1. CW TRIVIA (3/16)

Verification Word: avsavsavs

3. FOUR STAR (6/16)

The Four Star Cup may have a nebulous name, but the name is actually fairly simple: it reflects the four cardinal directions of the compass to reflect how wide-ranging the league is in terms of its geographic scope. That may sound silly, and on the face of it -- it is. But if you get right down to it, the SMJHL is one of the widest-ranging leagues in North America. To the far north, you have the Anchorage Armada and the Yukon Mamalutes. To the west, you've the Vancouver Whalers and the Regina Elk. To the East, you need only look at the Newfoundland Berserkers and their processors in Halifax. Finally, to the South you have the Nevada Battleborn.

Arguably, the league could do with a little more southward expansion to balance out the increasing focus the league has placed on expansion into obscure small markets in the northernmost reaches of the continent, but the theme is true either way: the Four Star Cup represents the ultimate prize in junior sports across all of North America, and each of its four most distant directions.

Then again, maybe the name of the Cup just refers to the first four junior teams and it doesn't represent much at all.

4. DO YOU TOUCH IT? (9/16)

While the SHL may not have the same degree of superstition that a league like the NHL has, some traditions do carry over: and like the NHL, a lot of those superstitions come down to the wants of the team, represented most wholly by the captain and to a lesser extent by the owner.

The Quebec City Citadelles went to the SMJHL finals last year, and the decision was made not to touch or even celebrate that heavily the victory over their conference. This was due to the belief, a belief that panned out, that the team hadn't really won anything until it beat the Newfoundland Berserkers. While the Citadelles fell this year before getting a chance to make the same decision, a similar mindset to the NHL would likely follow through: if you touch the trophy and lose, don't touch it next time... and if you don't touch it, then the reverse logic takes precedence.

Beyond that, there aren't many consistent league-wide traditions or superstitions to take account for. Most teams develop such strong independent cultures that they develop their own habits and rituals. The consistent locker room environments that survive even roster turnover help contribute to this unique, every-team-an-island feeling.

5. MYSTERIOUS PERSON (12/16)

Zach Miller is perhaps best known as being a reliable player on and off the ice, but he's also an example of how team relationships remain important even in the long-term. Back before the Portland Admirals moved to San Francisco, there was a fairly famous tampering charge placed against the Admirals, all for the sake of a player who would have been a borderline roster piece to begin with. This prompted one of the most tragic firesales in SHL history, where a team on the precipice of greatness was completely tore down root and stem for future assets.

One of the most notable trades in this involved young star Nikolaus Scholz, who was traded to the Edmonton Blizzard. Scholz would immediately contribute, joining other Blizzard acquisitions (such as, self-promotion, Winston Windsor from the Minnesota Chiefs) to win a Challenge Cup in short order. This was enabled because, despite the ferocity of the fire-sale, the existing connections between Miller and Teztify, the unheralded best general manager in SHL history whose legacy is only overlooked because he didn't stay around for thirty seasons in a row, meant that the Blizzard were able to take a priority spot in Miller's calling list.

Miller's reckless firesale is a story unto itself, but his tendency to create long-lasting friendships has also shaped the success and failure of multiple teams even beyond those that he has managed or coached personally.

6. NEW STAT (15/16)

FHM has a pretty solid and well-balanced set of statistics, but one thing that might make sense if the attributes were to be expanded even further would be to multiply the shooting statistics somewhat. This is probably unnecessary, but would provide a little more flavour to goal-scoring players in particular. That is to say, include attributes that work in conjunction with eachother to help determine your player's shooting tendencies.

For example:

Shooting Accuracy
++ Wrist Shot
++ Backhand Shot

Shooting Range
++ Slapshot
++ Snapshot

This would likely have one of two impacts on the broader simulation. Either you would see players start to differentiate how they score on a sim to sim level, with some players opting for a classic 'skate in and take a slap shot' style of scoring while more would likely focus on wristers for forwards and slapshots for defencemen. The other, perhaps more likely outcome is that some team or another would figure out that if you make everyone max out their slapshot statistics they'll start scoring an insane amount of goals off constant rebounds and the engine would be forever broken.

On second thought, maybe it's best just to keep the attributes limited. But even so, the prospect of being able to make a player with a Joe Sakic-level wrist shot has to be at least a little appealing.

23. HOW ARE YOU? (16/16

It's nice of you to ask! My last month has been unusually hectic and stressful, which is ironic because I've gotten shockingly little work done over that time and my supervisor is probably starting to wonder if I've forgotten his e-mail. But after following the Avalanche since I was a little kid, they've finally won a championship I'm old enough to actually understand the importance of. I wish I had a good excuse for why I'm a Colorado fan, but it's honestly because Peter Forsberg was on the cover of my first sports game (NHL 98) and became my favourite player at the time. There were other times a team I decided to root for won the cup, but it was always a 'well Colorado is out of it, might as well root for the Penguins because I like Phil Kessel' kind of decision. It hits different when a team you've followed through highs and lows (and very low-lows) actually wins.

Otherwise, things are good. I'm happy with where the SHL is at and hopeful that the FHM8 transition sorts out the weird almost scientific level of optimization teams were getting away with in FHM6. But, as someone who was here off and on since S1 (usually as forgettable players, admittedly), I have to say that the fun of actually getting to make a build that isn't identical to every other build hasn't worn off for me, especially at the junior level, but I'm hoping that continues on into the future.