11-09-2019, 07:05 PM(This post was last modified: 11-10-2019, 09:59 AM by Gwdjohnson.)
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2. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min)
After a slow start to the regular season, the Dragons have surged of late and have rallied around the #CalgaWe notion of togetherness. On the other side, the Barracuda battled through a difficult East and are led by a very strong young core. Which team are you personally rooting for to take home the Challenge Cup and why?
Unfortunately, Gabe Johnson would say the Tampa Bay Barracuda are the team he's rooting for. And it's only unfortunate because of one person: Flacko Lagerfield. While Johnson is a huge fan of many Tampa Bay stars like Nikolai Evans, Anastasia O'Koivu, Nolan Sawchuk and many more names that would be too word-consuming to list, his pure and unwavering hatred for Lagerfield makes it hard for him cheer on Tampa in these finals. He feels Lagerfield is pompous, overrated, and a bad sport, but aside from him Tampa is just full of lovable people he would love to see win a cup.
(101 words)
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4. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)
Alternate Reality: Physicists and other smarties believe that 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 S50 playoffs have unfolded differently. What happened in this reality's playoffs and who's in the Challenge Cup over there?
(WARNING: THIS IS A JOKE I AM NOT SALTY) In an alternate reality where the cup finalists are actually based on merit, we would see a finals unfold between the Hamilton Steelhawks and San Francisco Pride. Hamilton in this alternate timeline see the sheer genius of coach Aaron Wilson trump the brilliance of Benjamin Blue, and complete a comeback from 3-1 down in the series against Tampa Bay in order to get themselves into the finals. As for San Francisco, after winning the President's Trophy, they manage to...uhhhh...not get swept by a wild card team despite high expectations? This would of course involve a timeline where Efficiency Extraordinaire Jonas Larsen ( @DaftRaincloud ) carries his team through, due to his astronomically high scoring rate, while all who challenge San Fran in the West cower before him. In the end, a hard-fought finals sees Hamilton top the Pride, thanks to Gabe Johnson's heroics, as his 14 points in 12 games for Hamilton clearly demonstrated he would dominate the finals given the opportunity.
(169 words)
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6. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)
Who's the best player that you have witnessed in the SHL never to make it to the Challenge Cup finals? Or what player that hasn't made it to the finals is most deserving and why? Were they close? Was theirs a story of hearbreak? Is there still hope in the future? (150+ words)
The obvious answer for me is a player who is not only the best in the league currently, but is also the best to not make the finals ever. This player, of course, is Mikhail Lokitonov of Toronto. Loki hit the 500 game mark this season for the North Stars, and in that timeframe he has a remarkable 473 points, winning multiple Karpotsev trophies, as well as multiple Jeff Dar trophies for the best two-way forward. Despite all this, Toronto's series win against Manhattan this season was astoundingly the very first time Lokitonov was involved in a series win with Toronto, as he put up 11 points in 12 games before eventually being eliminated by current finalists Tampa Bay. Despite Toronto's woeful playoff record, Lokitonov himself has been very solid in the postseason, notching 28 points in 41 games despite almost all of his playoff involvements ending with an early elimination. Someone please get this legend a cup, although he will probably make the Hall of Fame anyway.
(168 words)
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13. Written, up to 5 TPE Pick up to 5 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words to qualify.
A. Each team enters these finals with a red hot superstar - longtime league legend Mike Izzy for Calgary and surprise breakout star Gunnar Soderberg for Tampa Bay. Which of these players will have a more dominant finals?
B. Kata Vilde and Benjamin Blue are two of the best goaltenders in the league - which team has the advantage in net?
C. Do you expect this to be a high-scoring series or a low-scoring series? A mix? Do you think it'll be competitive or will one team run away with it?
D. What's your favorite player NAME on either team? why? (note: not who's your favorite player. which player name)
E. If you could choose any one of the following four options, which would you pick? 1. A chicken parm sandwich from Esa 2. A tray of cookies from c00kies 3. A custom feet pic from JSS 4. An hour long stick and puck session with Jepox
A. With how much the Dragons have been on fire these playoffs, it's a no-brainer Mike Izzy would've been the preferred bet going into these finals. The veteran had an astounding 13 goals and 23 points in 13 games leading up to the finals, after a great regular season where he notched 51 in 50. Soderberg is great, too, but Izzy is easily one of the best in the business. (69 words)
B. Easily Tampa Bay. Vilde is a good goalie and all, but when Ben Blue is on his game there is no better goalie in the league. After a fantastic regular season for Blue that was a huge contributor to Tampa topping the East, his heroics have not stopped in these playoffs, as he is close to taking home a cup with Tampa. (62 words)
C. Going into the series, I would've said low-scoring for sure. Both teams have goalies ready to stand on their heads if need be, as well as a veteran core of defencemen who know how to shut down offence. However, with star-studded forward groups on both ends, it's no surprise that it's been rather high-scoring in the end. (57 words)
D. Gotta be Maui for me. I'm a big fan of soccer, where players who go by just one name are very common, so I love seeing it leak into this hockey league as well. Also, the name makes me think of the Easter Island head emoji (Maui -> Moai) so it always makes me giggle. (54 words)
E. What kind of question is this? Who would want pictures of jss' finger-esque toes? He told me he can pick up a pencil with them and I was just disturbed. As long as it doesn't cause him discomfort it is pretty cool though. Anyway, give me the stick and puck with Jepox any day of the week, no amount of cookies...or whatever the fuck a Chicken Park is...could top that. (70 words)
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15. Casual Member Special, 3 TPE max - 1 TPE for participation, 0.5 TPE for each correct answer - SEND ANSWER IN PM TO "PT DIRECTOR" (tagged below)
A. As defined by draft class, who is the oldest player in this series?
B. What is the name of the Calgary Dragons' Arena?
C. Name 3 previous names of the Tampa Bay Barracuda franchise
D. From these two teams, which player had the most PIMs in the S50 regular season? (Look, I'll even give you a link to the index right below this code box. When I posted the link directly, it auto-corrected the colon + slash into a partial frown face; it looks funny and the link still works so i'm leaving it)
11-09-2019, 08:00 PM(This post was last modified: 11-10-2019, 04:14 PM by NorwegianDemon.)
Code:
1. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)
VIP Status babyyyyyyyy - your player has been invited to attend one of the first homestands of the CC finals as a VIP guest - all expenses paid, front row seats, any hotel you want - and it's all on the Commissioner's dime! Are you going to Games 1 and 2 in Tampa or Games 3 and 4 in Calgary? Why are you picking there? And what are you going to do in that city to run up Eggy's tab?? (This is the same prompt as last year but we've got different cities! be creative! Don't re-use what was written last season)
If I had to choose, I would rather go see games 3 and 4 in Calgary. The first reason is because there is a slight chance that one of the teams could win the Championship during game 4 and this is something I would like to witness, event if it is highly improbable that the series and in four games. Secondly, Calgary and its surrounding has more things to do that are of interest to me than Tampa Bay. On one of the game days, I could spend my time visiting the Olympics installations of the city that are still there from when Calgary host the games in 1988. On the day where there is no match is being played between games 3 and 4, I could go do one on my favourite activities which is hiking by taking a day trip to Banff which is less than an hour and a half away from Calgary. 156 words
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2. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min)
After a slow start to the regular season, the Dragons have surged of late and have rallied around the #CalgaWe notion of togetherness. On the other side, the Barracuda battled through a difficult East and are led by a very strong young core. Which team are you personally rooting for to take home the Challenge Cup and why?
Personally, I’m rooting for the team in my own conference, the Tampa Bay Barracuda. They went through at a lot of difficulty during their rebuild, they even had to move to a different city when the owner decided to change the team location from Seattle to Tampa Bay. However, their general manager and his assistant keep to the plan they had made before the move and they build that team beautifully. They had a bunch of players growing together as the year went by and they are finally seeing the result of their initial plan. It would also be great to have a team win the championship only a few seasons after they came to their new city. 118 words
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3. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)
Are there any changes to the playoff format you'd like to see implemented? More wild cards? Move to a single-elimination to bring about even more chaos? 999-game series to minimize chaos? Be creative!
I will probably go against what most people would like, because for most fans the playoffs are the most exciting part of the year and having the most fans as possible still involved by having their favourite team participating in the playoffs is probably what the league wants to generate more excitement and more revenues. But I think that we should change the playoff format by removing one team from each conference and having four teams by conference making the playoffs for a total of eight teams. The regular season has 50 games where you play against every team in the league while the playoffs are at most 21 games against only three different teams. This led me to think that the regular season is a better indicator of which team is the better in the league while the playoffs are more random. Reducing the number of teams making the playoffs by two teams will keep the high level of excitement that the playoffs generate while increasing the importance of the regular season. 173 words
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7. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)
As competition ramps up for the playoffs, players (both those still in and those eliminated) work extra hard to improve areas of their game that are lacking. What one area of your game do you really needs to focus on improving and how will this benefit the team?
The first thing that I need to improve to help my team is how I start the season. For some reason, my offensive production starts really slowly and then catch up as the season goes on. To improve that, I think I need to spend more time on the ice on my own before the start of the season. At the end of this season, I decide to ask the coach from the team in my hometown that plays in the Norwegian League if I could practise with them before I travel to North America and he agreed. Hopefully, this will help me start next regular season stronger than I’m used to. The second thing that I need to improve is my shoot. This is reflected by my shooting percentage which I fill is lower than it should be. I gave myself the objective of having a shooting percentage over 10% for next season and I will work out during the offseason with this goal in name. 167 words
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8. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min)
Which player from Calgary or Tampa Bay 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 the young player from both teams who is the most likely to win a trophy in the future is Tampa Bay Barracuda’s left winger Austin Roenick. Roenick was a S47 draftee who just completed his rookie season in the SHL and his stats have been really impressive. He also already 930 TPE, which he could definitely be one of the top players in the league a few seasons from now. The trophy that I think he is the most likely to win is the Jay McDonald Trophy which is awarded to the player with the most goals in the regular season. Roenick already has an impressive 93 scoring attribute and he led his team in goals with 22 during the regular season and he led his team in goals with 8 after the first two rounds of the playoffs. 141 words
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15. Casual Member Special, 3 TPE max - 1 TPE for participation, 0.5 TPE for each correct answer - SEND ANSWER IN PM TO "PT DIRECTOR" (tagged below)
11-09-2019, 08:49 PM(This post was last modified: 11-11-2019, 03:20 PM by StadiumGambler.)
