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**bbjygm** · 05-13-2020, 03:55 PM

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2. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)

With everyone getting a free redistribution this offseason, S54 is quite wide open at the moment. Before those redistributions take place, who would you anticipate being the top team(s) for next season?

The top teams in my conference should be the Hamilton Steelhawks and the New England Wolfpack. New England will probably be more physical to counter Hamilton's two way forward, physically inclined lineup. I imagine the Wolfpack will also improve our defense as well as make sure that our top six has more chemistry together and has strengths that mesh well with each other. The Wolfpack also have a new goalie that they will be able to shape into whatever the best kind of netminder is so they finally might have someone more trustworthy in the crease. Edmonton might have even more of an advantage in their conference as they might add more physicality to their tremendous degree of speed, and with them diversifying their build style, they can really separate themselves and start dominating their division and conference. I think next season you will really see them as one of the top teams in the regular season more than you did this year, as they were a bit average until the playoffs.

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3. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min.)

Which player from the Steelhawks or the Blizzard would you bet on to win a regular season individual award in a future season? What player and what award? What makes you think they'll live up to their potential and take home the hardware?

Flacko Lagerfield led the league in scoring at a crazy pace, just constantly getting goals and assists. It was quite impressive to see such flair and skill. He really showed his talent on offense and with that kind of offensive instincts, he should be looking at winning the league mvp award multiple times. He did it all and was the best forward in the league. I don't think he will slow down as his team that plays with him just keeps getting better and is better suited to setting him up. If anything I think he will score more goals and be more worthy of mvp than he already is.

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5. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)

Just like everything else in S53, IIHF is going to be an exciting mystery for us all! We've seen the introduction of a new format (all 14 teams in one group) and it's bound to be a very exciting tournament. What are your predictions for IIHF this season? What team or teams do you think have the best shot at taking home the gold? How do you think your team will fare?

I predict that IIHF will be very close fighting for spots in each of the divisions. All of the countries are just learning the new sim engine so it's really anyone's game. Great Britain will probably be a surprise to some as they are still riding high after winning the gold medal last year. Their managers will probably work hard to try to keep the medals right where they are. USA is still very high in TPE and has good coaching just like Canada does. Both of those two teams have the strongest rosters in the IIHF and should be very strongly able to compete based on that alone. I think Great Britain has the best shot of taking home the gold even against such stacked teams just because they keep it simple and play smart. With the momentum from last year it should be enough to push them to win it all again and get that repeat victory.

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6. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)

Come up with a program of intermission entertainment for one of the games of the finals. What's the between-period on-ice entertainment the fans will enjoy? The goofier the better, go crazy.

At the intermission fans will be treated to karaoke as random people are called on stage. The terribly off key renditions of popular songs are bound to be a hit and good for a few laughs at least. Occasionally there may be someone good and whoever the fans vote that they liked the most would get some sort of autographed prize. At the end of the intermission right before the next period one player from each team and a referee will sing a song all together which is bound to be an absolute disaster. The referee will be required to try to do a falsetto solo at the end, which will be filmed and posted to YouTube after it is over. The social media team will pick a good pun making fun of the ref and mocking them in the title, and it will be shared on every platform. It is bound to get millions of views so that all fans everywhere can enjoy the spectacle.

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14. Written, 2 TPE - The Procrastinator Special! (100 words min)

Welp, you waited until the last day to grind out your CW and the CC finals are longggggggg over by now. congrats to [TEAM], woo! Reflecting back on the series, who gets your vote for series MVP? Make the case why this player deserves it over any other.

Robert Phelps get my vote for series MVP. He was tied for leading his team in scoring during the finals and as a veteran player, he has been a big part of the franchise for a long time. He is important in the locker room and his experience and guidance must have contributed a lot to the team's cup run with everything that he brings off the ice. And of course you pair that with a strong performance on the ice when the pressure is on, scoring to win the big games for his team and you know he has to get MVP. He has earned it and worked for it longer than anyone else out there.

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16. CW TRIVIA, 3 TPE max - 1 TPE for participation, 0.5 TPE for each correct answer. This is now 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.

myprecious

Mediocre_Fred · 05-13-2020, 04:29 PM

1. I don’t know much about the SHL since my player is still in the SMJHL, but I’ll give a shot at this anyway. I think it is pretty easy to say that in an alternate reality the Los Angeles Panthers could have made it to the challenge cup finals. In our reality, the Panthers were swept by the Edmonton Blizzard, but in this different reality, the Panthers were able to take the Blizzard to game seven and secure the win. They would find themselves in the finals against Hamilton Steelhawks. They’d still lose, though, of course. Hamilton was just too good to lose this season. Probably in no reality was there a finals that didn’t have Hamilton winning the Challenge Cup, to be honest. But, after all, what do I know, this is all hypothetical anyway. Actually, I change my mind. There is one reality in which the Steelhawks didn’t win. In that one, the Tampa Bay Barracudas won it. (3 TPE)

3. From Edmonton I would choose Tony Pepperoni as an award winner. I’d probably say they would win the Most Valuable Player award. Through the regular season they had fifty seven points coming from twenty four goals and thirty three assists. That is a team player if I’ve ever seen one. From Hamilton, I’d say either Flacko Lagerfield or Robert Phelps for the Most Valuable Player award. Both of them had an absurd amount of points and ended with very high +/- values. Lagerfield is the only person in the league this season to have more than seventy points during the regular season. That is some good stuff right there. (2 TPE)

7. Yes, this is easy. I would want Fred Wanesly to be a guest star on Top Gear (preferably with Clarkson, Hammond, and May). It would be really cool to talk about hockey and of Fred Wanesly’s love of cars. He’d tell some silly story about how he did something probably illegal in a car, as is tradition on that show. Then he’d get to drive around the track and see how his time compares to other celebrities. Overall, it would be a grand old time. British person doing British things on a British TV show. Who wouldn’t love to see that? (2 TPE)

8. Alright, here is my first ever attempt at doing SHL related graphics (3 TPE)

13. A) Lagerfield is the best player in the Challenge Cup finals based on my own individual investigation. I don’t know anything about player attributes, but I don know out of all of the players in the finals, Lagerfield has the best Regular Season statistics. Therefore, in my expert opinion, Lagerfield is the best player in the Challenge Cup Final.
B) I think that speed and acceleration will be more useful that balance and strength. In my mind, I feel as though the combination of quick movement plus the ability to move at fast speeds is going to be a deadly combination that opponents will have to face. I give the edge to Edmonton
C) Left Wing - Flacko Lagerfield HAM. Right Wing - Robert Phelps HAM. Center - Aaaron Wilson HAM. Right Defense - Gabriel Johnson HAM. Left Defense - Tig Murphy HAM. Goalie - Emiko Spector EDM. These are the people I would choose to be on my all star line up or whatever I was supposed to be making. It may seem like they are all from Hamilton, but SURPRISE! The goalie is actually from Edmonton.
D) Snow. I love snow. Who doesn't? Snow means that the slopes are open and for those of you who don't know it, I volunteer at a ski resort during the winter. I volunteer as an adaptive snowsports instructor, which means I teach people with physical and/or mental disabilities how to ski, snowboard, and do other snowsport related things. So yeah, I love the snow. (4 TPE)

16. Joe Walsh 1 TPE Min / 3 TPE MAX

LarksTongue · 05-13-2020, 05:13 PM

1. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
This reality is just one of infinite realities existing alongside this one in parallel. Take us over to one of those realities in which everything is the same but these S53 playoffs have unfolded differently. What happened in that reality's playoffs and who's in the Challenge Cup over there?

