Trivia (3 TPE)
Confirmation Word: pizza


Affiliate (3 TPE)
WSBL Affiliate Sebster


Milestones (3 TPE)
S61 SMJHL Milestones


Written, up to 4 TPE - Grab Bag: Pick up to 4 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words.

Hamilton was not taken to 7 games, Texas enjoyed two series sweeps, which team had the harder path to the final in your opinion?

I would argue that Texas ended up having the easier path to the finals. They both played roughly the same games, but the finals started on April 25. Hamilton played their last game before that on April 22 and Texas played their last game before that on April 18, giving them a whole 4 days more of rest than Hamilton.
wc: 60

Almost ten seasons ago, in S53, Hamilton enjoyed a 40 win season while Texas mustered a measly 9 wins. Now these two teams sit atop the season standings, and the playoff standings. Which is more impressive, to stay good for a decade, or to complete the rebuild and finally achieve greatness?

It is definitely more impressive, in my eyes, to stay at the top for a decade than to complete the rebuild. Sure, it might be easier already having the pieces in place, but you have a huge target on your back as the team to beat during that decade. While you are rebuilding, no one really cares what you do. They might get a little nervous if it looks like what you’re doing is coming together, but at the end of the day the big dogs only care about the other big dogs.
wc: 93

What is a renegade? What is a steelhawk? Who is Victor Helstrom from the CW trivia?
A renegade is someone who has their own set of rules, someone who marches to the beat of their own drum. A steelhawk is a strange descendent of the seahawk, I assume hailing from Youngstown, OH or somewhere else in the old Midwest Steel Belt. Victor Helstrom is a defender who was a part of the season 15 SHL class. He was born in Sweden in October of 1992.
wc: 69 (nice)

Who is the best player to play for either team? Is it a current player? Retired? Traded? Make your case.
The best player for each team is obviously a current player, since they just went to the finals. For Hamilton, their best player is none other than Hugh Jazz. That name combined with the highest +/- in the league give him the MVP of HAM. For Texas, I would have to give their MVP award to Alexander Wachter. Wachter led the team in +/- at +33, and given how important and all telling that stat is, he is clearly the best player on the team.
wc: 83


13. Written, 3 TPE, Parody (150 words min.) There has been some discussion on the forums but its always good to hear more opinions: Parity. Going back 6 seasons including this one there have been 4 teams in the finals: Buffalo, Chicago, Hamilton, and Texas. If you add New Orleans you can go back 8 seasons. 5 different teams for 8 straight finals. Is this an issue? Does it need to be fixed? Can it even be fixed? I'm interested to hear opinions, approaches, or just doom and gloom on whether you think this will change, or if we will still be talking about the same teams making the finals over and over in 5 seasons.
No, it’s not an issue. If you aren’t good enough to crack the top echelon of teams, then you can’t complain. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. You know what the easiest way to “fix” this would be? Be better. Yeah, if you don’t want a certain team to make it to the finals, then the best thing that you can do is to lower their odds by taking up a spot in the finals yourself. Sure, it could be fixed and we could just give out participation trophy’s to a different team each year, but that’s not why we signed up (at least it’s not why I signed up). I signed up to prove that I am better at forum DnD hockey than the rest of you. So if you want to taint my one goal in life, to win a championship in the SHL, by torpedoing the value of a trophy then go right ahead, but let it be known that Willie Miller will view every following championship with an asterisk.
wc: 174