1. In the parallel universe, it is one that sees the overall result not change, but how we got there change. In this universe, Manhattan probably doesn’t fall down 3-1 in the first round against Chicago. We’d obviously still win, but it would be better without three straight dear god please nothing go wrong games. The same result would follow in the next round, but we would get our revenge on Hamilton rather than our revenge on Buffalo. A revenge sweep would be cool, although I guess we did win one game last year so I’ll be polite and give them one as well. In the Cup final, we would keep our matchup against San Francisco. After the mid S40s, SFP and MAN looked to be poised to meet repeatedly for the Cup, but other things got in the way. The matchup was fun and winning it before a truly desperate Game 7 saved a ton of stress. WC: 157

2. So odds are always a mess and I don’t know how Infidel seems to make them so accurate when he did them for the casino. But anyways, it would be hard for me to say that Manhattan, San Francisco, New England and New Orleans are among the teams that should be near the top for odds, probably in that 4:1 to like 8:1 range. Teams that also could be in that conversation would be Hamilton, Buffalo, and Edmonton. The teams at the bottom of odds would absolutely be Toronto, Tampa Bay, and Texas. Those three teams are going through some sort of rebuild and with FHM’s likelihood to actually reward good teams versus super random teams going on unexpected runs, then they should be at the bottom. I believe they’re also among the bottom teams with regards to average TPE as well, so I would likely put their odds nearer to 40:1. WC: 152

3. Yeah my player is going to be a playmaker through and through now that FHM actually rewards some of us that want to focus on that side of offense. The focus for my player will be on passing, offensive read, and a solid balance on the remaining stats. I like that I should be able to influence the game more with some more shooting based teammates like Luke or Leafer, and I think it’ll be awesome for making it so every team doesn’t have the exact same build and set up for all of their players and lines like STHS does. WC: 101

4. I’m going to be enjoying the shortest offseason of my career, after Manhattan knocked off the San Francisco Pride in 6 games to win the Challenge Cup. I’ll get to spend part of my summer with the Cup, albeit I’m not sure what I’m going to be doing or where I’ll be going for my day with the Cup. I’m really kinda in awe still, but that’s probably because we’re still celebrating. Haven’t had the parade yet and really truly a bunch of us (Barret McCarthy, Luke Thomason, and David Vent the entire time with me while our teammates have been coming in and out) have just been going on a tour around the city partying and getting drunk with the Cup in different bars, clubs and events around New York. Beneficially, we won at home so we basically just walked out of the Garden with the Cup and partied with whomever we could find. And that’s all we’ve been doing for the last week. WC: 165

5. If I’m betting on Rage players, there’s only one answer to this and everyone knows it: Peter Larson. Sure Luke Thomason should win an MVP award in the future, and Barret McCarthy and Alex Winters have won the Jesster Trophy. Larson is the only answer though. The man should absolutely win the McBride award for the top goalie this season and I think he should be the playoff MVP as well. There’s no way that we would have made the playoffs, much less win the Cup, without Larson being the best goalie in the league. He’s an absolute stud and I think he’s going to be the best goalie in the league for a long time. WC: 116

14.
14a: I’m biased as a member of Manhattan’s management while serving as Head Coach, but I think we have the advantage. My colleagues worked relentlessly to put us in the best possible situation to win the Cup and I don’t think we would have won if it hadn’t been for a combination of all that hard work. WC: 56

14b: The three line balance is something that we debated strongly because for much of the season, we had worked with a two line stack similar to the way that San Francisco did in the finals. We decided that the three line version worked best, and that was backed up by our Cup win. WC: 53

14c: The logo that Manhattan swapped to when they rebranded in S43 or so is one of the top logos in the league, which, no offense intended to San Francisco, their basic lion is not. The details in the bull, with the M and the Empire State Building outline, put it over the top. WC: 53