Quote:1. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
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 S52 playoffs have unfolded differently. What happened in that reality's playoffs and who's in the Challenge Cup over there?

This is always fun, even if no one reads these from me. In trip’s™ alternate playoff reality, many things remain the same. Buffalo sweeps Toronto then battles through Hamilton in 5 games (Hugh Jazz and Aaron Wilson are held without a goal in the series). Manhattan defeats Chicago again. New Orleans knocks out Edmonton in 5. Los Angeles gets a clutch last minute goal in Game 7 to end Calgary, before getting squeaked out in 5 versus San Francisco. The Eastern Conference finals remain the same tight, tough series that sees Manhattan beat Buffalo (sad), but on the Western Conference side the superior coaching of New Orleans eliminates the Pride in six games. Thus, the finals see Manhattan take on New Orleans, just as I predicted in preseason… and in the playoff predictions point task.

From there, it’s a tight, seven game series. New Orleans takes Game 1, falls in Games 2 and 3, then win back to back games to take a 3-2 lead into Game 6. Playoff heroics by Peter Larson (he refuses to cede his crease to Scottey Crawfling this year) steals a 2-1 victory in overtime for the Rage. Then it all comes down to an insane Game 7… I wonder who wins?
 

Quote:2. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
You're put in charge of making the casino odds on the Cup winner for next season. Whom are you giving the best and the worst odds to, and what's your reasoning?

This is easy. The highest odds go to San Francisco and Buffalo. All the sims show very clearly they have some of the highest average TPE in the league, and they’re both well-run franchises. Depth will win championships in FHM, and these two teams boast the deepest defense and offenses (respectively) in the league. In fact, Buffalo is arguably the best run franchise in the league, consistently getting other GMs to make flat out bad choices in every circumstance. @Tomen and @WannabeFinn are smarter than their peers, and I love being a part of a team with such a competitive advantage.

The lowest odds probably have to go to Toronto and Tampa Bay. Both are rebuilding franchises with porous defenses. Toronto was able to accidentally meme their way through the last few seasons in STHS, but next season they will be exposed in a serious way. They have a good GM and a solid prospect pipeline, but they are at least 2-3 seasons away from sniffing the playoffs again, in my opinion.

Quote:3. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min.)
By now, you're probably familiar with the attributes on FHM, and you likely have some sense of what type of build you're going to be aiming for with your player. What one attribute are you going to focus on most? Of all the attributes in the game, what is your player going to strive to be the absolute best at? Why are you picking that specific attribute above all others?

After almost 10 seasons of getting dicked around in STHS, I’m excited to unlock Darrow’s potential as one of the elite defenders in the league. My goal is unchanged: Ryan Murray without all the injuries, an elite two-way defender who makes smart passes, shuts down other team’s top players, and skates well. With this, right now I’m planning on focusing more on the defensive side. Because of that, there isn’t one stat that’s more important than the rest. It will be a balance of prioritizing Checking, Defensive Read, and Positioning in order to be get myself a Bojo Trophy soon (and maybe a Stevens?) I may lean into Checking more than the other two, with how important we’re hearing Checking is in FHM.

Quote:5. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min.)
Which player from the Rage or the Pride 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?

There’s a player on one of these teams that should take home an individual award this season. Peter Larson is the best person to win the John McBride (goalie of the year) this season. Top performer in save percentage, leads the shutout numbers by a fair margin, lowest goals against average by a goaltender who played at least 80% of his team’s games… this guy deserves to win Goalie of the Year.

Beyond that, I think Charlie Schieck will be in conversations for future Stevens Awards for top defenseman and it’s only a matter of time until Luke Thomason brings home a scoring title or MVP… or both. He’s going to be discussed as the best player in the league very soon.

Quote:14. 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.
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?
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)
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?

1. Manhattan has the management edge. Luke knows STHS very well and has proven he is a championship caliber manager from his time with Vancouver. JayWhy has also been around a good bit of time, and knows what he’s doing. They also don’t come with the same pressure that Grapehead carries into this series--no one’s called for JY to be fired as a GM in the last five seasons to my knowledge. I’ve heard more than one user (fairly) claim that Grapes would have been fired if this was real hockey by now with the constant underperforming with the talent he has on his roster. I love Grapehead, but competitively I think Manhattan’s got him beat.

4. Really? The best name in this series is from a juniors call up, Simothy Drunkebird. The perfection of the name speaks for itself. With the curse that is SimonT, Simothy is the demon spawn son of a former SHLer and a feathered fursona demon, made for the express purpose of destroying SimonT… and he was successful. Thank you Simothy, stay blasted, my child. @Esso2264

5. I like grapes, but not THAT much. I’ll go with the private Gritty meet-and-greet with @"luketd". It’d be nice to visit Philadelphia again, get myself a hashbrown, porkroll, egg and cheese on a hoagie roll, pepper ketchup for the first time in like… 5 years? And meet the scary orange demon (and Gritty) finally.

Quote:17: Casual Member Special (1+2)

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