In this new reality the New Orleans Specters finally got a good dose of some luck. The first series went exactly how it did in this reality except the Specters won game 7 in triple overtime off of a goal from Jimmy Slothface. This only occurred because Lil Manius lost his cool and had a riggghhhht good fight with Panthers star; Phillip Winter. This created some space for the Specters in OT. They then went on to face the titan Blizzard team. Instead of getting swept ,the Specters grabbed but loads of confidence from that triple overtime and defeated the Blizzard in 6 game. Aleister Cain came up big going with a 2.00 GAA in that series. Now the Specters went on to the SHL’s scapegoat; the Hamilton Steelhawks. They then went on to prove all the doubters wrong and swept the Steelhawks finally grabbing that Challenge Cup that has averted the for so long now.

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2. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
With everyone getting a free redistribution this offseason, S54 is quite wide open at the moment. Before those redistributions take place, who would you anticipate being the top team(s) for next season?

I have found that FHM really rewards the team that actually has the most accumulated points. Even though many will redistribute their points into stamina, strength, and puck handling which are the 3 core skills of hockey (besides skating) I think the top earning team will be back at the top; The New England Wolfpack. Let’s be frank they have Ola Wagstrom who despite regressing soon scored an obnoxious amount of points and could just as easily succeed with a new linemate like one of these post 1500 TPE players; Eko van Otter, Slap McShotty, Dick Clapper, and even Anders Christiansen. They are loaded on defense too with a top 3 of; Rex Kirby, Ensio Kalju, and Guy Zheng. And on top of that a solid starter in Benjamin Blue. A wild card I can see rising is the New Orleans Specters. They have a lot of high TPE earners as well albeit on the older side and the redistribution might serve their team the best.

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3. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min.)
Which player from the Steelhawks or the Blizzard would you bet on to win a regular season individual award in a future season? What player and what award? What makes you think they'll live up to their potential and take home the hardware?

I’m going to have to say that I think Gabriel Johnson has all the tools to win the Scott Stevens award one day. Johnson is a high earner, a leader on and off the ice while at the same time has the ability to get under the skin of his opponents (sort of like Scott Stevens lol). On top of that Johnson is a wicked puck handler rarely coughing up the puck and has a great first pass from his own zone.This season at only 1300TPE he had 47 points, nearly a point per game! Johnson stayed +15 and had more takeaways than turnovers. All signs point to an elite two way defenseman.

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5. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
Just like everything else in S53, IIHF is going to be an exciting mystery for us all! We've seen the introduction of a new format (all 14 teams in one group) and it's bound to be a very exciting tournament. What are your predictions for IIHF this season? What team or teams do you think have the best shot at taking home the gold? How do you think your team will fare?

I think the IIHF tournament is going to be wild like it always is. With the single game elimination the better team might not always win. I predict it will be a classic Canada vs USA final this year. I think Canada has finally had some S46/47ers rise to reach their potential as the cutoff was very high. Commander Shepard for one has finally hung up the defenseman skates and is going to play as a winger for the first time in his career. This speaks to the rising Canadain defenseman that can finally take over as Commander Shepard doesn’t have to be the ultimate team player anymore and fill that last top 4 spot. Having said that Canada is quite deep although their goaltending like always seems to be the question mark. I think USA also has a solid team like usual. Starting off in net they have the superstar goaltender Aleister Cain who could quite literally carry them to the finals. On defense they have Slip Mcscruff who has really come into their own, as well as one of the top earners in Lil Manius.

13. Written, up to 4 TPE Pick up to 4 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words to qualify.

a. Who is the best player in this CC finals? Plenty of good candidates: Lagerfield, Phelps, Kryyst, McIntry, Pepperoni, Scholz, etc. Who's your choice for best player and why?

Lots of great players on both teams but I’m going to have to go with; Tony Pepperoni. These past few seasons Pepperoni has been quite dominant on both sides of the ice. An elite offensive producer Pepperoni recently won both the hockey writers and the player voted MVP award practically unanimously. He has led the Blizzard through multiple playoff runs now.

c. Assemble your ideal fantasy team out of players in this series - F, F, F, D, D, G. Explain your choices.

i'm going to have to go with Left Winger; Flacko Lagerfield, Center; Tony Pepperoni, Right Winger; Julio Tokolosh. On defense I choose; Brady McIntyre and Tig Murphy. I choose Lagerfield because he was one of the leaders in points this season. I choose Pepperoni because he is one of the highest earners between the two teams, and choose Tokolosh because he is a natural right wingeI’r. On defense I choose the two highest earning defensemen on their respective teams.

d. Blizzard... snow... ok debate time - do you like snow? yes or no? why or why not?

I frankly like snow. There is so much to do in the snow as long as it is not too cold. Like snowball fights, sledding down hills. Going to a ski hill to snowboard or ski. And of course playing pond hockey on massive Canadian lakes. With all that being said it also gives a nice dichotomy of beauty between the beautiful summer months. If it was just sunny and hot all year round you would tire of it. Oh and I guess there is curling too.

14. Written, 2 TPE - The Procrastinator Special! (100 words min)
Welp, you waited until the last day to grind out your CW and the CC finals are longggggggg over by now. congrats to [TEAM], woo! Reflecting back on the series, who gets your vote for series MVP? Make the case why this player deserves it over any other.

Like usual I waited till the last minute to do this. And again like usual I am going to have to say the goalie is the MVP for the Hamilton Steelhawks. Geezus Kryst played all 15 games for the Steelhawks and had an absolutely incredible 1.71 goals against average and a .941 save percentage. To top it all of Kryst had TWO shutouts in the final alone. Furthermore in the two losses to the Blizzard Kryst always kept the Steelhawks within one goal. The Steelhawks were never out of a game in the final. This must have done wonders for the on ice confidence of the players allowing them to take some risks for some plays.

Total TPE 16/16

Thanks to @FlappyGiraffe and @ToeDragon84 for the making these sick sigs!

