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 think the only acceptable answer to this question, even though both of these teams are “no strangers to the Cup finals”, is the Buffalo Stampede’s beginning to the season. Let’s be real here, nobody would have predicted Buffalo to be able to bounce back from their horrendous start to the season and end up in the Challenge Cup Finals in the same season. They played some of the ugliest hockey we have seen from them in over a decade and everyone, including myself, was surprised that they started off so poorly. I think it’s a testament to the players and coaching staff’s resilience in putting in the effort to overcome the mental block that they seemed to have. Buffalo is one of the premier teams in the league and it would have been unfortunate for them to not have a chance to compete for the Challenge Cup because we have seen the great things their team can do on the ice. (162 Words)

3/16

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?

The S58 New Orleans Specters team was easily the best, worst, team to not make the Challenge Cup Finals this season. We should award the league’s best team not by providing them with a high draft pick, but with a free ticket to the Cup finals. While you may joke about how they wouldn’t have even made the playoffs, the time that they spend while eliminated would be spent watching their prey, improving themselves, and strategizing to take down their opponent. We’ve seen their use of performance enhancing drugs too in previous seasons and it would help propel them to being title contenders simply because they would try to rig the system in their favor again. (116 Words)

5/16

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.) One thing Buffalo can do is to stoop down to Hamilton’s level by providing the same performance enhancing drugs that the Steelhawks have used over the course of the season. Performance enhancing drug regulations are still absent from the Simulation Hockey League and it has breeded a, “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em”, mentality. (55 Words)

b.) Neither team will win and we will simply have Game 1 of the S58 Challenge Cup Finals be played until the next season. You’ve heard of the longest game for charity, but now we have the longest game for the Challenge Cup itself. We will go into however many overtime periods necessary to see if someone can score. It’s the classic paradox of having an unstoppable force and an immovable object. (71 Words)

c.) The Buffalo Stampede’s logo is definitely the more unique logo to me. You can see it through their color scheme and the different variations of their logo for their patches and alternate jerseys. Hamilton’s blue, grey, and white are unattractive colors and do not bring the “wow” factor that Buffalo’s is able to provide. Also, a bison would kick a bird’s ass if you were to actually have them fight. (70 Words)

d.) For the forward group, we’ll have Monkey D. Luffy and Aaron Wilson as our first two players. Both of these guys are some of the highest scoring players in their era and Aaron Wilson simply brings the illegal cheats necessary to dominating a fantasy league. We’ll add A-A-ron Hernadivic to complete that line because you always end up with one plug on your team that can still put up a point or two every once in a while. On defense, you can’t ignore that Samuel Michaud and Augustus Wang, the forbidden Anchorage Armada pairing, should be the obvious pick. They’re basically the SHL’s version of Exodia from Yu-Gi-Oh. (108 Words)

9/16

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.

Augustus Wang should get the MVP because he is always provides rock hard defense that always has the fans and teammates erected from their seats. Even though he was not the biggest contributor on the score sheet, Wang is always the most important asset to any team because he provides some of the most exposure to the league through his girthy fanbase. His affiliation with SHL Kush has brought the funding necessary to help improve the league’s infrastructure and the subsequent improvements that we have seen around the league. Without the Wang, the league would simply not be where its at right now and that’s why he should always be the MVP of the league and not some chump who “scored lots of points”. (124 Words)

11/16

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

S58 Milestones

14/16

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.

@Gwdjohnson and @jeffie43 are probably the only reason why I stay connected on the site because we’ve gotten to know each other so well. As much as I despise their alter egos, Gone Wild Johnson and Jeffrey 420, they’re my boys who have always stayed connected with me even though I’ve started to creep towards being IA. Regardless of the SHL, I’d love to get the chance to meet you guys IRL at one point. Gabe, it’s sad that we’ll never know who Jeff is cause he never turns on his video when we vc. We’ll just hang out without Jeff I guess. Sadge

16/16