S58 Championship Week

S58 Championship Week

notoriousTRON
Registered
Posting Freak

#98

03-29-2021, 02:15 PM (This post was last modified: 03-29-2021, 02:17 PM by notoriousTRON.)

Code:
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?

I think the easiest answer is the Toronto North Stars and no I’m not biased at all. Coming into the season, it wasn’t even clear if the Stars were going to make the playoffs due to competing in a division with perennial powerhouses Buffalo and Hamilton as well as reigning Challenge Cup champion Chicago. If Toronto was going to break their FHM era playoff drought, they would have to beat at least one of those teams in the standings. That seemed like a tall order going into the season. Indeed even those of us in the North Stars locker room were struggling to believe it was happening. Charlie was providing us sims of the finals days of the regular season to show what the likely outcomes would end up being. It turns out that not only did Toronto finish above Chicago, knocking out the defending champs, they also finished above Buffalo (suck it @Faelax).

3 TPE

Code:
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?

Toronto make it to game 7 of the semifinals. We’re not really in cap trouble just yet so I don’t think there will be much that the team will want to do differently going into next season. We won’t be adding any callups to my knowledge so we should be rolling with more or less the same lines. Rhys Pritchard played most of the season on the third line but enjoyed some success when given second line minutes in the playoffs. It remains to be seen if the Toronto leadership will go back to the formula that produced a great regular season, or continue to experiment with new line combinations. One thing Pritchard can do is continue to earn TPE like it’s going out of style. I plan to work on the offensive side of the game this offseason so that I can get into better scoring positions and better set up my line mates for success.

3 TPE

Code:
6. 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?

Great Britain has become a powerhouse in the IIHF tournament. In my time with the team, they have won a medal every season including a Gold and three Slivers. This year, they did lose a couple of key contributors including Tony Ford and Reginald MacIntyre. Those losses will no doubt sting but the minutes they play can be given to a new crop of talent on the team including Tampa Bay star Tom Fiddler and Toronto’s Rhys Pritchard. The pair put up 7 and 9 points respectively in last year’s tournament and both have shown the ability to produce with their SHL teams. Edward Williams, fresh off of a 68 point SHL campaign, could also be given an expanded role with the club to take advantage of the offense that he has proven he can provide. I think another medal could be in the cards once more for Great Britain in S58 IIHF.

3 TPE

Code:
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.

c. As much as I hate both of these teams I have to admit that Buffalo’s branding is nice. The logo feels classic and the green and gold combo is unique around the league. The design has been around since before I was in the league so I don’t know who put it together, but I really think it’s a top 5 branding in the league. I’d be saying that even if you weren’t giving me TPE for my opinion.

1 TPE

Code:
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

Claim 3 Milestones

3 TPE

Code:
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.

I just want to throw some love over at the Toronto North stars leadership and locker room. This season has been an absolute blast and I still can't believe how well it went for us and what @ml002 and @UrsinZ have built for us in Toronto. Shout out to @"Capt_Blitzkrieg", @charlieconway, @SFresh3, @Carpy48, @Rich, @gurbs, @Mika_Kandinsky, @CptSquall, @Moreorless89, @juniped, @Tayjay, @Massive Coiler, @Dextaria, @Out of Toast and @Tylar. Those of course are in particular order but this one is. Last I'd like to thank @honkerrs for being less of a jerk than usual lately. Winning definitely brings out the 'not the worst' in you.

3 TPE