Quote: First Goal (3rd Game): Commander Shepard 1 (Nick Brain 1, Noah Gallagher 2) at 8:48

UrsinZ · 05-13-2020, 05:33 PM

Quote:1. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
This reality is just one of infinite realities existing alongside this one in parallel. Take us over to one of those realities in which everything is the same but these S53 playoffs have unfolded differently. What happened in that reality's playoffs and who's in the Challenge Cup over there?

In the parallel universe 42069 the S53 was nearly the same as in our universe. There still were some small changes! New England Wolfpack dominated their playoff series which led to them winning the challange cup in the finals against Edmonton. Ola Wagstrom was the best overall player in the playoffs and was then voted as the MVP of the playoffs. New England winning the cup resulted in UrsinZ winning all his casino bets! UrsinZ thought he couldn't be happier with his freshly won 1.2 Millions, but he was wrong. The Draft Lottery was coming up soon and the Toronto North Stars had the highest chance of getting the 1st overall pick. There were only 2 teams left: Texas and Toronto. ML and Ursin were sweating like hell as Corey presented the results. And their joy was huge when they saw that they had won the 1st OA pick! The tanking was finaly worh it! THE END

Quote:3. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min.)
Which player from the Steelhawks or the Blizzard would you bet on to win a regular season individual award in a future season? What player and what award? What makes you think they'll live up to their potential and take home the hardware?

That's definetly Edmonton Blizzards Finn Rhys. He will be the big piece in Edmontons defensive Puzzle! I play with him in Switzerland. He's such an awsome guy! In the LR and on the ice as well! The first person to be on the ice for practice. The last person to leave! Looking at his last season with 35 Points as a Defensemen is just insane! What stands out even more is his plus minus of +27! He's not only producing in the offensive zone he's also a wall on the defensive side! I really hope he will be doing fine in the future and will help our swiss team to win a cup!

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UrsinZ

Keygan · 05-13-2020, 06:12 PM

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Even though every team is getting full redistributions the matter of the fact is, great managers will continue to be great managers and high earning players will continue to be high earning players regardless of how many redistributions we allow. I anticipate the top teams to continue to be the top teams regardless of redistributions because they are obviously there for a reason, whether it be top tier coaching or elite players galore, there is a definitive reason why those teams were the top teams, and as you will surely notice it was the same teams that were top teams before the switch as well. Engine be damned if you can field a great team you have a great shot at making the playoffs and advancing far into them. I am tired of this parity nonsense, build a great team and reap the rewards of doing so, no excuses from me. Perform or pick in the lottery baby.

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Julio Tokolosh the worlds only cow on skates is continuing to climb the ranks of the highest earners in the league and as he comes closer and closer to hitting that pinaccle you can only assume he will eventually start reaping in the awards from the committee. Whether it be multiple Jeff Dar awards or the eventual Ron Mexico you can bet your bottom dollar that Julio Tokolosh will begin to place his name among the greats in the world of the SHL, the annals of history will be entrenched with his name as an elite player in this league, one day I can assure you this will be the reality.

3

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Banana

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If you do not think the best player in this final series is Tommy Tuck, you are dead wrong. One of the winningest goalies in league history, one could even argue that he is the best goalie in the history of the league let alone one of the best players on the ice at any given times.

The series is over and clearly Hamilton had the edge, but I truly believe if the Blizzard were not so agile and quick to the puck every game that they would not have even been able to make it as far as they did let alone to game six of the Challenge Cup finals.

Tony Pepperoni - F - Elite centremen and one of the best skaters on either team, if not the best.

Sophia Bennett - F - One of the best female hockey players our league has ever seen.

Barrett Blackwood - F - Elite goal scorer, often underestimated.

Karlstasse Scholz - D - Best defensemen in the league.

Tig Murphy - D - Underestimated defensemen, one of the best.

Tommy Tuck - G - Best goalie the league has ever seen.

As a manager of the Blizzard you would think I am obsessed with snow but in reality I despise snow with every fibre of my being, it is really hard to drive in, I get cold really easily and I really enjoy creamsicles and they are difficult to eat when it is cold out.

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When the merchandisers came to me asking for an idea for a concession treat we can sell as a bit of a gimmick in order to increase playoff revenue, one thing came to mind and that was the idea for a foot-long chicken that we could call "Steelhawk wings" and then sell them in order to raise money for charity. We concept was simple, but the execution was a difficult task, how were we going to form nuggets of chicken that could then be deep fried as a whole piece when it was over a foot long? I knew I had to call the people I knew in Arlington, Texas as the Texas Rangers originated the "Fowl Pole" they told me I would need to use ground chicken, form it to a pole and then freeze it until solid in order for the chicken to stay in one piece during the whole process, the limited edition item went swimmingly and we are considering keeping it.

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I think Tommy Tuck should debatably earn the playoff MVP this season, his standing on his head performance the entirety of playoffs is what allowed us to even make it to the Challenge Cup to begin with, you see he was elite throughout playoffs often posting save percentages in the upper echelons of all goalies, posting save percentages of upper .900's such as his elite game one performance where he posted a save percentage nearly 1000 in multiple games, he was untouchable but ultimately the offense continued to let him down in a few games, which netted us a loss after all was said and done.

17/16 for CW.

SlashACM · 05-13-2020, 06:18 PM

1. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
This reality is just one of infinite realities existing alongside this one in parallel. Take us over to one of those realities in which everything is the same but these S53 playoffs have unfolded differently. What happened in that reality's playoffs and who's in the Challenge Cup over there?

How about the reality where NOLA DIDNT CHEAT. They obviously needed to cheat to beat the superior LA, as there's no way it was a mistake that they broke the rules. So NOLA has legal lines in game 1, and get smashed 7-0. Game 2 they get stomped 8 to 0. Now we all know how important MOMENTUM is, and if NOLA hadn't stolen game 2, LA would have trounced the Specters in game 3 5-1. On Bourbon st. for game 4, they would win a heartbreaking OT game 6-5 and send Cain and his cheating fuckbunch of a team packing. Then with their sacred MOMENTUM the rested Panther team would go on to sweep the tired and ragged Edmonton team before ultimately falling to the cheating Steelhawks in 6. Getting into a reality where Hamilton also aren't a bunch of cheating fucks is a different story, so for now we'll stick to the fair NOLA reality.

2. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
With everyone getting a free redistribution this offseason, S54 is quite wide open at the moment. Before those redistributions take place, who would you anticipate being the top team(s) for next season?

