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?

This past season was full of surprises and also reliable predictions. The biggest surprise was the emergence of the Texas Renegades as a full fledged force to be reckoned with in the Western Conference. Coming out on top of the league with 109 points and beating out every Great Lakes team to take that spot is impressive and something not a lot of people saw happening. It's encouraging that the rest of the league can take on the juggernaut division of the Great Lakes. However, when a lot of your games are against teams like the New Orleans Specters or the San Francisco Pride, you end up picking up a lot more wins. Especially when you compare Hamilton playing Great Lakes division rivals like Chicago or Toronto on a consistent basis. The slow fall and demise of the New Orleans Specters was not a big surprise to many in the league, but something you hate to see happen to a franchise. (161 words)

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?

If i was the home team in a situation like this, I would take the immune to penalties, offsides, and icing situation. While that may mean that we have less people on the ice for the majority of the game. It also means we can get away with a lot more during the game. Bigger hits, more hail mary passes, hand passes, goalie interference. The combinations are limitless. The biggest downside is that you're constantly playing seemingly a man down, and the ice gets exponentially more crowded out there with 11 skaters. However, i'd take tripping and spearing over an extra man all the time. Old Tyme Hockey. (108 words)

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?
There are many things that myself, Igor Victory, could do to help out my team, the Tampa Bay Barracuda reach the promised land of the Simulation Hockey League's Challenge Cup finals. I need to be better both offensively and defensively. A -12 rating on the season is not helpful to anybody on the team, and is disheartening to see at the end of the season. My give away to take away ratio is completely flawed as well. I gave away the puck 25 times versus the 15 times that I took away the puck. As someone on the defensive core, I need to be better about controlling the puck. It should be on a string when I am playing on the ice. Otherwise, the other team gets breakaways, and gets high scoring chance situations. So in the end, i need to be a better team player for us to reach the finals in the next few seasons. (157 words)

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?
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.

A. Buffalo Stampede needs to draft better in order to really compete against the Hamilton Steelhawks. However, immediately they need to focus on staying stingey on defense. Hamilton only scored 9 more goals in the regular season in comparison to the Stampede. However Hamilton let in 30 or more goals. So if Buffalo can stay in that defensive mindset, they'll come out on top. (63 words)
B. Well, as I just wrote above, Buffalo with their defensive mind set definitely helped them out during the regular season. This comes down to a battle of their goalies, Buffalo has a great chance with Doyle playing out of her mind right now and posting a way sub .200 GAA right now. If she can get a tleast one shoot out, they have a great chance. (66 words)
C. The branding between the Buffalo Stampede and the Hamilton Steelhawks is a tough one to choose from. There aren't, nor were there ever Buffalo in Buffalo, New York. At least Hamilton has a very strong identity of being a Steel city, essentially the Pittsburgh of Canada. Visually, I like the look of the Stampede logo more than the Steelhawks, but I like the colorway of the Steelhawks more. So I'm torn and all over the place. (78 words)
D. the four players I'm putting out there in a game 7 situation is as follows:
Aron Hernadivic - Buffalo - Forward
Theo Morgan - Hamilton - Forward
Bork Lazer - Hamilton - Defense
Elizabeth Doyle - Buffalo Goalie

You get two high scoring forwards representing both teams. Then the formidable Bork Lazer who is there to plow over every one.
WIth Doyle having a few shut outs, it's a no brainer to put her out there.

(69 words)

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.
SHL Milestones: https://simulationhockey.com/showthread.php?tid=114645
SMJHL Milestones (for senddowns): TBD
https://simulationhockey.com/showthread....pid3008138
+1 TPE

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.
This season has been very different for me, my second season as Co-GM of the Armada and first full time season in the big leagues. I want to say thanks to Gabe, Ass, GA, Bloos, Oats for being big parts of the war room in ANC. As well as all of the amazing players we have on the team, too many to list. In the big league, Trella and Dwight for leading the way, Ranger for being banker and giving me money, Muford for his constant dad jokes.