In Alternate Reality #457A, the West sees Winnipeg nip NOLA and San Fran to the line for the 4th playoff spot, with Calgary winning the conference, Edmonton finishing 2nd, and LA 3rd. Winnipeg stuns Calgary with an upset in a tough 7 game series, Edmonton beats LA in 5, but then loses to the Peg in 6, thanks to a 7 goal series performance from Nick Brain.

In the East, its Hamilton, New England, Manhattan, and Buffalo. Buffalo beats Hamilton in 6, New England beats Manhattan in 6, and Buffalo manages to down New England in 5 games to reach the Challenge Cup Finals off the back of a strong outing from Cassius Darrow, who has no goals, but 16 assists and the best defensive numbers in the playoffs so far.

The rematch of the Season 48 Cup Finals sees a pattern of OT win / blowout / OT win / Blowout / OT win / Blowout, with Buffalo getting the blowouts and Winnipeg getting the tough wins. It all comes down to Game 7, and the winner comes from Commander Shepard beating Cedric Robinson on a breakaway to seal victory for the Jets in Game 7 by a score of 3-2.

Nick Brain takes home the playoff MVP with 15 goals and 15 assists in 20 playoff games, but Vivian Leblanc and Commander Shepard warrant strong consideration as well. Buffalo is left wondering what could have been despite an awesome team effort and outscoring the Jets by a considerable amount in the playoffs.

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I think Emiko Spector has a good shot at winning a goalie award. Emiko seems to overachieve in the sim at times, and if Manto sticks with it and the Blizzard keep being excellently run, Spector could pick up some goalie hardware, evne if there are hypothetically better goaltenders available in terms of talent.

Amongst Hamilton's boys, I think Samuel Michaud could see some defensive hardware. He has commendable work ethic and is a Top 3 defensive prospect from the Season 50 draft class. Once he gets more minutes as veterans like Tig Murphy cycle out, we could see Michaud winning some awards and getting recognition as a star talent on the Hamilton blueline corps.

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I would like to see a sort of "unsung hero" award, going to players that perform well in harsh circumstances. Theres debate in the IRL NFL about MVP awards, and whether the award should go to the player with the big sexy numbers, or the player that can be proved to be absolutely essential to the team's success via a strong performance that would leave a team moribund if said player were average: hence being the Most Valuable. This unsung hero award could go to players like that.

An unsung hero award in Season 53 could go to players such as Luca Del Vecchio, who was outstanding in net and carried a subpar and rebuilding West Kendall Platoon away from the basement, or Collin Gibbles, who had tied for the best Defensive Game Rating in the league for Forwards, and had an astounding 181 blocked shots by a considerable distance. Or Jax Aittokallio, who scored less than his more prolific teammate Luke Thomason, but did a commendable two-way job that helped Manhattan make the playoffs.

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My hopes for IIHF is obviously a Great Britain / United Kingdom / whatever we're calling ourselves these days repeat, and I think the possibility is certainly there. Our forward depth could use a little more talent and polish, but our top lines and defense core are excellent, and Luca Del Vecchio earned his spurs professionally after a strong first season for the West Kendall Platoon. I think they're in it to win it with an excellent chance. Hopefully Nick Brain has another excellent Gold Medal Game for GB too along the way.

For other contenders, I'll just keep assuming that Canada has the quality to make a run, and be disappointed as usual if it doesn't pan out. Still, I have a nice teammate there in Commander Shepard, and him getting some international hardware would be nice. USA should also have the depth to contend, and then we've got Sweden who have an excellent leader and the most dangerous Forward in the league, and checking him will be a top priority.

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Nick Brain's got an offer to cameo in the sequel to the Sonic the Hedgehog movie. He would cameo as the voice of a comic relief incompetent killer robot named E-109, created by the evil Doctor Robotnik, that tries to destroy Sonic but at best ends up just mildly inconveniencing or even benefiting Sonic and his crew.

Nick would also do mo-cap for several 3d-generated characters involved in an ice skating scene, making sure to give the animators some good skating form and technique to work off of when they eventually animate the scene in full. Overall its an interesting experience, although Nick isn't a huge Sonic fan, helping the video game industry break further into the movie industry with quality titles helps.

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a) In terms of sheer talent and ability, it should be Tony Pepperoni. However, Geezus Kryyst plays Goalie which should be considered the most important position in the game (although the sim says otherwise), and Lagerfield of course had that unlikely late career revival, not to mention the overall quality of both bluelines is fairly good. I'm inclined to still say its Tony Pepperoni.
d) I like snow, I just hate the cold that comes with it. Winter is a very pretty season, with the snow making for a fun backdrop and an ideal setting for a lot of stories and video games and the like. It just sucks having to walk or drive through it over long distances is all, and it sucks needing to constantly bundle up, even indoors sometimes my hands get so cold in the winter.

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