Obviously it's gotta be NOLA. The panthers, wolfpack, stampede and steelhawks can all get their 40 wins, that's great, but NOLA had to beat some real competition to squeak into the playoffs. Remember when San Fran was one of the top teams in the league? Me neither. They fell from grace and got to watch NOLA cheat from the stands. Let me lay out why NOLA is the best. ELITE offense- Manius is still the league MVP, Williams is a scrub but can get carried, Mayfield, Slothface and Fox are fucking STUDS, and van der heijden is about to pot 50 in 50. Their backend is as strong as ever with Odelein and Claude emerging as true #1 Dmen, Smyth still staying strong as one of the last remaining s39 bois in the league, and Serpe is gonna come up with that 30 tpe again from undisclosed locations. And of course, in net is the ever impressive Cain, who will still be at an astounding 1700+ tpe to begin the season. Thats more than Booth, more than vilde, more than Spector, Larson, Kryyst. TOP TPE GOALIE RIGHT HERE BUD. The fuck outta here if you think NOLA won't be slapping around the southwest division on their way to become the top seeded team in the West.

4. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
With new tools at our disposal in FHM, we may eventually see some new awards enter the fold. Create a suggestion for a new SHL award. What kind of achievement is the award given for? Who's the award named after? Who would've won the award this season?

I truly believe there should not only be an MVP award but also an underrated goalie and player award. Perhaps even an underrated user or locker room personality award as well. As the glue of the team, underrated players are huge and this should reward players who grind and grind and grind and just don't see the results. Thomason was that way forever, where he was at like 2100 tpe and still couldnt crack 50 pts. Of course, unnamed goalies also got outperformed year in and year out by shitty 700 tpe goalies based on the sole fact that simon is a little bitch. Users who frequently pop in the locker room to be nice, give support, and keep building their player for the team they love despite shitty sim results deserve some love too. Lots of NOLA players come to mind (we underperformed, ok?) and really I would just nominate the whole time for being so damn delightful.

5. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
Just like everything else in S53, IIHF is going to be an exciting mystery for us all! We've seen the introduction of a new format (all 14 teams in one group) and it's bound to be a very exciting tournament. What are your predictions for IIHF this season? What team or teams do you think have the best shot at taking home the gold? How do you think your team will fare?

Its gotta be the ol U S of A. They are the only team without a CLEAR weakness. Canada is strong but has a shitty ass goalie. Switzerland's third line is a juniors line. Latvia is... participating. Sweden has a very strong top end but I'm seeing a lot of s53 players on that list. Any team that fields DuBolk as a top 4 D is gonna have a rough time. Vilde is gonna have to keep them in games. Czechia will be the laughingstock of the IIHF no matter what. Russia is playing a J goalie who didn't even make the playoffs. Germany has a decent shot but their lack of depth may be what takes them down. Ireland's roster is a bit of a yikes compared to their gold-winning years. Japan shouldn't even have a team tbh. Austria has Leitner who is garbage. Finland has WBF and Dankoa so that's gross. Norway has a decent looking squad but like Germany, I don't think they have what it takes. Great Britain is running Robinson and Del Vecchio so... lol. USA is consistently top tpe at each position, and Cain goes god mode in IIHF. Easy dub.

13. Written, up to 4 TPE Pick up to 4 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words to qualify.
a. Who is the best player in this CC finals? Plenty of good candidates: Lagerfield, Phelps, Kryyst, McIntry, Pepperoni, Scholz, etc. Who's your choice for best player and why?
b. Based on player ratings, EDM has the advantage in speed and acceleration and HAM has the advantage in balance and strength. Which team's physical skills will give them the edge in this series?
c. Assemble your ideal fantasy team out of players in this series - F, F, F, D, D, G. Explain your choices.
d. Blizzard... snow... ok debate time - do you like snow? yes or no? why or why not?

a. I'm gonna go with Pepperoni. My fellow s43er is just a stud and a beauty. Proving to be a steal from that draft, he became the GM of Edmonton, more than I ever believed he could. I'm so proud of him. Other than that, this list sucks. Lagerfield is a joke, Kruust is overrated, McIntyre is a scrub, Scholz is diet blue.
b. Balance and strength are severely underrated in importance to the sim as they are hugely important, but I gotta go with good old speed and acceleration. Being strong is cool but just zipping around the ice and outskating the opponents is the way to go to win games. Just move laterally and get the goalie sliding and pop it in the net behind him. Ez win.
c. On forward I'll pick Pepperoni because he's a beaut, and I'll go with Blackwood and Tokolosh. They're American boys that know how to dominate the ice and storm their way to victory. On D I'll go Murphy and Michaud because I like GA. In net I'll go with Tuck, he's had some ups and downs in his career but overall has had really impressive seasons and I think will be in the Hall of Fame sooner rather than later.
d. I actually hate snow and cold weather. I prefer being hot to cold and snow just gets all muddy and gross and turns into slush. I hate walking in snow and getting splashed by passing cars, and shoveling snow is a pain in the ass that I don't enjoy doing. My dog hates snow too, she'll bark and yip while we shovel it because she knows it's the devil's semen.

16. CW TRIVIA, 3 TPE max - 1 TPE for participation, 0.5 TPE for each correct answer. This is now 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: diddy kong

prettyburn · 05-13-2020, 06:25 PM

4. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
With new tools at our disposal in FHM, we may eventually see some new awards enter the fold. Create a suggestion for a new SHL award. What kind of achievement is the award given for? Who's the award named after? Who would've won the award this season?
With information available about each player, and with a lot of folks around the league who enjoy having things mirror the NHL, I wouldn't be surprised to see a Lady Byng type award come into play to offset the Turd Ferguson and reward those who play a very controlled, low-penalty game - the politest players in the SHL. In terms of trophies that aren't purely new, but that I expect to see evolve in the new world order, I'd expect that we're going to see the Honcho awarded to sets of goalies far more frequently in the future - if there isn't already a minimum number of games as part of the criteria there will be soon, and backups will be far more likely to meet it then they were before, so I'd expect it to become a starter / team trophy like the Jennings is in the NHL rather than a single player trophy the way it has been in the past.

7. Written/Graphic, 2 TPE (100 words min. for written option)
Even though the Panthers fell short this season, the LA influence has been felt around the league and execs in Hollywood are paying more attention to the SHL with the hometown team making waves. If your player could have a cameo in any tv show or movie, what show/movie would they choose? (for the purposes of this PT you may choose a show/movie that already exists just uhhh pretend they re-shoot it with your cameo or something idk).
Olli Saarinen is definitely influenced by the same things as your typical hockey player, and therefore easily swayed by less-than-intelligent media. He'd definitely love a chance to be on a reality TV show like the Bachelorette. He's a sweet guy, and would therefore probably be a bit of a fan favorite, but he's also a goalie and therefore a bit of a loaner / weirdo, and probably wouldn't know how to handle the sort of drama that always ends up taking center stage in that sort of situation. He'd probably last till about the half way point before leaving and deciding that that lifestyle is not for him, but he'd still call it a fun learning experience!

