1. Chill
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. Both Winnipeg and Philadelphia have taken the long road of drafting and development to find themselves in the Challenge Cup Finals. Winnipeg in full scale rebuild, and Philadelphia in the expansion draft. Each began nearly 10 seasons ago. From your point of view, which build is more impressive? Full scale teardown to challenge cup, or expansion draft to challenge cup?
I have to say that I beleive that Winnipeg takes it here for the long road to dodge. They have an older team, rebranded, fell to the bottom of the league, and then slowly built themselves up. Philadelphia is still a fairly new franchise and so I feel like this is the proper timeline for getting to the finals. Not everyone can have the success of Atlanta or Seattle as some GM have longer friendships allowing for faster growth.
b. Winnipeg's Mikko Rashford has been an unstoppable assist machine with 25 in 20 GP. If you're looking to shut down Winnipegs offense, who do you target? Rashford, or goal scorers surrounding them? Do you double down on guarding the scorers and letting a pass-first player take a shot, or do you go heavy on the passer and hope nothing squeeks through?
Individual talent is here and can really be a game decider especially when you look at the top scorers of this season, that being said. A player is only as strong as the team around them. Get rid of those genius passers and frustrate them in order to open up space for the rest of your team to breathe a little and create your scoring opportunities
c. Philadelphia's BASE PACK has made over 500 saves in 17 GP. If you're a Winnipeg team looking for a weakness to exploit, do you think this is one? Does this signify an exhausted goalie that you can pepper with shots and eventually break the dam? Or is BASE PACK just an on-fire goalie that you need to find another way around?
Base Pack has been a force since coming out of the juniors. It's no coincidence that the rise of Philadelphia almost parallels the rise of Base Pack. He is a literal wall at this point and its going to take a craft Winnipeg team to get one over this goalie. I would be more concerned at finding the shot accuracy from your team than chasing down weakness in the other goalie.
d. As always I ask... who you got? Usually when I analyze teams for this segment I see a contrast in results or deployment or something I can latch on to, but these look like remarkably similar teams at this point in the playoffs. So who wins? Why?
I had Winnipeg in the finals against New England, so I have to stick with my gut here and say that Winnipeg comes up on top. They have been hungry for it the past two seasons and keep getting shut down in the post season. They want it and they are here to make that statement. Looks for Winnipeg to try and close this out quickly and efficiently.


3. Written, 3 TPE, Chemistry Lesson (150 words min.)
Tell me about who your linemates were this year, and how the season went playing together. Why do you work well together? Why don't you work well together? If there was anyone on your team you don't play with but you'd like to, who is it? Why? If you're a goalie, tell me about your bond with your goaltending partner!
Seamus played on a couple different lines this year, I think it is safe to say that he played on the first and second line pretty consistently and even bounced around on the power play. That being said, he was paired with Borje Samuelsson for the majority of the season and the two were a good match with Borje outputting a lot of offense and assists and Seamus on the other side playing shutdown D and keeping the defense in check for the team. Its this combo of offense and defense that allows a fluid top 6 here in New England where we can all slot in to any line. It allows us the flexibility to counter strategies of other teams that might not have that same cohesion. I look forward to seeing what the pair of us will do next season as we only get stronger. Seamus is hitting his peak of offensive development and will become and even stronger defensive powerhouse. The bash bros are back.

5. Written, 3 TPE, Fire and Light (150 words min)
Last season I loved the anthropormorphic boats vs. bulls question because people came up with some really fun answers to read, so I'm going to ask it again with the Forge and the Aurora, even though these teams' have less concrete branding. Tell me who wins in a fight: an enormous god bear made of colourful rays of light, or a massive magma monster with a giant hammer. The arena and the rules of the fight can be whatever you desire. Get creative!
I have to give it to the massive magma monster here. While both teams are subject to the rules of giant god creatures and therefore are on the same fighting level, a giant bear that is incorporeal vs a magma monster that burns hot and is fluid or is solid once cooled seems to be unbalanced. Now you could make an argument that if the magma monster cools off then he will be stuck, but I believe that it would just be the outercrust of the monster and the inner working will still be fluid magma. Now imagine hes going everywhere spewing magma breath and changing the terrain and soon enough the collateral damage will be too much. I am not sure what sustains the bear and allows it to live, but a magma monster probably is self sustaining and as long as its burning things down its going to keep going.

S69 Milestones +3 TPE - S69 Milestones