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?


Although many people would claim it as surprising I for one am not that shocked by the play of Toronto this past season.  They have one of the best goalies in the league for the past several seasons on a hard luck team in Harry Carpet. He has worked harder than just about any goalie out there and it's nice to see the team in front of him finally improve enough for him to have a great season and get into the playoffs. With Lane, Zaporozhets and Zandinsky having pretty amazing seasons Toronto finally got enough going to get themselves on a run that I fully expect will continue into the future even though they are in the tough Eastern conference. Carpet should be able to continue his dominance for several seasons to come and in the end may wind up with all the all time goaltending records. So while it was surprising that Toronto did so well in a tough conference in a way it really in essence wasn't that much of one.

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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'd of course be choosing the no penalties, offsides, etc. That is a no brainer. If you wanted to goon it up you could literally beat the crap out of the other team's best players and take them out of the game. With no offsides you just park a guy in front of the net the entire game and some long passes would be total breakaways. You could also stand there and screen the goaltender, pull his feet out from under him, whatever so your team would have wide open nets. Even with 6 guys there's no way they'd be able to stop goon like tactics.




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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?
I think Harry Carpet Toronto's goalie will end up being a Hall of fame lock for sure. He is I believe the highest goalie TPE earner of all time. He had probably what would be his big breakout season as finally the team in front of him has improved enough for him to get some serious w's in the next few seasons. Although according to the SHL talking heads goalies don't do shit to help themselves it's all the team so in essence goalies are just getting participation trophies. Personally I think that's a load of horse shit. It takes hard work to stay relevant for a long time as a goalie, you put in just as much work as any other player but get none of the credit for the work you put in. And no goalie works as hard as Carpet so in my opinion this guy is an absolute lock for the Hall of Fame.




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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?

This one is pretty easy as well in the Texas Renegades. They won the presidents trophy with an outstanding goalie tandem this season. Kekkonen, Kvalheim and Williams had great seasons for them also lighting up the scoreboard. There defense allowed only a second best in the leagues goals against along with their goalies. They were the total package this season. But as often happens in the SHL the best teams often do not win and this was certainly the case with Texas this season. A dominant regular season run should easily have led to a final appearance but it did not in this case.


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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  +3


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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.

There simply is noone other that really deserves this from me than Steelhead77. Esa is the one who brought me to this site, not sure whether to thank him or call him a butthole lol, jk. We've become great friends over the years and we are also in a couple fantasy leagues together. It was he who wanted me to come to Calgary and I've loved every second of it. We bust each other's balls and share our love of foods as I torure him with pictures of what I'm making as I just did a little more than an hour ago as a matter of fact. Esa's 2 players have been straight up exemplary as has his management abilities which will go down in SHL history as simply the best as Tina Turner would say. He has kept the Dragons in the playoffs season after season and the team is very tight knit because of him. I could never imagine playing anywhere else.