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[i]1. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)
VIP Status babyyyyyyyy - your player has been invited to attend one of the first homestands of the CC finals as a VIP guest - all expenses paid, front row seats, any hotel you want - and it's all on the Commissioner's dime! Are you going to Games 1 and 2 in Tampa or Games 3 and 4 in Calgary? Why are you picking there? And what are you going to do in that city to run up Eggy's tab?? (This is the same prompt as last year but we've got different cities! be creative! Don't re-use what was written last season)[/i]
Nick Brain would head to Calgary. While the concept of some fun in the sun in Tampa Bay is appealing, Nick can't pass up the chance to head to his mother's city of residence and spend some quality time with the family and his personal friend Damian Wayne, the vice-president of WayneCorp and the workplace boss of Nick's mom.
Nick's purchases on Eggy's tab would be fairly simple all things considered. First of all Nick needs a new laptop courtesy of MSI in order to run Street Fighter games in glorious 16k resolution in between periods. Next, a Nintendo Switch Lite with Fire Emblem Three Houses to gift to a Make-A-Wish kid. Then $200 worth of high-quality beef jerky to snack on while watching the game and silently resenting the fact he's not in it. Finally the actual dinner itself, which of course would be a filet mignon with truffle curly fries and some freshly squeezed orange juice. Finally, Nick would need the credit card to bail Damian Wayne out of prison after Wayne got drunk, put on a green yellow and red outfit with an R marking on it, and started beating the holy living hell out of any criminals he'd see inside the Big Parm. Plus the credit card would be needed to withdraw bribe money from an ATM for the journalists to keep that nasty little incident out of the papers. All in all, another day, another heart attack for Eggy's accountant.
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4. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)
Alternate Reality: Physicists and other smarties believe that 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 S50 playoffs have unfolded differently. What happened in this reality's playoffs and who's in the Challenge Cup over there?
In my favourite alternate reality, the Winnipeg Jets do not collapse down the stretch and miss the playoffs, and instead forge onwards thanks to an improved offensive attack and some world-class goaltending by Walter Hobbs. Winnipeg makes it in as a 4th seed, defeats Calgary in the Wild Card, squeaks past San Fran in the conference semifinals, then hands NOLA a tough seven game series loss in the Western Conference Finals.
In the East, the Toronto North Stars continue their meme team magic, using Mikhail Lokitonov's brand of sorcery to make gods out of run of the mill veterans and raw rookies to beat Tampa and archrival Hamilton en route to the Cup Finals.
Unfortunately for Toronto, their goaltending and blueline finally disintegrate in front of them and Winnipeg sweeps Toronto, giving us an iconic visual of Jason Visser hoisting his 3rd Challenge Cup in his final career game.
I am now depressed that this didn't actually happen, cause even without my Jets bias it would've been more interesting than this weird Calgary/Tampa series we got instead..........
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7. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)
As competition ramps up for the playoffs, players (both those still in and those eliminated) work extra hard to improve areas of their game that are lacking. What one area of your game do you really needs to focus on improving and how will this benefit the team?
As the probable first-line Center for the Jets going into next season, Nick will be working on the all-around game as usual, but will also place focus on learning to take face-offs better. Special teams killed the Jets last year, and part of the reason why was likely the team's poor faceoff winning% leading to poor puck possession metrics on the powerplay and penalty kill. Nick will study tape of how other SHL centers take faceoffs and see what tricks he can learn, but is also going to study NHL Hitz techniques for winning the draw, such at the forearm to the face followed by the simple draw win, the shoulder shove into the puck kick, or the preemptive "hit the puck backwards while its still in the air" technique.
Overall, Nick's abilities should be progressing quite smoothly, and hes likely to become a top-flight star in the league in another 2-3 seasons.
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[i]13. Written, up to 5 TPE Pick up to 5 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words to qualify.
A. Each team enters these finals with a red hot superstar - longtime league legend Mike Izzy for Calgary and surprise breakout star Gunnar Soderberg for Tampa Bay. Which of these players will have a more dominant finals?
B. Kata Vilde and Benjamin Blue are two of the best goaltenders in the league - which team has the advantage in net?
C. Do you expect this to be a high-scoring series or a low-scoring series? A mix? Do you think it'll be competitive or will one team run away with it?
D. What's your favorite player NAME on either team? why? (note: not who's your favorite player. which player name)
E. If you could choose any one of the following four options, which would you pick? 1. A chicken parm sandwich from Esa 2. A tray of cookies from c00kies 3. A custom feet pic from JSS 4. An hour long stick and puck session with Jepox[/i]
A. I would say Mike Izzy. Soderberg is going to be a big-time player one day no doubt, but I'm guessing his numbers may be a result of riding shotgun with guys like Flacko Lagerfield (a formula Tampa Bay has used well over the years.). Izzy's still a dangerous star and I expect him to put forth a big effort to add another ring to his fingers.
B. On a technical level I think Vilde is slightly superior, although theres very little between them on that front. Blue seems to generally play better in recent years though: He had that ridiculous MVP caliber season in Season 48, and he outperformed Vilde in this regular season by a comfortable margin. Blue may very well step up big in the playoffs and take home a Cup to TBay.
C. Without the benefit of hindsight........ Both sides have offensive talent but I think this could be low-scoring if both goaltenders play up to their potential. However, the slightly better depth for Calgary could swing the series in their favour, similar to how it swung West Kendall vs. Calgary two seasons ago into Calgary's favour.
D. Otis B. Driftwood is a name dusted in grit if I've ever heard one, although I am partial to Happy Gilmore's finest villain Shooter McGavin as well. For Tampa Bay I'm partial to Nolan Sawchuk, and also their IFA scratch forward Clifton Outlaw. Austin Roenick is also a decent star player moniker.
E. The chicken parm sandwich could be pretty great, depending on how exactly its done.I'm not sure what type of cookies that c00kies would favour on his tray, but I'd hold out hope for some basic chocolate chip or oatmeal raisin. The foot fetish satisfaction and the prospect of learning hockey tips from someone I don't know too well isn't appealing however so I'd pass on those. Overall a toss-up between the sandwich and the cookies
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[i]15. Casual Member Special, 3 TPE max - 1 TPE for participation, 0.5 TPE for each correct answer - SEND ANSWER IN PM TO "PT DIRECTOR" (tagged below)
A. As defined by draft class, who is the oldest player in this series?
B. What is the name of the Calgary Dragons' Arena?
C. Name 3 previous names of the Tampa Bay Barracuda franchise
D. From these two teams, which player had the most PIMs in the S50 regular season? (Look, I'll even give you a link to the index right below this code box. When I posted the link directly, it auto-corrected the colon + slash into a partial frown face; it looks funny and the link still works so i'm leaving it)
**Important**: Send the answers to username "PT Director" with the subject of the message titled “S50 CW" - Do not send it to my personal account; those will not be graded. Do not post the answers in here; you will not get credit for the task.[/i]
1. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)
Let me ask you: What interesting things are there to do in Calgary or Tampa? I can watch the game on TV, why would I want to be in an arena for a game between two teams I do not care about? So, I’ve done some research to see if there’s anything around that’s worth checking out. Calgary appears to have a nice looking park in the downtown area, which is always a plus. I like that sort of thing. They’ve also got the National Music Centre, which includes the Candian Music Hall of Fame. I like the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and would at least check out the exhibits.On the civic engineering side, I’m actually genuinely interested in the Plus 15, which is an extensive pedway system that seems like something I’d genuinely just want to check out. Then there’s Tampa, which you could say you’re going there for the weather, but I actually prefer it to be colder. There’s some nice fountains on the waterfront, but fuck it. I guess I’m going to Calgary?
3. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)
So, I come from a soccer background so I can really only attest to what I know from there. That being said, I think seeing aggregate come into play in hokey would be interesting. It doesn’t matter how many games you win, it’s about how much you score across all of the games. Obviously soccer already got that bit right by having it be only two legs, home and away. It shortens it up and allows for more drama as a team that’s down by two goals and is only winning by one is much more interesting to see than just a team simply trying to win. Sure, best of 7 is a hockey classic, but if you want to really get people riled up, you turn the entire goal of the game on its head. You just gotta keep scoring as much as you can because if you don’t they can come back. Just look at the recent champion’s league stuff from last year.
4. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)
Think about this: Raquel Castillo Gutierrez on the New Orleans Specters. Sure, she’s still young and while she’s a high TPE earner, she’s not exactly a top TPE earner. But NOLA needed that extra scoring edge in their playoff game and she could’ve delivered. At the time that the game’s updates were put in, she could’ve been called up with an unbanked 99 scoring. That’s impressive no matter who you ask. Sure, there could be possible issues with the way her build would look, but if you look at how massive her contributions have been for her SMJHL team, she could’ve meant something extra for NOLA to use. Also, the way NOLA looked already could’ve seen this go differently anyway. Some players get hot and cold at weird times and honestly, that conference final was a toss-up. So, add in Rocky and we could’ve seen even more out of this team.
12. Written, 1 TPE (50 words min)
E. I feel offended by these inside joke questions. I know these names, but I have no frame of reference as to why they should be paired up with these words. Feet pics? Really? who do you think I am? I don’t know what that person’s done to the cookies, I know that chicken parm is some sort of meme around here that I don’t want to find out about. I mean, I guess I’ll hang out with Jepox, but even then I’m very wary about this.
2. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min)
After a slow start to the regular season, the Dragons have surged of late and have rallied around the #CalgaWe notion of togetherness. On the other side, the Barracuda battled through a difficult East and are led by a very strong young core. Which team are you personally rooting for to take home the Challenge Cup and why?
I don’t really have any strong like for one team over the other. I wouldn’t really say I’m rooting for them, but if I were a betting man, I’d bet on Tampa. I wouldn’t be confident in it, but I favor them slightly. I think Calgary has relied to heavily on Mike Izzy, and Kata Vilde. The production of these two is unlikely to stand up to anyone, regardless of how good they are. Tampa is a solid team. I had them as one of my favorites to make it to the finals. I think they have a slightly more balanced attack than Calgary, and that will serve them well in this matchup.
