Prompt 1:
I think that the easiest gift to give fans when they show up to the arena is a rally towel and I can also say that that is one of the few things that I have kept from going to games (the exception is that the Cardinals seem to give out a jersey for the 4th of July games every year and my family and I would regularly go to those games so I have some fun Cardinals jerseys for free). The other plus would be to give those out at the first home game of the season, as this is probably the time that the fans are most hyped and excited for what’s to come in the year for the team. I would probably try to make some neat orange and black towels for the Crows fans to take home and that would create a great atmosphere for the team’s first game of the year.

WC: 156

Prompt 2:
I think the Crows are actually in a pretty decent spot for next season with regards to our team’s development and depth. If I was to look at our roster, we have 3 clear top line forwards in Zeigler, Madden and Winters, solid defense with Bryzi and Doug, and a goalie prospect that is on the right path in Baretto. Knowing that we have 3 first round picks this upcoming season, I would expect us to target a combination of two forwards and a defenseman as we do have some serviceable IA players that would be successful with developing prospects for the season. Players like Gauthier would benefit tremendously from an active partner and I think that would certainly help address what was probably our biggest issue last season, giving up goals. Of course, we did see a massive change from the year before with active players and I think this would be a continuation.

WC: 155

Prompt 6:
As an individual who is on his third player now, I actually do have experience with the history of the Crows from the 40s. My first player, Alex Winters, was part of the first of three straight Four Star Cups for the Crows in S44-46 (playing against the team I was GMing at the time [MEME DREAM TEAM NEVER DIES]), but I think the most interesting part of that three-peat for the Crows was that it was the second time it had happened in the SMJHL but the first time it had happened with a majority of active players. Kelowna may have done it first, and no one can ever take that away from them, but the Crows were the first to do it in the right way with development, savvy trades, and a lot of players who went on to have successful careers in the SHL as well as the SMJHL.

WC: 152

Prompt 7:
I think when you look at the playoffs this season, there are four teams that should be the prohibitive favorites for the Four Star Cup this season. For me, in order, they are Maine, Newfoundland, Colorado and Nevada. These teams were, of course, the top of the league during the regular season but I think they’ve done a great job setting themselves up for success in the post season as well. I am a bit worried about Colorado as 5 of their wins this season came in the shootout, but they still had a very respectable 41 ROW this season. The other big indicator for these 4 teams is the gap in their scoring between them and the teams below. Each of these teams had a goal differential of higher than 60, while the next highest team below the 4 has a goal differential of 31. While this isn’t a guarantee of playoff success (see how Quebec City with their negative 93 goal differential is currently locked in a great playoff scrap with Detroit and their plus 31), the name of the game at the end of the day is being able to score more goals than your opponent and those 4 teams do that the best.

WC: 207

Prompt 12:
Dominik Winters should actually be a pretty interesting case study for how the SHL evaluates prospects as I think he’s built like a strong two-way center, and that is how he played for St. Louis this season, but he’s got a lot of room to develop and grow into a two-way center who can cut it in the SHL. If a team is going to look at drafting Winters, he can absolutely be a Larkin type player (how I’m mentally viewing Dominik going into the draft). I think he will probably be viewed as a first round prospect, maybe a fringe top 10 guy depending on how the board falls. Centers usually are a good option for any team who needs a forward in the draft as they can play the wing well and slide if a player gets tossed from the circle or something like that so that your defenseman isn’t taking faceoffs.

WC: 154