S74 Championship Week! 1/21 DEADLINE

S74 Championship Week! 1/21 DEADLINE

Shiamus
SMJHL GM
Posting Freak

#194

01-20-2024, 06:32 PM (This post was last modified: 01-20-2024, 06:33 PM by Shiamus. Edited 1 time in total.)

Code:
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. Two old faces are back in the ring, proving reports of the dynasty’s 

demise were greatly exaggerated! Pick either of our finalists, and tell 

me what about them impresses you the most!

b. Upsets were a theme this year - which of our finalists had the more difficult road to the promised land and why?

c. Which of the finalists had the more impressive conference finals victory, and why?

d. If it ain't broke don't fix it: Who you got? Who wins? Why?

Code:
5. Written, 3 TPE, Upset City (150 words min)

An impressive string of upsets took place this season, especially in the

 West with San Francisco’s Cinderella run. Which upset series impressed 

you most, why, and what in that series sticks out most in your memory? 

For the purposes of this task, any series won by the lower seed is an 

upset.

1. Done

2a. I think what impresses me the most about the New England Wolfpack is the fact that they are carried pretty heavily points-wise by one player - Ivan Lacksamus. Ivan has been the Wolfpack's best forward for the past few years, and i'm pretty sure at this point is in the top ten scorers in the organization. It is great watching his legacy continue by making yet another finals.

2b. The New England Wolfpack easily had the more difficult road to the finals - having to go through the 2nd and 3rd overall seeds of the whole playoffs in the Buffalo Stampede and Philadelphia Forge. In comparison, Winnipeg only had to make it through the 6th and 7th seeds as their most difficult opponents.

2c. Correct me if I am wrong, but i'm fairly positive that the Philly Forge actually WON the whole cup last year (if they didn't i'm pretty sure they made the finals at the least). Although the San Francisco Pride took out Winnipeg's competition pretty handily and was a hot team coming in, I think New England getting revenge on the Forge was the more impressive victory.

2d. I think the New England Wolfpack win the championship. Although they didn't do too well in the regular season, this organization has a great playoff pedigree over the last few years and made it deep in the playoffs last year as well. My player is also a prospect for the Wolfpack, so I am slightly biased! Smile

5. I think the San Francisco Pride series vs the Edmonton Blizzard was the biggest upset series in the whole playoff tournament. For starters - Edmonton were the overwhelming favorites to win the entire tournament. They led the league in point differential, with a whopping +193 - which was 60 over the next highest differential. That is almost a 30% difference, which is insane!

Come to the series - San Francisco went out to a early 2-0 game lead, which was completely unexpected - outscoring the Blizzard 10 goals to 4. Edmonton blazed back with a 8-4 win, but was thoroughly humbled yet again with a 5-2 loss in game 4. Edmonton would claw back yet again, but ultimately fell in a 2-1 overtime loss to San Francisco in game 6.

I think the key to San Francisco's upset was the defense shutting down Edmonton's star forwards in Evan Winter, Benjamin Surkhi-Zeev, and Oles Kobliska. All three players were 100+ point scorers during the regular season - but were rather limited by the defense of San Francisco. Just goes to prove that defense wins championships.

Total 7TPE + Trivia Results