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3. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)
Are there any changes to the playoff format you'd like to see implemented? More wild cards? Move to a single-elimination to bring about even more chaos? 999-game series to minimize chaos? Be creative!
As much as I want to go all-in on the chaos, I’ll do something only a bit chaotic. We don’t have quite the right number of teams for this to work correctly, I think, but who cares. First, we have an upper bracket and a lower bracket for the tournament. The two lowest teams in the standings who qualify for the playoffs start in the lower bracket. The rest are matched up in the upper bracket like normal. Any team in the upper bracket that loses is dropped down into the lower bracket. All of the lower bracket matchups are one game, the loser is eliminated. The final two teams in the lower bracket will play a best of three. All of the upper bracket matchups will be three game series. The winner of the upper bracket will then face the winner of the lower bracket in a grand final. This grand final will be a 5 game series for the Challenge Cup.
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6. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)
Who's the best player that you have witnessed in the SHL never to make it to the Challenge Cup finals? Or what player that hasn't made it to the finals is most deserving and why? Were they close? Was theirs a story of hearbreak? Is there still hope in the future? (150+ words)
Kristian Eriksson is arguably the best player in the history of the SHL. He is also a critical part of the S35 Toronto North Stars team that broke their long cupless history. The team was long overdue. Eriksson and Harter both needed a cup to complete two excellent careers. Coincidentally, the Toronto North Stars also have maybe the best active player who has never been to a Challenge Cup final, in Mikhail Lokitonov. For Loki, I don’t think you can hold not winning a cup against him. He has been one of the, if not the, best players in the league. This is a team sport though. One player can not do it all on his own. He’ll be recognized for his individual excellence, and I think that will be enough for most people. If he’s this great on a team with depth, then maybe you start to talk about his inability to win a cup.
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7. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)
As competition ramps up for the playoffs, players (both those still in and those eliminated) work extra hard to improve areas of their game that are lacking. What one area of your game do you really needs to focus on improving and how will this benefit the team?
The Carolina Kraken are a good team with a lot of good players. That doesn’t mean we don’t have things to work on. Bobby Lane, like a bunch of the other Kraken players, likes to shoot the puck. That’s great and all, but we could use some guys that are a bit better at passing. That will for sure be the thing that Lane works on this offseason. The hope is that it will make our offense more dynamic, and allow for more flexibility when playing with line combinations. Having guys that can both shoot and pass at a high level might let us try some more interesting forward groups that might not have worked so well this season. Hopefully, Lane can be that passing and shooting threat, making him a bit more difficult to defend. My hope is that this will allow his linemates to focus more on the things they are good at, creating more scoring opportunities.
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13. Written, up to 5 TPE Pick up to 5 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words to qualify.
A. Each team enters these finals with a red hot superstar - longtime league legend Mike Izzy for Calgary and surprise breakout star Gunnar Soderberg for Tampa Bay. Which of these players will have a more dominant finals?
Mike Izzy is the more likely of the two. I highly doubt he continues to play at the level he did leading up to the finals though. Shooting 25% is unsustainable, so that has to drop off. Still, I think he is the better player, so I would bet on him over Soderberg.
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B. Kata Vilde and Benjamin Blue are two of the best goaltenders in the league - which team has the advantage in net?
I give Blue a slight edge. Vilde is playing at a very high level, and along with Mike Izzy, is a huge part of what got the Dragons here. However, I think Blue is the better individual player. Both teams have solid defenses in front of them. Vilde has faced fewer shots. It’s close, but I take Blue.
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C. Do you expect this to be a high-scoring series or a low-scoring series? A mix? Do you think it'll be competitive or will one team run away with it?
I don’t think it will be low scoring, but I don’t think it will be particularly high scoring either. Both teams have solid defense and solid goaltending. Neither team is really defined by huge offensive production, or incredible defense, or goaltending that carries them. They’re both solid, all-around teams. I think it should be pretty competitive.
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D. What's your favorite player NAME on either team? why? (note: not who's your favorite player. which player name)
Both Shooter McGavin and Otis B Driftwood are very good names. I think I take Otis because of where the name comes from. I only knew the name from the Rob Zombie horror movies.. However, Slappy said on his podcast, the name actually comes from a Groucho Marx character. So, I hope someone else might read this and learn a little something.
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E. If you could choose any one of the following four options, which would you pick? 1. A chicken parm sandwich from Esa 2. A tray of cookies from c00kies 3. A custom feet pic from JSS 4. An hour long stick and puck session with Jepox
I guess I’d take the chicken parm. I don’t usually like to eat cookies. Feet don’t really do anything for me. Sorry JSS. And I’ve never played hockey, so I wouldn’t really get anything out of an hour session. It may not be my go-to, but I have enjoyed a chicken parm sandwich in the past. So I’d take another.
11-10-2019, 06:34 AM(This post was last modified: 11-12-2019, 03:59 AM by DollarAndADream.)
CW deadline is Thursday, November 14th at 10pm Eastern Time.[/align]
Reach 16
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1. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)
VIP Status babyyyyyyyy - your player has been invited to attend one of the first homestands of the CC finals as a VIP guest - all expenses paid, front row seats, any hotel you want - and it's all on the Commissioner's dime! Are you going to Games 1 and 2 in Tampa or Games 3 and 4 in Calgary? Why are you picking there? And what are you going to do in that city to run up Eggy's tab?? (This is the same prompt as last year but we've got different cities! be creative! Don't re-use what was written last season)
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2. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min)
After a slow start to the regular season, the Dragons have surged of late and have rallied around the #CalgaWe notion of togetherness. On the other side, the Barracuda battled through a difficult East and are led by a very strong young core. Which team are you personally rooting for to take home the Challenge Cup and why?
This is an easy question for me. I am rooting for the Calgary Dragons. Ever since the dawn of my first day in the SHL, I have been with the Dragons. Esa took me in onto the team and I have never looked back. There have been changes to staff, sure, but the upper heads always know who to pass the baton to. I have had amazing teammates with both Michael Boychuk and Mikael Choybuk, and I expect nothing less in the future. It might seem like Calgary have had it easier in these playoffs, with their sweeps and shorter series', but that just goes to show how strong they are this year. Tampa will put up a fight, but I hope the Calgary Dragons can come through.
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3. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)
Are there any changes to the playoff format you'd like to see implemented? More wild cards? Move to a single-elimination to bring about even more chaos? 999-game series to minimize chaos? Be creative!
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4. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)
Alternate Reality: Physicists and other smarties believe that 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 S50 playoffs have unfolded differently. What happened in this reality's playoffs and who's in the Challenge Cup over there?
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5. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)
Due to some controversial calls during the playoffs, the league is looking at updating the current rules(icing, offside, etc) What new rule or change to a room would you implement to better the game?
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6. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)
Who's the best player that you have witnessed in the SHL never to make it to the Challenge Cup finals? Or what player that hasn't made it to the finals is most deserving and why? Were they close? Was theirs a story of hearbreak? Is there still hope in the future? (150+ words)
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7. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)
As competition ramps up for the playoffs, players (both those still in and those eliminated) work extra hard to improve areas of their game that are lacking. What one area of your game do you really needs to focus on improving and how will this benefit the team?
One thing that needs to improve in my game is consistency. I, Mikael Choybuk have shown that I can score and pass the puck. I know that for sure. But, it has been time and time again since I was a rookie that I struggling to keep up the pace. I need to work hard this off-season to get my game to the next level, and be able to score night in and night out. I want to be that guy for the Calgary Dragons, one you know that you can rely on. I want to be the guy where if I have the puck on a good chance, it will be a for sure goal. I think one of those areas is my strength. Watching the tape, it looks like I get knocked off the puck easier than I thought. I think if I work on that aspect of my game especially, that I will turn a corner into elite status.
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8. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min)
Which player from Calgary or Tampa Bay 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?
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9. Graphics, 3 TPE
Your team is looking to put a new mural outside the locker room. Design what the mural will look like and be sure to represent your team and city!
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10. Graphic, 2 TPE
Simple and straightforward - make a promotional poster for the S50 CC Finals. Must include at least one player render and the logos and names of both teams. Option A: make a good graphic. Option B: make a shitty graphic. Either will receive TPE.
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11. Graphic, 3 TPE
Design a Challenge Cup Championship banner for one of the teams in the finals
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12. Podcast, 3 or 4 TPE
Record a mini-podcast on any of the below topics!
- Highlights of the S50 season (on or off the ice)
- S50 playoff round-up
- S50 Challenge Cup finals Breakdown
- Offseason outlook
1 person Mini-Pod: 3 TPE for 5 minutes or 4 TPE for 7 Minutes
2 person Mini-Pod: 3 TPE for 6 Minutes or 4 TPE for 8 Minutes
Post the direct link to your podcast.
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13. Written, up to 5 TPE Pick up to 5 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words to qualify.
A. Each team enters these finals with a red hot superstar - longtime league legend Mike Izzy for Calgary and surprise breakout star Gunnar Soderberg for Tampa Bay. Which of these players will have a more dominant finals?
B. Kata Vilde and Benjamin Blue are two of the best goaltenders in the league - which team has the advantage in net?
C. Do you expect this to be a high-scoring series or a low-scoring series? A mix? Do you think it'll be competitive or will one team run away with it?
D. What's your favorite player NAME on either team? why? (note: not who's your favorite player. which player name)
E. If you could choose any one of the following four options, which would you pick? 1. A chicken parm sandwich from Esa 2. A tray of cookies from c00kies 3. A custom feet pic from JSS 4. An hour long stick and puck session with Jepox
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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.
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15. Graphic, 3 TPE - The Procrastinator Special!
Welp, you waited until the last day to grind out your CW and you also like doing graphics instead of writing. That's cool, too! Create a Series Recap broadcast graphic - the contents can be whatever you want, but your graphic must list both teams and at least 3 stats for each.
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15. Casual Member Special, 3 TPE max - 1 TPE for participation, 0.5 TPE for each correct answer - SEND ANSWER IN PM TO "PT DIRECTOR" (tagged below)
A. As defined by draft class, who is the oldest player in this series?
B. What is the name of the Calgary Dragons' Arena?
C. Name 3 previous names of the Tampa Bay Barracuda franchise
D. From these two teams, which player had the most PIMs in the S50 regular season? (Look, I'll even give you a link to the index right below this code box. When I posted the link directly, it auto-corrected the colon + slash into a partial frown face; it looks funny and the link still works so i'm leaving it)
**Important**: Send the answers to username "PT Director" with the subject of the message titled “S50 CW" - Do not send it to my personal account; those will not be graded. Do not post the answers in here; you will not get credit for the task.
