1.
157 words - 3 TPE
In this alternate reality, everything is opposite, which means the semi-finals are between Toronto, Tampa Bay, Texas, and Minnesota. Toronto being stacked with raw talent is the favorite for the cup, and Tampa bay has just reloaded with superstars Fitted and Fiddler. However, since this reality is opposite, Tampa has a bad goalie and so eventually after 7 games, Toronto made their way through with a deep, talented roster. Michael Fitted recorded 5 goals through that series, a few of them game winners, and Fiddler had what could be called a Conn Smythe shift or two. alas, the Sythe is for winners, and you can't beat Toronto, they're like the 2001 avs. In Minnesota, the texans are battling hard. Their roster is loaded, but Minnesota has some kind of wizard casting spells, or so it seems. This is also a 7 game series, but ultimately raw talent and effort prevails, putting Texas against Toronto in the finals.

2.
161 words - 3 TPE
I think Buffalo is one of those teams looking to make a lot of noise. They've picked up a few key pieces already, one from Tampa Bay, and they have loads of TPE ready to spread around. They've also got a number of solid players coming up into the SHL, and their key prospects continue to grow steadily. It's hard to tell what strategy is the winning strategy, as I don't expect the redistribution to see that many drastically changed builds. However, I think the coaches will certainly play with their deployments a lot more. I do hope that we see more interesting builds, like Garbage Collectors and things of that nature. As always, the biggest factor that I think everyone looks at is points, guys like Wagstrom who dominate the league, but we don't see much talk of their defensive sides. I think a few strong players will experiment with being more defensive, and hopefully that makes a big impact.

4. 189 words 3 TPE

I think having access to possession numbers really helps a lot, and we could see the rise of possession based metrics. There's a big discrepancy between low TPE teams and high TPE in terms of corsi right now, so clear winners are sure to be found. We also have access to PDO, which can determine two way play for players, as a metric of save percentage and shooting percentage. With access to so many stats, we might just have a Staticians Award, which goes to the player with the most outrageous advanced stats, but who dont necessarily show up on the score sheet. We could track things like Corsi, Fenwick, PDO, Goals For and against per 60, shots for and against per 60, and we can massage a lot of these stats around as well to create new stats. Finally, I think "Most Improved" would be really cool, to look at a player like...say...me! Who has 33% corsi. Or many players from lower teams who have abysmal corsi, you could see if any of us shoot up to 55% or 60% and say "wowee, this guy improved a lot"

5. 151 words - 3 TPE
I think Great Britain has a solid shot, and I dont say that just because I'm on the team. Okay, well, I do say that. But, Simon did hand us a Gold, and if anything is true, it's that Simon knows what he's doing. In more realistic terms, we won with me playing 4C at 425 TPE. Starting this season, I have almost double that TPE, and have had some relative success in playing against 1st and 2nd lines in the SHL. Hence my aforementioned 33% corsi. With nearly 850 TPE to start, and an already stacked roster, our chances only get better. If I can be sort-of effective in the top 6 in the SHL, I can surely be mega-effective on the 4th line. And my build IS suited to grinding. Alas, I digress. Great Britain will take it all, and the world will know how good we really are.

6.
184 words - 3 TPE
The intermission of the finals will include jesters on ice. The jesters in each game will be comprised of the losers of the SHL up until this point, as they are humiliated and demeaned as if they were roamn gladiators, except they don't die. So for each game and each intermission, the home and away team's victories are played up by rolling their opponents out on the ice. For instance, in game 1 of the series, the Home team's first series opponent will be rolled out and they will dance, slip, and fall for our amusement. Fans in the arena are permitted, nay, encouraged to throw food and other things at them during the 20 minute intermission. In the 2nd intermission, the Home team's 2nd opponent will be rolled out there. Only the home team wheels out their old opponents. Once all of their playoff opponents are gone, likely by the end of the first game, other losers from their conference are brought in as well, and finally if the games permit it, the worst teams in the league are wheeled out for humiliation.

13.
option d - 156 words - 1 TPE
I used to like snow a lot, and in most ways I still do. What I liked about it before was sort of a rose-tinted idealistic version of snow. Having grown up in Michigan, I've become accustomed to dealing with it, and indeed have had fun with it. And of course, christmas movies create this sort of fondness for snow as well, because it speaks to the warmth of being INSIDE, rather than being outside in the actual snow. But these days, I'm so fuckin over being cold. It's the worst feeling, I'd rather bake in a 120 degree car or sweat my ass off in the sun, at least then I feel like I'm accomplishing something. Sometimes you cant even enjoy the comfort of your own home in the winter because you need to be wrapped in 2 blankets and wear gloves because it's ever so slightly below 68 degrees and your hands are cold.

16 TPE total