This season was the one where I felt like things really started to come together for Kaarlo after a few seasons where he hadn't really shown what he was capable of doing. In terms of offensive production, he was finally able to maintain a point per game pace over the course of a season which was really cool, but even beyond that I feel like I was actually able to make a contribution as a part of an effective offense and play something of a role in the games that we were able to win. Even though it was easily the best season I've had since entering the league, I had hoped that based on the start I had to the season I could have put up more points than I ended up with. But I have to be realistic and be grateful that I was finally able to get over the point per game mark for the first time in my career so far, hopefully got a lot more of them still to come.




When it comes to who's going to do well in the IIHF tournaments, the boring and safe answer that nearly always turns out to be correct is that Canada or USA are probably going to win it. Beyond that though, I say this every season but I hope that Team Finland actually starts to make some noise in this tournament. For a long time we've been a young team to keep an eye on but I think it's getting to the point where we actually really need to start delivering on the promise that we've got or the moments going to pass us by. I think that overall, big name players on big nations like Theo Morgan and Michael Scarn will have the best tournaments, but I think that Kaarlo Kekkonen could be set for a breakout tournament based on his current TPE level and the way that he improved in the SHL this season. It would be cool to finally make some noise in the IIHF but we'll see what happens I guess.




One comparison that has always stood out to me is Andreas Kvalheim of the Texas Renegades being the closest thing the SHL has had to Alexander Ovechkin, both in terms of his play itself and the time that he's spent in the league. It might not be that immediate a comparison but if we take a closer look you can see why I went here; both were very early picks in their draft heralded as generational talents before hand, both are some of the most physical and dominating two way forwards that the league has ever seen (Kvalheim is undoubtedly the best and most accomplished two way forward in SHL history), both are elite goalscorers (Ovechkin being probably the most naturally talented in NHL history) and both have been absolutely transformative for the teams that they joined. Kvalheim has seen Texas through dark days and into the more rewarding times that they are in now, while Ovechkin took the Washington Capitals from the bottom to a Stanley Cup. Both guys are going to go down in history as all time greats, and it's been cool to be able to follow the careers of both guys.




a.) I really don't know if either team has an advantage. I think based on past success in the finals you could go with Hamilton but I think Chicago are going to be hungry to win their first cup and will be looking to make this a very tough series. Honestly I probably would class it as a true toss up at this point, no idea who's going to win but it should be a fun series for us to follow.



b.) Potentially a controversial opinion but I'm going to say that Chicago has the better special teams unit. Even though Michael Scarn was a monster on the powerplay this season, scoring 25 points, Chicago had two guys who were right behind him in Martijn Westbroek and Daniel Smeb and I think they're going to be a real tough opponent for the Steelhawks to have to shut down.



c.) Even though Hamilton would be my local team if the SHL were a real league, I'm going to have to go with the Syndicate. Chicago is a really cool location for the team and their branding kind of reminds me of the Portland Admirals from back in the day. I can't hate the Steelhawks branding either tho because that is still nice stuff.



d.) Tough one to have to answer here. Definitely don't want to get a lap dance from Hallsy or his player, Luke Atmey is probably really good at looking at things and I've never played League so I think I'm going to go for the reaching for things contest. I know Miller is really short so probably an easy win for me.




Verification: letsgo

16/16