froggie

3/8

Winnipeg and New England both have very strong cores and leadership that is pretty set on winning cups, so despite not absolutely stellar seasons, they would go all out during the playoffs. There's also always a bit of simulation nonsense. I know that line chemistry doesn't have a huge effect on gameplay, but both teams have had players who have been together for quite a few seasons now, and that has to do something against teams who have players with low chemistry. Also conspiracy theory for fun, FHM likes repeat playoff teams and skews chances higher that way. I think that for future seasons, NEW may show up more in playoffs than WPG as NEW has slightly younger players who will be around for longer, although I know WPG has people in the pipeline. I think Manhattan is gonna win like 5 cups though so I'm also delusional and should not be trusted for takes.

6/8

Norway has susperstar sisters Sonja and Froya Solberg up to play in the IIHF tournament. They're also playing the World Junior Championships, so they'll be well tuckered out. They've only just finished their second season in the Juniors, so they're still very young and still learning what it's like in the pro leagues, but they're both incredibly talented and I'm optimistic that they'll do very well as rookies, and overworked rookies at that. Norway is a smaller nation, so we don't really have any rookies to come up in future seasons, but we've got some veterans that I'm hoping will see many seasons to come - though more likely, they'll be retiring in a few seasons and we'll have to find new Norwegians to join. We did very well last season, and I'm optimistic about this season as well! Hopefully the Solbergs have fun and this is just the start of their successes with Norway.

8/8