Like most goalies, I'm a bit of a slave to the engine. Most of the literature points to the fact that Positioning and Reflexes are the absolute most important attributes for a goalie to be good at. It does make intuitive sense though, because if you can have perfect positioning as a goalie, there's a lot of saves you can make just from being in the way. In my specific case, I'm going to be trying to compete in the SHL at a much lower TPE total than I would like, so it will be especially important for me to play above my average rating as much as possible. Subsequently, I'm going to see what will happen if I boost Positioning and Reflexes as high as possible to the detriment of all other abilities.


Ian Venables plans to work extremely hard this off-season. A stagnation in his development over the past couple seasons resulted in many people doubting his potential, whether he would ever reach the point of being able to start in SHL games at all. He lost his position on the Canadian National Team, and very nearly got dropped by the San Francisco Pride, who own his SHL rights. Luckily, he was able to secure a show-me contract at minimum pay for the next two seasons from the Pride, his last ditch hope. During this off-season he has one last opportunity to hold onto his future, and the only way is to put his nose to the grindstone and work through it. He claims the personal issues keeping him from focusing completely on the game are behind him, and now that he's moving to San Francisco in hopes of making the big team, he will be the first one to the rink each morning and the last one to leave each evening. If he has to sleep in the locker room the way he did in the SMJHL rookie training camp, then so be it. The old Budgie is back.


I'm definitely FOR this idea. Instead of having cities bid for the privilege of hosting the finals, it should be automatically hosted by the team that previously won. That way, every team can have the chance to play for the cup in front of a home crowd, all they need to do is win twice in a row. I know it isn't technically a neutral location (but sometimes it would be), but I like the idea of wrestling the cup away from the previous team who won it. Dynasties would have a lot of weight behind them, and it would raise the stakes of defending a title.


Last night Jepox hopped in his pickup truck,
And went to his local stick and puck.
He's feeling so sore,
From an hour or more,
And forever with this meme he will be stuck.

1. SimonT doesn't care about your strategy. SimonT doesn't care about your lineup. SimonT just wants your blood. This series is going to come down to whichever team, management, and fans have bled the most for the chance to win it all. Of course, the opposite might happen as well. SimonT is a vengeful spirit and may be looking for his last pound of flesh before we switch to FHM.
   
2. People sometimes say that depth is important for the playoffs. But sometimes, you just need to sit them down and explain that if you leave your star players out longer then you'll win every time. Every member of the San Francisco Pride is a masterpiece and never gets tired or run down, so there's no need to balance the ice time. Easy Peasy.
   
3. Hands down the San Francisco Pride have the best logo. Just look at it. What a majestic beast. What's he thinking about? Is he growling or laughing? These are the questions we ask ourselves in the dead of night when sleep eludes us. Of course, Manhattan has a great logo as well. But as a complete package, the Pride takes it. Their second logo is fire as well, so even just by a numbers game the Pride take it.
   
4. My favourite name in the Challenge Cup this season is Leopold Lockhart. Alliterations are always cool, ditto for diphthongs. Leopold Lockhart is a name that's just challenging enough to say quickly to keep things interesting, and percussive enough to turn into a primal chant. Leo-Pold Lock-Hart! Leo-Pold Lock-Hart! 10/10 name.
   
5. Since this is my fantasy, I'd like to do both (c.) and (d.) at the same time. Grape and I can eat a giant bowl of grapes while Dilk explains his filth to us, then we can all go out to watch a movie or something. Afterwards, we can get some coffees and walk around town while laughing, before going back to Grape's house and see where the night takes us. But I haven't put a lot of thought into it.
   

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