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.

As long as it is still feasible, I think the Simulation Major Junior Hockey League should still use the same format where all teams make it. It isn't really fun when your team doesn't make the playoffs in the SHL, so we shouldn't have it happen like that in the SMJHL, the place where everyone starts out and learns about how the game and community work. Not making playoffs could be a way to drive people away from the site if they don't feel the (faux) success of making it to the playoffs in their first seasons of the game.
2 TPE

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?

This one is Easy Peasy! Switzerland is going to do quite well again this IIHF tournament just like they did last year. I feel like last year's run was kind of unexpected, but I also think it was far from a fluke. A pretty good team with some high end players as well as a lot of middle and lower tier players with a lot of growth potential. If the team plays as well this time as they did last time, I think we could see a new powerhouse national team to start rivaling the likes of Canada, United States of America, and Great Britain, which are teams that traditionally do really well each year. They might not be as big of and underdog as they were last year, but I think people will still be caught off guard by how well they do again this coming tournament this year.
3 TPE

7. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
We're at a point in the SHL where a good chunk of the playerbase 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?

I had one season in the STHS era, so it isn't really enough to say I am from there since my player had like 200 TPE total. I have heard the stories though. I would have to say, I think my player is already sort of random in the FHM era, so I don't know if he'd be much different if I had built him in the STHS era with similarly comparable attributes. I really think it just depends on how well you knew the STHS system. I think there are people who are currently gaming the FHM system, but the knowledge on how to might not be widely talked about like it was with the old way. It is possible that the so called randomness and chaos of STHS would give my player a boost, but I think that since I didn't know how to game the system, it wouldn't have been much different than it is for me now with FHM.
3 TPE

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. The salt special: Do these teams deserve to be here? Or were they gifted a trip to the finals through puck luck and bullshittery?

Yes, they did deserve to both be there. Why do I say this? Well because the two teams that were in the championship were both probably good. I also think that the season is long enough to negate any "luck" that might be given to a team throughout it and really rely on there actual skill level.

b. Buffalo has been here many times in the past 20 seasons, this is only the second (I think I'm too lazy to check) time for Chicago. Which is more impressive? The continued dominance of Buffalo? Or the solid couple of runs Chicago has made despite the team only being 15 seasons old?

I'm going to have to go with the continued dominance of Buffalo. My reasoning for this is the many changes that have happened to the SHL in those 20 seasons that could potentially make it  easier for other teams to be at the top, like the sim change, or the multiple free redistribution we have gotten.

c. Everyone's a critic: Nitpick one thing about either team's logo, jersey, rink design, goal horn, or general site demeanor.

Chicago has the worst logo and mascot in not just the SHL, but also if you include the SMJHL, and they have some bad logos. I hope whoever came up with the name, designed the logo, and approved the logo all got fired and were never hired in that field again. I hate it.

3 TPE


15. CW TRIVIA, 3 TPE max - 1 TPE for participation, 0.5 TPE for each correct answer. This is completed through a Google form linked below. Make sure to spell your answers correctly or you will not get credit. Post your verification word in your CW post.

Here is my verification word

17. Milestones, up to 3 TPE
Milestones are folded in with CW. So just link your Milestone claim as task 16 for up to 3 TPE towards your 16 total.

https://simulationhockey.com/showthread....pid3086573

1 TPE


Total TPE (before grading): 12