Quote: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.

Verification word: juke

+3 TPE

Quote:3. Written, 3 TPE, Those That Came Before (150 words min.)

When did your franchise last win a Challenge Cup? Write about that team, some of the key players, and what intangibles they had going for them to be able to win it all. If your franchise hasn’t yet won a cup, choose any cup winning team and talk about why you’d like your current team to emulate them. Did they have an all time great roster? Were they scrappy under dogs?

CHI last won a Challenge cup back in season 57, winning in 5 games over the perennial contenders HAM. I think that the main thing CHI had going for them back in S57 compared to the current roster is that I wasn't on it, which pretty much negates any chance of winning it all again. Add in the Darian curse as well today and the contender status looks grim for the syndicate. A big part of this S57 team's identity was their ability to show up in big games and thrive under pressure. They were taken to game 7 in round 2, where MAN's goaltender Larson played like a superhuman, but CHI was able to finally crack him in game 7 OT. Then they had to do it again the next round, with the series against the ever-strong BUF also went to 7 games. Then on the biggest stage, they only took 5 games to take down the Steelhawks, a feat that seems almost impossible to do in FHM, and I'm guessing it's the lowest amount of games it's taken a team to beat HAM in the FHM playoffs (too lazy to double check so just assume it's true), and they managed to do it when the cup was on the line.

+3 TPE  

Quote: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. Los Angeles has been riding their top players for almost a full minute more of ice time than Hamilton has theirs. If you were a coach, do you buy into this strategy? Do you let your top guys leave it all out there every night or aim for the most balanced attack possible?
b. Guy O'Shea and Evangelos Giannopoulos have been absolute block machines for Hamilton in the playoffs with 109 between them. If you’re looking for offense in this series, how do you get around these two defensemen?
c. Los Angeles’ defense, on the other hand, has not been afraid to join the play and put up points. How do you prepare for a five player offensive attack? How do you counter?
d. The starting goalies for these teams, Olof Karsikko and A Jobin have been nearly unbeatable up to this point with a 0.937 and a 0.927 SV% respectively. If you’re a player on the other team, how would you get inside their heads so that you can put the puck in the net?

a. I think this is context dependent. It's not necessarily something I would do for the entire duration of the regular season, but in the playoffs I think it makes sense. Especially when you're up against teams who have balanced rosters top down, getting your best players out there for an extra minute could make a big difference if you don't think that your 3rd line will be able to match up well.

b. Just miss them with your shots 5head. What LAP should do is take a page out of my book, and instead of shooting shots on net that could easily be blocked, send the puck wide by 5 feet. A missed shot and a blocked shot both count as a 'corsi for' event, but only a missed shot will count as a 'fenwick for,' so if anything you're padding your stats by following this strategy. Plus you get the chance for a weird bounce or deflection.

c. I am so thrilled to see my old NL pals choc and festy thrive on LAP's blueline. Not only are they great players, they're great lads as well, so it's great to watch them find their groove, even despite the fact that both of them torched me countless times in the conference finals. The simple answer to this question is that there is no counter, choc and fest are unstoppable and will set the league on fire.

d. I can't answer this because Karsikko just dunked on CHI the round before. If I knew how to get in his head then we would've. I think he had something like 2 shutouts and only let in 4 goals in 5 games or something crazy. I guess the only thing that HAM could do is pull a Kreider to slow him down, but I hope that doesn't happen and I don't advocate for running the goalie.

+4 TPE

Quote: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 link here

+3 TPE

Quote:13. Written, 3 TPE, Parody (150 words min.)

BWOMP BWOMP BWOMP PARITY ALERT PARITY ALERT- Well, a new team in the finals since the mid s50s, it only took ten seasons. Is parity solved? Will new teams make it in as the old guard becomes a forgotten waste of brain space? Don't forget, Hamilton is here AGAIN. Yes we have new teams... but what if it's TEX HAM again next season? Is that even likely?

I certainly wouldn't say parity is solved, especially considering who the winner of the cup ended up being, but I think it's certainly a relief for everyone to see a new team other than HAM/BUF/TEX/CHI in the finals since literally S55. And that's coming from someone on one of those teams. I will say that parity seems to be trending in the right direction. New update scales and harsher regression has already had a few teams dropping ever so slightly in the standings, and new rules to limit FHM tactics should hopefully even up the playing field a bit. We also saw a few of the earlier rounds taken to 6 or 7 game series when in seasons past they could've easily been sweeps or 5 games. But, I don't think it's quite enough for right now. I think that those 4 aforementioned teams will still be hanging around for a bit longer and making themselves known among the top of the standings. Changes will happen slowly so that nothing randomly breaks the league, but hopefully still continue to trend in the right direction. I think the answer to parity lies somewhere in the concept of some form of 'playstyle' settings which would limit how many of the same builds/ratings each team can have. It's a fine line though, because when a team is good at FHM people will say that TPE doesn't matter and only tactics do, but if you go too hard the other direction then people will complain that only the highest TPE teams win. Seems like a hard balance to find so I don't envy HO, but I do believe in them. Except patty.

+3 TPE