1. Verification word [3/16]
Ree

2. Grab Bag [7/16]
a) I do believe they are a different team this season, with so many players that can hurt Seattle, shutting down the offense will be a tall ask. Now will it be enough to bring them down this time around? That's a question no one knows the answer to, but I wouldn't be surprised if we see another 7 game series between the two teams.

b) Like I touched on in the previous prompt, I don't necessarily think it's the changes to Seattle that makes the difference so much as the internal growth of Manhattan making them a more rounded team. Even with last season's setup they were taking Seattle to 7 games. So with the extra fire power this season it should be a very tight race to the finish. Where Seattle coming out on top is anything but guaranteed.

c) Both teams do certainly rely on their star players continued performance. But as was mentioned, Manhattan has 7 PPG players, I'm not entire sure about the situation on the Seattle side of the fence. But really there is a lot of secondary scoring that can pick up the slack even if the star is being shut down. We're not talking about the Edmonton Oilers where if you take out McJesus in the playoffs their team consists of only one other player. So I think being able to shut down Manning and Lind will certainly help, but it won't be a guaranteed win for either side.

d) I obviously want Manhattan to win, since they are my team, but I also predicted them losing in the finals in my Playoff bracket. Mostly because I always predict my own team loses in the playoffs, except when I was GMing Vegas in the VHLM, but that's because we were so stacked it was basically free TPE to do so. Normally though I go with the "predict the team you want to win loses" because that way either your team wins, or you win TPE. So can't really lose at that point. I guess TL;DR is that my heart says Manhattan, but my head says Seattle.

3. New Year New You [10/16]
With the new year looming and Andy Ceylon coming off a very offensively disappointing (even by DFD standards) playoffs. He will be looking to work on his offense, specifically his shooting, as he was sitting on around 2% shot conversion for most of the past season. Maybe if he could have made more of a mark offensively even the blatant cheating that happened in the J playoffs might not have been enough to stop the Kraken? Who knows? Only time will tell is Ceylon's off-season antics after the new years will be enough to put the squids in a position to go for a cup next season. Early signs look good, and hopefully the growth will also see Andy ready to make the leap to the big leagues the season after, though that remains to be seen, as he still does have the ability to spend one more season down. If I'm not mistaken. But no matter what, it will be a new look Andy in 2023.

4. Dream Series [13/16]
Considering the more-than-a-little scummy way the series against Detroit concluded this season. Andy would love a shot at the birbs again next season. A chance to show who truly deserved to win that series, when fought fairly. And with how the future of the Kraken looks, I certainly see this as a possibility. Andy really hates being a passenger on a team, and in these playoffs he did feel a bit like one. So being given another shot at showing his best side against the birbs would really help cap off his J career the right way. I have to admit I don't know how much Detroit retain for next season, and if they will even be in a spot to make it back to the playoffs in S69. But I certainly hope they do, and that we can avoid accidentally having one of their players at 100 TPE over the cap this time around. Because it would make for one very fulfilling redemption arc if that was the case. Who knows? Maybe the Kraken will be so strong next season we'd even be able to win through such nonsense? That's the hope at least.

5. Boat vs. Bull [16/16]
This is actually a pretty easy one, since you simply decide the winner by picking the battlefield. Put it in the middle of the pacific and the bulls lose by default, as they would drown before even getting to the boats. Put it in the middle of a landlocked country and the bulls could simply ignore the boats, going about their day as the stranded boats slowly decay and get reclaimed by the land. If we assume living boats need water to live as well, they'd probably just suffocate, much like fish out of water. So really, it all comes down to where the battle is fought. Which I suppose is true for the hockey series as well, whichever team managed to control the way the series is played to put it on their preferred terms will likely walk away with the cup. Both teams have strengths and weaknesses and it's all down to their ability to capitalize on them the best way possible. All we know is that if it goes to OT, the Bulls are really good at that.