Prompt 6: 

The best team that missed the finals in my opinion was the Texas Renegades. Before I hop into my argument why I would also like to highlight that I think the Toronto North Stars were the team that should also be playing in the finals. Toronto unfortunately had a really bad first round matchup and Buffalo sent them packing early. I think that Texas was a team that could very well take down the Forge. The Renegades' regular season demonstrated a lot of resilience as they finished second in a very top-heavy Western Conference, and in the playoffs, they moved forward with ease. Texas only dropped one of their first nine playoff games and that being in the first round to an up-and-coming Seattle squad. I think teams that have an easy time in the earlier rounds set themselves up for failure as hockey playoffs require a lot of grit in order to come on top. It is almost as if them playing so well was their downfall. Meanwhile the Pride battled it out against Calgary the round before and really grew as a team in order to take down the Dragons in seven. I think Texas will have another strong year next year and I am excited to see what they do! (218 Words) (4 TPE)

Prompt 10

For the first time in my few seasons of experience in the SHL there was some significant competition at the bottom of the standings. Playing for Montreal I have learned what it is like to struggle for points as I was drafted when the Pats only put up 3 points in a single season. Teams like the Blizzard really impressed me this season and I think that it may just have been the sim acting a little strange this time around and letting some teams off easy. I do think that teams like MAN, MTL, and SEA will see a significant rise over the next three seasons as they are the ones I would say to keep a lookout for! I think that come next year Buffalo will have the largest fall off and could very well miss the playoffs with how brutal the East is looking. It will be interesting to see how the developing teams pan out in the future such as Seattle who has built a strong squad, one that I think will contend with MTL in a cup battle in a few seasons from now! I think that teams at the bottom have to have a lot of spirit and that all of the ones at the bottom of the table this time around really demonstrated some! (200+ words) (4 TPE)

https://forms.gle/oySmb8CxokwCshf67 code word: chop (1.5 TPE) (in case my word count is off)