In that alternate reality, Toronto found a way to capture the essence of the best hockey players in a hockey puck that they touch. After capturing the essences of Bobby Orr, Wayne Gretzky, Rod Brind'Amour, Marian Gaborik, Pierre Pilote and Dale Hawerchuk, they would infuse these hockey legends' skills and spirit into their starting lineup, making them almost unbeatable. This Toronto team would see them demolish the New England Wolfpack in 4 games, with a +69 goal differential (nice), and then face Hamilton in the second round, demolishing them in 5 games with a +1337 goal differential, as the strategy optimization performed by the Steelhawks backfired on them and caused them to score on their own goalie. For the final round, they would go on to face the Texas Renegades, who through hook or crook, managed to make their way into the Challenge Cup finals. You would think that the power of the hockey greats would make Toronto the undisputed champions of the Challenge Cup, but the Renegades pulled out pistols and shot them dead on the ice, possibly explaining how they got to the finals in the first place. Therefore, the Texas Renegades are your Challenge Cup champions in this alternate universe!


This season is going to see the true order of IIHF countries shake out, now that they will all be in one big group and everyone gets to play each other. We will also see how complementary everyone’s build in FHM is as it is not as easy as it was in STHS to build a team with pieces that match and mesh with each other. In terms of teams that have a chance at the gold, of course we have the perennial favourites USA and Canada, followed by possibly Great Britain and Ireland. I think that Sweden and Switzerland could be dark horses to try and at least get into the medal rounds. Sweden, my team, is still fairly young, as we have had some turnover of the core players. We would be happy if we get into a medal round and bring home a medal, but we are not too focused on success but more on growth instead.

In order to keep fans occupied between periods, the Edmonton Blizzard have decided to have two professional snowball fight teams (yes, they exist! yes, they are Japanese!) from Japan, the Hokkaido Hunters and the Sapporo Snowmen, perform a snowball fight on the ice surface. They will bring on all the snow from the Zamboni's scrapings to form into snowballs and snow forts for the fight, and then after a countdown, the massacre will begin. These teams consist of 10 players each, and to make it more fun, each SHL team will contribute two players to each side. The SHL players can be on skates so that they don’t have to get in and out of their equipment between periods, and they will be more mobile than the Japanese snowball league team players. The losing side will be lined up at center ice before the start of the next period, and then they will be forced to sing and dance humiliating songs (I’m a Little Teapot is a crowd favorite) chosen by the audience that night.


I would love to have a cameo in a procedural crime show of some kind, and maybe be the villain for that episode! Magnus Liljestrom could be an up-and-coming hockey star, but embroiled in the suspicion that he killed a rival player. Maybe Magnus could have secretly interrupted a practice session and used the player’s own skates to slash his neck, and covered it up by using banana peels to make it look like the player “slipped” and his own leg came up and cut his throat as he forgot to puck on his blade covers for his skates. Or something.


The Hamilton Steelhawks have introduced a new combination snack/drink at their arena concession stands called the Steel Hawk Slurp! This drink is an icy, slushy mix coming in a few different flavours (including Tears Of Your Enemies, Delicious Salt, Tilted Tea, Steely Steel, and Is This Even Legal) but the crowning piece de resistance is the Steelhawk Spoon that comes with every purchase, and the bag of Steelhawk Snacks! Beware, the spoon is shaped like a Steelhawk, and has many sharp edges, making every spoonful of Slurp that you spoon into your mouth potentially life-threatening - just adding to the heightened experience. The Steelhawk Snacks are also shaped in the shape of a Steelhawk, and as hard as a Steelhawk, giving the roof of your mouth the chance of being stabbed with every bite! Band-aids are also available for purchase at each concession stand, and cotton balls to stem the bleeding are available from your friendly section usher if needed.


tattletale


List of CW Claims:
1. Alternate universe + 3 TPE
5. IIHF + 3 TPE
6.  Entertainment + 3 TPE
7.  Cameo + 2 TPE
8.  Concession stand + 3 TPE
16. Trivia + 3 TPE

Total: 17 TPE (16 max)