9. Graphic, 3 TPE
Create a magazine cover that highlights either a player in the finals or a standout player from the regular season.
[Image: onEb8NV.png]

13. Written, up to 4 TPE Pick up to 4 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words to qualify.
b. Based on player ratings, EDM has the advantage in speed and acceleration and HAM has the advantage in balance and strength. Which team's physical skills will give them the edge in this series?
Obvoiusly HAM was the one that ended up winning, but from attributes alone I'd give teh advantage to speed and acceleration. Being able to knock someone over is a great skill to have in hockey, but you have to be able to catch them first - if you can outskate and out maneuver your opponents then their strength and balance doesn't have as much time to matter.

c. Assemble your ideal fantasy team out of players in this series - F, F, F, D, D, G. Explain your choices.
C: Tony Pepperoni - All the points: 5 goals and 15 assists in 17 games
RW: Robert Phelps - 3 goals and 10 assists in 15 games, plus a huge +11 shows solid defensive play
LW: Barrett Blackwood - Primarily a goal scorer, especially when scoring at 18.18% shooting, to help convert the other forwards, also good at throwing hits
D: Gabriel Johnson - Top scoring defender, solid hitter, lots of shots blocked
D: Tor Tuck - Top shot blocker, incredible TOI, need a defensive dman to anchor the team
G: Geezus Kryyst - Second in GAA and SV% (barely below 1st), but with way more games played, plus two shutouts in the post season.

d. Blizzard... snow... ok debate time - do you like snow? yes or no? why or why not?
Yes to snow! I guess I grew up in areas where I got enough to enjoy it, but not enough to grow to loath it. I don't mind being snowed in for a few days, and white crystallized trees are pretty magical. Seeing a dog frolic in snow is great. Plus, snow and ice are what allow hockey to exist, so hard to argue against it in a fake hockey league.

14. Written, 2 TPE - The Procrastinator Special! (100 words min)
Welp, you waited until the last day to grind out your CW and the CC finals are longggggggg over by now. congrats to [TEAM], woo! Reflecting back on the series, who gets your vote for series MVP? Make the case why this player deserves it over any other.
While Tony Pepperoni had the most points in the postseason, with 5 goals and 15 assists, history tends to smile on the victors and I'd award MVP to Robert Phelps for his efforts in bringing the cup back to Hamilton. Phelps is far past his prime, and yet his play on the ice continues to be exemplary - he was the second highest scoring player in the post-season to make it to the finals (3 goals, 10 assists) in two less games than Pepperoni played, but his skills extended past the offensive - he had an incredibly strong +/- of +11 in the postseason, showing off his strong defensive game as well. My second choice would probably be Hamilton's goalie Geezus Kryyst with an incredibly strong performance as well.

16. CW TRIVIA, 3 TPE max - 1 TPE for participation, 0.5 TPE for each correct answer. This is now 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: submitted[/b]

Serpe x 13 · 05-13-2020, 06:48 PM

3. I would say that Dale Miller can go on to a future season and win an award. The award would be for the best regular season player as he had dominated in season fifty three and I expect him to do the same for the next few years as he is still very young. Miller also plays on the top line which allows him to play a lot of special team minutes and is also surround by very good team mates that recognize how good of a player he is and how they can make him a better player.
(2) (100 words)

5.(3) I think that the results from the IIHF will be dramatically different than in previous seasons. With the new sim engine, I believe that we will see the highly populated teams like the united states, Canada, Sweden, and Finland start to pull away in the tournament from teams like Great Britain and Ireland. I think that the USA is the deepest team in the whole IIHF, we have four solid offensive lines and three outstanding defensive pairings that can shut down any top line no matter who is on the ice. In net we have one of the best SHL goalies in the history of the SHL, when you say Cain he is mentioned with the likes of McBride and Jeester. With the management team picking the best united states team in the past few seasons which includes a gold and bronze medal winning team I think that the united states is going to shock a lot of people.
(159 words)

16. Serpe
(3)

Nerio · 05-13-2020, 07:00 PM

Code:
1. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)

This reality is just one of infinite realities existing alongside this one in parallel. Take us over to one of those realities in which everything is the same but these S53 playoffs have unfolded differently. What happened in that reality's playoffs and who's in the Challenge Cup over there?

Another year, another loss Buffalo endures to Hamilton. This particular universe remains the only one where this occurs, due to a glitch in the system architecture that's caused Bobby Sharp, a player with 1600+ TPE, to perform like a 230 TPE 3rd line SMJHL player when it comes to playoff time. Sharp goes from nearly a ppg player with a +27 to a .5 ppg player with a -6 in 4 games played in the playoffs. No other universe does this, can this actually occur. It's spectacularly unlucky that this has happened not once but multiple times now. Perhaps this will be the universe in which Bobby Sharp's entire career is doomed, and with it the hopes of him winning a cup in Buffalo where he is actually a primary contributor rather than a 3rd liner in his sophomore season. Every other universe clearly has Buffalo winning the first FHM cup, no question. Time will tell if this universe will ever converege to the expected reality.

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2. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)

With everyone getting a free redistribution this offseason, S54 is quite wide open at the moment. Before those redistributions take place, who would you anticipate being the top team(s) for next season?

Given that the teams with the most depth had that reasonably well represented in the regular season standings as well as the playoffs, I cannot imagine this will change all that much. Hamilton has clearly showed dominance when it comes to learning the sim engine and how to best optimzize their player builds, if anything this redistribution will help them move even further ahead of the pack given the amount of extra time they've had to learn said optimizations. That said, perhaps they had it nailed down mostly already, so teams below them may have more ground to make up. I still think teams like Toronto and Texas will have relatively poor showing next season, as their climb to the top is going to take multiple seasons of drafting well and developing their drafted players. Unfortunately there's no way for a drafted player to actively contribute to depth the way a lot of teams are set up, with 3 full lines of 1k+ players, but given a few more seasons and learning the sim engine, maybe we'll see some of the bottom of the barrel teams climb to the top.

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3. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min.)

Which player from the Steelhawks or the Blizzard would you bet on to win a regular season individual award in a future season? What player and what award? What makes you think they'll live up to their potential and take home the hardware?

Flacko Lagerfield from Hamiliton I believe is going to continue being a solid bet for the Sergei Karpotsev Trophy, awarded to the player with the most points during the regular season. Flacko put up an astounding 71 points this season, good enough for a 3 point victory over Ola Wagstrom's 68 and 9 points more than 3rd place. A very solid performance and Flacko is on a team that knows how to score a crap load of goals, more than anyone in the league this season. Flacko's past performances have also been very stellar, routinely finishing near the 1 point per game mark in the lower scoring STHS era.

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7. Written/Graphic, 2 TPE (100 words min. for written option)

Even though the Panthers fell short this season, the LA influence has been felt around the league and execs in Hollywood are paying more attention to the SHL with the hometown team making waves. If your player could have a cameo in any tv show or movie, what show/movie would they choose? (for the purposes of this PT you may choose a show/movie that already exists just uhhh pretend they re-shoot it with your cameo or something idk).

