Quote:1. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
While these two teams are no strangers to the Cup finals, we did see some very interesting things this season. Looking back, what do you feel was the most surprising part of the season?

On a team level, the most surprising thing to me was the way that all three of the lower-tier East teams looked very similar skill wise. I kind of had them all shelved away in my mind as teams that would be pushovers for the top dogs of the conference, but they each in their own way showed that they deserve to be taken seriously. Tampa Bay, for example, gave Toronto a run for our money in several games this year. Long gone are the days where they go a whole 50 games without winning a single one.
In terms of players, I am amazed (and thrilled) by the season that Karl Krashwagen had. I know CementHands from my days at Halifax, with he and I being the two mainstays from the S49 SMJHL draft. But Krashwagen the player has blossomed into an insane talent, not only putting up wild goal totals but really acing the role Krash had envisioned for him in the past: a dynamic power forward. Those hit totals… talk about a force to be reckoned with on the ice. He had my vote for player’s MVP this season, and I’d be shocked to see him not be a finalist at the very least. Well deserved, and I’m excited to see what the future brings for him.

(+3 TPE)

Quote:2. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min.)
Oh no, the head honchos of the league are worried that there aren't enough story lines for the finals! Therefore they're changing the rules for the finals. The home team will get to choose to either a) play the whole game with 6 skaters on the ice at a time or b) be immune from penalties/offsides/icing. Whatever the home team chooses, the visitors get the other perk. Which one are you choosing, given the choice and why?

The answer to this scenario depends entirely on how far you want to take it. What’s the point of having a maximum of six players on the ice if all your stars have been hacked down to the ice by the opposition? Penalties are so insanely important to maintaining the flow and consistency of hockey that without them I fear that the game would descend into chaos, especially so if only one of the teams is being penalized. That’s not even taking into account that tactical flexibility afforded by being immune to icing and offsides. Think cherry picking is bad in a normal game of hockey? Wait until a defender rifles the puck down the ice to a waiting forward who has ten seconds of alone time with the enemy goalie.

(+2 TPE)

Quote:4. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
If you're sitting at home watching the Finals: What do you plan on doing differently next season to help your team reach the promised land? If you're playing in the Finals: Is there anything different you plan on doing next season to continue your team's success?

So, on a personal level I had a pretty great year. Highest-scoring defenseman, great possession numbers, second-highest plus/minus in the league behind only my defensive partner. The one thing I need to work on IMO is my consistency. There were large stretches during the season where I feel like I put in poor performances, especially against some good teams. The same goes for the playoffs: Adam had an absolutely insane series against the Pride statistically, but didn’t play quite as well against Manhattan and especially against Buffalo. He was still good enough overall to tie with his S50 classmate  Aron Hernadivic for top scorer in the playoffs, no small feat for a defender, but overall some of the games against the Stampede saw Barron on the backfoot more often than I’m comfortable with.
I’m going to focus on becoming a better passer and playmaker over the offseason. Hopefully that, with the addition of nearly all of our forwards getting another season of development under their belt, will make AB a force to be reckoned with in the offensive zone.

(+3 TPE)

Quote:5. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min.)
Which SHL or SMJHL team was the best team to not make the finals this season and why?

Texas, easily. I'm shocked that they didn't make the finals, even if they did take the eventual champion Steelhawks to seven games.
Sure, they weren't as good as their record indicated given that they played their entire season in the weaker West. But that roster is stacked with talent at all positions. In fact, the development of the Renegades has sort of snuck up on me. I remember them being a weak team when I first joined the league, then they were the perennial team that was just on the verge of elite. Now apparently they're hitting their stride and it's a sight to behold; I was constantly impressed by just how badly they were beating teams during the regular season. I think they'll recover from this defeat and have a much better playoffs in S59, though I'm not sure they can top their regular season record this time past.

(+2 TPE)

Quote:12. 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. Hamilton was 3rd in the league in GF this season. Buffalo was 2nd in GA. This begs the age old question: what will win out, a great defense or a great offense? Why?
c. Which of these two teams' brandings do you prefer? Take into account colors, logo, name, location, and anything else you consider relevant.
d. It's all come down to this: game seven overtime. Which four players are you sending out to win the game for you. This is in a fantasy sense, so feel free to mix and match from both teams.

b. I don't really think this is a fair question, because both these teams are fantastic at both ends of the ice. So I'm just going to answer this in a more general sense: I think it's great defense. It's well and good to be able to score at will, but you need to be able to keep the puck out of your net in the end. The trick here is to note that the biggest part of hockey, puck possession, is the providence of neither defense or offense exclusively: as crucial as it is to have the puck to generate offense, you can also stifle the opposition by holding onto the puck in a defensive capacity. It's possible to smother your opponent defensively, too, and in the end all it takes is one shot to get an advantage.

c. I think I like Hamilton's better, but there are both good things and bad things about both.
Buffalo's circular Stampede logo is fine, but I'm not a huge fan of the forest green + banana yellow color combo. I also don't think the animal emblem is as clear as I'd like it to be. Finally, I think logos with two colors are vastly inferior to those with three or more as a general rule. Buffalo's a cool city though.
Hamilton's Steelhawk is great, with a good array of colors that while sort of traditional (variants of blue), they have a good resemblance to the steel in their name. The only problem I have with the logo is the fact that with the bird leaning heavily to the right, the logo seems a bit off balance. Hamilton I think is a great choice for a location, too, since it has ties to the NHL (Ballsillie's folly) while not being the current location of a team.
HAM gets the edge in the end.

d. Michael Scarn, Monkey D. Luffy, Alexander Selich, and Elizabeth Doyle. Scarn because he’s a top-level talent that can carry the game on his own, Luffy because he’s one of the most talented players to ever play the game, Selich because he’s a veteran that’s played at both forward and defense at a high level, so has a good understanding of both ends of the ice, and Doyle because I think she’s the best goalie we’ve seen in quite some time.

(+3 TPE)

Quote:15. Milestones, up to 3 TPE
New this season, Milestones are folded in with CW. So just link your Milestone claim as task 16 for up to 3 TPE towards your 16 total.

Claim link: here.

(+3 TPE)



3 + 2 + 3 + 2 + (1+1+1) + 3 = 16