8. I feel both Texas and New England booth have a great shot at winning the cup this season, . I do however feel that New England does have an apparent edge over Texas having won 2 cups already this decade. New England's experienced management group has a clear cut advantage, having been here and winning twice. The experience is something that can only be earned by winning and Texas has just fallen short of that mark heading into this 7 game series. I dont count Texas out of this by any means but i do feel that they are at a disadvantage.
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2. Its abundantly clear that Lasse Zeigler is the far superior playmaker of the two, Lasse just has the magic that makes you a top tier puck distributor and would excel on any team in this league. They are fast and smooth with a air of creativity you only see generationally among players. They have what it takes to lead the team both on and off the ice and play with heart seldomly seen from players of their skill set. Zeigler will easily go down in the SHL Hall of Fame as one of the if not, the very best playmaker to ever grace our fine game.
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3. Ivan Lacksamus is a literal puck god on the ice and is in small company when it comes to elite point producers in the playoffs. I would be surprised if they do not reign supreme playoff point producer by the time they retire from the SHL as their fabled career is something special. Texas has a lot of things to be concerned with heading into this series and containing Ivan Lacksamus will be at the top of their list of priorities. They are skillful and slick and can find a goal or assist at some of the most clutch times possible.
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5. With the absoulte stellar goaltending of Olof Karsikko, its going to be hard for anyone to get a goal past past them. Olof Karsikko is playing at a pace that no other goalie has seen in the recent future and as a result will be a major hurdle for the opposition. Goaltending wins championships and Karisikko is playing like they are possessed! Its not often you run into a goalie in the finals whos playing at above average at 19.76 threw out the playoffs. I have my money on playoffs in goals saved above average at 19.76 winning the playoff MVP award and going do as the sole reason that New England wins the cup.
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.
slothin
+3 hopefully
Code:
Olof Karsikko stands miles ahead of the league these playoffs in goals saved above average at 19.76 while Anthony Dionne is actually in the negatives at -0.90. Do you think Texas is at a major goalie disadvantage? Why or why not?
Even though I think I heard that Texas is winning right now in our locker room I still have to say that Texas is at a major goalie disadvantage because Olof Karsikko is on some crazy luck voodoo shit in FHM I swear to god. The guy has like 700 applied TPE and is still somehow far and away the best goaltender in the SHL playoffs once again. I am guessing if he had only 200 applied TPE he would still outperform all of the other goalies in the playoffs somehow. FHM really has a love affair with Karsikko so it is an easy choice to say that Texas is at a disadvantage in the goalie department for the final series. It will be interesting to see if the Renegades are able to overcome the horseshoe that Olof has planted firmly up his butt and come out victorious in these finals. In the end Dionne isn't a bad goalie either so it definitely can happen.
07-18-2024, 02:48 PM(This post was last modified: 07-18-2024, 03:18 PM by Tate. Edited 2 times in total.)
1. Trivia - Verification Word: Bananas = +3 TPE
12. Written - IIHF = +1 TPE
I’m excited about our team, UCORAL. We got a bunch of players who know how to skate fast and shoot hard. We might not be the biggest name out there, but our team is full of energy. I'm really hoping my player, Blade Hunter, performs. He’s ultimately meant to be a playmaking center, but I’ve been used at wing a lot, so it should be interesting to see how he does/where he plays. If he can keep finding our guys in the right spots, we should score plenty. I hope he has a big tournament and helps push us over the edge. Go UCORAL!
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.
07-18-2024, 03:01 PM(This post was last modified: 07-23-2024, 08:37 AM by Ricer13. Edited 2 times in total.)
1. Trivia - 3 TPE
Verification word: Rice
3. - 1 TPE
Absolutely, Texas should be very worried about Lacksamus. He’s been dominant for so many seasons now and is a beast in the playoffs. He’s about to break an incredible record and Texas is going to be the team he does it against. You can try to shut him down but it won’t work, all they can do is hope to contain him to some degree.
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4. - 1 TPE
Blocked shots is so important when the stakes are this high. Each team can’t rely on just one player to be blocking all the shots. That is a recipe for disaster. The whole team needs to buy in and make sure that puck doesn’t get to the net. This is what each player has been working towards their entire career so why not go that extra mile to ensure you bring home that trophy.
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9. - 3 TPE
There are a few teams that are continually getting better every season and the one team that appears to be primed to become a true contender is Baltimore. They didn’t have the best season last season and from a quick glance their goaltending really struggled. They did put together a 50+ win season in season 76 so that leads me to believe last season was kind of a small step back as they ran into a few issues. They have a talented squad of players so I could see them make a return to the top of the standings next season and really challenge for a title. My only concern for them is that other teams are also only getting better and it’s only going to get tougher for them. Philadelphia took back the division this season and the inferno looking primed to start going on some runs could make things very tough for Baltimore.
11. Written, 50 to 200+ words. One Season Closer to Retirement
One season behind all of us. How did your player perform compared to your expectations? What do you expect from next season? Are you being hit by regression so hard that anything close to this season's performance would be a win in your books? Or maybe you are reaching your peak, in either of the leagues and hope to compete for some awards?
