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?
Both seem like fun perks but a is a massive game changer. There’s a reason why teams remove their goalie when they are trailing at the end of a game. I couldn’t imagine the advantage a team playing with 6 players would have, even if the other team got option b. You’d actually have to get out of your zone to make it worth it and it would be incredibly hard playing 5 against 6 for the entire game. I think the best part of b is that you can’t get penalties and that more than no offsides and icings is more important. If you send all the other team to the infirmary because there is no consequence for playing like an asshole, you might actually have some advantage. So I’m not sure which one I’d pick anymore.

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?
Thanks to the shit playoff format, the two best teams in the SMJHL already played each other before the finals so this is an easy answer: the Kelowna Knights, finishing the season first, is the best team not to make the finals. It really sucks that regular season standings barely mean anything and we, the Citadelles, as the second best team, had to knock out the best team before the finals. It makes zero sense and it kinda gives a pass to the other team reaching the finals. The Knights finished way ahead of everybody during the regular season so it sucks for them that they had to play us earlier than the finals.

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.
a. Hamilton finished 13 points above Buffalo in the standings this season. What is one thing that Buffalo can do to give themselves a leg up despite this?
Buffalo knows how to win championships so I don’t think regular season results mean much. If Doyle shows up for every game, Buffalo has a pretty good chance because they proved in their previous rounds they could score a lot too.

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?
For the sake of the question, I’ll go with a great offense. If your team can score 6 and let in only 5, you still win but holding a 1-0 lead for example is pretty hard. Buffalo has done it during the playoffs but against Hamilton, it would be a different story.

c. Which of these two teams' brandings do you prefer? Take into account colors, logo, name, location, and anything else you consider relevant.
I have liked the Stampede branding a lot since they were introduced to the league and even if they changed their logo since then, I still like it. Green and gold look great and it’s a good take on the whole “Buffalo” concept. On the other hand, I really dislike Hamilton’s branding. Not a fan of anything about it. Name and colours, just not my thing.

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.
Let’s do the super cheap thing and choose the top scorers during the playoffs to create this magical line. I’d have Aron Hernadivic and Steve Harrington of the Buffalo Stampede on the wings, Michael Scarn of the Hamilton Steelhawks at center and Nicholas Owens, also representing the Stampede, as our sole defenseman.

13. Written, 2 TPE - The Procrastinator Special! (100 words min.)
Welp, you waited until the last day to grind out your CW and the CC finals are longggggggg over by now. congrats to [TEAM], woo! Reflecting back on the series, who gets your vote for series MVP? Make the case why this player deserves it over any other.

Tres Sombreros and Igor Petrov are guys I love and would be happy to see win MVP. I actually started writing about Petrov being my choice but upon closer inspection, it would be silly to give this to anyone other than our goaltender Mat Smith. Dude was an absolute beast, having not one but five shutouts during our playoff run. He even got one in game 5 of the finals to give us the cup in front of our fans. His goal against average is out of this world, as is his saving percentage. We were good offensively but he made everything so much easier for us.

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.

Milestones

16. Written, 3 TPE
I loved this as a mPT when hotdog did it last season, so I'd like to bring it back as a permanent fixture. After all, we could all use a little positivity every now and then. Say something nice about another member or members, no word limit.

There are a few people I would like to write about here but I think @Evok needs it and deserves it. She’s a great person on whom you can really count. When she says she’ll do something, she actually does it and it’s much rarer than I’d like to admit (at least she does with me). I’m glad if anything SHL has given me a real life hockey friend with whom I can go to games and also eat terrible food. I know I’m awkward and make things awkward but you still make it fun for me to go out and hang out with you while watching the Habs and Rocket lose.