a. A more balanced attack really helps. Think about it in this way: if the Wolfpack concentrated solely on eliminating Rashford's offensive threat, the Aurora would not have any good options. However, if the offense is spread out among numerous players, then even if they shut down Rashford, there are still other factors in play here. This really emphasizes the importance of good linemates and secondary scoring. (WC: 66)
b. It's simple really. Svoboda is a goal scorer so you have to make sure he doesn't have an opportunity to fire the puck. Block the passing lanes, take away Svoboda's shooting lane. Give him little to no space to even let the shot off. Make it a pain and force them to find other outlets to shoot. (WC: 57)
c. New England's defense has to do a big job of putting on the pressure against Winnipeg's forwards. On top of that, they definitely need to provide some goal support for Karsikko by providing some goals. Stay strong on the backcheck, too. The Wolfpack cannot afford to get lazy on the backcheck. (WC: 51)
d. Honestly this is being written off of the fact, but had I predicted the series beforehand, I would have argued that Winnipeg would really have a strong shot at redeeming themselves from last season. It feels like the team is now much more wellrounded, their goalie hasn't seen as much of a heavy workload compared to New England's. Obviously, that's not the case, which I shall address in my Procrastinator Special. (WC: 71)


You know, I feel like nothing will really top winning a Challenge Cup. It happened for Vaseline Podcalzone and it is something that obviously I, and Podz in the SHL universe, would absolutely desire to win another one for. We have made a strong stretch of runs, making at least the conference finals for I believe at least the past five seasons. The reality is that it is still in play. In order to stack the odds in our favour, we really have to give it our all and just try and exert that next level against some of the top teams in the league. The Argos are still doing really well in the regular season, but there are a bunch of strong powerhouses in the league that we would have to overcome in order to get to the Challenge Cup. I do hope that Podz can hoist at least one more Challenge Cup before the end of his playing days.

WC: 161


Vaseline Podcalzone's favourite SHL player growing up was none other than Martijn Westbroek. He still remembers playing against Westbroek in a few handful of occasions in his early career, and that has to be one of the most exhilarating moments. The thing of dreams, really. Then to have the opportunity to play against Wesbroek and the Chicago Syndicates in the Challenge Cup playoffs, well now, that is just yet another layer of awesomeness. The intensity of playoff hockey, added on with the pressure of trying to defeat one of your boyhood idols... the dream of youth hockey players around the world! Podz did have a good opportunity to put up a strong showing in front of Westbroek and the Syndicate during the playoffs. Although Westbroek is no longer playing in the SHL, Podz still has a lot of respect for Westbroek. At this point in his career, Podz wonders when he may one day play against a player that at one point idolized him growing up.

WC: 166


Now, it really depends on the argument of strength in numbers. How many wolves does it take to overpower a sun god bear? Certainly not a couple. Perhaps a hundred? No, that would be ridiculous. A thousand? Tens of thousands? A million? Either way, you get the idea. The wolves have to overpower the bear solely off of the power of strength in numbers, kind of like honey bees overpowering a wasp. How are they going to do it? It'll be tricky. Bite their way through. Those rays of radiation are gonna be brutal though, so it is going to take a lot of biting and scratching and all of the above in order to take down this massive sun god of a bear.

That being said, all it really takes is multiple sun god bears for it to basically turn into a blowout. In that case, there's really one thing that they can really do. Turn your back and run now wolves. You haven't got a chance now.

WC: 169


Although I am truthfully not the most diligent follower of international hockey action here in the SHL, I do hope that Vaseline Podcalzone can put up a good performance at this year's international competition of the IIHF. His performance at these tournaments tend to fluctuate. He does have some strong showings, such as when he had 9 points in 12 games in Season 67. At the same time, the following season he had a lackluster showing and only put up 3 points. Really, my expectation is that Podz will be serviceable in some way for his team and that he will get some decent playing time as a longtime veteran and representative.

Realistically, I do not know if Podz will be able to claim gold this year. The hope though, as it should be, is to get a medal in some form. Obviously the gold will be the best, but even getting a bronze would still be admirable, at least in Podz' point of view. After all, he has yet to earn an international medal in his career.

WC: 178

4 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 = 16