11-10-2019, 06:43 AM(This post was last modified: 11-10-2019, 06:47 AM by Ferda.)
Code:
1. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)
VIP Status babyyyyyyyy - your player has been invited to attend one of the first homestands of the CC finals as a VIP guest - all expenses paid, front row seats, any hotel you want - and it's all on the Commissioner's dime! Are you going to Games 1 and 2 in Tampa or Games 3 and 4 in Calgary? Why are you picking there? And what are you going to do in that city to run up Eggy's tab?? (This is the same prompt as last year but we've got different cities! be creative! Don't re-use what was written last season)
All of the boys are coming along for the ride to Tampa Bay for the finals with the fresh 10x10 contract that I am about to sign, but in reality, we’re just there to get absolutely shit faced because nobody cares about either of these teams. I’m obviously bringing along the OG squad of Sammy Michaud, Ian Venables, and Danny Bischoff to experience all of this with me. All of the alcohol, booze and most importantly, the #WANG20 will all be paid for by the SHL Commissioner because he knows that the squad deserves the best if we’re showing up to such a unimportant event. Why would I want to watch a series that doesn’t feature the GREATEST PLAYER OF ALL TIME, Cameron Carter II? That’s why we’ll show up, eat all the free food from the VIP suite and hopefully be out of there before the they sing the national anthems. Maybe the only thing we’ll do that is remotely involved with the SHL “finals” is to give Nolan Sawchuk a plane ticket to come by later they finish their exhibition game. After that, we’ll take the earliest flight to Miami, also paid by ya boi BIG WANGER #WANG20, and immediately hit the beach to try and score some babes. Why work on sculpting your body into peak male physique only to not use to its full potential? We’ll hit the beach and pummel every single person in any beach sport and absolutely dominate in every drinking game. After that, we’ll hit the club and get full bottle service on Eggy’s tab because he knows that Wanger and his boy’s deserve the best experience in the club. We won’t remember anything that happened that day because we’ll have had so much “fun” and eventually wake up in a presidential suite surrounded by the most gorgeous men and women that the world has ever seen. When we finally come to our sense, we’ll fly back to Tampa for game 2 and repeat what happened. We could have gone to Calgary, but why would anyone want to go to Calgary?
(350 Words)
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2. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min)
After a slow start to the regular season, the Dragons have surged of late and have rallied around the #CalgaWe notion of togetherness. On the other side, the Barracuda battled through a difficult East and are led by a very strong young core. Which team are you personally rooting for to take home the Challenge Cup and why?
I can’t NOT root for my boy Nolan Sawchuk of the Tampa Bay Barracuda, but you need to understand that I don’t care at all who wins as long as Chucky wins the Cup. Ever since he came to Anchorage and took us to that **** and **** for an hour, all of the guys on the Armada have gone after every home game and I can still feel the soreness now. I have nothing against Calgary, but it’s not like they have the GOAT, Cameron Carter II, so why should I care about either one of these teams to begin with? That’s why the only logical solution is to cheer for my boy Nolan on the Barracuda because neither of these teams are up to the standard that I have come to expect from an SHL player or even an SHL team. Why can’t we just clone CC2 into every single position?
(154 Words)
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3. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)
Are there any changes to the playoff format you'd like to see implemented? More wild cards? Move to a single-elimination to bring about even more chaos? 999-game series to minimize chaos? Be creative!
The playoff format is in dire need of restructuring and I believe that I have the best solution, which is to remove the playoffs entirely and award the Challenge Cup to whatever team Cameron Carter II is playing for. The SHL Commissioner needs to quit tampering with all of the games to prevent the undisputed GREATEST OF ALL TIME from winning literally every award known to man. Every game and every shift, there have been clear indications that someone has tampered with the integrity of Cameron Carter II’s hockey games. The only way for the SHL Front Office to provide reparations for the injustice that they have caused to the most dominant hockey player in SHL history is to give him every Challenge Cup from now until he retires. If Cameron Carter II decides to become a coach or a member of a team’s front office, then you already know that that team is going to be crowned the champions because it wouldn’t even be fair because he is just THAT good at seeing the game. Sure, all the other teams can compete in these “playoffs” for second place, but they would just be embarrassing themselves in front of a legend so they might as well give up while they still can.
(213 Words)
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4. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)
Alternate Reality: Physicists and other smarties believe that 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 S50 playoffs have unfolded differently. What happened in this reality's playoffs and who's in the Challenge Cup over there?
In this reality, the Chicago Syndicate make the playoffs by going 50-0-0 in the regular season and proceed to blaze through every single team and win the Challenge Cup in the most dominating fashion versus the Buffalo Stampede. While the Stampede put up a noble fight, they continue to place second as long as Cameron Carter II is a member of the SHL. Let’s be honest, the series wasn’t even close and the SHL decided that the series should be called off after game 1 because it would be unfair to further embarrass the entire league. Cameron Carter II, also known as the GREATEST OF GOD DAMN TIME, doesn’t just break every single individual playoff record, but his scoring was so good that the SHL Board of Commissioners decides to name every single award after Cameron Carter II. The Challenge Cup is no longer called the Challenge Cup and has FINALLY been renamed into the Cameron Carter II award. To make the other insignificant teams feel like there is something to win, the SHL creates a new award for second place called the “Gabriel Johnson Award” because they will always be in second place to the GOAT himself, Cameron Carter II.
(202 Words)
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7. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)
As competition ramps up for the playoffs, players (both those still in and those eliminated) work extra hard to improve areas of their game that are lacking. What one area of your game do you really needs to focus on improving and how will this benefit the team?
The biggest area that I, the Baby GOAT, need to work on is in contract negotiations. With my contract expiring at the end of the S51 season, it has been difficult to stay motivated. This is because after splurging the first year of my 7 million dollar contract with the Stampede, I am only being paid a measly 4 million in the final year of my contract. My idol and the GOAT himself, Cameron Carter II of the Chicago Syndicate (#FREECC2), has taught me many things, but the most important thing that I have learned is the value of earning 10 million per year for 10 years. Without a 10x10 contract, my drive to continue playing will wane and you will see it on the ice because everyone deserves to get a 10x10 contract at least once in their career like the GOAT. Having a 10x10 contract would not only improve the team’s budget, but also improve my own play and help the natural selection of removing the pylons that I always have to play with.
(177 Words)
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8. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min)
Which player from Calgary or Tampa Bay 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?
Nolan Sawchuk has always been slept on as an elite playmaker in the SHL. With the Tampa Bay Barracuda reaching the finals this season, I hope that the blind awards committee will Sawchuk is a leader and a master at dishing the sauce to his teammates. That is why I believe that after Cameron Carter II, Sawchuk is the most qualified to be capable of receiving the Sergei Karpotsov Trophy. If we were not talking about a future season award, then I would also award him the Aidan Richan Trophy because I have been genuinely surprised by his ability to get absolutely trashed the night before a game and still dish some hot apples to his boys the day after while being hungover. Sawchuk’s adoption of the “I want to be the passing bitch instead of taking all the glory goals” has proven to be the defining change in his game that has not only given him individual success, but also for the entirety of the Barracuda roster. He is the type of player that you want because he doesn’t just leave his teammates sore for about an hour, but he also makes them better people and has created a new dimension in the Tampa Bay offense.
(208 Words)
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15. Casual Member Special, 3 TPE max - 1 TPE for participation, 0.5 TPE for each correct answer - SEND ANSWER IN PM TO "PT DIRECTOR" (tagged below)
A. As defined by draft class, who is the oldest player in this series?
B. What is the name of the Calgary Dragons' Arena?
C. Name 3 previous names of the Tampa Bay Barracuda franchise
D. From these two teams, which player had the most PIMs in the S50 regular season? (Look, I'll even give you a link to the index right below this code box. When I posted the link directly, it auto-corrected the colon + slash into a partial frown face; it looks funny and the link still works so i'm leaving it)
**Important**: Send the answers to username "PT Director" with the subject of the message titled “S50 CW" - Do not send it to my personal account; those will not be graded. Do not post the answers in here; you will not get credit for the task.
11-10-2019, 10:06 AM(This post was last modified: 11-11-2019, 07:12 PM by bk1689.)
Code:
1. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)
VIP Status babyyyyyyyy - your player has been invited to attend one of the first homestands of the CC finals as a VIP guest - all expenses paid, front row seats, any hotel you want - and it's all on the Commissioner's dime! Are you going to Games 1 and 2 in Tampa or Games 3 and 4 in Calgary? Why are you picking there? And what are you going to do in that city to run up Eggy's tab?? (This is the same prompt as last year but we've got different cities! be creative! Don't re-use what was written last season)
I'll be in Tampa anyways for games 3 and 4, but if the comissioner is offering a VIP treatment, you don't turn it down. Yeah, I may be in the middle of the series at that point, but if I get a chance to live the life of luxury and don't have to foot the bill, you better believe I am taking that offer. I've ran around town enough in Calgary, it's time to live it up in another city for a couple. First things first, I'm taking the whole team out to the nicest restruant in town, order whatever they like and have bottles of Cristal flowing freely. Afterwords we will live it up and take part in the nightlife of the city. The boys will have free range and can dabble in whatever they would like, as tonight there is no limit to what can be spent. Booze, drugs and women will be flowing freely and in great quantity all night.
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7. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)
As competition ramps up for the playoffs, players (both those still in and those eliminated) work extra hard to improve areas of their game that are lacking. What one area of your game do you really needs to focus on improving and how will this benefit the team?
I feel like now after a few seasons under my belt in the SHL I have identified a bit of a weakness I may have. THat would be my lack of discipline, it seems like every game I see my name on the score sheet, but not always for a good reason. I believe I may have got a bit of a reputation with the leagues referees and they perhaps are watching me more then other players. Little things I used to get away with are now being called and I am hurting my team by puting them on the penalty kill. All it would take is for me to just learn to take an extra second after something happens and not react irrationaly as I have been. Hopefully by the start of the next season, a new cooler headed player will be skating out wearing 16 for the Calgary Dragons.
