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**SFresh3** · 01-21-2024, 12:43 AM

3 + 3 + 3 = 9 TPE
1 + 7 + 8

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

Fresh

Quote:7. Graphic, 3 TPE, Upsets Go Brrr

Draw your favorite, or least-favorite, upset from this season’s playoffs in the form of the teams’ respective mascots/logos fighting!

Least favorite upset:

[Image: 2z79Mhq.jpg]

Quote:8. Graphic, 3 TPE, Upon Further Review

Draw how your team's season went! As long as I can tell which team you play for and it conveys some kind of sentiment about your team's season, you'll get credit.

**bbjygm** · 01-21-2024, 01:23 AM

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

dumdediddly

Code:
2. Written, up to 4 TPE - Grab Bag: Pick up to 4 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words.

a. Two old faces are back in the ring, proving reports of the dynasty’s demise were greatly exaggerated! Pick either of our finalists, and tell me what about them impresses you the most!

b. Upsets were a theme this year - which of our finalists had the more difficult road to the promised land and why?

c. Which of the finalists had the more impressive conference finals victory, and why?

d. If it ain't broke don't fix it: Who you got? Who wins? Why?

a. Winnipeg Aurora currently impresses me more. They've built up a team to reach a window of contention and have executed it very well. Their longevity in the face of other competing teams is a testament to their planning and dedication as well as tenacity as players to get the job done.

b. I think the New England Wolfpack had the harder path to getting to the finals. Their second round matchup, Buffalo Stampede, was a team they had a 1-5-0 record going into the playoffs, and winning the conference finals was difficult as well considering their 1-3-0 head to head record against Philadelphia Forge. They really beat the odds.

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3. Written, 3 TPE, Haven’t I Seen This Before? (150 words min.)

Despite being the 8th and 10th ranked regular season teams in the league, our finalists from Winnipeg and New England represent two of the most dominant teams over the past several seasons. What do you think is the secret to their success? What can other teams learn from them? Which one is more likely to be back again next year?

I think Winnipeg Aurora and New England Wolfpack are dominant teams because they have been built up by dedicated general managers to meet their window of contention and we just happen to be in that window. I'm not entirely sure how they seem to pull out all their stops just for playoffs as their regular season records don't suggest their current dominance but somehow they do. I think it might be a combination of having lots and lots of talented players, trying to time hot streaks for end of regular season to carry into the post season, and good old fashion sim luck. I think the one more likely to be back again next year would be New England Wolfpack considering they are the teams which has entered contention more recently. They have the talent that should be hit by regression less brutally than Winnipeg Aurora, so they probably stay more relevant in the coming seasons.

*Grum* · 01-21-2024, 01:36 AM

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

verification word: pik

+3 | Total: 3

sulovilen · 01-21-2024, 02:33 AM

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

triviayes

Code:
3. Written, 3 TPE, Haven’t I Seen This Before? (150 words min.)

Despite being the 8th and 10th ranked regular season teams in the league, our finalists from Winnipeg and New England represent two of the most dominant teams over the past several seasons. What do you think is the secret to their success? What can other teams learn from them? Which one is more likely to be back again next year?

If I knew the answer to their success, I’d probably be an SHL GM! Honestly, as a very recreational SHL player, I have no idea. Just looking at the rosters and TPE totals, teams like Philadelphia and Edmonton should be way stronger than New England and Winnipeg. And the regular season results seem to reflect that, as Edmonton especially was very dominant and Philadelphia also put up some great results. At a glance Winnipeg’s roster looks very experienced, as they have lots of S62 players, and even some older than that, whereas Edmonton and Philly seems to be mostly built on players from S65-S68. Then again, New England also falls into that category. So yeah, Winnipeg’s success would lead me to believe that experience matters a lot in the playoffs? But since NEW is also doing well, maybe that’s not everything. Then I guess it should be tactics or build related things. Maybe they are really good at matching their strategies against the opposing team in playoff series, or maybe even their players are well suited for such matching efforts? That would explain why the teams are really good in the playoffs even if they aren’t as consistent in the regular season.

