11-09-2019, 07:05 PM(This post was last modified: 11-10-2019, 09:59 AM by Gwdjohnson.)
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2. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min)
After a slow start to the regular season, the Dragons have surged of late and have rallied around the #CalgaWe notion of togetherness. On the other side, the Barracuda battled through a difficult East and are led by a very strong young core. Which team are you personally rooting for to take home the Challenge Cup and why?
Unfortunately, Gabe Johnson would say the Tampa Bay Barracuda are the team he's rooting for. And it's only unfortunate because of one person: Flacko Lagerfield. While Johnson is a huge fan of many Tampa Bay stars like Nikolai Evans, Anastasia O'Koivu, Nolan Sawchuk and many more names that would be too word-consuming to list, his pure and unwavering hatred for Lagerfield makes it hard for him cheer on Tampa in these finals. He feels Lagerfield is pompous, overrated, and a bad sport, but aside from him Tampa is just full of lovable people he would love to see win a cup.
(101 words)
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4. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)
Alternate Reality: Physicists and other smarties believe that this reality is just one of infinite realities existing alongside this one in parallel. Take us over to one of those realities in which everything is the same but these S50 playoffs have unfolded differently. What happened in this reality's playoffs and who's in the Challenge Cup over there?
(WARNING: THIS IS A JOKE I AM NOT SALTY) In an alternate reality where the cup finalists are actually based on merit, we would see a finals unfold between the Hamilton Steelhawks and San Francisco Pride. Hamilton in this alternate timeline see the sheer genius of coach Aaron Wilson trump the brilliance of Benjamin Blue, and complete a comeback from 3-1 down in the series against Tampa Bay in order to get themselves into the finals. As for San Francisco, after winning the President's Trophy, they manage to...uhhhh...not get swept by a wild card team despite high expectations? This would of course involve a timeline where Efficiency Extraordinaire Jonas Larsen ( @DaftRaincloud ) carries his team through, due to his astronomically high scoring rate, while all who challenge San Fran in the West cower before him. In the end, a hard-fought finals sees Hamilton top the Pride, thanks to Gabe Johnson's heroics, as his 14 points in 12 games for Hamilton clearly demonstrated he would dominate the finals given the opportunity.
(169 words)
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6. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)
Who's the best player that you have witnessed in the SHL never to make it to the Challenge Cup finals? Or what player that hasn't made it to the finals is most deserving and why? Were they close? Was theirs a story of hearbreak? Is there still hope in the future? (150+ words)
The obvious answer for me is a player who is not only the best in the league currently, but is also the best to not make the finals ever. This player, of course, is Mikhail Lokitonov of Toronto. Loki hit the 500 game mark this season for the North Stars, and in that timeframe he has a remarkable 473 points, winning multiple Karpotsev trophies, as well as multiple Jeff Dar trophies for the best two-way forward. Despite all this, Toronto's series win against Manhattan this season was astoundingly the very first time Lokitonov was involved in a series win with Toronto, as he put up 11 points in 12 games before eventually being eliminated by current finalists Tampa Bay. Despite Toronto's woeful playoff record, Lokitonov himself has been very solid in the postseason, notching 28 points in 41 games despite almost all of his playoff involvements ending with an early elimination. Someone please get this legend a cup, although he will probably make the Hall of Fame anyway.
(168 words)
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13. Written, up to 5 TPE Pick up to 5 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words to qualify.
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?
B. Kata Vilde and Benjamin Blue are two of the best goaltenders in the league - which team has the advantage in net?
C. Do you expect this to be a high-scoring series or a low-scoring series? A mix? Do you think it'll be competitive or will one team run away with it?
D. What's your favorite player NAME on either team? why? (note: not who's your favorite player. which player name)
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
A. With how much the Dragons have been on fire these playoffs, it's a no-brainer Mike Izzy would've been the preferred bet going into these finals. The veteran had an astounding 13 goals and 23 points in 13 games leading up to the finals, after a great regular season where he notched 51 in 50. Soderberg is great, too, but Izzy is easily one of the best in the business. (69 words)
B. Easily Tampa Bay. Vilde is a good goalie and all, but when Ben Blue is on his game there is no better goalie in the league. After a fantastic regular season for Blue that was a huge contributor to Tampa topping the East, his heroics have not stopped in these playoffs, as he is close to taking home a cup with Tampa. (62 words)
C. Going into the series, I would've said low-scoring for sure. Both teams have goalies ready to stand on their heads if need be, as well as a veteran core of defencemen who know how to shut down offence. However, with star-studded forward groups on both ends, it's no surprise that it's been rather high-scoring in the end. (57 words)
D. Gotta be Maui for me. I'm a big fan of soccer, where players who go by just one name are very common, so I love seeing it leak into this hockey league as well. Also, the name makes me think of the Easter Island head emoji (Maui -> Moai) so it always makes me giggle. (54 words)
E. What kind of question is this? Who would want pictures of jss' finger-esque toes? He told me he can pick up a pencil with them and I was just disturbed. As long as it doesn't cause him discomfort it is pretty cool though. Anyway, give me the stick and puck with Jepox any day of the week, no amount of cookies...or whatever the fuck a Chicken Park is...could top that. (70 words)
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15. Casual Member Special, 3 TPE max - 1 TPE for participation, 0.5 TPE for each correct answer - SEND ANSWER IN PM TO "PT DIRECTOR" (tagged below)
A. As defined by draft class, who is the oldest player in this series?
B. What is the name of the Calgary Dragons' Arena?
C. Name 3 previous names of the Tampa Bay Barracuda franchise
D. From these two teams, which player had the most PIMs in the S50 regular season? (Look, I'll even give you a link to the index right below this code box. When I posted the link directly, it auto-corrected the colon + slash into a partial frown face; it looks funny and the link still works so i'm leaving it)
Gwdjohnson![[Image: Gabe-lights.png]](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/853563288988942356/1023840211416928318/Gabe-lights.png)
![[Image: nMz40Vc.gif]](https://i.imgur.com/nMz40Vc.gif)
