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.

Wheeler

2. 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. An LAP team that was disappointed in a S63 finals loss is back again to face a TBB team that has been hungry for their chance in the entire FHM era. Who are you taking as a winner and why?



Im taking me and my fellow La Panthers this season to win it all. I think that during the regular season we proved that we were well deserving of the presidents trophy for being the best team in the league. The offence, defence and goaltending were all clicking and working together nicely. and when it came to the playoffs, we had already beaten the 2nd, 3rd and 5th placed teams in the league to make it to the finals, with 2 sweeps and while only losing twice. Very strong showing.



b. Tampa Bay’s top forwards have been absolute power houses on this run, totalling 102 points across their top 6. If you’re LA, how do you line-match against two lines that are on an absolute tear?



I think you just rely on the fact that our goaltending and defence have been top notch throughout the entire playoffs, shutting down forwards that were just as good if not better than the Tampa forwards these playoffs. I think LAP should just keep doing what we're doing and trust that it'll get us to the end, as there have not been many players who have had much success against our back end these playoffs.


d. TBB’s roster has racked up many more shot blocks (294) than LAP has (188). Do you see this as a good thing? Is this an iron willed team that’s willing to lay down their bodies to get the job done, or do you think it paints a picture of a team that can’t maintain possession and has to find another way to keep the puck out. Maybe a bit of both?



I think it is a mix, and depending on the situations can be good or bad. Obviously the good part is that they have many players that are willing to sacrifice the body and commit to playing defence and keeping the puck out of the net, which teams need to be successful, and is a reason why they are in the finals. The bad thing is the fact that the players are having to be put in those situations so often in the first place, meaning the other team is having a lot of offensive zone time. Could end up biting them.

7. 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.

Milestones

15. Written, 3 TPE, IIAM Excited for IIHF (150 words min.)

Write your predictions for this year's IIHF tournament or WJC! We’ve had some federation shake-up this season that will surely lead to some interesting results. So who do you got? Who’s going to take it all this season and why?

I know that my own team germany has had a lot more activity this year around compared to last year so I am excited to see what we can do with a bit more buy in from the group, which is pretty tough this time around I think. I think as usual, the big 3 to beat will be Canada, Japan and Great britain. They have always been strong and they just keep getting lots of good players to replace the ones that eventually drop off so they have quality throughout the lineup and lots of high end talent. I think perhaps this could be the season that USA climbs back up into the the upper echelon, if they can figure out their goaltending which I think has been what's been holding them back the past few seasons. Finland and Sweden ofc have the talent to be able to break into the top 3 along with Czechia, so it should definitely be an interesting tournament.

18. Written, 2 TPE - The Procrastinator Special! (100 words min.)

Congratulations, procrastinator!  Through your terrible time management skills, you’ve unlocked a special task! [TEAM] has won it all! Were the playoffs as you expected this year, or were there some surprises? Did anything stand out to you about this season’s final series?
 
The procrastinator special is what I live for. LAP have won it all and it's fully deserved for us in my opinion. Technically since I had LAP winning it all in my predictions, it did kinda go as I expected, although maybe "hoped" would be a better way to describe it as anything can happen with FHM. I think going in, having finished first in the league, we were certainly the , but I think our path to the finals was what was going to be difficult, and while the teams certainly were in their rankings (other than texas), throughout the whole 

23. Written, 2 TPE, How Are You? (100 words min.)

Instead of asking you about other people this season, I figured I’d ask about you! How are you feeling? Take a couple of minutes to write about what’s going on in your life and how you’re feeling lately. I think taking the time to write things down helps me appreciate or understand them better, so maybe this could help you! Or you can just rant about your cat annoying you for 100 words and collect 2 TPE. I guess that works too.

Lifes going pretty good, im doing pretty good. Just doing a lot of working and hanging out with the the gf. I guess something exciting that is happening is that I will be going to meet her family this weekend so that should be fun. With work I got selected to be part of a kinda crisis intervention team (i work with high risk youth) so that should be interesting as well, nice to be able to take the next step there. And i've been working on my irl hockey skills a lot too, just finished a couple of powerskating classes and been going to stick times regularly.