As Bobby Sharp is of Nordic descent from his mom's side, he fit perfectly in as one of the Iceland players in D2: Mighty Ducks. He didn't get the memo that bubbles were required though so he didn't get to play :(
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8. Written/Graphic, 3 TPE (150 words min. for written option)

The arenas in Edmonton and Hamilton certainly don't need any gimmicks to get people into the stadium for the series, but the arenas want to make sure they're pulling out all the stops on the big stage. Help the concessions department of one of these two teams develop a new product, with marketing specifically pertaining to this finals series, to be sold at the arena during the finals. Describe the product and the marketing in 150 words or create a promotional poster showing the product, its name, the price, etc.

Behold, the Edmonton Blizzard and Hamilton Steelhawks have joined forces to give you the Steel Blizzard!
[Image: yz00P7e.png]

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16. CW TRIVIA, 3 TPE max - 1 TPE for participation, 0.5 TPE for each correct answer. This is now 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.

taco

ErM · 05-13-2020, 07:16 PM

1. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
This reality is just one of infinite realities existing alongside this one in parallel. Take us over to one of those realities in which everything is the same but these S53 playoffs have unfolded differently. What happened in that reality's playoffs and who's in the Challenge Cup over there?
I am going to take you to a world where the universe is just and the good guys always win. In this case the playoffs play out very similar to what happened before however, at the end of the day when the finals hit the Edmonton Blizzard come in and take the sweep. Perhaps in this universe there really is a god and he is a truly just and righteous one. Maybe he is not actually a just god but he owns a few Tuck and Scholz jerseys and does what he needs to do to get his team that trophy. I am not going to judge the dude, he is a god after all. Anyways back on track, the Edmonton Blizzard win the series and the world is so happy they celebrate themselves into oblivion for like 14 days all at their own homes. We come out two weeks after game 4 and COVID-19 is vanquished, our pets live forever, world hunger is solved, and there is no more war. Girls aren’t weirded out by our boners and stuff, and just like want to see them. This is the world that I one day want to live in.

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2. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
With everyone getting a free redistribution this offseason, S54 is quite wide open at the moment. Before those redistributions take place, who would you anticipate being the top team(s) for next season?
There are two obvious choices for teams that I anticipate being on the top next season. The obvious choice is the Edmonton Blizzard. They have the most handsome players in the league and based on their success they must also be the strongest and most intelligent. If they do not win the league next season the new sim engine is broken and we should try another one.
Now that the easy choice is out of the way I am going to go out and let everyone know about my underdog story. The Tampa Bay Barracuda are going to shock the league. Their General Manager is allegedly blowing the whole thing up but he took a play out of the Hamilton playbook and found a way to abuse a glitch in the system where the talent he is assembling is going to let him blow the whole league up. Buckle up folks, Tampa is coming to the big show in season 54.
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3. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min.)
Which player from the Steelhawks or the Blizzard would you bet on to win a regular season individual award in a future season? What player and what award? What makes you think they'll live up to their potential and take home the hardware?
Karlstraße Scholz is my pick for the guy that is going to take home some individual awards in the future. I heard that the Steven’s is a big deal for defenders and he has it written all over him. I think he will probably win like 5 of these things before next season alone. Karlstraße Scholz
Is going to win so many of these damn things I am going to start a petition to just change the trophy to the Scholz now to save us some time. The dude is a saint and I would love to see a bust of him in whatever metal that award is made out of.
And if I have to pick a second one, why don’t we put this down as Tommy Tuck’s HOF induction post. The bastard is going to get in so lets not beat around the bush and waste time on things like waiting a few seasons or voting. Get your pen and write it down.

6. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
Come up with a program of intermission entertainment for one of the games of the finals. What's the between-period on-ice entertainment the fans will enjoy? The goofier the better, go crazy.
I am going to pitch you on an idea that could really revolutionize the way we do things around here. Imagine that during intermission the teams involved in the game go out back to a secret hockey rink with no fans and then they play out the rest of the game. At half time we have a person that is almost randomly selected and likely unqualified for the task get a line my line description of the events that happened with poor formatting and very few details. Then we will have that person come out and type the events out on the big screen for all the fans. If we want to get really crazy this schmuck could come out and post a few gifs up there that could maybe signify the events that they are typing out. I am telling you this would be a blast and I know that all of you guys would really love it. Who’s in to give it a whirl?

13. Written, up to 4 TPE Pick up to 4 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words to qualify.
a. Who is the best player in this CC finals? Plenty of good candidates: Lagerfield, Phelps, Kryyst, McIntry, Pepperoni, Scholz, etc. Who's your choice for best player and why?
My choice for best player in these finals is a tough one, but I would not choose any of the Hamilton players because they smell. I would have to go with Tony Pepperoni because he has the most TPE. This is an easy metric and that’s what is going to push me towards the choice.

c. Assemble your ideal fantasy team out of players in this series - F, F, F, D, D, G. Explain your choices.
My decision of the top fantasy team would look something like this: Julio Tokolosh, Tony Pepperoni, and Hercules Rockefeller up front. On defense I would go with Brady McIntyre and Karlstrabe Scholz. In the net I have to go with Tommy Tuck. The reason I went with this lineup is because it was my best reconstruction of the Blizzard top lines and I am a big homer.

16. CW TRIVIA, 3 TPE max - 1 TPE for participation, 0.5 TPE for each correct answer. This is now 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.
BLOZZARD

@Muford @karlssens

***Acsolap*** · 05-13-2020, 07:21 PM

1, 3/16

In an one of the infinite alternate realities the truly best team of the simulation hockey league is in the finals this season. After getting by Manhattan four to two the New England Wolfpack ream the Steelhawks four to nothing. Leitner miraculously figures out how to stop the average floating beachball and Rex Kirkby bodies Gabriel Johnson and Samuel Michaud into the afterlife while also scoring a natural hat trick every single game. On the other side of the bracket Calgary get to the finals after beating LA in 7 and then edging a contentious series with New Orleans Spectres also in 7 games. The league wide consensus is that New England will steam roll the dragons and they are right. They win the challenge cup in four games and whats more they do it without conceeding a single goal and every player scores at least once in all four games as the goal difference for the four game series is 284-0. Maxime Bouchard is so devastated he retires on the spot.

[173]

2. 6/16

After absolutely bossing the regular season the New England Wolfpack are severely disappointed in flopping out of the playoffs once again in the early stages. That being said the team is still as strong as ever and with the swap of Leitner for Benjamin Blue they might have just added the last piece that they need to go all the way. I would expect the focus of a fair few of the New England defensemen to switch towards a more offensive and physical approach as while they were able to ride their forwards scoring ability throughout the regular season when it came to crunch time the lack of firepower from the blue line left the pack short. There have been quite a few trades in the east with the implosion of the Tampa Bay Barracuda so it wont be a walk in the park but I would still back the pack to be at the top of the standings again and to make a strong run at the challenge cup.

