1. Sota

5. I think the obvious question is does the battle take place on land or on water? If its on land the bulls should win this easily as the boats cannot move if they are landlocked unless they sprout cartoony legs to be able to walk. The bulls can easily break through wood as well, or even stab a boat in the eye. If its on water the boats will win easily, as while bulls can swim they are certainly not known for their swimming ability, and I would expect the boats to win in some kind of war of attrition. I think it gets interesting if it’s a mix of land and sea, as both teams will have their natural element. I would still lean toward the bulls just due to the sheer number and the fact they can technically traverse both land and sea, but the boats may be able to coordinate better than a herd of bulls.

7. Milestones +3

15. I think this is finally the year that Sweden wins the IIHF. They have a stacked roster at all 3 positions, and I don’t believe they have any player on their roster below 1000 TPE. They also are in Group B which I think is weaker overall than Group A. I do think Finland comes away with the silver, as they are a very strong team with their biggest weakness coming at forward depth. I think Canada gets the bronze, as they have good forwards and defenseman but goalie is a big issue for them. I expect my player to do absolutely nothing of value, as he typically just gets carried by the rest of Japan. Maybe playing as a forward will help but overall I still think other Japanese players will shine over him. I think the surprise team this go around will be the UK. They have had a couple down seasons but I expect them to bounce back in a major way this go around.

18. I think the biggest surprise in the playoffs for me personally was Winnipeg losing in the second round. A lot of people, myself included, expected them to win the cup at the start of the season, and to see them lose to Chicago was a huge upset in my opinion. I think the other surprise was Manhattan making the finals again. While Seattle making a run wasn’t a huge surprise to anyone, I think most people expected Atlanta to be the representative of the East this season, however Manhattan continues to show how strong of a playoff team they are by making their second final in a row.

23. 
Someone
Living
A
Very
Average
Kind
Of
Viability