05-05-2023, 12:57 PM(This post was last modified: 05-05-2023, 01:11 PM by karlssens. Edited 2 times in total.)
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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. Winnipeg made the finals last year and came up just short against the Forge. Last year, their offense ran through Mikko Rashford - this year, their top line has been much more of a balanced attack, with Gonzo Gobbledygook and Lias Ekholm-Gunnarsson stepping up hard. Does this make Winnipeg a stronger team, or would it be better to spread this firepower out and run multiple scoring lines?
b. New England finds themselves in a similar situation to Winnipeg's last year: star winger Petr Svoboda has an absurd 30 points in 23 playoff games at the time this is posted. 18 of those are goals, 12 are assists: how do you shut this guy down?
c. Olof Karsikko has made 823 saves in these playoffs, nearly twice the number of saves made by Winnipeg's Rebecca Montagne. What can New England do to help their tendie out? Or should they settle on a strategy of allowing their goalie to face a high volume of low-danger shots to get in the zone and stay hot? Alternatively, how can they rattle Montagne?
d. If it ain't broke don't fix it: Who you got? Who wins? Why?
2a - Much like the Edmonton Oilers in the NHL having all your top players on one line works great when they're firing, but if they have an off night, or if the opponent can shut that 1 line down you're in for a rough night and very likely a loss. Logic says spreading out your fire power is the better option, but hey they got this far loading the top line so what's 4 more wins?
2b - The short answer is you don't. Svoboda is an absolute world beater these playoffs and you're not going to completely eliminate him from this series, but you can limit his chances and force him to earn his ice. Finish your checks against him and make it a chore for him to gain the offensive zone. Easier said then done though as the 3 teams previous to the Aurora failed to do so.
2c - They definitely need to block more shots, or at the very least reduce the quality of shots he's facing. At the same time the big reason why they've made it this far is the play of Olaf Karsikko and if they win the finals he'll be the reason why again and will very likely take home the MVP award so perhaps if it's worked this far who's to say it won't work again in the final series.
2d - I'm rooting for Ace and the Winnipeg Aurora in this one. New England played spoiler to the top seeded Philadelphia Forge in the eastern finals and are likely riding a tremendous high, but I doubt they can play upset two series in a row and defeat the #2 seed and top team in the western conference.
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3. Written, 3 TPE, History Repeating (150 words min.)
Tell me about something good that happened in your SHL career which you hope will happen again! What is it, what will it look like? Did it happen to your current player or one of your former players? What can you do to stack the odds in your favor?
Perhaps my fondest memory as a member of the SHL was the S45 Challenge Cup win as a GM and player. As a player it was my last season of a long 21 season career starting back in S25. He managed to win a cup back in S28, but he hadn't tasted glory since then so it was nice to end my first gen players career on a high note. As a GM it was my first cup as management and it was well earned. Our team committed to a heavy rebuild in the S30's and by the S40's we were a top tier competitor. We set the record for most wins and points in a season at the time and unlike the Bruins we turned that regular season success in to post season success and rode it to a championship win. A well earned award for all the time our team spent patiently grinding out TPE. Will this happen again? Likely no, as I'm no longer a GM and don't have a desire to be, but I think as a player I may be able to repeat that glory as a member of the Pride. We have a surge of young talent coming up and eager to win. I smell a competitive team in the near future ready to do some damage in the playoffs.
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4. Written, 3 TPE, Dream Series (150 words min.)
Many teams have rivals they'd love to trounce in a playoff series. Maybe you as a player have another specific player you'd love to beat to win the cup and lord it over them for the rest of their lives. Tell me who you'd love to play in a playoff series and why! Why would you love to beat this team or player? What would it mean to you or your team? Keep it friendly.
I have yet to build any rivalries as a member of the pride since I'm still in the SMJHL, but I built several rivalries as a long time member of the Blizzard and some of those still stick today. The first would be the Wolfpack. Their dynasty back in the early S30's was built on defeating us in the finals several times. A couple bounces our way and maybe the Blizzard have a dynasty in the early S30's. The other would be the New Orleans Spectres. During the expansion draft when they joined the league they managed to lure away several of our players and hurt our opportunity to repeat in S46. We did manage to bump them off on route to another cup in S49, but it's always nice to beat them every time we matchup against one another. One team I anticipate could be a big rival moving forward for us is the Los Angeles Panthers. They've committed to a rebuild as well and should be trending upwards right as we do. As the other California based team it should make for some exciting hockey.
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14. Written, 3 TPE, IIHF Analysis (150 words min.)
Write your predictions for this year's IIHF tournament or WJC! Tell me about your team! How far do you realistically expect to go this year? What nations do you want to match up against, and which do you dread? What are your expectations for your player?
This will be the first time my player will be suiting up for team Germany in the tournament. My expectations in my first tournament are quite low as I doubt I'll get much quality ice time, which is totally fair given the makeup of our team. A goal or two, maybe even an important game winner would be lovely. Looking at last years tournament we finished 4-1-6-1, so like 5-7, for 15 points. It was a sharp drop off from the previous tournament where we went 11-1 for 30 points, but that's a very lofty goal for us to maintain. I'd like to see us return above 0.500 and be a tough matchup in the elimination stage. We're by no means favorites to win it all, but if we can at least be a tough out I'd be happy. A gold in my first tournament is the ultimate goal, but that might be a bit too much wishful thinking. If I had to pick a team other than us to win gold it'd likely be Finland. They are the standard right now to compare against.
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15. Written, 3 TPE, Teams Can Be Rivers Now? (150 words min.)
Since Team Rhine is now a thing in the Juniors wing of the IIHF, name a geographical feature, such as a river, mountain, plateau, or your mother, that should be the next to have a team! Why does this feature deserve a team, like the Rhine? How good would this team be? Would you transfer to it?
karlssens
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