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13. Written, up to 5 TPE Pick up to 5 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words to qualify.
A. Each team enters these finals with a red hot superstar - longtime league legend Mike Izzy for Calgary and surprise breakout star Gunnar Soderberg for Tampa Bay. Which of these players will have a more dominant finals?
I think it's a pretty obvious choice here. I expect Mike Izzy to continue his dominate peformance that he has had through these playoffs. He has been on fire in the post season and wil likely continue to keep up his red hot pace and have his presence known in this series.
B. Kata Vilde and Benjamin Blue are two of the best goaltenders in the league - which team has the advantage in net?
Vilde has been on fire this playoffs for the Calgary Dragons and will likely continue to keep up his post season dominance. Blue is no slouch either, but I feel like Calgary has the advantage here on the back end. Look for Vilde to steal a game or two for the Dragons.
C. Do you expect this to be a high-scoring series or a low-scoring series? A mix? Do you think it'll be competitive or will one team run away with it?
I expect this to be a high flying, high scoring affair. Both teams are offensive juggernauts that will exploit each others tendencies to push an all out offensive game. I expect this to be a close series, the Barracude should be able to put up a fight, which will be something new for the Dragons after the way they've steam rolled through these playoffs.
D. What's your favorite player NAME on either team? why? (note: not who's your favorite player. which player name)
I really like the name, Flacko Lagerfield, I'm not sure what it is about it, but I've always liked that name since I've seen it. It's not over the top, or to plain, But it's just a really good sounding name that can roll off the tip of your tongue.
E. If you could choose any one of the following four options, which would you pick? 1. A chicken parm sandwich from Esa 2. A tray of cookies from c00kies 3. A custom feet pic from JSS 4. An hour long stick and puck session with Jepox
Obvious choice here, I am going with the chicken parm from the parm king himself, Esa. This man would be able to craft a chicken parm for the ages I feel like, it would look like something a world class chef couldn't even compare to. I would love to try this.
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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.
I think without a doubt, you have to give the MVP to Calgary Dragons netminder, Kata Vilde. He stood on his head and was red hot through the first 3 series Calgary played in, without him getting as hot as he did, they don't even sniff the finals. In the finals, his numbers did come back down to earth a bit, but he still made the big saves when he needed to and stood on his head to ensure the Dragons would clinch the cup. There are a few players on this team I could argue for as MVP, but Vilde has to be the clear cut choice for me.
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15. Casual Member Special, 3 TPE max - 1 TPE for participation, 0.5 TPE for each correct answer - SEND ANSWER IN PM TO "PT DIRECTOR" (tagged below)
A. As defined by draft class, who is the oldest player in this series?
B. What is the name of the Calgary Dragons' Arena?
C. Name 3 previous names of the Tampa Bay Barracuda franchise
D. From these two teams, which player had the most PIMs in the S50 regular season? (Look, I'll even give you a link to the index right below this code box. When I posted the link directly, it auto-corrected the colon + slash into a partial frown face; it looks funny and the link still works so i'm leaving it)
DONE
**Important**: Send the answers to username "PT Director" with the subject of the message titled “S50 CW" - Do not send it to my personal account; those will not be graded. Do not post the answers in here; you will not get credit for the task.
1. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)
VIP Status babyyyyyyyy - your player has been invited to attend one of the first homestands of the CC finals as a VIP guest - all expenses paid, front row seats, any hotel you want - and it's all on the Commissioner's dime! Are you going to Games 1 and 2 in Tampa or Games 3 and 4 in Calgary? Why are you picking there? And what are you going to do in that city to run up Eggy's tab?? (This is the same prompt as last year but we've got different cities! be creative! Don't re-use what was written last season)
Well the location is an easy decision for me. I am a prospect of the Barracuda and would love to see what the fans are like in Tampa Bay. I think the atmosphere would be rocking in that barn, especially since the Barracuda have not made the final in a while, atleast for aslong as I have been around.
To me, I would have to choose a famous instagram model. I am single, Kaspars is looking for love ladies and gents. I think taking a girl on a date to the game, like Chantel Jeffries, Sommer Ray, or Katya Elise Henry, might improve my chances. Its my environment, could sound nice and smart talking about hockey. Would be a good look for me too, all my teammates would go damn look at the fish Claude caught. Plus, it is on someone elses tab so these girls can go as ham as they want, it would not bother me at all. It would make me look like a big spender if anything.
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2. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min)
After a slow start to the regular season, the Dragons have surged of late and have rallied around the #CalgaWe notion of togetherness. On the other side, the Barracuda battled through a difficult East and are led by a very strong young core. Which team are you personally rooting for to take home the Challenge Cup and why?
Well, once again, I am going to have to say the Barracuda. No disrespect to the Dragons though, they have pieces like Mike Izzy and Otis B Driftwood that have been dominant in the league for a long time. But for the Barracuda, it is finally nice to see that everything is starting to pay off. Ball and Lagerfield and Blue kind of hold the fort down as the veteran presence. But players like Evans and Soderberg and Cloutier round out the core and really complete the team. barracuda have gone through a pretty tough last couple of seasons, in the sense that they have not lived up to the potential that people thought they should reach. Now, the season where the rumblings around Tampa Bay kind of went silent, they go and bring the team to the finals through a tough route.
Both teams had a tough time to the finals and I do not think at the beginning of the season anyone would have said Calgary vs Tampa Bay in the finals. So I am happy for both teams in that sense. But I am favoring Tampa Bay.
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7. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)
As competition ramps up for the playoffs, players (both those still in and those eliminated) work extra hard to improve areas of their game that are lacking. What one area of your game do you really needs to focus on improving and how will this benefit the team?
Not to sound cocky or anything, but in regards to my player in the SMJHL, I am pretty dominant. I did not have a great regular season according to my standards and what I was expecting. But when it comes to the playoffs, I just do it time and time again. Look at the stats, I am leading defenseman in points, I am up there in all shots blocked, plus minus and assists. Also, I am leading the playoffs in minutes played. I am doing what it takes to make a difference for my team and I am coming in clutch.
For my transition to the SHL though, I think I am going to have to improve my defense and my puck handling. Possession will be key for me and I want to make sure I am not turning over the puck, that would hurt my team and not help them. But other then that, my player is a complete all around defenseman that knows what it takes to win.
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8. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min)
Which player from Calgary or Tampa Bay 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?
Can I just say me again? Joking Joking. I am going to go with Flacko Lagerfield. I see him being the future MVP for consecutive seasons. Not only because of how talented he is as a player, but also because of what he is surrounded with. The lockerroom is fantastic, the front office is amazing, and the core on the ice is just incredible. A lot of the awards in hockey are more team awards as they are individual awards. You need the players around you to bring you up and not hold you down, and that is exactly what the dynamic and the identity is of the Tampa Bay Barracuda.
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13. Written, up to 5 TPE Pick up to 5 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words to qualify.
A. Each team enters these finals with a red hot superstar - longtime league legend Mike Izzy for Calgary and surprise breakout star Gunnar Soderberg for Tampa Bay. Which of these players will have a more dominant finals?
B. Kata Vilde and Benjamin Blue are two of the best goaltenders in the league - which team has the advantage in net?
E. If you could choose any one of the following four options, which would you pick? 1. A chicken parm sandwich from Esa 2. A tray of cookies from c00kies 3. A custom feet pic from JSS 4. An hour long stick and puck session with Jepox
A. Mike Izzy will have the more dominant final. I think its more of the safer pick because he has been around longer. He knows what it takes to win and he wont necessarily feel the pressure from the big lights and the big game. Soderberg has been playing well, no doubt about that, but we do not know how he will react when the final series starts.
B. Kata Vilde all day and everyday. I wont be biased here because I could easily go with a Barracuda player again. But just look at his numbers. A 2.00 GAA and a 0.931 Save Percentage in the playoffs? In the playoffs? That is some crazy numbers. Kata making sure that Calgary advances. Just look at how much better Kata is doing compared to the next goaltender, who is Benjamin Blue. Blue has put up a Save Percentage of 0.922 and a GAA of 2.71. Kata has the upper hand and thats big time in the playoffs.
E. Chicken Parm. Like come on. I am of italian descent, I am going to go with a chicken parm most of the time. Infact, it is part of my pre game routines on tuesday and friday. If we play games those days, chicken parm with spicy peppers and extra cheese. Usually I end up having some Perrier and a couple of Tums to make sure I do not get heart burn during the game. But I live life on the edge
1. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)
VIP Status babyyyyyyyy - your player has been invited to attend one of the first homestands of the CC finals as a VIP guest - all expenses paid, front row seats, any hotel you want - and it's all on the Commissioner's dime! Are you going to Games 1 and 2 in Tampa or Games 3 and 4 in Calgary? Why are you picking there? And what are you going to do in that city to run up Eggy's tab?? (This is the same prompt as last year but we've got different cities! be creative! Don't re-use what was written last season)
New cities, new toko. I’m headed to Tampa, baby. Ford has been home in Liverpool since the Panthers got eliminated. He’s going to fly into Edmonton and we’re going to go on a raucous road trip down to Tampa (not to Calgary, an hour away, we’re going to earn our kicks).We’re renting a bad ass RV rocketing south towards the gulf. We were going ot have Kennedy join us, but he’s too busy grinding for TPE and prepping for next season. Otter was going to come as well, but has a bunch of GMing duties, so he’s just going to meet us down there. And, inversely, Duggan has been partying down in Tampa since game 40. We’ve rented a house with the company card, and it’s stocked full of booze and cured meats. Tony and I are going to hit every jiggle joint on the panhandle on the way to our rental, so Eggy’s going to have to go into the petty cash and get us some singles. I hope the rental has a TV so that i know when i should get a ride to the arena for the cup party. Thanks for hosting, skoldpaddor!
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2. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min)
After a slow start to the regular season, the Dragons have surged of late and have rallied around the #CalgaWe notion of togetherness. On the other side, the Barracuda battled through a difficult East and are led by a very strong young core. Which team are you personally rooting for to take home the Challenge Cup and why?
