Quote:1. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
Reflection on your season - how did your player fare on the ice this season? Did you meet or surpass your individual player goals or did you come up short? Whether you excelled or disappointed - what can you attribute that to? What will you try to do better next season?

After a stunning S53 season, the Detroit Falcons as a whole kinda collapsed in S54. Cal Labovitch’s on-ice performances during this past season did nothing to help the Falcons regain their cup-winning form. With a career low points total of 23, lower even than in his rookie season, his offensive contributions were mediocre at best. With Kaarlo Kekkonen leaving during the offseason, it seems like the chemistry their first line had left with him. The golden combination of Kekkonen-Williams-Labovitch could not be succeeded by fitting in teammates like Zoltan Topalo, or Reid Sutherland unfortunately and despite keeping it very close in a 7 game series, the Detroit team could not get it together fast enough in the playoffs to turn things around in the postseason. The only positive statstic Cal will be credited with washis Gva-Tka ratio, in which he lead the league. Overall this was not the way Cal wanted to say goodbye to his Falcon teammates.

Quote:2. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
Well, dang. Your team didn't make the finals this season - my condolences to you. Are you and your teammates planning on watching the finals even though you're not in it? If so, what are your watch parties like? If not, are you still following the finals or trying to ignore it completely? What are you and your teammates doing together (if anything) instead of following along? (if you're on Hamilton or New Orleans, or either of the 2 SMJHL teams that soon will be playing in the finals - congrats and sorry :p this one isn't for you!)

After game 7 in the first round of the SMJHL, Cal decided to take a little break before having to report to the Minnesota Chiefs. With all the hockey during the season, he wanted to take some time to take one last tour of the city of Detroit before having to pack his stuff and relocate. Despite the disappointing season, the fans had been nothing but fantastic and supportive, often believing in the team even when the team didn’t believe in themselves. Cal wanted to do something for those fans in return and while the rest of the SMJHL had their eyes on the conference finals, Cal visited the local schools and hospitals to give his young fans a last time to meet him in person before leaving the Falcons and the city of Detroit. And next week, when everyone will have their eyes on the finals, Cal will be packing his stuff into boxes and flying up to Minnesota to settle into his new apartment before the off season practices with the Chiefs will commence.

Quote:4. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
S54 IIHF Predictions - with one FHM IIHF season under our belt, we've got a bit more of a sense of how the tournament might play out in the new sim engine. What are your predictions for the S54 IIHF or WJC tournament - how do you think your team will fare this season? Who do you think are the biggest contenders to take home the hardware and why?

After an unsuccessful S53, Team Switzerland will definitely be looking to add some new hardware to their trophy case. While it seems a bit steep to pitch them as a Gold medal candidate, they’ve definitely grown stronger over the past season and should be considered serious contenders for the Bronze, or even Silver medal in this upcoming World Championship. Their strong defensive core, lead by the experienced Matthias Seger in defence and the always reliable Markus Tegernako in net, is a great foundation for success and with a forward group consisting of reliable veterans like Slap McShotty and upcoming young stars like William Hartmann, Mitchell van der Heijden and Cal Labovitch they have plenty of options and even more potential. They’ll be playing the S54 IIHF World Championship without pressure, knowing that by next WC they’ll only have grown stronger as the core of their roster is still far, far away from regression being a factor.

Quote:5. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min.)
Which player from the Steelhawks or Specters has a great chance to make the Hall of Fame when their playing days are up? Make the case for that player's HOF bid.

When I think ‘Hall of Fame’ in combination with the Hamilton Steelhawks, I can’t see past star defender Tig Murphy. Season after season, the Steelhawks defender proved to be a reliable defenseman, as well as a points machine. Especially on the power play, this blue liner knows where the puck has to go and manages to get it to the right place every single time. The high-powered offensive defender has come a long way since his rookie season, and does not look like he’s about to slow down any time soon either. He plays a critical role in Hamilton’s dominating style of play and definitely deserves a Hall of Fame recognition.

