Task 1 (3 TPE, 3 Total) – There’s another reality out there that negates STHS fuckery altogether, and pretends it’s a good sim that doesn’t make you want to kill yourself on the regular. In that scenario, we’d be watching the Manhattan Rage taking on the New Orleans Specters in the championship. STHS likes to makes dumb things like inferior teams defeating better ones when they’re up 3-2, but that isn’t the case here. It would be a fantastic throwback to the St. Louis vs Vancouver Four Star Cup playoff series where Joe K would take on Luke in a battle of wits and testing and insanity. While I’m completely biased, I think these two teams were the best two teams in the playoffs and they would’ve had one hell of a series for us to enjoy. Of course, if we’re eliminating STHS fuckery, Aleister Cain would actually play like the best goalie in the league instead of getting just the worst sim luck, and Cain would lead the Specters to their first Challenge Cup in 6 games. Oh, if only. (174)

Task 2 (3 TPE, 6 Total) – I’m personally giving the best odds to the New Orleans Specters. We’ve been one of the highest TPE teams in the league for many seasons now, and we’ve had the highest TPE goaltender in the league for a few seasons too. But, because of STHS, he’s always played poorly and the team has suffered as a whole. With a brand new sim out there that’s closed to the awfulness of STHS, New Orleans seems to be a top candidate for the S53 Challenge Cup. Some VERY high TPE players and the high TPE Goalie will do that. I’d also look at San Francisco, who has probably the best defense in the SHL in terms of TPE, and it’ll be nice to see how they do without the sim being STHS. As for the worst odds? I’d give them to the Toronto North Stars. That’s not a slight, it’s honestly what they’ve wanted and have been trying to do for a few seasons. While STHS hurts teams that should be better, it made Toronto much better than they were trying to be. With that randomness out of the way, I’d guess that Toronto will be the ones at the bottom in FHM. (201)

Task 17 – (3 TPE, 9 Total) – Sent to PT Director

Task 14 – (5 TPE, 14 Total)

1. Head GMs JayWhy and Grapehead have been GMing for a while, whereas Co GMs Luketd and DaftRaincloud are newer to management - which team's front office staff (including coaches) do you think will provide a strategic edge (lol as if such a thing exists in STHS) in this series?

I think it’s safe to say that the Manhattan Rage have the “strategic edge” advantage in the series. JayWhy has been a GM for a long time, and he also has an incredible amount of knowledge from being the simmer for forever. Luke was the GM in Vancouver for a few seasons as well, so both of them have a lot of combined experience. Grape has been in SFP for forever, sure, but I don’t know much about Daft’s experience, and I doubt it overshadows that of either MAN GM. (90)

2. Manhattan has been rocking a pretty evenly-distributed ice time for forwards (35-33-32) whereas San Francisco is going a bit more top-heavy (40-40-15). Which approach do you think is better for a fierce Challenge Cup series?

Manhattan has been running a nice mix of their lines and I love it. Sometimes, in STHS, when you run your lines too top heavy, a good defensive team can shut down those lines more easily. With MAN having not only their ice time more spread out, they have their best players spread out too, each of their top forwards: (Winters, Jax, Luke) are all playing center on a differnet line. That spreads out the scoring a bit more and is harder to stop. Luckily for SFP, they have a killer defense that can weather that a bit, but I worry about their third liners having to play too much and getting beat up because of it. (117)

3. The Rage and the Pride have, in my opinion at least, two of the best logos in the entire SHL. Which team's logo do you like more and why?

The Rage logo is the winner for me here, but its really close. I definitely enjoy the purple that SFP rocks, but the Bull that the Rage now have is just so perfect, and to me, is such a HUGE upgrade from that bullshit polar bear logo they used to have. I love the Red and Black scheme that they stole from Calgary as well. But the detail of the bull with the sky line at the bottom is gorgeous. (80)

4. What is your favorite player name on either of these two teams and why? (not favorite player/user, just focusing on their player name)

Of all of the names involved, I personally love Nathan Explosion the most. I really liked watching Metalocalypse back in the day when it was on, and every time I see that name or his avatar, it makes me smile. It was a pretty good show back in the day, so that nostalgia (even if it was like 5 years ago) gives this the win. (65)

5. Would you rather: (a) a chainsaw lesson with JayWhy, (b) a private Gritty meet-and-greet for you and Luke, © an all-you-can-eat grape buffet experience with Grapehead, or (d) an hour session where DaftRaincloud shows you everything from his internet history?

I think I’d go with Option C. I’d like to meet JayWhy or Luke someday too, but I’ve known grape since July 2016 when I first started on the site and I’d like to meet him. Being able to experience and all you can eat grape buffet is also something that intrigues me more than chainsaw lessons or ever meeting that abomination that is Gritty. Fuck the Flyers. Pass the grapes. (71)

Task 6 (2 TPE, 16 Total) – I couldn’t be more against the idea of playing all 7 games of a Challenge Cup finals in a neutral location. That would be awful. Everyone grows up dreaming of winning the cup on their home ice, in front of their fans. Having to do that in a neutral location ruins that. The Super Bowl is great, but there aren’t nearly enough fans in the stadium for the game. In hockey, the fans are part of the experience. They go nuts and get loud and it always makes for a great atmosphere. I’d never want to force my fans to have to travel to see us play in the finals. No way. Home Ice Advantage forever. (116)