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 that the most surprising part of the season was the entire dynamic of the Great Lakes division changing. Hamilton, of course, was still the top dog in the division but their lead and dominance over the division shrunk even more over the past season just like it did the season before. However, I think what not many people foresaw was Toronto climbing their way out of the basement in the great lakes division and pulling Chicago down there instead. After finishing at the bottom of the Great lakes division for at least the past 5 seasons, the Toronto North Stars, suddenly climbed up to 2nd in the division and gave Hamilton a run for their money in first. At points during the season, Toronto was even leading the division for extended periods of time. You could kinda see the improvement coming, as they had steadily become better and better as the past few seasons went on but I believe it still caught everyone off guard when they went on to have such a good season this year. (WC: 179)


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?

I think that I would most definitely choose being immune to penalties/offisides/icings, and I think that the big key here is being immune to penalties. Sure you will be constantly outnumbered by your opponent, but being immune to penalties? Drag them down, chop their sticks out of their hands, trip them up, hook them back, do whatever you need to stop them and get the puck back. No offsides? Any time you get the puck, one guy making a beeline for the net as fast as they possibly can, flip passes for days over to them, you can enter the zone with maximum speed and reallyyy back defenders off, open up that slot for the good good shots. (WC: 120)

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?

This was my rookie season in the SHL so I think my impact was never going to be that big, either positively or negatively. However there are definitely some things that I would like to improve and work on for the offseason in order to better help my team in the next season. First things first, my player was always supposed to be an offensive defenceman. Just due to being a rookie and wanting to not be a liability defensively, I had to focus on the defensive side of my game first and foremost. This took away a decent amount of the offensive production that Jonas usually has (although he still put up a respectable 22 points). This offseason i would like to bring his offensive game up to par while also slightly improving his defensive game. The season after that I want to focus on improving his physical stats as well as continuing to grow his offensive game. (WC: 159)

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?

I think that the best SMJHL team not to make the finals was definitely the Newfoundland Berserkers, and I say this with a lot of bias because Kelowna were the best team in the league did not make the finals but here me out. Newfoundland had an amazing turnaround from last season, going from finishing dead last in the league to finishing top 3 in the league. They dismantled everyone they faced in the playoffs until they came to anchorage, and even in that series all the stats showed Newfoundland outplaying anchorage in that series, but getting a bit unlucky with their finishing. I think Newfoundland would have really given Quebec a run for their money in the finals had they made it. (WC: 123)

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?



One thing Buffalo could do is to somehow use their tactics to counter whatever it is that Hamilton has been doing so well up to this point to this point to get them wins. Hamilton is just such a complete team that if both teams play to their strengths I don't think Buffalo would come out of top more times in a 7 game series. (WC: 65)



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?



I will always say that a great offence will win out against a great defence because a great offence is more likely to be more consistent whereas a great defence can depend a lot on the goaltending behind that defence. Goaltending can be very up and down, and is less likely to be consistent, and that consistency of being great is far more likely to be challenged against the best offence in the league. (WC: 74)



c. Which of these two teams' brandings do you prefer? Take into account colors, logo, name, location, and anything else you consider relevant.



I honestly probably like the Hamilton branding better. I like that they are a canadian team, and I like their colour scheme of grey and blue. For whatever reason those are my two favourite colours to mix and match for clothing IRL. As well, I like the name steelhawks, very cool sounding to me. Nothing wrong with Buffalo's branding though. (WC: 60)


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.



Game 7 overtime and I can pick up to 4 players. I would definitely go with 3 forwards and 1 defenceman to start. For my forwards, I think I would take Michael Scarn from Hamilton, Elijah Jones from Hamilton, and Bobby Sharp from Buffalo. For my defenceman, I would take Augustus Wang from Buffalo. (WC: 54)


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 (2 TPE)


TOTAL: 16