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?

This season for me was pretty great, after a bunch of trades in the offseason I got promoted to the 1st line. I made the most out of my first season on the 1st line by scoring a career high 41 points. Out of those 41 points, 20 of them were goals, meaning I crossed the elusive 20 goal mark for the first time in my career. One thing I wasn't super happy with was turning the puck over way more then I had takeaways which isn't great. I think this offseason I will be focusing on improving on defense and physical attributes as I think my offense is already pretty good. I plan to keep pace with my offensive numbers and maybe even getting higher along with being more responsible with the puck. We'll have to see what the team looks like next year but as long as me and Captain McShotty are on a line together I expect to do well.

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.

This is the first SHL expansion I've seen and I think both teams have a chance to build an in the hunt playoff team. While the Seattle Argonauts are in the slightly easier division but I will never bet against Hotdog and the new Atlanta Inferno. Both teams have some decent talent to pick from in the expansion draft. Obviously Eko Van Otter and Tig Murphy will be joining Atlanta and Seattle respectively giving both teams borderline superstars at the centers of each team. Throw in players like Cassius Darrow, Akashi Sixnine, Reginald MacIntyre, Samat Beibitzhanov, Igor Volkov, Otis B Driftwood, Theo Morgan, Bo Kane, Kaarlo Kekkonen, Boris Poroshenko, and Aleister Cain, and you could definitely be in the running for making the playoffs. But we don't know what's going on in these team's backrooms, will we see some draft picks given up to protect some unprotected players? It's happened before and will be interesting to see if it happens in this expansion draft.

5. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
What are your predictions for the upcoming IIHF or WJC tournament? What team do you think will win/surprise people/be bad/etc.?

Since the switch to FHM the 2 North American teams have dominated the IIHF tournaments, and while I think it will continue I believe there are a few teams that can challenge for medals and even an upset for Gold. Teams like Czechia and Great Britain are Canada and the US's biggest threats while Austria and Sweden being dark horses to medal. The USA last tournament lead the completion in goals scored and goals allowed. But Austria also brings the offense only scoring 4 less goals during round robin play, and Great Britain only allowing 2 less goals then the USA. On top of that Japan, and Sweden have some very dangerous 1st lines along with some good defense and good goal tending. I think the bottom 3 teams last tournament (Lativa, Germany, and Russia) will be better then they were last season and surprise some teams. It will be an interesting tournament and I can't want for it to start.

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. Both of these teams have stacked defenses - which team do you think has the defensive advantage in this series?
I gotta give the advantage to the Specters. New Orleans lead by Rex Kirkby and Lyle Odelein III anchor a strong defense in front of one best goalies ever in Aleister Cain. Odelein III has been extremely good for awhile and one of the best Ds in the SHL. Plus there's Kaspars Claude, Darnell Johnson, Charlie Serpe, and the legendary DeMaricus Smyth.

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 don't think home ice advantage will be to much of a factor, while the home team won the both games the playoffs are a different animal. Buffalo has been the best team this season both home and away so they know how it win on the road. There are multiple factors that will determine this series but home ice won't be it.


d. What is your favorite name from a player appearing in this series? Why do you like that player's name?
My favorite name this series is New Orleans Defenseman Rex Kirkby, the simple reason is everytime I see his name I think it's Rex Kirby. I was teammates with Rex for two seasons and still get the name wrong, honestly I think his name would be better if it was Rex Kirby. As Kirby is a good cartoon character and very annoying to play against in Smash Brothers.

e. There are several animal names in this series - which of these animals is the coolest? sloth, hippo, otter, monkey, fox, kirby.
The easiest question ever, give me the otter. Otter's have a special pouch on their body and rumor has it hockey otter Eko Van Otter has a special pouch were he keeps his special puck. Otters are known to smash oysters and spread them out across their bellies and eat them, and who doesn't love that? Plus otters are adorable and that's an undisputed fact.

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.
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