A. Each team enters these finals with a red hot superstar - longtime league legend Mike Izzy for Calgary and surprise breakout star Gunnar Soderberg for Tampa Bay. Which of these players will have a more dominant finals?

Weve played Tampa Bay a few times this season and i was really impressed with the teams good young talent. Gunnar Soderberg, Auston Roenick, Matt Kholin are viverant out there.. Klaus and Sawchuk bring a bit more leadership and seasoning to the line up and they have a quartet of young defenders in DuBølk, Evans, Cloutier and O’Koivu who should dominate the blue line in the east for many seasons to come. and of course they boast Flacko Lagerfield who is one of the great current players in the SHL.

But asking any 1 player or game plan to stop the Augment is asking Allot.. especially during an abrasive playoff run where Izzy has forced and pilledged his opponents to the likes of 23 points in just 13 games on a robust 25% shooting pct.. Izzy is a deviant creature on the ice and i dont see that changing in the finals.


B. Kata Vilde and Benjamin Blue are two of the best goaltenders in the league - which team has the advantage in net?



Advantages aside i think its great that Benji Blue and Kata Vilde square off in the finals as these 2 share allot of history together. Blue and Vilde were the first 2 goalies taken in the S41 draft and at the time there was allot of rumblings on which one should have been picked first. Nice to see almost a decade later these 2 are flourishing for there teams and about to take one another on in the SHL's grandest stage.


D. What's your favorite player NAME on either team? why? (note: not who's your favorite player. which player name)

Has anyone else noticed that there’s a Shooter McGavin ll lurking around on Tampa Bay roster grid? ... while I don’t like to bring up the words ‘foul play’ without due cause... I ask why The Barracuda brought in this 155 tpe Shooter imposter if there wasn’t malice in there hearts??... clearly JSS did this to try and troll the real Shooter McGavin!... luckily our Shooter does not get distracted easily... 


E. If you could choose any one of the following four options, which would you pick? 1. A chicken parm sandwich from Esa 2. A tray of cookies from c00kies 3. A custom feet pic from JSS 4. An hour long stick and puck session with Jepox

I have no idea why, but i think id be interested in seeing a JSS custom foot pic... does the man have clean cuticles? .. are they flat feet?.. are the nails cut professionaly? ... these are questions that can be answered with a .png. For the record though Cookies made by cookies are absolutley #delicious and you really havnt experienced the SHL until you sit down with Esa and engorge yourself in way to much chicken parm.

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I think that player for me is Robert Phelps who is the team leader and face of the Hamilton Steelhawks. I think Phelps thoroughly deserves a trip to the finals for all hes contributed to that franchise.... drafted in S35 to a team that hadnt been relevant for many seasons the 1OA came in and gave the franchise instant credibility as well as a bonafied stud on the ice which began to move that team in the right direction. Under Drunkenteddy's coaching, Hamilton began to showcase a lineup that competed deep into the playoffs and if Teddy wouldnt have left as GM i have no doubt that Hamilton would have a ring by now. But after his departure the team sunk back and hasnt come up for air until this past season where the franchise (in large part to Phelps and his 55 points) came within 2 games of the challenge cup finals. Hamilton is now on the right track and Id like to see Robert Phelps eventually win a title, he could have left Hamilton and won championships elsewhere, but instead he has stayed loyal to his franchise and that commitment is worthy of some hardware. --> @DrunkenTeddy

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Calgary management will not be happy about this but i have stolen the game 3 opening intro to be played on the Big-Parm videotron which i am posting here! I think this 30 second intro best represents the general feeling in the Calgary clubhouse as this new generation of dragons have spent allot of time together and have truly grown into a community of friends who respect and enjoy one another. BTW were also damn good on the ice!. We got here together, #CalgaWe will try and win it together! ... while its kind of self serving to say im rooting for Calgary, i will say that this late in my career i feel blessed and honoured to take the ice with the these players in that clubhouse.

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7. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)
As competition ramps up for the playoffs, players (both those still in and those eliminated) work extra hard to improve areas of their game that are lacking. What one area of your game do you really needs to focus on improving and how will this benefit the team?

Mike Izzy’s game has been quite consistent for quite a while now so I wouldn’t say there was anything lacking... but being this deep into regression you can only keep Father time at bay for so long... so this offseason will come with some real decisions for Mike Izzy... the main one being if I should stay at center for 1 more year, a position that I have called home for 10 seasons now. Izzy’s natural spot in the lineup is left wing and as I wind down my career that’s a spot I can move back to and play at a high level as I wouldn’t have to worry about face offs and the added strength needed to play center. I can’t worry about that now as i embark on my 6th challenge Cup appearance.. but it’s something I plan to give real thought too in the offseason.

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**PM sent to PT Director**

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14. Written, 2 TPE - The Procrastinator Special! (100 words min)
Welp, you waited until the last day to grind out your CW and the CC finals are longggggggg over by now. congrats to [TEAM], woo! Reflecting back on the series, who gets your vote for series MVP? Make the case why this player deserves it over any other.


I don't know who will win the series MVP, but with the series over id like to shout out the Tampa Bay Barrcudas who came in, layed it all out on the line and made this as hard a fought series as can be. its a young bunch but a classy group and they handled themselves great throughout the whole series. JSS has been masterful in building up this group, making moves that needed to be made and coaching his way into the challenge cup. That's a real good group, they all came into the threads and rallied around each other and i have no doubt that this TBB squad will be fishing around the finals for many seasons to come.

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Mike Izzy TPE = 16+