In our current reality, the Edmonton Blizzard made the S53 Challenge Cup finals after sweeping the Los Angeles Panthers in 4 overtimes. An unprecedented series where it seems like all of the luck was on one side, how did this series unfold in our realities? In another reality, this series went very differently. In fact, it was the complete opposite. In this reality, the Los Angeles Panthers brought the Edmonton Blizzard to 4 straight overtimes in a sweep. But this time, Los Angeles went 4-0 and swept the Edmonton Blizzard. The offence was able to figure things out in clutch time and the Panthers were the team to face the Steelhawks. What happened in the Challenge Cup finals? Nothing changed. The Panthers fell short to give Hamilton their second cup in three seasons. Though the end result was the same, this reality flipped the script and turned the unluckiest team in the SHL into the luckiest.



With a free re-distribution this season, I think that the top teams in the league will stay relatively the same. The teams I am predicting to be the top teams in each conference are two of the teams that were top teams this past season. In the East, I'm picking Hamilton to take the conference. The team just keeps finding ways to be a top team and there is no reason to think they'll stop. The team is stacked at every position, with guys like Lagerfeld finding a second wind while young players like Johnson really stepped it up. In the West, I'm taking Los Angeles to be the top team in the conference. Even though I am biased, I feel as though LA figured out the sim very early on and kept rolling. Every player was built with specific roles in mind which means that re-distribution will impact them very little.




The player I think will win an award in the future is Gabriel Johnson of the Hamilton Steelhawks. I think Johnson will take home a Scott Stevens for best defensemen in the near future. Johnson has been an offensive defensemen with huge potential since he entered the SHL. Every season his numbers improve and he keeps inching closer to being a point per game player on the backend. As long as his advanced stats stay good, his offence will be enough to bring him home some hardware. This season he even had 47 points, so he's really close. As long as his advanced stats hold up, there is no reason to think he couldn't win the Stevens in the near future.



If Oliver Cleary was cameoing on any show, he would cameo on Impractical Jokers. Cleary would be brought in for the humiliation at the end of the show. Known for having a hard slapper on the backend that helped him produce 15 goals this past season, Cleary would be tasked with shooting pucks at the losing joker. The goal would not be to hit the joker but rather to put the fear of god in him by trying to get as many pucks close to them as hard as he possibly can. Oliver Cleary, a big fan of the show, would relish in the opportunity to play a part in the fun.




I think that the best player in the finals is Flacko Lagerfield. Honestly, the biggest reason is because he was the best player on the ice all season. He led the league in scoring and did so with a huge amount of points. It is hard to argue with his production this past season.



Hamilton's size and strength give them an advantage in this season. Though hockey is moving towards a smaller and faster game, it is hard to argue the influence size still has on an overall series. Bigger teams typically start to grind out faster teams in deeper rounds, especially when the series drags on. I think right now, Hamilton still has this advantage going into the series.



The simple answer is no, I do not like snow. I'm not a fan of skiing/snowboarding so really, snow is just a hinderance otherwise. I drive to work every morning pre-quarentine so a heavy snowfall is essentially a waste of a vacation day. That alone is enough for me to dislike it.



Buster

16/16