This is Yuri Boyka III's second season in SMJHL and his expectations was to perform better than he did in his first season. His expectations were definitely realized as Yuri Boyka III did better in every single statistic. This was to be expected as Boyka came into the second season with a cap of 350 tpe. So it is only normal that he performed better on the ice. In Boyka's first season in SMJHL with Nevada Battleborn, he only amassed 46 points, but with more TPE coming into the second season, he was able to become a point per game player. He amassed 67 points and funnily enough did that with less time on the ice than he had during his first season. Boyka III also had a +/- of +38 and thus was a crucial asset to his team. He led the team in that category and thus was definitely a positive enforcement for them. In addition, he was also a better defensive player since he had more takeaways and less giveaways. Boyka III is no where near his peak and he will only get better. In fact, we expect him to do better next season as he will be playing at the SMJHL cap of 425 TPE. More tpe can only mean better performance. This year we don't expect any SMJHL individual awards but we are hoping we can achieve team success and individual success the upcoming season.
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7. This time for J: Who you got? Who wins the Four Star Cup? Why?
I wish Nevada Battleborn could have made it further this season but not all hopes come true. We started off as the best team in the league to only be eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. This hurts a lot but no pain no gain. I am sure we will come back stronger and hungrier for the upcoming season. With that said the team that I am rooting for in the SMJHL finals is none other than the Ottawa Highlanders. The first reason why I am rooting for this team is because of the simple fact that they are from the same conference as Nevada. If anyone is going to win it, they better be from our conference. At the end of the day, we can brag that our conference is better than the oppositions. Second reason why am I going for Ottawa is because they have Hockey Player, who was drafted in the same draft class as me in s77 and we both ended up getting drafted to Winnipeg Aurora. He was selected 6th OA and I was selected 11 OA. Now to answer, who I think will realistically win the Four Star Cup between Ottawa and Vancouver? Now that is a tough one to answer but let's look at the stats. During the regular season, Ottawa ranked 5th and Vancouver ranked 6th so they were neck and neck. The 2 best player of the regular season from Ottawa are Pique Boo and Hockey Player who have 87 and 79 points respectively. This is far superior to Vasncouver's two best players Olafur Atlason and Niclas Wastlund who have 75 and 64 points respectively. Ottawa also boasts a better goal differential with +29 vs +7. Just by looking at regular season, Ottawa has the advantage. Now lets look at the playoff statistics. Ottawa won their games fairly easily and has 1 sweep in their games played. They also won against the season leaders pretty comfortably with a 4-2 series. Similarly, Vancouver also beat their opponents easily and amassed two sweeps. What is fascinating is that one of the sweep was against the former champions in Quebec Citadelle. Hockey Player and Pique Boo also fell in terms of production with only 12 points in the playoffs. In contrast, Niclas Wastlund stepped up huge for the whalers and amassed 19 points. Just based on momentum and the way Vancouver is playing as a whole, I realistically think that the Vancouver Whalers will be this year's Four Star Cup winner.
“The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. ... There are neither beginnings nor endings to the Wheel of Time. But it was a beginning.”
yosh SMJHL GM
cut back down to my knees, gotta get back, gotta get free, cut back to my knees, lean back now, lean back and breathe
7. Since graduating I haven't kept up with the SMJHL situation as much as I should have, so it's a hell of a surprise to see not just a completely fresh finals matchup but a finals matchup featuring a team that didn't exist two seasons ago. Besides having an incredible brand - because for real, the Highlanders' logo and colours are fantastic - the Ottawa team have done spectacular work getting to this point so damn quickly...even if they've had a fair bit of luck doing it, judging by their shots for vs. shots against differential. Now I'm with the Argonauts, you love to see an Argonaut prospect look like a stud in goal.
...unfortunately, while I'd love to side with the fresh faces, I really do think it's Vancouver who have the best shot at the cup. There are a few reasons why: I think the team is better rounded than the Highlanders and generally much safer on the puck, but they also come into the finals with an astonishing amount of momentum. Had it not been for Phemeia McLaughlin throwing up a wall in the first round, Vancouver would have played 12 and won 12 on their way to cup contention, and the way they ran through both Quebec City and Regina was genuinely surprising.
If there's one X-factor for Ottawa, it's Pique Boo - their leading scorer in the regular season hasn't quite kept up that form in the playoffs so if there's a time to find the top gear, it's now. Either way, lfg.
11. It's kinda difficult to reasonably judge how this season was for Simo. Numerically and statistically, it was a binfire but that comes from playing on a team that was a bottom-feeder for basically the entire season and who are very clearly not ready to contend. I think next season was all but guaranteed to be better simply on the strength of new players coming onto the Blizzard, but this trade to Seattle means Simo joins a team that already has some existing, young talent and he's not going to be required to carry games by himself on the blueline. Joining up with old Falcons teammates in Will Tomlander and Jimothee Penjiman, and rivals like Shadow Fenix of the famous Detroit Four Star Cup-winning series means there's going to be an extra level of chemistry that other teams in the same position might not have, and that sort of advantage can only be a good thing.
S74 Detroit Falcons - Four Star Cup
S74 Team Norden - World Junior Championships - Gold
S75 Team Norden - World Junior Championships - Gold
S76 Team Norden - World Junior Championships - Gold