Quote:8. Written (150 words min.) or Graphic, 3 TPE
With only one champion in the SHL and the SMJHL per season, that means the other 26 teams came up just a bit short (or a lot short). Team owners know that fans can get frustrated by shortcomings, so they're always trying to keep optimism high in the fan base. Written option: give an excerpt from an ousted team's owner's press conference at the end of the season focusing on the team's bright future or however they can keep fans' optimism high.

Excerpt from Tiggie Smalls’ press conference, following the Detroit Falcons game 7 loss.

As I said last night, I've got a ton of respect for this hockey team, the players, the coaches and the fans. We all put a lot into it these last few games; I think we put everything we had into it. I thought a lot of our players pushed themselves to their limits, certainly our goalies. I thought they, in particular, played extremely well this series, as the entire team did. Unfortunately, we came up basically a point short. Nobody on this team feels good about this loss, and we’ll continue to feel bad about this season for a while. That's the type of competitive team that we have. I’m proud of the way these players have worked all season, despite the chips not falling in their favour. I wish we could have done a little bit more, gotten a little bit further in the post season, but that's life in the SMJHL.
We're less than a day here from the end of game 7, and I'm sure there are a lot of questions about the future of the Detroit Falcons. For the last few days, everybody's been focused and working on Newfoundland. That's where all the focus should have been, and that’s where it was. Whatever's in the future, we'll deal with at some later point in time. We lost to a team that was a little better than us this last night, but we showed them that even though we had an unlucky regular season, we’re always a force to be reckoned with.

Quote:13. Written, up to 4 TPE Pick up to 4 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words.
a. These are absolutely two of the best goaltenders in the league in Cain and Kryyst - which team has the advantage in net in this series?
b. There are two Johnsons in this series - Gabriel (HAM) and Darnell (NOLA). In fact, the two used to host the Johnson & Johnson Podcast together, but they're now on the ice as bitter rivals. Which team has the better Johnson?
c. The Specters won both regular season matchups, but Hamilton finished with better team stats overall. Do regular season head-to-heads provide an accurate forecast for a playoff series? (answer predictively if it hasn't happened yet; reactively if it has.)
d. If SDCore offered you an all-expenses paid week-long vacation to either New Orleans or Hamilton, which city would you choose to go to? (tough choice I know lol.) How would you spend your time there?

a. Comparing the stats for these two goaltenders, Kryst wins the battle on all fronts. With his 32 wins in 43 games he outclasses Cain, who only took the Specters to 23 wins in 40 games, and with a 2.22 goals against average, he also has Cain (2.78 GAA) beaten. The only statistic in favour of Cain in S54 has let him down this season, as a 0.903 save percentage for the NOLA goalie isn’t enough to give him the drop on Kryst, who had a 0.913 save percentage throughout the regular season, and it’s the Steelhawks who come into this game with the better goalie.
b. Looking at their stats, it’s pretty obvious who is the better Johnson here. Where Darnell has the lead in hits (90 vs 60) and takes fewer penalties than Gabriel, Gabe Johnson has him beat on every other stat. His points total of 44 (8 goals, 36 assists) dwarfs Darnell’s 9 points, and even if you factor in TOI, Darnell doesn’t even come close to beating Gabriel.
c. Playoff matchups are different from regular season head-to-heads, as they allow for a lot of customization, line matching and strategizing based purely on this one single opponent. Furthermore, there will be no effects from one team having back-to-back games, or other scheduling issues. It’s all roster and tactics, and from my point of view, the Steelhawks will have the edge unless NOLA can find a creative solution to their 3C problem.
d. Cal is a bit of a foodie. And therefore his city of choice would absolutely have to be Hamilton. Traditional Canadian food like poutine and maple syrup are way more attractive to him than US rip-offs of French beignets, Belgian pralines and Italian muffuletta’s, all of which Cal had plenty of back home in Europe. The more Creole side of NOLA cuisine might be interesting for him, but since he’s mildly allergic to seafood, he tries to avoid it when possible.

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