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2. Written, up to 4 TPE - Grab Bag: Pick up to 4 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words.

a. Two old faces are back in the ring, proving reports of the dynasty’s demise were greatly exaggerated! Pick either of our finalists, and tell me what about them impresses you the most!

b. Upsets were a theme this year - which of our finalists had the more difficult road to the promised land and why?

c. Which of the finalists had the more impressive conference finals victory, and why?

d. If it ain't broke don't fix it: Who you got? Who wins? Why?

b. Based on the regular season, Edmonton felt to me like the end boss for the season, so I think both teams actually got a bit lucky in the sense that they managed to dodge them. But after that the strongest regular season teams were Buffalo and Philly, and NEW beat both of them. So I think they had a more difficult - and impressive - way to the finals.

c. New England, by far. While San Francisco surprised everyone by making their way to the conference finals, everyone still rather takes a team that barely made the playoffs, than a team who finished third in the regular season. So I think NEW beating Philly is a lot more impressive than Winnipeg beating SFP. And NEW was even able to score 7 or more goals three times against Philly, which in itself is quite a show of force.

Poiklm · 01-21-2024, 02:59 AM

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6. Graphic, 3 TPE, The Climax

Draw the final battle! You can show me the players going head-to-head, you can draw the mascots duking it out, or you can make any kind of hype poster of your choosing.

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7. Graphic, 3 TPE, Upsets Go Brrr

Draw your favorite, or least-favorite, upset from this season’s playoffs in the form of the teams’ respective mascots/logos fighting!

Code:

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8. Graphic, 3 TPE, Upon Further Review

Draw how your team's season went! As long as I can tell which team you play for and it conveys some kind of sentiment about your team's season, you'll get credit.

Thelastheraclid · 01-21-2024, 03:55 AM

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

coffee

Code:
2. Written, up to 4 TPE - Grab Bag: Pick up to 4 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words.

b. Upsets were a theme this year - which of our finalists had the more difficult road to the promised land and why?

As always, whoever comes out of the East had the more difficult road. Although it pains me greatly to give props to the New England Wolfpack, they worked hard as hell to get past a tough matchup against a beefy Hamilton team in the first round. Then they had to deal with a somewhat surprising power in Buffalo. Finally, they had to contend with forever rivals Philadelphia.
(67)

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c. Which of the finalists had the more impressive conference finals victory, and why?

Both teams had relatively easy trips through the conference finals, but the New England Wolfpack’s victory was more impressive. The Winnipeg Aurora faced a team of plucky young go getters on a Cinderella story in San Francisco. The magic ran out and the Aurora won handily. New England had to go up against a team full of hard nosed vets fighting to get another cup.
(65)

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8. Graphic, 3 TPE, Upon Further Review

Draw how your team's season went! As long as I can tell which team you play for and it conveys some kind of sentiment about your team's season, you'll get credit.

Tesla · 01-21-2024, 04:14 AM

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

Marmaduke

Code:
3. Written, 3 TPE, Haven’t I Seen This Before? (150 words min.)

Despite being the 8th and 10th ranked regular season teams in the league, our finalists from Winnipeg and New England represent two of the most dominant teams over the past several seasons. What do you think is the secret to their success? What can other teams learn from them? Which one is more likely to be back again next year?

What do Winnipeg and New England have in common that has allowed them both to succeed for so long? The obvious answer here is some super strong dark magic. How else can you remain so dominant for so long in such a difficult simulation sport? Now I am not entirely sure what kind of dark magic and I would bet dollars to doughnuts that they both subscribe to different schools of the arcane arts, however I am confident that Winnipeg has some druidic background involved given their logo change. I am too tired to look up New England's branding to comment on that front, but we all know about the Salem witch trials. Those trials as most of us know actually had nothing to do with witchcraft, however it did lead to a large number of individuals associating the area with witchcraft which I do believe has helped the New England team to be dominant in our sport. Other teams obviously need to hire more druids, warlocks, witches, and wizards is what we can learn from this. Regarding which team is most likely to repeat give me the team with win in the name thank you.

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Word Count: 196

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4. Written, 3 TPE, The Char B1 bis In The Room (150 words min.)

This league was until quite recently dominated by a cabal of four teams. Two of them, Winnipeg and New England, are our finalists. A third, Philadelphia, was a finalist last year. The fourth... was Montreal. Does the success of Winnipeg and New England prove that Montreal pulled the plug too soon and should’ve kept the gang around? Or did at least one of the others just get lucky and Montreal made the better decision, without hindsight? What team-building lessons can we learn from this?

I am going to be as upfront and honest here as I am capable of being in this moment by saying that I know literally zero about this league. I don't know who Montreal is, I don't know what they did as far as pulling the plug goes, I didn't know they were successful because I only know about Winnipeg cause I have friends there and they kicked the behind of the team I am on, but I am going to rush blindly into answer these questions all the same because I want TPE. Please forgive me for any absurdist takes caused by such. Thank you.