I’m personally a big fan of both franchises. Esa, the Parmgawd himself is in my draft class, so I feel the attachment there, however Tampa Bay is made up of a much younger team, many of which I know well from either my draft class or my seasons in juniors. Alongside of Calgary being our (Edmonton’s) rivals, they also strengthen us by playing well. Similar to the SEC “bias” in college football, its comforting to know that the best teams will come from the South Eastern Conference because they all have such difficult schedules. If Calgary wins, history will just reflect that Edmonton had that much harder of a schedule, and that our accomplishments were that much greater. Also the idea of beating them last season in the playoffs will be even more impressive.
Howevuhhh… Ford, Skoldpaddor and I have a wager going, where i will get paid (and a shiny new sig) if Tampa Bay wins (this bet was made before the season started). I would still be eligible to win if Calgary won and then next year Tampa Bay beat a different team, but in my mind, it would be best for my personal legacy if Tampa Bay won, i used that earned money on improving myself, and then Edmonton wins again next year.
I just hope everyone has fun.
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3. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)
Are there any changes to the playoff format you'd like to see implemented? More wild cards? Move to a single-elimination to bring about even more chaos? 999-game series to minimize chaos? Be creative!
I currently like the playoff layout as it is. One idea that I toyed with that I genuinely think would be interesting, would be to turn injuries on for the post season. Injuries and adversity are something that has affected every post-season hockey team in the real world, particularly the ones that win it all. Turning on injuries for the regular season risks a drop in activity, but post-season is less than two weeks, and most of the site is already on the sidelines anyway. It lets the competitive players load up (responsibly) on durability and adds an extra element to the game. It will give the coaches/GMs a more interesting task (as opposed to simming the original matchup 50 times at the beginning of the round, day by day tweaks become more important). Making use of the durability skill even in just postseason will invite a much larger build variety into the league.
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4. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)
Alternate Reality: Physicists and other smarties believe that 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 S50 playoffs have unfolded differently. What happened in this reality's playoffs and who's in the Challenge Cup over there?
In the reality where helmets were not required, there was a slightly different outcome to the playoffs. For those of you less versed, a certain reality believes that head trauma and CTE symptoms are signs of a higher plane, and players go out of their way to repeatedly bump their heads. They dont get the glorious benefit from big hits or punches, just steady bruising. In these playoffs, pretty much every player was very slowed down because they wanted to better regulate their blood pressure and would get light-headed. All players after their 15th season would have “donated their bodies to science” and therefore be out of the league. As a cow, with a much thicker skull and smaller brain, i would be at an incredible advantage. Without their older players, Calgary, Edmonton, Buffalo, Manhattan, Hamilton, and NOLA would be without major contributors. Most notably, Izzy would be absent from the finals, meaning that (at the time of writing) the Dragons probably dont force a game 5.
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5. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)
Due to some controversial calls during the playoffs, the league is looking at updating the current rules(icing, offside, etc) What new rule or change to a room would you implement to better the game?
I lobby that the “NBA Jam” rule should be added to the league. I risk writing this and watering down my honest hot-take about post-season injuries, but I’ll have my fun. My proposed rule change would be that if a player scores a natural hat trick, he or she be allowed to do whatever he or she wants on the ice until another team scores, or he or she loses a fight. This could be illegal checks, interference, off sides, goalie interference, etc. It all flies until the team that gave up the natural hat trick scores, or bucks up and tries to kick said players butt. Fighting rules would be the same though, the player could not carry a stick into the fight.
By my math, there should be around 8 natural hat tricks per season across the league. So this would be easy to implement slowly. Within the sim, we could introduce this by having that player get a 5 point boost across all attributes.
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7. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)
As competition ramps up for the playoffs, players (both those still in and those eliminated) work extra hard to improve areas of their game that are lacking. What one area of your game do you really needs to focus on improving and how will this benefit the team?
My puck handling is seriously lacking. At 82, it is not dreadful, but as Adam Oates will tell you, puck handling is everything. Fielding a pass in your skates is much easier when you’ve got better hand-eye coordination, as well as dishing a pass from a funny angle or knocking away passes by the opposition. All efforts made in making your stick an extension of your body are efforts made towards improving your on-ice numbers. Having your stick in the right area drives your possession numbers up and limits the opponent’s opportunities. A less quality answer is my durability. I’ve been passively lobbying to get injuries turned back on in order to increase the role of the enforcer. If i suddenly get my wish and injuries are turned back on, I would be as vulnerable as everyone else. My TPE bank is low. Typically I prefer to have a little rainy day fund in case major build changes are necessary, and I can’t imagine a more necessary change than my health.
11-10-2019, 01:17 PM(This post was last modified: 11-10-2019, 01:41 PM by caltroit_red_flames.)
Code:
1. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)
VIP Status babyyyyyyyy - your player has been invited to attend one of the first homestands of the CC finals as a VIP guest - all expenses paid, front row seats, any hotel you want - and it's all on the Commissioner's dime! Are you going to Games 1 and 2 in Tampa or Games 3 and 4 in Calgary? Why are you picking there? And what are you going to do in that city to run up Eggy's tab?? (This is the same prompt as last year but we've got different cities! be creative! Don't re-use what was written last season)
I'm going to games 1 and 2 in Tampa. I live in Edmonton all year, it'd be real nice to spend a little bit of time relaxing for once on a sunny beach without the worry of having to train or play games in the back of my head. I'm going to sit the VIP Lounge at the rink and get a seafood and steak dinner and the most expensive bottle of juice I can find. Thanks Eggy. I'll probably watch a couple minutes of the game, but really I'm just there to spend money and chill with DeMaricus Smyth. We're not in the game so fuck it honestly. The only reason I'm considering checking the score is because I have Calgary down as scoring more goals and winning the series, got some big money riding on the Dragons, they better not let me down, otherwise I won't be able to afford a new stick for next season, or shoulder pads for that matter.
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7. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)
As competition ramps up for the playoffs, players (both those still in and those eliminated) work extra hard to improve areas of their game that are lacking. What one area of your game do you really needs to focus on improving and how will this benefit the team?
This was an extremely frustrating season for the Edmonton Blizzard and myself. We thought we had the finals in the bag this season but we had the rug swept out from under us. Now it's time to go home and work on my game and I think the thing I'm working on is something every player struggles with: skating. No matter how fast you are you can always get faster. For some reason my shot, my puck skills and my defense always been really good so I've been able to get by based my on my positioning, but if I were just a little faster I could really take over games. I'm doing my best to improve that part of my game but as you get older these things get more and more difficult to do. I feel like I'm less trying to get ahead and more trying to keep up at this point. Either way, lots of lunges are going to be done this offseason.
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8. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min)
Which player from Calgary or Tampa Bay 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?
If had to choose one person I'd go with Esa Parmborg from the Calgary Dragons. He's still young right now but he's already reaching levels of greatness that most players never make it to. On top of that he's got some great genes. Or so I'm told at least, he doesn't have the name but I hear that he's blood related to the legendary Esa Anrikkanen, the player who has played more games in the SHL than any other player. I don't think you could find a safer bet than that. As a rookie he had 17, not bad for the young guy. Of course he'll have to improve that next season but I don't see that being a problem.
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13. Written, up to 5 TPE Pick up to 5 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words to qualify.
A. Each team enters these finals with a red hot superstar - longtime league legend Mike Izzy for Calgary and surprise breakout star Gunnar Soderberg for Tampa Bay. Which of these players will have a more dominant finals?
B. Kata Vilde and Benjamin Blue are two of the best goaltenders in the league - which team has the advantage in net?
C. Do you expect this to be a high-scoring series or a low-scoring series? A mix? Do you think it'll be competitive or will one team run away with it?
D. What's your favorite player NAME on either team? why? (note: not who's your favorite player. which player name)
E. If you could choose any one of the following four options, which would you pick? 1. A chicken parm sandwich from Esa 2. A tray of cookies from c00kies 3. A custom feet pic from JSS 4. An hour long stick and puck session with Jepox
A. You can't argue with Mike Izzy. This guy has been around the block more than a few times. I'll put money on him to score at least a goal every game if anyone wants to take that bet. Izzy will run away with the playoff MVP. There's a reason he's known as The Augment.
B. Between Benjamin Blue and Kata Vilde it's pretty easy to see who comes out ahead. They're from the same draft class but Vilde is more talented and has more playoff experience. In my opinion you need your goaltender to steal at least one game to win the Challenge Cup, I can see Vilde stealing 2 games.
C. I expect this to be a high scoring series. Everyone on Calgary is offensively minded, including their defensive players. Vilde will likely stop some pucks that should have gone in, but when each team has around 40 shots a game it's difficult to keep them off the scoreboard. I expect 3 goals out of at least one team per game.
D. Shooter McGavin II. Who would have thought that father and son would be duking it out in the challenge cup finals? Especially a father and son with the same name. I could have chosen Shooter McGavin on Calgary, but you get the idea from either one. This is going to be a storyline for the ages.
E. Listen I've been a part of the SHL for about 2 years now. Since day one I've been hearing about @Steelhead77's chicken parms. You can't tell me that anyone with half a brain would choose anything other than his chicken parms in this situation. Do they live up to the hype? I don't know, but at this point they're legendary regardless.
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15. Casual Member Special, 3 TPE max - 1 TPE for participation, 0.5 TPE for each correct answer - SEND ANSWER IN PM TO "PT DIRECTOR" (tagged below)
A. As defined by draft class, who is the oldest player in this series?
B. What is the name of the Calgary Dragons' Arena?
C. Name 3 previous names of the Tampa Bay Barracuda franchise
D. From these two teams, which player had the most PIMs in the S50 regular season? (Look, I'll even give you a link to the index right below this code box. When I posted the link directly, it auto-corrected the colon + slash into a partial frown face; it looks funny and the link still works so i'm leaving it)
**Important**: Send the answers to username "PT Director" with the subject of the message titled “S50 CW" - Do not send it to my personal account; those will not be graded. Do not post the answers in here; you will not get credit for the task.
1. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)
VIP Status babyyyyyyyy - your player has been invited to attend one of the first homestands of the CC finals as a VIP guest - all expenses paid, front row seats, any hotel you want - and it's all on the Commissioner's dime! Are you going to Games 1 and 2 in Tampa or Games 3 and 4 in Calgary? Why are you picking there? And what are you going to do in that city to run up Eggy's tab?? (This is the same prompt as last year but we've got different cities! be creative! Don't re-use what was written last season)
I've never been to Tampa but I've heard some good things about it, so I'd choose to go there to catch the first two games. I'd like to visit Calgary some day as well, but I hate the cold so now doesn't seem like the time to do it. I would crash at @frithjofr's house and I'm sure our first order of business would be to spend an hour together and be so sore thereafter. When I'm not at the stadium watching Games 1 and 2, I'd like to explore some of the Tampa Bay area, including a few of the dope ass breweries I know are in the area and go on a couple of cool hikes. I'd chill by the beach as well - I know it's not exactly beach weather there right now, but it'd still be nice. Lastly, I'd be sure to dine at some very fancy restaurants that I wouldn't otherwise have a chance to go to - thanks eggy!