[170]

5. 9/16

With the international ice hockey federation tournament just over the horizon there are some clear favourites already starting to emerge from the rest of the pack. As always Canada and the United States are looking very strong although I would think that Canada's lack of goaltending and defensive prowess could lead them to an early exit if they do not plan accordingly. Perennial favourites Ireland look to be a complete wash with the majority of their decent players gone to the knackers and the Nordic nations also look like they are in for a rough time with young and inexperienced squads. One team that will be looking to make a serious challenge for gold is last seasons winners Great Britain. They still have easily the strongest defensive line up in the tournament and they will need it to be on top form if they are to mask their deficiencies at goal tender and forward but with a little luck they could once again be atop the podium come the tournaments end.

[171]

13. 13/16

a. More or less impossible to answer anyone but Tony Pepperoni. While Hamilton has been helped by having a stand out keeper in net Pepperoni has easily outscored even the next best in the post season with his 20 points vs 13 and has an average offensive game rating of 80. Outstanding.

b. Well its all done and dusted now but it definitely appears as if strength and balance are the early meta. Many teams including the fairly indomitable New England Wolfpack struggled with Hamiltons dump and chase strategy and while it is pretty boring it clearly is effective and a major reason that they are hoisting the challenge cup this season.

c.

Tony Pepperoni
Robert Phelps
Hercules Rockefeller
Gabriel Johnson
Jax Duggan
Geezus Krysst

Pretty straight forward selection here. Just pack the most firepower you possibly can into the team and hope it pays off. All of these guys are the highest scorers in their respective positions and with the defensively inept pairing that I have selected we will definitely be focusing on outscoring the opposition and hoping that the outstanding krysst can back stop us to glory.

d. Have to go with loving snow. Having lived in the mountains for a year and experienced what its like to be able to ski every day and wake up in one of the most beautiful places on the planet it would be a grim world without snow. Winter without snow is just a soggy damp mess. Gross.

16. 16/16

Boats

Credit to Ml002, King, Wasty, Carpy, Bruins10, Rum_Ham, Turd Ferguson, Ragnar and Enigmatic for the sigs.
Forge

Player page | Player updates

***HoltzFan10*** · 05-13-2020, 08:00 PM

verification word for trivia: e

trella · 05-13-2020, 08:05 PM

Task 1: Out of all the multitudes of separate timelines and alternate universes there are that are yet to be discovered, I am going to talk about one where Chicago wins the Challenge Cup Finals. This would be an absolutely monumental moment for the Simulation Hockey League as that would mean that JODAN aka the GOAT aka Cameron Carter II would win a Challenge Cup, showing the league that he truly is the best player not only currently but ever in the entire history of the league. Winning a cup vs a team like maybe Calgary would cement Cameron Carter II as the true greatest of all time. He would wipe the floor with Michael Izzy, that old aging hag. Cameron Carter II has the young legs underneath him making him much more in shape to lead his team to a Challenge Cup Victory. I dont know about you guys, but this is the reality I wish we were in.

Task 2: The top teams for next season should not change too much in my honest opinion. The top teams are still gonna be the best barring a monumental collapse. In the east, Hamilton, Manhattan, New England, Buffalo, and Chicago should all be primed to have a good season. In the West, Los Angeles, Edmonton, Calgary, and New Orleans should do well too. With the recent fire sale of the Tampa Bay Barracuda, I expect them to be battling for last place in the league along with the likes of the Toronto North Stars, Minnesota Chiefs, and the Texas Renegades. I predict that the Edmonton Blizzard will go on to win the cup, beating out JODAn and the Chicago Syndicate who went out and made a blockbuster deal with the Tampa Bay Barracuda this offseason. The top of the league should be very tight with quite a few powerhouse teams, so next season should be a lot of fun.

Task 4: With all the new goodies that we will get with the new sim engine in Franchise Hockey Manager 6, I think that a new award would be a fun thing to do to help start a new era of the Simulation Hockey League. I think that this award should be called the Jimmy Wagner Award. This award will go to the best smelling player on the ice each season. This will be a tough one for the awards committee to award since they are not often around every player in the league to determine who is the best smelling in the league, however this can be remedied. Each team will be required to send in a list of their best smelling player with a good explanation of what they smell like and why they should win the award. I would name this the Jimmy Wagner Award because he just smells so good all the time.

Task 13: A)The best player the the Challenge Cup Finals this season has got to be none other than the Pepperoni Man himself, Tony Pepperoni, center for the Edmonton Blizzard. Pepperoni really just does it all for the Blizzard. He plays an amazing two way game, scoring a lot and shutting down the opposition.
B)I think that the Edmonton Blizzard's speed and agility will be able to accelerate their team to a Challenge Cup win (you see what I did there haha). With the wheels that the Blizzard players have on them, they will be able to skate circles around the Steelhawks and score a lot of goals.
C) Pepperoni, Wilson, Tokolosh, Scholz, Murphy, Tuck. I would choose this as my fantasy team because I believe that these 6 players are the best at their positions in this series. All three of those forwards are absolute studs with good two way games. Scholz and Murohy do it all on the back end and Tuck is a hall of fame goalie.
D)Personally, I really love snow. When I wake up in the morning to see snow on the ground and the white snowflakes slowly coming down, it makes me feel peaceful. I love going skiing and hiking in the snow. The winter is my favorite season because of the snow that we get here in the northeast.

Task 16: verification word: poop

16/16 TPE

Thanks to @karey and @JSS for the sigs!

Former USA Fed Head, Carolina Kraken Co-GM, Tampa Bay Barracuda GM

Flareon · 05-13-2020, 08:35 PM

Quote:Task 1 - 3 TPE

My alternate reality would be much the same of what happened in our S53 timeline, except for one small, but hugely implicating difference, Leitner doesn't choke and New England get the job done against Hamilton to proceed through to the finals. It's no secret that the Eastern Conference Finals were highly thought of as the "real Challenge Cup finals," since either team would easily go on to stomp either side from the west. For us, it was a tightly contested six game series between Hamilton and New England. Many pundits and even Wolfpack management pinned the loss on their veteran goalie Leitner, which promptly sparked a trade to the Barracuda. In the alternate reality, Leitner doesn't choke and the Wolfpack go on to their first finals appearance since S49. Now anything can happen once there but I think in most alternate realities it's obvious that New England would coast through to their first Challenge Cup in a long time.