Now does the success of the obviously occult prove anything about a team that might not have such superb spellcasters on staff? Not in the slightest. They may have pulled up stakes too soon, however just as likely are that they have foreseen the curve and are getting ahead of it. Come the straight they will pull away if they did or otherwise may get lapped. Time will tell.

Did the others get lucky? I just explained they have an amazing amount of magic to make their runs possible. Pretty sure magic and luck might as well be one in the same in this regard so it is not unreasonable.

When building a team stock more spellcasters and fewer tanks. Thank you.

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Word Count: 228

2+3+3=8 Please and thank you!

Hordle · 01-21-2024, 04:16 AM

12. Written, 2 TPE - The Procrastinator Special! (100 words min.)
Looks like [TEAM] won Season 74! Who won and why? What could the other team have done differently to change the result? What was your favorite part of the series?

Looks like Detroit won and as such the vast majority of the league is sad. QCC could have won, if they had a stronger drive or something and totally not TPE. But in a realistic sense, Quebec got out coached. No matter what they tried, Detroit just had Quebec's number. Honestly Quebec probably could have just flung some crazy lines out there and somehow broke the sim to win. Like putting Gronlund as first line center. Could you imagine the rage if Quebec won with a Defensemen rookie as their number one center. It would have been magnificent. In fact I think we should resim the whole playoffs with Grondlund as First center on all teams.

1. Trivia. Bingo

Fitted2106 · 01-21-2024, 10:17 AM

3.
New England and Winnipeg's success is most likely due to the fact that they got little fiddle's new mixtape and listen to that hot fire every day for like 10 seasons and their last 10 seasons were all because of little federal of mixtape now, if you take away little. Fiddles mixed tape. There are probably more of a floundering team that's never done much because you know they're just not that good and you'll have that, but when you listen to little fiddles mixedtape you become the goat just like the goat himself. So then 2 teams become mixed tope because they also wanted the freestyle and rap battle star face. And he never was willing to do it. So when you come to the conclusion that little fiddles is the goat. Therefore, his mixtape is the goat. Therefore, when a pag and New England. And are kind of a goat because veterans won't let them be full goat but partially goat. And that's why you see so much success in these franchises. Without little fiddles the world may never remember

4.
The problem with Montreal is they pulled the plug too early on listening to the little fiddle's mixtape had they have listened to little fiddles mixed tape. They would also have not pulled the plug too soon because they would know that goats stayed together and they would have kept their goats and kept moving forward, but instead they pulled the plug, unlike knowing when the Winnipeg who are goaded for listening to little fiddle's mixtape, the more views and listens you give to the mixtape the better your team is just to prove in fact, take Tampa, for example, this. Season, they listen to little fellow's mixtape before every game and had a 15 game win improvement. If you just keep giving 15 game win improvements. Eventually you're going to win more games than the regular season has. So without little fiddles mixtape. You're a bum with middles mixed tape, you're a Beast and. Montreal found that out the hardware this season by pulling the plug on the little fiddle's mixtape now had they have continued or played little swittles mixed tape for the first time, they would then be given and be in the finals, but instead they're sent to rallya cryers because. That's just what Montreal does. They don't listen to the little film's mixtape. And now they're bought and they will always be bought. Because that's what butt people do is not listen to the little fiddle's mixtape.

Cw verification fitted

Fitted2106 · 01-21-2024, 10:20 AM

K

***Reno*** · 01-21-2024, 11:02 AM

1. CW Trivia Word: Reno (3/8)

4. (175 words) Hindsight is always 20/20 on the whole if or when situation when it comes to rebuilding and similar. Especially when you get to sim leagues where the element of luck is a major part with teambuilding and similar. Just because first of all, just because your lineup is stacked doesn’t mean that you’ll win. We’ve seen it in the regular NHL and we’ve seen it in our own SHL, the team that cruises through the regular season just drops dead come playoffs and goes out in 5 games without a fight, regardless of the TPE differences. Especially when your core is older like Montreal had, you only have so many chances to play the wheel of arbitrary decisions that FHM puts us through, so I think blowing it up was the right call. Yes it sucks that you didn’t win your cup while the other teams you were duking it out with are, but its better to restock the cabinet early rather than drag it out for far too long and kind of go nowhere. (6/8)

