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?

Once again, it has to be @chetib for me, also known as Tibuk Soonika.  He came into the league with the Anaheim Outlaws and won a cup there with a relatively young expansion team.  He then went to yet another expansion team in the SHL in Chicago and was a loyal goaltender who has some of the best GA/SV% numbers in league history.  The Syndicate finally broke through and won the cup and that was in no small part due to Tib's stellar play in net. 

For players who will be there in a couple seasons, I think that @Nhamlet aka Ryuuji Minamino has a great shot at it with the pace he's going at.  He's a really solid young player who has already put up some impressive numbers and he's not even at the prime of his career.  Additionally, as Chicago's players continue to age then Minamino will continue to take on a bigger and bigger role and be able to put up more and more points.  I have no doubt in my mind that he'll be able to handle this role. 

4. 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?

Well to be honest I plan to go out there and just make sure that my team relocates outside of the Great Lakes division. I think that a nice play to go would be to take the team somewhere to the West Coast then you slide Minnesota up into the Great Lakes division.  Easy peasy.  Otherwise, you have four stacked teams in that division, it is going to be incredibly hard to make the playoffs no matter what changes you make to your roster or builds.  It is not like Buffalo or Chicago were substantially worse than Hamilton or Toronto despite it going down to the wire for that final playoff spot.  That was obvious when most other teams were getting rolled by the Great Lakes teams but they gave each other quite a good fight and the finals is - you guessed it - both Great Lakes teams.  Make the playoffs?  Go far.  Miss the playoffs? Pray you have your first.  Such is life in the division of the lakes.

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?

I think that Japan will do well as per usual in the tournament though it remains to be seen whether they can overcome the big bads in the US and Canada. Canada is a juggernaut team and will be the odds on favourite to win the entire tournament - again as per usual. In terms of players, I'm excited to see whether Jukka Timonen can live up to his potential as a high scoring forward for Finland. If he can, that'll finally show Lassi Suhonen why he should not have transferred to Japan. The Japanese trio of Westbroek Luffy and Smeb should all get buzzing once again this year and then the young guns in Minamino, Fresh etc. will all have a big role to play as well. Also the Beeg Yosh will be making an appearance most likely and even if not - he should be. Who do I need to talk to about this? Finally, I'm most definitely not worried about Corey Kennedy. Him and his team are bad and they should feel bad.

12b. 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?

I will have to say here that a strong offense wins out. I'm not saying that defense or goaltending aren't important - we've gotten Larson'ed and Doyle'd and Carpeted mooooore than enough but you still need goals to win and overcome that strong defense/goaltending. I think Hamilton has that and that's precisely why they came out ahead in this series.

15. Milestones, up to 3 TPE
Claimed Here

16. 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.

Oh man.  I didn't do this mPT seriously last time.  I probably won't this time because doing so would require that I don't forget anyone and I most definitely will.  @sköldpaddor @SDCore y'all my homies in Chicago <3  @chetib you had an unreal run in chicago and i'll truly miss TIB in net <3  @Matteo on that note, looking forward to MAT in net for the foreseeable future.  @O4L @Velevra @Kylrad thank you for somehow winning chicago a cup while inactive  @Nhamlet @juke y'all goats running NL and know how much ily @Lime @Toast @leafsftw1967 @teztify @Count Chocula @Carpy48 @KlusteR my NL friends who make every day betta <3  @visceralpotamus @Minnesotafine the beast young draftees that I wish could have ended up in CHI :( <3 everyone else in NL/CHI that i haven't named so far and saving the best for last @bdu754 - you a real one.  Much appreciate all the vibe sessions and good talks we have.  never stop being you <3

+16 total compelte.