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?

Jonas fared extremely well this season. He had a much bigger role on the Berserkers than he did last season. Last season he was on the 3rd pairing and was able to be a very positive player in those match ups and put up 15 points. This season Jonas started on the 2nd pairing, but eventually moved up onto the 1st pairing. This was a very proud moment for me as he is still at 350 tpe and was able to hold his own and do very well amongst the other 425 tpe defencemen on his team. He put up 10 goals and 17 assists, leading all Berserkers defencemen in goals assists and points. I built Jonas to be a high octane offensive defenceman so to this point I am happy with how he has performed. His advanced stats took a notable but expected dip, as he was playing against top competition whereas last season he was pretty sheltered on the 3rd pairing of a championship team. Next season I will definitely up his stamina as that was a hindrance to Jonas during the middle of the season where he went through an extended poor stretch due to fatigue. (199 words)

3. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min.)

FHM's 12-team playoff bracket setup has received a fair bit of scrutiny. It re-seeds after the play-in round and for some reason puts the #1 seed and #2 seed on the same side of the bracket. I challenge you to come up with a different playoff format - can you come up with a format that's dumber/worse than this? be creative! Come up with the worst possible format for a 12-team playoff.

Hear me out. So 12 team bracket, but instead of bye's going to the top 4 team, the bye's go to the bottom 4 teams. We already know who the best teams are, lets just jump straight into the excitement right? so 1st vs 8, winner faces 12th. 2nd vs 7th, winner faces 11th. 3rd vs 6th, winner faces 10th and 4th vs 5th, winner faces 9th. Good action right off the bat, and hopefully leads to the 4 best teams moving on to the next round, and when they do, they get to show off how good they are by dominating the bottom 4 teams. then in the 3rd round, go back to the usual 1st vs 4th and 2nd vs 3rd, and the winner of those two series play for the championship. AND THEN to extend the playoffs needlessly, have a series to see who finishes in 3rd place. (151 words)

6. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min.)

Which SHL or SMJHL team was the best team to not make the finals this season and why?

I would definitely say that the Chicago Syndicate were the best team not to make the SHL finals this season. They were dominant throughout the season and playoffs, and through to the first 3 games of their semi-final series against the Buffalo Stampede. But then the wheels fell off. It was one of those rare 3-0 series chokes. It is very unfortunate because I honestly do think they were a better team than Buffalo, who in my opinion were more inconsistent with their performances during the season. Chicago was led up front by Westbroek, on the back end by Corey Kennedy and their rookie of the year candidate Ryuuji Minamino was a star for them as well. (117 words)

7. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)

What's your prediction for this season's IIHF tournament? Which teams do you expect to do well (or not well)? Which players?

My prediction for the IIHF tournament is for Japan to make a big splash. They have a ton of all stars and I think this will allow them to grab the title at the end of the tournament. They have top end talent in Parker Smeb, Martijn Westbroek, Dan Smeb, Ryuuji Minamino and Monkey D. Luffy. This will be a lot of talent for other teams to handle and I expect them to score a lot of goals. I am not too sure about how they will do on the defensive side and goaltending, not as many big names there. I also think Great Britain stands to do well, as well as the usual powers in Canada, USA, Sweden and Finland. I think Luffy ends up leading the tournament in points. (131 words)

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 an impressive set of skaters - without factoring in any coaching or tactical strategies, which team do you think has the better roster of skaters on paper?

b. Do you foresee the teams making any strategic adjustments during the course of the series? Should the teams be quick to switch tactics or stick with what they've been using?

c. These two teams hail from the Great Lakes Division. Which of the Great Lakes (Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior) do you think is the Greatest and why?
d. If, once it is safe to do so, you had to go hang out in person with one of the users on Buffalo/Hamilton, who would you hang out with and what would you do? (if you pick gabe you get -1 tpe)



a. I believe that Hamilton has the better set of skaters. So much skill in talent in both teams, but Theo Morgan destroyed the league this season, and he'll be playing up front with Aaron Wilson, Michael Scarn, and Dick Clapper. On Defence they have top players in Gabe Johnson and Guy O'Shea, along with Michaud. Don't think Buffalo will be able to handle these guys over  a 7 game series. (70 words)
b. Due to how well Hamilton performed during the regular season and how dominant they were, I do not foresee them making too many strategic adjustments, they should stick with what got them this far and this much success. Buffalo on the other hand should probably look at what made Hamilton so successful and look to combat it as best they can. (61 words)
c. Lake huron reminds me of a bird. That doesn't sound so fantastic. Best case Ontario? Not this time Ricky. Lake Michigan, named after an American state? That's gonna be a no from me here in Canada. Lake Erie? Sounds too spooky to truly be great, how will you attract tourists? That leaves lake Superior. The answer was in it's name all along, and we all knew this. (67 Words)

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.

Wheeler

3+2+2+3+3+3= 16 Total