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?

Well, this reality starts the same as well. The Dragons beat the Panthers and the North Stars beat the Rage. Round 2 goes as planned with the Dragons sweeping the Pride, the Specters taking care of the Blizzard. The North Stars are stopped by Tampa and the Stampede run into the Steelhawks. But here's the twist: Cain doesn't become dogshit against Calgary and they pull out the series in 6, winning 4 straight after losing the first two games. He posts a .927 against the Dragons, only losing the first two by a goal. The Barracuda take the Steelhawks to 7 before reigning triumphant and match up against NOLA in the Specter's second finals as a franchise. Cain continues his magic and shuts the Barracuda out twice in the first two games before losing game three letting in 3 goals on 58 shots. Game 4 and 5 are victories as well and Cain finally hoists the cup. And then I woke up.

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)

I'd go with Luke Thomason on the Rage. It's gotta be frustrating being the TPE leader in your class and never making it to the finals, stopped short at the conference finals numerous times. He's put up some decent pt totals but never gotten a whiff of the cup, shackled to a young Rage team that looks good on paper but has never quite put it together. He has the makings of a superstar and has been very loyal to the rage but you might wonder if he will go cup chasing at some point, going to greener pastures and maybe helping build a super team. You may say the Rage are as promising as any young team but they have been since s46 and show no signs of actually making a splash in the post season. Even an expansion team made the finals before they ended their drought and it may be time for a shakeup in the lineup.

8. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min)
Which player from Calgary or Tampa Bay would you bet on to win a regular season individual award in a future season? What player and what award? What makes you think they'll live up to their potential and take home the hardware?

I'm going to go with Nickolas Klaus from Tampa Bay. He has played really well in past seasons, exceeding expectations and I think he will be a 30+ goal scorer in the future. He just seems to click on the Barracuda and has the makings of a superstar in this league. He makes an impact on the ice and I can see a scoring title or perhaps a MVP award on the way, especially once the young forward hits his prime in 3 or 4 seasons. He is definitely a player to watch on the Barracuda and for the forseeable future as Tampa has built a contender and looks to win many team and individual awards in the coming seasons.

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

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A. Mike Izzy has been unstoppable. Arguably at the tail end of his prime, he can still hang with the best of them and pot genos all day and all night. Shooting at a 25% before entering the finals, if he shoots 4 shots in a game, one of them is going in and that's incredible.

B. Kata Vilde is the best goalie in the league, bar none. Countless great seasons for the goaltender and a couple of individual awards as well. He is unstoppable in net and can bail out a team all by himself. Shutting down the league's top offense on route to a sweep, Vilde gives the Dragons a definite edge in net.

C. I think the Dragons have all of the upper hands in this series. Offense with Mike Izzy, McGavin and others, defense with Driftwood, and goaltending with Vilde. It will be a tough battle for the Barracuda and it is up to Blue to keep his team in this. If Blue falters, it will be high scoring. If he doesn't it'll be low scoring. The series rests on his large shoulders.

D. Michael "Augment" Izzicus is by far the most iconic name and face in the SHL. Synonymous with winning, Izzy is the face of the Dragons franchise and a legend on a legendary Calgary team. He has my favorite name and nothing will change my mind. My least favorite name is Flacko Lagerfield on the Barracuda. What kind of name is Flacko. Stupid.

E. I'd go with the hour long stick and puck just because I like practicing and I assume it's free which is awesome too. Free ice is hard to beat and I could sure use an hour of skating and shooting practice, even better if I'm getting pointers from someone more experienced with the sport than I.

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)

**Important**: Send the answers to username "PT Director" with the subject of the message titled “S50 CW" - Do not send it to my personal account; those will not be graded. Do not post the answers in here; you will not get credit for the task.

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