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2. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min)
After a slow start to the regular season, the Dragons have surged of late and have rallied around the #CalgaWe notion of togetherness. On the other side, the Barracuda battled through a difficult East and are led by a very strong young core. Which team are you personally rooting for to take home the Challenge Cup and why?
This is a bit of a tricky one since, in theory, I should definitely be rooting against the divisional rival. We're aiming to compete in this same window along with Manhattan and Tampa, so we'd hate to see one of those teams be successful if we're not. I can't really make the case for rooting for friends, because I have friends on both - Izzy, WT, Eggy on Calgary; Jepox, Jenny, jss, Jess on TBB. Luckily, there's a very selfish motivation I can use for my allegiances here - I bet on TBB to win the S50 Challenge Cup back in preseason with the casino - if they win, i'll get $6m! Let's Go Barracuda!
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4. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)
Alternate Reality: Physicists and other smarties believe that 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 S50 playoffs have unfolded differently. What happened in this reality's playoffs and who's in the Challenge Cup over there?
In this reality, Tampa Bay still advanced to the CC finals; in that reality, I'm still eagerly hoping that a sweet $6m lands in my SHL bank account. This time, however, they're meeting a different foe in the finals - The Hamilton Steelhawks. Huh?? I'll explain. In this reality, everything is exactly the same except the way we like to divide up the US is in terms of North/South rather than East/West. Here, the Northern Conference contains Edmonton, Winnipeg, Minnesota, New England, Calgary, Buffalo, Hamilton, and Toronto; the Southern Conference contains Texas, Manhattan, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, West Kendall, New Orleans, and Tampa Bay. The playoff teams this season were Manhattan, San Francisco, New Orleans, Tampa Bay, and Los Angeles - Tampa Bay cruised through the Southern Conference with east. In the North, Edmonton, Buffalo, Calgary, and New England fell short of Hamilton's valiant playoff effort. The Steelhawks and Barracuda have been fighting this week in this reality, and over there it's no different... it's a tense finals for sure.
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13. Written, up to 5 TPE Pick up to 5 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words to qualify.
A. Each team enters these finals with a red hot superstar - longtime league legend Mike Izzy for Calgary and surprise breakout star Gunnar Soderberg for Tampa Bay. Which of these players will have a more dominant finals?
B. Kata Vilde and Benjamin Blue are two of the best goaltenders in the league - which team has the advantage in net?
C. Do you expect this to be a high-scoring series or a low-scoring series? A mix? Do you think it'll be competitive or will one team run away with it?
D. What's your favorite player NAME on either team? why? (note: not who's your favorite player. which player name)
E. If you could choose any one of the following four options, which would you pick? 1. A chicken parm sandwich from Esa 2. A tray of cookies from c00kies 3. A custom feet pic from JSS 4. An hour long stick and puck session with Jepox
A. Soderberg is absolutely on fire heading into these finals, likely the second hottest player in the league throughout the postseason. The first??? well,,,,,,, It's Mike Izzy. Izzy has been a stalwart in the league for years now, and despite his increasing age he seems to have never played better than he has been during this postseason; whatever the reason, Izzy is putting the pieces together! Gunnar will have his time in the future, but the spotlight is Izzy's for now.
B. It's gotta be Benjamin Blue - who knows why this happens, but Blue magically turns into the best goalie in the league every other year. S49? absolute stud. S50? garbage. S51? best in the league again. Tampa was lucky to put it all together this season and it's been due in no small part to the consistent play in net. Tampa fans will have to hope that the same random ass sim luck that made Blue in the regular season will make him good in the finals as well!
C. I think it'll be high scoring overall. Both teams seem to have stronger offensive forces than defensive forces (no disrespect to the defensemen and goalies of each). With the high powered offensive stars in this series, I'd have to imagine it'll be difficult for either team to consistently stop the other. I'd expect a competitive series with a lot of goals.
D. I'll go with a sleeper pick here and say Brock Nuck. I enjoy spoonerisms, where you flip the first sounds of two words (like pop corn -> cop porn) and even though Nock Bruck doesn't mean anything, it sounds cool and I like it. The names on these two teams are not great - there are plenty of great names around the league and these two teams don't have many of em.
E. This is a really tough call for me, since I like all 4 of these options. I love cookies, so i'm certainly tempted by that. I haven't had a chicken parm sub in a long ass time but i'm kinda hungry and I could go for one right now. I'll pass on the feet pic from jss - not because I don't want it, but because he told me he'd send me some anyway :wink: So after all, I'll settle on the hour long stick and puck with jepox - I've never played hockey so I'm sure this routine will help me with my skills, and it'll be great to feel so sore the following day.
In an alternate reality, the S50 SHL Preseason was actually the regular season. Team’s didn’t get tons of time to test sim their lines and adapt strategies, you only had 2 or 3 days and that determined the whole season! This led to some very different results and a very entertaining playoff. In the east, The Buffalo Stampede played the Manhattan Rage in the wild card round and managed to defeat them. They then went on to play Chicago in the Conference semi finals while Toronto played New England in the other matchup. Chicago and New England would prevail to meet in the Eastern Finals (2 teams that didn’t make the playoffs in the “real season”. Over in the west Edmonton would beat San Francisco in the wild card round and move on to face the Jets. Unfortunately the Jets would take them out in the semifinals and the Specters would beat the Minnesota Chiefs in the other Semifinals. Winnipeg would then beat New Orleans in the Western Finals to prevent the S46 Expansion team matchup leading to a Chicago versus Winnipeg final. A final between two teams who didn’t make the “real” season playoffs. Anyways Chicago would end up winning and their fans are very happy in the alternate reality!
7. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)
It has been a relatively long offseason for Chicago Syndicate prospect and Lethbridge Lion’s defenseman Akira Ren. The Lions unfortunately don’t go far in the playoffs and Ren has had plenty of time to focus on his game for next season. Ren isn’t quite sure where he will be playing next season. There is a good chance he is sent back down to Lethbridge for one last season in the SMJHL but there is also a good chance he makes his SHL debut with the Chicago Syndicate. If he sent down to the SMJHL he will most likely spend quite a bit of time working on his offensive game, his passing and scoring specifically. Ren (and Lethbridge overall) struggled to score this season so Ren would hope working on those areas would significantly improve the team. If called up Ren most likely would be on the last defensive pairing for the Syndicate. He would then instead focus more on the defensive game to ensure he can’t be exploited by the many talented star forwards in the SHL. Hopefully others on the team would pick up the offensive slack instead!
8. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min)
I don’t think it will be long before you see Chico Smeb winning the Stevens trophy for best defenseman in the SHL. xDPark has a pedigree for building Hall of Fame players and Calgary has a legacy of being a top team. With Otis B. Driftwood growing older I think Chico Smeb will take on the mantle of best defenseman for Calgary and with that will come more points and awards. Smeb is only a S46 draftee and has plenty of time to make his mark on the league. I expect next season to be a huge breakout season for him and I expect him to win at least 1 Stevens before S56 when he hits regression.
13. Written, up to 5 TPE Pick up to 5 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words to qualify.
A. While both Mike Izzy and Gunnar Soderberg have had amazing playoff thus far, I have to say I will predict that Mike Izzy will have the more dominant finals. The veteran forward has been absolutely carrying the dragons so fat with 13 goals and 23 points in 13 games. On top of that he leads the dragons with 43 hits. You could even say he is playing some of the best hockey in his career and I expect him to continue to shine in the finals.
B. While both Kata Vilde and Benjamin Blue have been stellar thus far in the playoffs, I have to give the goalie advantage to Calgary and Vilde. Kata has been in insane form with a 0.931 save percentage, 1 shutout, and only 1 loss thus far in the playoffs. His veteran experience should shine through and allow him to continue to be hot in the finals.
C. This is a super tough one, both teams have been scoring about 3.5 goals a game thus far and I sort of expect this to remain the case. I expect a lot of 4-3 wins. In terms of competition I think this is tough. Calgary has looked unstoppable thus far but I think Tampa Bay has made it out of a stronger Eastern Conference. I expect a close series that will go to at least 6 or 7 games at the end.
D. This is a fun question, I will have to go with Chico Smeb. The Smeb legacy is just starting to emerge in the SHL and is a mysterious power name. What is a Smeb? Who knows but it seems to have a mysterious aura of success. On top of that add Chico, the same first name of the legend Chico Salmon. Combine Chico with Smeb and you have a catchy name that just oozes SHL success.
E. I would go with the cookies from c00kies especially if they are white chocolate macadamia cookies! Hard to go wrong with tasty cookies and c00kies is a nice guy. The other options are slightly less appealing, I’m meh about chicken parm, I have no idea how good Jepox is at hockey and it’s been a while since I have played myself. The JSS feet picture sounds more like a punishment.
15. Casual Member Special, 3 TPE max - 1 TPE for participation, 0.5 TPE for each correct answer
11-10-2019, 06:41 PM(This post was last modified: 11-10-2019, 06:42 PM by Vandy.)
Quote:1. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)
VIP Status babyyyyyyyy - your player has been invited to attend one of the first homestands of the CC finals as a VIP guest - all expenses paid, front row seats, any hotel you want - and it's all on the Commissioner's dime! Are you going to Games 1 and 2 in Tampa or Games 3 and 4 in Calgary? Why are you picking there? And what are you going to do in that city to run up Eggy's tab?? (This is the same prompt as last year but we've got different cities! be creative! Don't re-use what was written last season)
Last year I think I stayed away from the cool places, this year I am definitely going to Tampa Bay. The Commissioner probably has a black card so it would have been nicer for him to actually give it to me so I could flash it to the ladies at the beach and bar but what can you do? I guess they'll have to just be swayed by my Challenge Cup ring. Anyway, first thing I'd do is take my Stampede Teammates out for a huge steak dinner the night before, run up the tab pretty nice then its out to our limos where we would find the best clubs in the city, probably down by the beaches and set up shop for the night. The next night, take my teammates and whatever survivors of last night's party are still alive and sober to games one and two to see some quality hockey action.
