Quote:1. Milestones, up to 3 TPE.
Milestones are folded in with All-Star Week.
Link your Milestone claim as task 1 for up to 3 TPE towards your 8 total.

+3 milestones

Quote:2. Written, up to 4 TPE - Shiny Grab Bag: Pick up to 4 topics related to the All Star Game to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words.
a. Two teams, Edmonton and Los Angeles, tie with five total nods each. Both of those teams are in the West. Playoff rivalry aside, do you think it's to the West's advantage or disadvantage to have a relatively large number of players from the same two teams? Does it make the all-star game better or worse when this happens?

I always vote to have the representation of teams in the all star selections as balanced as possible. I'm happy for Edmonton and Los Angeles, but having the majority of all star players in their conference come from only two teams can make it fun for the other teams. Because as-is it's practically impossible for players from the lower teams to even end up on a ballot.

Quote:b. While the East rolled it back with two top defensive pairings - this year that means Philadelphia and Hamilton - the West mixed it up with only Los Angeles having two defensemen present. Everyone else has a new partner. Which side's defense are you more interested in watching?

Changing things up always make it more interesting to me. Players with longevity may end up playing 80% of their career with the same defensive partner if they're close in age. Hence why having them play with other partners, with less chemistry, is always fun to watch. We get to see if they're able to communicate with someone new rather than the telepathic ability they've likely developed with their teammate.

Quote:4. Written, 3 TPE, TPE TPE TPE (150 words min.)
How much of a correlation do you think there is between TPE and an all-star nod? Should there be more, or less, than there is?

There is some, but very minor correlation compared to how the rest of your team looks like. I have first-hand experience that can mostly prove my opinion. I say mostly because the example I'm using is my previous player, Sven Yxskaft. I did manage to be selected for the all star teams twice during his 15 seasons in the SHL. But the key relevant data point to consider in this is that Yxskaft was a max-earning player and reached #1 on the overall TPE leaderboard. Meaning I collected more TPE than any other user had for their player in the past. This isn't to brag, as I lost that spot quickly thanks to TPE inflation that started when Yxskaft was young. But what I'm trying to say is that I had the top TPE defenseman in the league and fought regression for several seasons. But because I was playing in a perpetual rebuild, I was barely ever considered. As my stats couldn't be padded with the help of my teammates.