S80 Championship Week

S80 Championship Week Due: Sunday, February 2nd @ 11:59 PM PST

hockeyfan
SHL GM
gnomes are our future

#124

01-25-2025, 04:05 PM

Code:
1. CW TRIVIA, 3 TPE max - 1.5 TPE for participation, 0.5 TPE for each correct answer. This is completed through a Google form linked below. Make sure to spell your answers correctly or you will not get credit. Post your verification word in your CW post.

Verification word: lightning

+3 TPE

Code:
10. Written, 50 to 200+ words. The Unexpected

Toronto ended up making it into the playoffs by one point while Atlanta had the best regular season since S71 Winnipeg. Yet in the playoffs Atlanta ended up losing the second round, while Toronto made it to the conference finals. Does regular season success matter in the long run if the team fumbles in the playoffs? Should teams give much importance to the regular season or focus all of their energy to playoffs once their team has secured a spot? Should the league in general regard the regular season results more highly?

It is quite clear, after the unexpected S80 playoffs, that the regular season does not seem to mean a whole lot. A team can finish 14th in the entire league and make it all the way to the conference finals. Toronto did not have a terribly hard path to the finals, as New England only played slightly better over 66 games, and Philadelphia were not the team of old, but if you were in a bad division much like this, the regular season standings don't matter. Finish in the top 3 of your division and you stay away from the good teams. If you're in a good division, then yes, regular season standings matter because you want to stay out of the wildcard by all means necessary. Get in to the playoffs and as long as you are better at strats than your opponent, anything is possible. Maybe we should go to a top 16 playoffs, where it's 1 vs. 16, 2 vs. 15 etc and it reseeds through the next round. Could be fun!

178 words: +3 TPE

Code:
12. Written, 50 to 200+ words. IIHF Back To Back

IIHF tournament is so short that every point is very important for the seeding for the playoffs. On top of that the playoffs are best of one making upsets more likely than during the league playoffs. Despite all that Canada did win the last two IIHF tournaments. Latvia, Switzerland and Czechia made up the rest of the top 4 for last season. Which of the last season’s top 4 teams you think is most likely to make it to the medal games this season and which is most likely to miss? Why?

The IIHF tournament is a fun place to be, because anything can happen. This season does feel like it's Switzerland's to lose, as the nation is bringing back their entire team which won the bronze medal and finished the entire tournament as the second seed. The players have improved and bonded together after their first full tournament together, and there is nothing stopping them from coming home with another medal, but this time, GOLD! Tibuk Soonika is playing his face off with Tampa Bay right now in the SHL finals, and he will look to continue that play and will Switzerland to the top for S80!

108 words: +2 TPE

+8 TPE