Quote:2. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min)
After a slow start to the regular season, the Dragons have surged of late and have rallied around the #CalgaWe notion of togetherness. On the other side, the Barracuda battled through a difficult East and are led by a very strong young core. Which team are you personally rooting for to take home the Challenge Cup and why?
For me its gotta be Calgary. When you play a team with heart the rushes get that much harder, the grit is that much tougher and everyone plays like their brother or sister are going to die unless they get the edge on you that minute. Tampa has a young core that is going to help them for 10 seasons to come whereas Calgary has experience and leadership on their side which do have a shelf life in the league. So for me, my money would be on Calgary to get it done. Tampa will get there for sure at least once or twice in the next ten seasons but this year its Calgary.
Quote:3. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)
Are there any changes to the playoff format you'd like to see implemented? More wild cards? Move to a single-elimination to bring about even more chaos? 999-game series to minimize chaos? Be creative!
Probably the most unpopular and creative opinion here but I like how the Playoffs are currently run as they are now. The Wild Card system allows for play in of fringe playoff teams and gives the top seeds a bye to re-organize the lines and roster as they see fit. I'm not sure what adding to or taking away from this system will do other than shorten the GM/Coach workload going into the playoffs. But I was told to be creative and I need these TPE so here we go, a round robin double elimination quarterfinals. All four QF teams would compete, play each other once, the teams with the worst record are both eliminated and those two with the better records move on. It would be strategic to play a little worse so that the other team can't pick up on your routines and would involve a little more strategy.
Quote:4. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)
Alternate Reality: Physicists and other smarties believe that 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 S50 playoffs have unfolded differently. What happened in this reality's playoffs and who's in the Challenge Cup over there?
In this reality its Tampa Bay vs Calgary but in the other world its Buffalo and Calgary. Look the facts are both teams did amazing this year but Buffalo got stood up by a strong Hamilton team who came on like gangbusters. Calgary, playing with a chip on its shoulder and like every game was their last barreled through the West and are still playing. But, I am a homer so obviously it was going to be Buffalo in the finals against them. I'd put the series at a definite game 7 slugfest. Neither one of our teams knows the meaning of quit nor does it know the meaning of losing. All of us, regardless of our city or our team aren't going to want to let our fans or coaches down and Buffalo would probably sneak out a winner in the overall series. Still, If I were a betting man I'd still put my money on Calgary making it a great series in both universes.
Quote:7. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min)
As competition ramps up for the playoffs, players (both those still in and those eliminated) work extra hard to improve areas of their game that are lacking. What one area of your game do you really needs to focus on improving and how will this benefit the team?
Id say for me its both Strength and Endurance. Scoring and passing those are things you always have to improve on and because of no injuries, no need to worry about durability. So its obviously making sure you have enough to keep yourself in the game (Endurance) and enough strength to keep the stars and the joes off the puck at both ends of the ice (Strength). At the moment on a star team like Buffalo I sit on the third pairing. Not a lot of time game in and game out to refine my craft with 10 minutes a night, sometimes less. So I have to do what I can to improve myself off the ice. Do exercise, lift weights, do squats, some yoga and pilates for those sore muscles after all three. But these two things are the core improvement areas for a two-way defenseman. So, thats what I'll say here.
FourFour Registered
S20, S21, S51, S53 Challenge Cup Champion
Posts:9,675 Threads: 381 Joined: Mar 2013 Reputation:11
Pronouns: He/Him
1. Being invited to the Challenge Cup Finals in the Simulation Hockey League is a dream come true. Unfortunately, after being eliminated at the hands of the skilled Tampa Bay Barracuda, I could not be playing in this series. While being invited to a destination of my choosing, you already know I would choose to go to Calgary, Alberta. Why would I not go to Tampa Bay? Well, after having played there for a few seasons and being such a large part of the community, I was actually given season tickets that could be exchanged for playoff tickets, so I have access to the facility and can go to any game I want – nonetheless, I would go to Calgary Alberta. What am I going to do? I am going to go to the best perogi place in the arena and run up the bill that way, also the beers are insanely expensive down there so I will be putting those all on a tab for the league to pay and drink my sorrows away.
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2. First of all, what the fuck is this #CalgaWe. I have yet to see this posted anywhere, so someone please give me the link to this blasphemy and utterly stupid hashtag. Personally, I am torn on who to cheer for, being a native of Calgary, it feels wrong to not cheer for my hometown team, but having been a part of the Barracuda organization, I know what kind of individuals are on that team, many of which are my friends. So I think I will root for the Barracudas in the finals, as I have friends on the team, I have history with the team, and its best to cheer for the team that beat you to win the entire league.
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3. The playoff format in the Simulation Hockey League is quite okay. With 16 teams in the league, we have it so 10 are eligible for the playoffs, while 2 of the 10 teams are eliminated in a wild-card round. I do not like this system at all. For one, it delays the start of the best time on the site for the teams that are the best, plus it gives way to some shitty teams to make miracle runs. In fact, we have two conferences of 16 teams each – which is good, I like that, but we should revert back to a system with 8 team playoffs. They were much more enjoyable and let the top talent of the league face of against each other. One change I would like to see is that top seeds in each division are given spots 1-4, and then the other 4 seeds are determined by overall point positioning.
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4. In an alternate reality, the scope of the Simulation Hockey League playoffs are much different. The wildcard and first round remain the exact same, but in the Conference finals, the Hamilton Steelhawks unveil a brand new player. Actually not, but they have a man named Akashi SixNine who undergoes a huge build change in the span of a few days to change his entire style of play, catering it more towards a skilled offense like the team has. He tears up the round scoring 10 goals and assisting on 7 other goals, while leading the Steelhawks to the Challenge Cup finals. In the west, the Specters put up a stronger fight and ultimately reverse swept the Dragons in Game 7 and will be going on to face to Steelhawks in the finals. The Specters had a sudden boost from the fans of the New Orleans Saints who accidentally were gifted free tickets to the games and boosted attendance.
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8. Man, again this is a hard question to answer after having such strong ties to both teams, but one player from the Barracuda I want to see win an award is Matt Kholin. I played with Kholin back in Tampa Bay a a few seasons ago and he was a force to be reckoned with on the ice. He was one of the nicest guys on the team to me and was a pivotal part in me winning my Ryan Jesster Award. To see him have success on the ice in the regulation season would be amazing, and I think him walking away with the Ron Mexico trophy one day would be outstanding. I think he can live up to the potential with his strong development and beautiful face which will be enough to sway to voters his way.
Gwdjohnson![[Image: Gabe-lights.png]](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/853563288988942356/1023840211416928318/Gabe-lights.png)
![[Image: nMz40Vc.gif]](https://i.imgur.com/nMz40Vc.gif)
![[Image: dragons.png]](https://simulationhockey.com/images/smilies/dragons.png)
![[Image: wolfpack2.png]](https://simulationhockey.com/images/smilies/wolfpack2.png)
![[Image: stars.png]](https://simulationhockey.com/images/smilies/stars.png)
![[Image: Dxdffra.png]](https://i.imgur.com/Dxdffra.png)
![[Image: hGKuRrv.png]](http://imgur.com/hGKuRrv.png)
![[Image: sAx3Llh.jpg]](http://i.imgur.com/sAx3Llh.jpg)
![[Image: firebirds.png]](https://simulationhockey.com/images/smilies/firebirds.png)
![[Image: 0K3YdqN.png]](https://i.imgur.com/0K3YdqN.png)
![[Image: KouSaotomeUndraftedSigSmol.png]](https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/615245208270929998/802234723967172608/KouSaotomeUndraftedSigSmol.png)
![[Image: 9d3oxij.png]](http://i.imgur.com/9d3oxij.png)
// ![[Image: 8xyKeyf.png]](http://i.imgur.com/8xyKeyf.png)
![[Image: SHLEmoteDragons.png]](http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff60/NJDHalo3/SHLEmoteDragons.png)
![[Image: RNCgTPl.png]](https://i.imgur.com/RNCgTPl.png)
![[Image: aS7ARv6.png]](http://i.imgur.com/aS7ARv6.png)
![[Image: RIXCbNI.png]](http://i.imgur.com/RIXCbNI.png)
![[Image: image.png]](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/526497228731187242/1042150145250308238/image.png)
![[Image: dankestmemes69420.gif]](https://sig.grumpybumpers.com/host/dankestmemes69420.gif)
![[Image: vhY18i8.png]](http://i.imgur.com/vhY18i8.png)
![[Image: gs89eGV.png]](http://i.imgur.com/gs89eGV.png)
![[Image: nBgNUTY.png]](http://i.imgur.com/nBgNUTY.png)
![[Image: Bk1689.gif]](https://sig.grumpybumpers.com/host/Bk1689.gif)
![[Image: doubtfulalpha.gif]](https://sig.grumpybumpers.com/host/doubtfulalpha.gif)
![[Image: 0XJkcN5.png]](http://i.imgur.com/0XJkcN5.png)
![[Image: sN8N4xa.png]](https://i.imgur.com/sN8N4xa.png)
![[Image: 639861613880541184.png]](https://cdn.discordapp.com/emojis/639861613880541184.png)
Cal Juice ![[Image: RyzkmSj.png]](https://i.imgur.com/RyzkmSj.png)
![[Image: Eo2nBCt.png]](https://i.imgur.com/Eo2nBCt.png)
Tomas Zadina ![[Image: snacnei.png]](https://i.imgur.com/snacnei.png)
Brady McIntyre ![[Image: ice-level.svg]](https://cards.simulationhockey.com/images/ice-level.svg)
![[Image: 60354_s.gif ]](https://signavatar.com/60354_s.gif )
![[Image: 1yZYUXK.gif]](https://i.imgur.com/1yZYUXK.gif)
![[Image: RichSHL.gif]](https://sig.grumpybumpers.com/host/RichSHL.gif)
![[Image: Bruins10.gif]](https://sig.grumpybumpers.com/host/Bruins10.gif)
![[Image: ekovanotter.gif]](https://sig.grumpybumpers.com/host/ekovanotter.gif)
