1. Considering that I'm starting to get up into my heavier regression years and only have a few more seasons in these old legs, I was really happy with my performance on the ice this season. I managed to hit league milestones for Goals, Assists, Special Points, and Hits, all of which indicates to me that I am still contributing at the level I would like to in terms of helping my team win. It's a little strange being the old man on such a young Texas squad, but it was nice being able to serve in something of a leadership role with them and have some friendly competition with the very similar playing style Kvalheim. He's obviously a superstar so I can't quite keep up with him but I've heard from many around the league that the two of us helped many an SHL fantasy team this season thanks to our consistency on offense and in getting hits that few forwards can match.

2. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
This offseason will be extra exciting, as it features the rare expansion draft! Write about how you think the expansion draft will play out, either for one or both of the expansion teams or from an SHL team's perspective.

Honestly the biggest things that stands out to me about the exposed players making up the expansion draft pool is how many former greats now somewhat on the backside of their careers are available for the expansion teams to pick up. I could easily see at least one team trying to snag a bunch of these folks and compete for a title in season one, especially if they have the league-wide presence to snag a few FA's for real after the draft as well. Maybe I'm using the term greats loosely since it includes myself as well, but me, Piotr, Mike Izzy, Otis B. Driftwood, DeMaricus Smyth, Aleister Cain, Jon Toner, Tor Tuck, and Joe K all stand out to me just from the list of available players in the West. I'm not a GM so I haven't talked to everyone about their future plans or if they'd even be willing to sign with said expansion team when it came to it, but I consider this a strategy worth exploring.

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.
b. In the two regular season matchups, each team won once at home. Do you expect the results to reflect a home ice advantage in this series?

I do think this question is somewhat flawed, as we really can't definitively say anything based on two regular season games. However, in general I am a big proponent of home field/home ice advantage, mostly because of a book I read that detailed that it does in fact exist, though often only because the referees (or whatever they are called for a particular sport) have significantly different behaviors towards the home and away teams.

c. Based on FHM player ratings, New Orleans has higher average ratings in bravery, aggression, and fighting? Will that toughness have any impact on this series?

From what I actually know about FHM, all of those things have a negligible impact at best and might actually be harmful to the team. Still, I love me a goon squad so I'll just go ahead and say I expect for it to help New Orleans in being so intimidating that Buffalo doesn't even wanna take the ice.

d. What is your favorite name from a player appearing in this series? Why do you like that player's name?

So this one is gonna be completely out of character, but Cassius Darrow is easily the coolest name of any player in the series. It's based on a fantastic book series by Pierce Brown that begins with Red Rising as the first of 5 books so far. Anyways Cassius and I bonded in the German discord over the name so he gets mad props.

e. There are several animal names in this series - which of these animals is the coolest? sloth, hippo, otter, monkey, fox, kirby.

Um I'm slightly flabbergasted by the use of kirby as an animal here but sure let's roll with it. I love that little pink fluff ball from my time playing super smash bros., as you could just suck up your opponents and jump off the cliff with them still in your mouth, and try to send them to their deaths while you gently floated back to the stage.

16. Trivia Verification word: Anthropomorphism

PBE PT