Tasks done: 1, 3, 6, 7, 9, 16 (Total TPE: 3+2+2+3+3+3=16)


Task #1 - Reflection on season (3 TPE)

Lemo Pihl started the new season well. Only being a couple of points away from the 350 TPE cap to start season, he was moved up to the Anchorage Armada third line and thus going to get a lot more responsibility and ice time in the coming season and was looking to make good use of it all. He quickly surpassed his point total from last season already in the first week of sims by putting up 4 goals and 4 assists in the first quarter of the season. He was also a nice +7 to end that first week. As his previous points record was just 7 points last season, this marked a decisive improvement and gave great hope for things to come. Unfortunately his and the team’s stride broke somewhat in the following weeks, until things picked back up again in the final quarter of the season. Lemo finished the regular season with 22 points and a +2 and looked forward to helping the team redeem themselves from last season’s catastrophic playoff fiasco. He went on to deal the game-winning assist in three of four Anchorage wins in the first round series against Anaheim, but just as in the regular season, his scoring pace has waned since. But he is not so much bothered by that, as long as the team is still in contention. At the time of this writing, the Armada are gearing up for their games 6 and 7 against the Newfoundland Berserkers in the semi-finals, which they trail 2-3 largely by the strength of glove and blocker of NL’s star goalie Cale Amundsen. Hot goalies shutting down an otherwise dominant Armada team has been the story almost throughout this whole season, but hopefully the Armada will find a way to solve Amundsen in these two more games tonight
(316 words)

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Task #3 - absurd playoff system (2 tpe)

The 12 teams are split into three groups of four teams each, because why not, right? The teams are grouped 1-4-7-10, 2-5-8-11 and 3-6-9-12 by regular season standings. Each group plays an extra round robin to determine how many games they have to win in the playoff series to come. Group winners can win their series with just 3 wins, second place will need 4 wins and the bottom two will need 5 wins to advance to the next round. 

Then teams are reseeded based on their position in their group and how many points they got in the round robin. The winners take 1-2-3 in order of round robin points and then so on all the way down the table. The bottom eight then play another play-in round while the top four take a breather. Then the real series commence with the aforementioned different win objectives.

Aside from all that, all teams must play their backup goalies every third game and no player can be a healthy scratch for more than two games in a row either.

The champion will be crowned in a single game played at a neutral location, a’la Champions League final.
(209 words)

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Task #6 - Best team not to make the finals (2 TPE)

This one is easy for me to answer - the Anchorage Armada, again. For the second straight year they were done in largely by another great performance by the opposing goalie, this time by the name of Cale Amundsen. At least the Boat Gang can be happy at at least winning two playoff series this time around, as last season they got done in right in the second round following their first round bye. This year they did not get the bye, but instead a closely fought series against Detroit, where already the magnificent Thor Odinson was about to single handedly end the Armada’s this year’s playoffs run. But the Armada kept pushing and finally Odinson was overcome. They then dismantled the Nevada Battleborn in fairly quick and convincing manner, but despite again putting up huge shot totals against Newfoundland and more specifically Amundsen in net, they were unable to climb out on top of that series. It is a sad thing that the great core that this team had for these last few years and that is now ready to take the big stage in the SHL was still left with the unfinished business of never reaching the Four-Star Cup finals.
(210 words)

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Task 7 - IIHF preview (3 tpe)

Taking just a quick glance at the revealed IIHF rosters for this season’s tournament, to me the front-runners seem to be Canada, Great Britain and Norway. 

Canada - The amount of league-leading offensive names jumps out immediately with Theo Morgan, the top scorer from this season leading the way with the likes of Maxime Bouchard, Aaron Wilson and Dick Clapper right alongside him. Also solid on defense, perhaps the only question mark is their goaltending and whether the Frans Eller can find his form from last season or will his this season’s struggles continue with the national team.

GB - Great Britain has not long been a name associated with being a hockey hotbed, but these past few years have shown them to be  a force to be reckoned with in the international stage. Under new management and boasting so much offensive talent on their back end that they have declared some of those as forwards for this coming tournament, they will certainly challenge for the championship once again. Luca DelVecchio of the SHL’s Baltimore Platoon will have a chance to play behind an actual defense for once and this should help him surpass his league numbers.

Norway - If the Norway team plays the tournament as thoroughly as their management took to their roster reveal, they will certainly do well in the competition. Led by Eko Van Otter up front and Karlstraße Scholz on the back end, this team will look to make the medals at the least! Not to mention that they have now added Bork Lazer and even Putin himself to their team now!
(270 words)

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Task 9 - championship hat (3 tpe)

   
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Task #16 - CW trivia (1-3 TPE) 

verification word: Burp!