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?
I was relatively unhappy with my player’s personal performance this season, but I’m extremely satisfied with my team’s level of success. I didn’t get the number of hits or shot blocks I wanted to, and my overall impact on the ice was greatly reduced relative to my SMJHL rookie season – and that’s in spite of having more TPE! I felt as though I had significantly lower impact on the offensive and defensive ice in spite of improving attributes on both ends, though it may have been because my pair-mate was so prolific throughout the season.

At this point, individual performance is kind of irrelevant for me. We’re in the SMJHL championship and I certainly can’t complain with team success, especially as an assistant captain – I’ll sit and accrue all of the bad +/- or GR I can if it means we’re going to take a Four Star Cup home. We came somewhat close last season and I’d love to make Anaheim proud again. (163)

6. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
Occasionally, broadcast networks will bring an active player into the TV coverage of ongoing finals if their team has been eliminated, and that player is often to give unique insights from a current player's perspective. During this NOLA-HAM finals, which SHL player or prospect would be a good addition to the Challenge Cup TV coverage? Why would that player be a good addition to the broadcast team?
At this point, most any serious player on Buffalo would probably be able to provide good insight on the finals, but I think a member of the SJHN or SHN would be great choices for the broadcast. As a result, winger Luke Thomason of the Manhattan Rage would be an ideal selection. He’s done great analytic work on the top regular season defensemen and forwards and understands (to an extent) their playing styles, tendencies, and overall builds.

That being said, it’s hard to say how a writer would perform in the broadcast booth relative to a seasoned broadcasting analyst. After all, one of the benefits of writing is that you get to edit and re-write your thoughts, while live broadcasts don’t allow that luxury – in general it makes for a more succinct and well-put-together line of discussion. Regardless, with a little training I think Luke Thomason would be a great addition to the broadcasting booth – but we won’t know ‘til we try! (162)

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. Graphic option: the team has rented a billboard in town with an inspiring message to fans to keep optimism high; show the billboard (must include team logo and whatever the optimistic message is).
An uncomfortable silence settled on the presser: Buffalo was out of the playoffs, tossed away without so much as a second thought by the Hamilton Steelhawks. The general manager made his way swiftly into the conference room, sat at his chair, and wasted no time.

“Let’s address the elephant in the room,” he began, “we’re out of the playoffs. We came up short against Hamilton.”

“There’s no easy way to say that, and I know it’s disappointing. We were expected to the best in the league – and for the regular season, we certainly held up that end of the bargain. But what matters at the end of the day is the cup – after all, the regular season is just to earn ourselves an advantageous position for the playoffs.”

“But I want our fans to consider what this means,” he continued, “because our team is full of extremely talented veterans, with some great prospects in the pipeline to continue our dominance of the league throughout the season – not just the regular season. We’ll go back to the drawing board and come back stronger, without question. If our team is capable of a fantastic regular season, understand we’ll be back when the next comes.” (202)

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?
When I first came into the league, Aleister Cain was the goalie I knew. Not because I knew the user beforehand or anything like that, but because he was just that good – I didn’t know much if anything else about the league than that. I think Kryyst benefits slightly from the incredible tactics and synergy from his teammates as a member of Hamilton – see the Buffalo series, which puts him a fraction of a notch below Cain. (77)

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?
I’m not sure it’s my place to evaluate other teams’ Johnsons – don’t you think that’s something better saved for a private moment? That being said, Gabriel Johnson has 1515 TPE to Darnell’s 900+, and has vastly better offensive ratings overall. I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to say Gabriel Johnson has a massive advantage over Darnell in this matchup, and I’m honestly not even sure how often they’ll play against each other due to differences in lines. (79)

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.)
Absolutely not. Hamilton is good in the regular season; these past two seasons, they’ve shown they’re GREAT in the post-season, indicative of how clever their management has been since the start of S53 (or the switch to FHM, whichever seems to coincide best). I’d also argue that Buffalo should have had a reasonable shot against Hamilton by virtue of great management and extremely high TPE w/ good regular season results – but my hurting heart says otherwise. (76)

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?
Uh, right now? In this environment? No way, Jose. I’m not touching either one of those places, and I’m going to stay put in my little bubble here in the mid-Atlantic. I’m not trying to catch corona by going from one hot spot to another, and I like the comfort of home in these weird times. Plus I’m basically married to the hospital so… (64)

16. CW TRIVIA, 3 TPE max - 1 TPE for participation, 0.5 TPE for each correct answer. This is now completed through a Google form linked below. Make sure to spell your answers correctly or you will not get credit. Post your verification word in your CW post.
Verification Word - vagabond

Being claimed (username Mysa) in NSFL as a PT Pass for PT #4 - the Butterfly Effect.