5. (166 words) Call me biased, but I’m super impressed by San Francisco and how we did with these playoffs, especially our series against Edmonton. Edmonton was the number one seed in the entire league and cruised to that title pretty handedly while we barely squeaked in at the 14 seed. The projection was that we weren’t going to go far, and yet we beat Los Angeles to get to face Edmonton, and we beat Edmonton by denying them their own game. Outside of like one game of the series, Edmonton’s high flying offense was mostly shut down and couldn’t get it going for the most part, plus the god tier goaltending of Walter Sobcheck stepping up in the best way possible helped this team that barely made it topple the cup favorite in dramatic fashion. Multiple overtime winners and huge saves abound, the David vs Goliath narrative was fun to experience, and we even gave Winnipeg some trouble as well as a result but San Francisco is amazing. (8/8)

BANACKOCK · 01-21-2024, 12:22 PM

Code:
2. Written, up to 4 TPE - Grab Bag: Pick up to 4 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words.

a. Two old faces are back in the ring, proving reports of the dynasty’s demise were greatly exaggerated! Pick either of our finalists, and tell me what about them impresses you the most!

b. Upsets were a theme this year - which of our finalists had the more difficult road to the promised land and why?

c. Which of the finalists had the more impressive conference finals victory, and why?

d. If it ain't broke don't fix it: Who you got? Who wins? Why?

Quote:A) what impresses me most about both teams is that they’re simply back in the finals and they’ve been doing this dominating for quite some time. Even thinking back to when I was a little more active in earlier days, New England was always a force to be reckoned with. With the final results, pointing towards the Wolfpack, I think it’s safe to say that a large portion of the victory comes from the office of capabilities. while their goaltending wasn’t horrible, I do think it could’ve been better with a 3.08 goals against average in only a 913 save percentage. However, take a look at your fence of members for their team and it’s clear where they were the victors.

B) I do believe that New England had the tougher path towards the finals and towards winning the championship. When you look at the series results between Winnipeg and their pronouns, the series, all favor, Winnipeg quite a lot. However, taking a look at the series involving New England, the first series between Hamilton, and went the entire distance to seven games. After that, I followed suit with her Winnipeg play. The men in the finals win six games against Winnipeg. Hamilton was a good team and really push the Wolfpack all the way. They were one game away from not making the finals.

D) Third time is the tray as it’s deleted on me twice in the other pet time the page wouldn’t load. I’m a little late to the party on this one, but New England will pack all the way. I’ve always been a really big fan of the Wolfpack. Thinking back to the earlier days of the team, I remember them being very dominant, while they were under the tenure and manager of Ace. If I’m not thinking about their dominant history, it’s easily the location, the team name, the jersey, and even the team colors.. Then, take a look at their office of stars that 18 and it’s hard not to argue why you wouldn’t like the New England Wolfpack. They’re the entire package and it was really cool to see them go all the way to Capture another championship.

Code:
3. Written, 3 TPE, Haven’t I Seen This Before? (150 words min.)

Despite being the 8th and 10th ranked regular season teams in the league, our finalists from Winnipeg and New England represent two of the most dominant teams over the past several seasons. What do you think is the secret to their success? What can other teams learn from them? Which one is more likely to be back again next year?

Quote:Well, as you know, today’s world is full of conspiracies and often many forms of media propaganda can control the masses. For these two teams, there’s allegedly two reasons as to why each team is being as dominant and successful as they’ve been over the past several seasons. Let’s take a look at them.

REASONS 1:
Winnipeg and New England - both of these teams have been exceptionally ran by their management team and they’ve come together to create rosters that have the chemistry required field championship calibre teams. They’ve had all the right pieces! Good goaltending, elite defenceman that are able to hold the fort down an exceptional scoring field with star started off as a threat. These teams have been exceptionally round with loyal roster members that I’ve stuck together, while on a mission to be very dominant teams. Being properly ran and having all the right pieces is the theory we suggest you believe.

REASON 2
Winnipeg - Rumour has it on the streets and Facebook that the Winnipeg Jets of the SHL are ran by the Tim Hortons franchise in Canada. It is said that they pump their sports drinks with Tim Hortons, French vanilla’s and ice caps to improve the play of their players. This is why the Winnipeg Jets team seems so energetic while play.
rumour has it on the streets and Facebook that the Winnipeg Jets of the SHLR ran by the Tim Hortons franchise in Canada. It is said that they pump their sports drinks with Tim Hortons, French vanilla‘s and ice caps to improve the play of their players. This is why the Winnipeg Jets team seems so energetic while play.

