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?

I gotta go with the mainstream answer here and say the Toronto North Stars and how well they fared this season despite being put in pretty much the toughest situation imaginable. I imagine a lot of people talking before the start of the season about how unlucky the North Stars were, having to play in an absolutely stacked Division which meant they were likely to miss out on a playoff spot in favor of a much much weaker team from the other Division in the East, because of the messed up playoff system that FHM forces us into. But then things ended up going very differently than everyone expected, with Toronto starting hot and never taking their foot off the gas, almost cruising to the playoff finish and forcing the pre-season favorites of Buffalo and Chicago into an unexpected playoff battle among themselves. Other than that I don't see a lot of surprises this season aside from maybe Baltimore's late season surge that led to an unexpected playoff appearance.

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?

Quote:3. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
Which players, if any, do you see as locks for the Hall of Fame? As in, if they're career ended today they're in. Anyone on the cusp? Anyone on the right track, but still needs to put up a few more great seasons?

Well as a member of the S43 Draft Class I would argue that a lot of us could fall into that category eventually or already do. Some of us have already retired and started appearing on ballots such as Johannes Leitner, Alex Winters, Aleister Cain, Nicholas Williams, Tig Murphy or Cedric Robinson, but many more are yet to come over the coming years. Players such as Tony Pepperoni and Luke Thomason have shaped the league for years as have the likes of Hippo Passamus, Rex Kirkby and yes, myself as well. I think a lot of us are currently in the "maybe" category if we retired today, so it is now up to us to really make our case over the following years as we fight regression, to show that we still have what it takes to help our teams win championships or put up good individual numbers consistently even if we are deep into our careers.

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?

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?

Quote: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?

Quote:7. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.) or Graphic, 3 TPE
These are two very storied franchises, what is each team's all-time top 3 forwards, top 2 defensemen, and top goalie? Why did you choose them? For graphics people, make a graphic showing both team's starting lineups and some key stats.

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.
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. Well the first thing Buffalo should do is pray to all gods they can find that Elizabeth Doyle puts in another dominant performance as she has done in the regular season and also frequently in previous years. Having Bobby Sharp and Monkey D. Luffy conserve their regular season form would be great as well but I'd expect it to be a lot harder for them to replicate there regular season numbers in the playoffs, because there will be a lot fewer opportunities for them to inflate their numbers against weaker opponents.
b. In the playoffs my money would be on good Defense, especially good goaltending. We have seen it so many times in the past how a goalies form can make all the difference in such a small sample of games and I remember many more goalies carrying their teams to Championships in recent years than any Skater could have.
c. I would put both teams into the good but not great category but give the edge to Hamilton. The Steelhawks just have a super classic design and branding which isn't super flash but just works, which I really like about them, but then when you think about it the name Steelhawks is also kinda stupid so there is that...
d. Ehmm don't I need five players for this, or six even if you count goalies? Or have they started doing the reduced number of Skaters thing in the playoffs as well now? Anyway, I would go with Elizabeth Doyle in goal and, since Adam Barron isn't available, a Defense of Samuel Michaud and Nicholas Owens while also giving strong consideration to Augustus Wang. At Forward I would go with an all Steelhawks line of Theo Morgan, Michael Scarn and Aaron Wilson.

Quote: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.

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

+3

https://simulationhockey.com/showthread....pid3006740

Quote: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.

Gotta give this one to @Gifter of Bikes of bikes for finally giving in after I hounded him to come back for years. He's the guy who brought me here originally and just a great all-around fella, so it's awesome to see him back and give this a chance even though things have changed a lot!