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?

Personally, I am picking option B. This is because if you can commit as many ice crimes as you want and therefore you can’t be sent to hockey jail for, say, intentionally boarding an opposing player. Also, whoever fights you for it has to accept that while they chill in the box for 5 minutes, while you can do whatever you want. It won’t matter how many skaters they are technically allowed to have if you have to forfeit because you have 1 healthy player. The head honchos will probably be mad at me for abusing their hypothetical scenario but it won’t matter because I’ll have something new to put in my trophy case. (114 words)

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?

My team kind of sucked this season, but it wasn’t my fault. This is because I didn’t play for my team. I instead played in the J for the Kelowna Knights. I did gamble on my team, though, and I expect that was the issue. I probably cursed my team by gambling on them. I’m not going to change that because I like gambling but it is something to consider. Next season I will change nothing and still not play for my team, but I will probably wager less money on them. Hopefully by the time I am ready to play for my team, they will be just about ready for a nice championship run, and in the meantime Kelowna had a disappointing end to this season but we will be back next season and hopefully we can bring home the 4-star. We are looking pretty strong heading into next season although there is no doubt that this was our golden opportunity. (162 words)

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?

The Kelowna Knights didn’t make the finals, and they were the #1 overall seed this season. Unfortunately a coin-flip series did not go their way, although they could blame this loss on whoever made the bracket have the #1 seed play the #2 seed in the 3rd round. Honestly, any number of factors can be blamed but in the end, Kelowna did not win, which they can’t pin on anything but themselves. Kelowna has had a lot of talent and they deserved to get a championship, but they just couldn’t get it done. They were the only team not to lose a single regular season series against any other team, and they nearly set the all time SMJHL record for pt%, meaning they had all the pieces in place. A bad few games is all it takes to lose a playoff series though, and that is what happened to Kelowna. (150)

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?

Goalie play and defense is all it takes to get the edge up on a defense. If you can shut down an offense, you take a lot of pressure off of your own offense. For this reason, Buffalo should focus on tightening up on defense and keeping the puck out of their own net. Once they have achieved that, they can work on getting it into the enemy net. (69 words)

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?

People say defense wins championships, and they are wrong. Buffalo’s defense will need to be perfect to give them a chance, and it is far more likely that against such a strong offense they will just be okay. Okay won’t cut it against a top offense, and it will be very hard for Buffalo’s offense to keep up with Hamilton. (60 words)

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

The Buffalo Stampede logo and kit is reminiscent of the Green Bay Packers logo/kit. Unfortunately I happen to strongly dislike the Packers. They are incredibly annoying and they can’t seem to give their few cool players the championship they deserve. For that reason, I think Hamilton’s colors are better just because of how much I dislike Buffalo’s. (58 words)

15. Milestones, up to 3 TPE
https://simulationhockey.com/showthread....pid3007529
(3 TPE)

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.

@leafs1997 is a legend. He is honestly the reason I am still updating today. When I first joined, he was the first person to help me figure out how to make my player and really understand what I was doing. He also was the first to let me know that I was drafted to the Kelowna Knights, and I have a sneaking suspicion that he was the one who made the call. He also helped me figure out what was going on, along with the extremely nice and supportive Kelowna locker room. Not only that, when I pretty much left my player abandoned while I prepared for midterms, they weren’t mad at all and were completely understanding. I am extremely lucky and grateful to have met Leafs and I am so glad he decided to pick me for Kelowna.