New England - It is sad that Elon musk was hired by the New England Wolfpack organization to come up with lifelike robotic, AI version of Tom Brady, hidden under the skin of other players. These players take on the appearance of someone else, however, they are secretly robotic, Tom Brady’s underneath each one of them. This elite sports figure robot has all the athletic components required to maintain a high calibre level of hockey.

Procrastinators

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

Looks like [TEAM] won Season 74! Who won and why? What could the other team have done differently to change the result? What was your favorite part of the series?

Quote:The New England Wolfpack have been crowned this season‘s champions. Just when we thought that all these old teams weren’t gonna be coming back to the finals, here are two teams are they’ve dominated for quite some time, and the Wolfpack have claimed victory over the Winnipeg Jets. For me, everything was exciting about these finals. Two more teams that might very well be in their final dance, going at it and head to head. I strongly believe that wild New England did receive decent goaltendinf, They’re all fence of playing capabilities over match the Winnipeg Jets roster. I do believe they had about five or six players with at least point per game and a lot of players under that were part of depth scoring also managed to chip in quite a bit. My favourite part of the series easily has to be watching the New England Wolfpack put on a strong display with their star studded talents.

Quote:= 8 TPE

trella · 01-21-2024, 01:52 PM

1. CW Trivia (3 TPE)
woo

2. Grab Bag (2 TPE)
a. I think what impresses me most about the New England Wolfpack has been their ability to extend their cup window by knowing when to move on from aging players to bring in new top tier talent. New England repeatedly has some of the best defenders and top point scorers in the league, but the players themselves in these positions often change. This is a testament to the high quality management that New England has. (70 words)

b.I think New England had the tougher road to the finals this season. No shade to Winnipeg or any of the teams they took down on their way to the cup, but New England had some very tough opponents. Hamilton, Buffalo, and especially Philadelphia, are all very dangerous teams that I truly believe can beat anyone. (56 words)

3. Havent I seen this before? (3 TPE)
I think the “secret” to most teams’ success in the SHL comes down to the GMs of their team. Both New England and Winnipeg are examples of teams with stability in management led by long time users who both know how to build a team on the ice and maintain a positive locker room off the ice. I believe that the management skills of both @luke and @Ace are the main reasons for the continued success of both these franchises. Making the finals despite a disappointing regular season for their standards doesn’t surprise that much. Both New England and Winnipeg have solid cores of players that are still very viable despite not being at their peaks like they were 2-3 seasons ago. In the playoffs, upsets seem a bit more common than they used to, so a combination of good tactics and a little bit of luck can lead a solid team to the finals. (155 words)

Thanks to @karey and @JSS for the sigs!

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

unconfident69 · 01-21-2024, 02:28 PM

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

hearty

Weaves · 01-21-2024, 02:30 PM

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

1. Password - beep (+3 TPE)

3. Written, 3 TPE, Haven’t I Seen This Before? (150 words min.) - +3 TPE

I think the secret behind the success of NE and WPG is the mangement team. When you have Luke running the show for NE, you know good thing are going to happen quite frankly. Same as Ace in Winnipeg, you know the qualiry of the roster will be there when the window alligns with said competitiveness. I think there is something to be able to draft the right players, trade players at peak windows to do so, and trade for players that others are low on is a big reason for the success. In addition to this, I think winning breeds more winning, so being able to not lose people to FA, and being a destination that other players want to go to has a big impact on how things shake out for them. Others team needs to adapt a winning mindset, and need to be able to identify competitive windows, and go all in at that time.

10. Written, 3 TPE, IIHF Underdogs (150 words min.) + 3 TPE
Predict an upset for this season’s IIHF tournament, and explain why you think your chosen underdog matches up well against that specific opponent!

As usual, I'm going to go with Japan (yes, that is my team and i cannot participate yet as im in my final year of the WJC, but no bias). Japan is in an odd place where it is not a team that struggles to get talent like some teams, but is not a constant supply either (like a Canada, USA, etc). However, Japan has had good showings in previous tournmanets before, and they have a solid supply of young and old players rising in the ranks that will keep the cupboards stocked for years to come. Im not implying they will get gold or anything, but I personally will be up on the team next season (or so i hope) to contribute, and coninute to keep Japan in the running for a podium, while going up against the best! I think we have the goaltending and the depth to go against anyone, and can score!

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