Quote:Task 2 - 3 TPE

Going into S53, there wasn't many people at all who had any idea who was going to come out on top. Some early contenders in the New England Wolfpack and the Hamilton Steelhawks came out, but as the season progressed the rest of the league begun to catch up to the two Eastern teams. For Season 54 I think we'll see much of the same, regardless of the free redistributions that are about to happen. Hamilton have got their balance sorted right out in their team and the Wolfpack just have raw talent throughout their roster. I can also see Edmonton coming out of the gates running, their Cup Finals appearance will no doubt have lit a fire underneath an already good team to go out and make another appearance and perhaps even go all the way. Right now it's impossible to say, but I don't believe we'll see any major climbers out of the mid table of the league for S54.

Quote:Task 4 - 3 TPE

Now that the league has a greater reliance on backup goalies due to FHM, I'd like to see an award dedicated to the best backup goaltender of the season. Mike Hroch from the Wolfpack had a great season as our backup and if he were to keep it up throughout his career it's hard to deny that he would at least have a shot at such a prestigious award. When he was drafted to New England both sides were very clear about their intentions for his future and he is looking to fulfill those intentions to a higher degree than was expected. Some may even argue that he could have outperformed the Wolfpack's starting goalie but most will agree that he was not anywhere near experienced enough to fill those boots. But honestly can you blame him? He knows his role and he sticks to it. This would absoloutely be a guy who deserves an award named him.

Quote:Task 5 - 3 TPE

While it is hard to deny that Canada and the United States of America will finally get their shot and be clear of the rest of the world, Great Britain could easily be a sleeper pick to go forth and cause some upsets in this season's IIHF tournament. The defence core could rival, neigh beat, that of Canada and the United States. Britain has always had extraordinary defence in the history of the tournament and now with the switch to an actually decent sim engine, this will be exemplified even more. The forward depth isn't too shabby either, featuring NOLA star Jimmy Slothface, and capped off by extra defencemen Kirkby and Zheng, both from New England, who's long term experience should make them more than capable to adapt to the role of forward. Don't sleep on the goalie tandem also, between St Cedric Robinson and Luca Del Vecchio, the humble island nation could easily give the two major North American teams a run for their money.

Quote:Task 13 - 3 TPE

a)McIntrye takes best player for me by a mile. This guy has been in the league for a long time and still kills it in every game he shows up to. He was a big part in getting the Blizzard to the finals and will continue to be a large pillar of their team.

b)Looking back on the series, it's clear that Hamilton's balance and strength won them this series by a long shot. Edmonton tried to play a fast high tempo game but ultimately the shutdown power of the Steelhawks proved too much for the Blizzard and it cost them a challenge cup.

c)
F- Robert Phelps
F- Jon Forty-One
F- Tor Tuck
D- Brady McIntyre
D- Tig Murphy
G- Geezus Kryyst

The defence pair here is an absolute no brainer, Tig and Brady are two exemplary figures in this league and deserve no explanation. Phelps has done absolute work to get the league ready for the new era as well as on the ice, and well Kryyst was just clearly the better goalie.

d)I love snow. Admittedly we don't get it to the levels that some other winterly countries do, I still think when we do get it it's great fun. Not even that, just a change and something different makes the day so much more lovely, even if it does slow down things a litt.e

Naosu · 05-13-2020, 08:45 PM

Code:
One (1) welfare claim from either PBE or the NSFL will be accepted for 3 TPE!

PBE PT

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2. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)

With everyone getting a free redistribution this offseason, S54 is quite wide open at the moment. Before those redistributions take place, who would you anticipate being the top team(s) for next season?

Before redistributions I don’t think too much will change from which teams are at the top. Tampa Bay has unloaded nearly all players of value and each one of them have gone to playoff teams, or ones that will be on the bubble. In the East, New England should easily win their division again. Hamilton should win theirs, but they have to fend off Buffalo. Chicago will also be up there with their most recent trade, although it’s hard to say in this ultra competitive division. They’ll probably be fighting for 3rd/4th in the conference. In the West, I think we have the usual coin flip between Edmonton and Calgary for their division. I thought Calgary underperformed during the regular season but their showing in the playoffs proved me wrong. In the other West division, I think Los Angeles will win again, but New Orleans will be on their heels the whole season. With my East bias, I think whoever comes out of the East will beat whoever comes out the West.

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3. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min.)

Which player from the Steelhawks or the Blizzard would you bet on to win a regular season individual award in a future season? What player and what award? What makes you think they'll live up to their potential and take home the hardware?

I think a strong bet for this is Gabriel Johnson winning the Scott Stevens award for best defenseman. As a S48 player he hasn’t quite reached his prime but broke out in a huge way this season, tying for second most points by defense. As his TPE grows, looking at the standings this season, he could potentially pull off a 60 point season in FHM. On a team full of FHM wizards, this newly appointed Hamilton CoGM will play an important part in their system whether it’s by choice, or by force. I’d bet a solid $5mil on this happening by S60. If not, by S69 at worse.

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5. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)

Just like everything else in S53, IIHF is going to be an exciting mystery for us all! We've seen the introduction of a new format (all 14 teams in one group) and it's bound to be a very exciting tournament. What are your predictions for IIHF this season? What team or teams do you think have the best shot at taking home the gold? How do you think your team will fare?

With the change to FHM it’s going to make better teams more consistent. I think we should see the top teams make it out of groups a majority of the time, although I don’t know how many games they’re playing. Out of groups, assuming it’s still a best of one, is going to cause some chaos. Even in the FHM era, any team can win a single game at any given time. More often than not however, I think the two best teams with a chance at winning gold for the foreseeable future are Canada and USA. I don’t know a whole lot about other nation’s rosters as it’s not public record but Canada is very deep. I’m actually surprised to see myself make the roster this early and I’ve just recently passed 1k TPE. I’ll be in a sheltered fourth line role, but I think it says a lot when we have some guys sitting idle between WJC and IIHF. I believe USA also either has this problem now, or will in the near future with the huge influx of USA players the past couple seasons.

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13. Written, up to 4 TPE Pick up to 4 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words to qualify.

b. Based on player ratings, EDM has the advantage in speed and acceleration and HAM has the advantage in balance and strength. Which team's physical skills will give them the edge in this series?

c. Assemble your ideal fantasy team out of players in this series - F, F, F, D, D, G. Explain your choices.

d. Blizzard... snow... ok debate time - do you like snow? yes or no? why or why not?

B. While I’m writing this late, I think Hamilton has already set the standard for FHM by going balance and strength over speed and acceleration. Having a higher balance and strength seems to be the consensus going forward with the people I’ve chatted to about it. After disposing of BUF/NEW/EDM without too much trouble, I believe that makes their case.

D. As someone who lives in Northern Alberta, no, most definitely not. It is below freezing from approximately mid October until April, and the ground is covered in snow for a majority of that. For the last winter/summer tire cycle I will have had my winter tires on for a longer period. Also that’s an extra expense just for living in constant snow. I’ve seen enough snow for one lifetime and would gladly never see it again.

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