Milestones: +3

Quote:7. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
We're at a point in the SHL where a good chunk of the player base played back in the STHS era, and a good chunk has known nothing but FHM. If you're in the latter part of the league you must have heard the horror stories... so: Let's make a hypothetical.

Players who played in both eras: What would have happened if we just had one sim engine? Posture how your career would have gone if we stayed in STHS (sans exploits). Or what if you had created in FHM the whole time? Would things have gone better or worse?

For you FHM babies: What if we were still in Simon T land? Would your career be where it is now? Or would randomness have stunted the dynasties you may or may not have been part of?

Personally, I don't think much would've changed for me whether we were on the STHS still or where we are now, as I never really was very good with STHS at any point in my life, whether here, the IHL or even now at the VHL - I just never got the heads or asses of the tool itself, confused most of the categories even after people explained it to me every now and then - in fact, I'm actually very happy that we moved to FHM because it's more accessible, visually pleasant and even easier to promote as games can be broadcasted on YouTube instead of the play-by-play system I watched during that one time I played a Four Star Cup final with Anaheim.

Plus, as a Brazilian who is currently living in Brazil, actually acquiring FHM was a far easier process (and something I already was on my towards doing anyway, given I like OOTP - although not enough to give our baseball affiliate league another shot since I'm kind of really busy more often than not... I was supposed to be studying for an exam for a job at the Brazilian National Bank right now) than STHS ever was. So I think my career would've been the same with STHS, just worse because I wouldn't have a clue of what I was doing. Even more so than in FHM.

Quote:5. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min.)
We're adding 2 teams to the SMJHL this season. Do you think we should keep the current SMJHL playoff format of everyone makes it? Or is it time to just take the best 8 or 12 teams and let 'em duke it out? Defend your stance.

I'd say the current style where everyone gets a shot makes it more fun than having a number of teams sit out. I say this based on what we've seen in some sports, like Formula One, where the number of participants led to a rather stale and boring product which is, honestly, a thing you really don't want for the juniors. The juniors are more about having fun and gelling with folks before moving on to the majors, where things are supposed to mature and gain a proper shape. I spent my first career in the majors as a player that was used to certain teams, ones that needed a reliable guy for the lower lines or someone that could help them in a rebuild, so the idea of playing in the juniors for a cup made for a fun introduction to that. I'd rather we kept the playoffs open to everyone.

Quote: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?

Well, given we're essentially four matches in, I think we can sorta tell a couple of teams are more likely to reach the top than others. If we're talking about team efforts, we could probably point to the Norwegians as the team currently running on more fuel than everyone else, namely because they have more players with higher numbers on stats such as points when compared to other names. With that in mind, I think it's plausible to assume they'll at least make the final four. On a similar note, Sweden doesn't seem to be very far off from them and probably are the other candidates for the final four.

I'm obviously cheering on the Finnish (given they were gracious enough to offer me a spot on the junior team for the WJC) and the Irish (with whom I have a history) to perform admirably and maybe reach the top four slots but I'd argue Sweden, Czechia and Norway are the teams currently in the mix for those positions as well. Still a bit too early to call it, though.

I'll come back to finish this later, gotta go study.