a : I would load up a strong top line, while depth is important, you need lower end players to step it up rather than thrust some of them into a higher role and hope for the best. It’s always good to have an overwhelming line that no team can properly match up against, even at the expense of some second line firepower.
b : You just try to make sure you get your top line against them every home game. Not much you can really do with a super player like that though. You can limit the damage they do, but still expect point production from them. You just have to hope you can outscore them and trust in your defence to do the best possible job.
c : The shot total is less important than high danger chances, so keep limiting teams to outside chances, even if it means a higher save count and harder workload. At this stage you have to trust in your goalie to play out of their mind to get you over the final hurdle. To rattle the other goalie, you just have to score early. The first goal (or two if you’re lucky) are so crucial to the mental game that the goalies have to play more than anyone else.
d : New England would be my pick at this stage. Winnipeg is a very strong team and could very well end up as the champions, but my pick would be the team that beat the defending champs in the conference finals. New England just has that magic factor going for them this season that makes me believe that they can do it.


I was extremely fortunate to win a championship in my first SHL season this go around, and while I’d won before, it wasn’t the same as it was this time around for several reasons. I was in regression before, and had to sign with a new team after not being brought back by the team I intended to retire on, and that was upsetting, so winning two championships after that was sort of bittersweet. This time, it was a pleasant surprise to get called up early and get the ultimate prize. I don’t care about individual accolades and am only concerned with making sure my player does well and helps the team win. So I’d love to win another one in Philly, ideally with a larger role as I develop. I’ll do everything I can to help my team win. Trying to stick around with the team and develop into the role they need me to is the goal right now, and with any luck we’ll be able to win another one during my career. (It won’t be as important as winning the 69 cup, however, as that was the first and only championship to truly matter).


While the glowing bear may be an apparition, and a metaphor for something more powerful, I choose to look at it and believe it to be a singular bear. And while a bear is dangerous, especially one you’d find up north, my money is in numbers. The wolf pack, using their teamwork and overwhelming ruthless tactics would be able to overpower a single bear. Perhaps not every wolf would survive the encounter, but the pack would survive. This of course being a metaphor for a hockey team. It isn’t basketball where the superstar can win you a game on their own. You need a full team effort, depth and well coached players to overcome your opponent. The wolf pack is a complete up and down lineup, whereas the bear is just a shiny individual. I assume that this will take place up in the snowy woods or plains, eliminating any home advantage that these creatures would have over a different opponent.


I hope that we win
The cup is what I would like
To get it again


Being Canadian myself (unlike my Swiss player who maybe you could make a case for being such a neutral location.) I believe that I live in the country that is the hockey center of the universe. Folks live, breath and die by the best game on earth. The magic in the air when international tournaments are held in Canada is something to behold. The 2010 Winter Olympics will probably go down as one of, if not the, greatest international hockey tournament of all time. It’s a sight to behold having so many people come together in their love of hockey, which you don’t really see to that scale when any other country hosts a hockey tournament. Not that other countries don’t do a great job and have people that love it, but it just isn’t the same. Canada being the birthplace of the Ice Hockey that we know today is enough of a historic reason to do it, but the love everyone has for the game and the importance it still holds today is too much to overlook.


I suppose between the two I would have liked the wolf pack to win, but them winning doesn’t really matter one way or the other. They beat us so, on one hand it stinks that the team beating you wins and you wonder if it would have been you had one game just gone your way. But on the other hand, it’s sort of nice that you can say you lost to the champs. Personally I liked that my team had another good season, even if we didn’t repeat as champions, it instills some hope that my career may benefit from being on such a strong team. I didn’t like that it seemed like I stagnated in my second season. I was hoping to make a bigger individual jump. I think it may be more gradual than I initially thought it would be. Not that I was unhappy with my play, I just assumed there would be a more noticeable improvement.



16/16 tpe