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1. 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.

CW TRIVIA LINK

Wednesday
Victor Helstrom

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2. Written, 3 TPE, GM stands for Great Man (150 words min.)
There have been some good and some bad GMs in SHL history. (Mostly bad) Pick a GM you think was outstanding and explain why you think they were one of the better GMs in SHL history. Point to trades/signings/trophy wins/locker rooms to support your claim.

I’m going big time homer here.  I’ve only been on one SHL team, the New Orleans Specters, so I admit, my opinion is very, very biased.  Joe K has been my GM since I was drafted, while I have had the pleasure to have a handful of Co-GMs (TDZ, Nictox, Overdoo and now Python), Joe has been my constant. Now I know we haven’t been great for the last few seasons, but when I joined the team in S50, the Specters were only playing in their fourth season in the SHL and they were considered one of the top teams in the league.  Joe had created a team that was immediately competitive, not only competitive, they were down right good!  His hard work and foresight saw the Specters raise the Challenge Cup in S54, 8 seasons after the team was created, and this wasn’t even our first finals appearance.  So, the start of my players career saw crazy talented group do the unthinkable and now, in the midst of our rebuild, I am hopefully going to be lucky enough to go out on the same high note.  Let’s go Specters!!!

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6. 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.

a. What is worth more to you, a cup win in the FHM era or the STHS era?
I was able to get a cup win in this FHM era, so I would have to say the STHS, since I was able to do that in either the SHL or the SMJHL.  Simon was so unpredictable it frustrated a lot of people, including me, but if we had FHM going a bit earlier in my career, I think we would have a few more cups in NOLA.

b. Be honest, would we have seen the same final 4 as last year (Chicago, Texas, Hamilton, Buffalo) had BUF/HAM and TEX/CHI not run into each other in the second round?
Yes.  I have no doubt the same 4 teams would be represented and to be honest, I wouldn’t have cared.  It’s been way too long that Hamilton and Buffalo at least have been in running at the end of the playoffs.  It irks me that so many players in the primes of their careers jump ship to these teams to chase a cup.  Now I get older players wanting to take a last shot (like Ray Bourque), but these players are signing when they still have a lot left in the tank.  I guess I’m old school in the sense that loyalty and being a part of a team means something to me.

c. Hamilton has a population of roughly 5 people. Where would you relocate the franchise?
Anywhere else.  It seems that I write about this ever CW, I lived in Hamilton in my younger days and I did not like it, not one bit.  I don’t think I’ve ever actually been back to the dumb city and it irritates me that even a simulation hockey team based in the city has had such success.  So relocation, yes please! To where?  I’ve heard Siberia has a rink, and that would be a major upgrade.

d. Who is the best player to NOT make the final in the past 2 years?
I’m going to say any player on the Toronto North Stars.  They have had some gems over the last few seasons, like Mika Kandinsky, Harry Carpet and Ruslan Zaporozhets and one of the best defenders to play in a while Adam Barron.  These guys were just unlucky to be in the division they are in and deserved much better than they got.

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12. Milestones, up to 3 TPE
Milestones are folded in with CW. So just link your Milestone claim as task 12 for up to 3 TPE towards your 16 total.

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Post your claim in the milestones thread for tpe earned per stat, and then link that post in your CW submission. This is done because the person who grades CW will be a different person than double-checks milestones.

Milestone claim - +3

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18. Written, 3 TPE, Apocalypse Now 150 words min
In the not so distant future (s64), 4 Texas Hamilton finals in a row have seen most of the SHLers quit out of spite. Only a select few remain. Head Office reeeeaaally likes having 20 teams so they have now allowed every user to have 5 players to fill the void of everyone who left. Name your other 4 players that aren't your current player, select their positions, and decide their focus and path in the league. Postulate where they end up after the draft and how the players pan out.

This is too easy.  I would make an Odelein Line.  They would be the most feared line in the league, and solid mix of grit and physicality with a little bit of offensive flair.  Lyle Odelein III, my current player, would be teamed up with his father, Lyle Odelein Jr and his grandfather, the original Lyle Odelein.  They would also recruit LO III’s cousin Kyle and his son, Kyle Jr.  The original Lyle would join LO III on the blue line, Kyle would take the center position and Kyle Jr. and Lyle Jr would take the wings.  While the majority on this line is a bit on the older side, their knowledge and experience would anchor the Odelein’s giving the younger Kyle’s the ability to show of their speed and skill.  And all being related would give them that sixth sense that family members seem to possess. The Odelein Line would go down in SHL history as one of the toughest and best line to play against.  And just listening to the announcers call the play by play would be pretty frickin awesome.