but now I'm even more determined to become a star in the league.
2. I think that @JR95 and @Wongy have the advantage because they just had the pressure on them and had to battle to win the last series, the seven game showdown with Buffalo prepared them to face Calgary and I think they figured out the tactics, lines, and strategies that work best for them in the postseason. I also think that they had to be creative regular season too to get back to the playoffs so that also helps them.
4. I think that Otis B. Driftwood @Slappydoodle is the key to Calgary winning the title if they do in S47 because he's the most important part of their defense and also really important to their offense. He will have to keep their power play and defense open and probably play lots of minutes, his team needs him.
6. I think Maxime Bouchard @Weretarantula from S45 can break out and start scoring in bunches, his team really needs secondary scoring and to break down West Kendall's defense. He had a decent rookie season and this finals opportunity can get him proper recognition around the league if he plays well, even get him more minutes next year.
8. I think Beajeaux Biscuit @.bojo has a better chance just because he has slightly more TPE and he is riding a lot of momentum after playing great the last few games in the conference finals, that must be a major confidence booster. Kata Vilde @BarnabasCollin will be good but Biscuit has the edge in experience too so I just think he'll be just enough better.
I think it was the Buffalo Stampede because they won the cup last year and were looking for a repeat this year. They had every chance to win but they kind of choked and led the Platoon win three straight games. I think the reason they fell short is they couldn't come up big when it counted most and there wasn't the heart and the drive. They got shut out the last game of the series even when they should have realized "oh my we are facing elimination it's game 7 we need to win", instead sort of playing halfheartedly. I think after you win you get complacent and that's what bit the Buffalo Stampede this year, they needed to lose to get back into form next year probably. Still, their fans expected a lot more after finally getting results last year and they were favorites among the SHL crowd so probably the biggest disappointment of a team.
So the Calgary Dragons knocked out the Texas Renegades, but the Renegades have some awesome defensemen that can help out with guys like @Slappydoodle Otis B. Driftwood. I think the defenseman Calgary would pick would be Liam O'Callaghan @Dangles13 just because he had a great season and he's an awesome scoring, physical, two-way defender. Otis B. Driftwood could be ahead of him in the lineup still as their top option, taking the first pairing challenging duties, but O'Callaghan on pairing two would be pretty much unfair because he's a true #1 too, so there's basically no rest for the opposing teams forwards, no easy matchups. O'Callaghan could also be on the second power play unit because he's a great passer and has a great shot, and he could also help out with penalty killing duties because he's a responsible guy, he can do it all. I think this would help a lot by seeing a slight rise in the Calgary scoring and also a decrease in the opposing team's scoring against Calgary.
The West Kendall Platoon led by @JR95 and @Wongy needed some serious fighting spirit and creativity from their management to come back against Buffalo down 3-1 in the series, especially after the crushing blow they started the series off on getting shut out in Game 1. They must have felt really heart broken too after losing to Buffalo in over time in game 4 and being back two games facing elimination is super hard to claw your way back in, but West Kendall wasn't a team to give up. Instead, they won two one goal games with their goalie Beaujeaux Biscuit @.bojo coming up big and stopping practically everything Buffalo threw at him. They slammed the door shut in Game 7, with Biscuit playing lights out and LITERALLY stopping everything Buffalo put on net. This shutout performance under pressure was really impressive and they triumphed despite the challenge and adversity of that conference final series.