1. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
Reflection on your season - how did your player fare on the ice this season? Did you meet or surpass your individual player goals or did you come up short? Whether you excelled or disappointed - what can you attribute that to? What will you try to do better next season?

Walton Stromberg, overall, had a solid season. In the off-season Walton put a lot of effort to improve his offensive game, which was the part of his game that was a bit lacking, if he wanted to really be one of the best players in the league. Stromberg led the team in points in the regular season and was tied for first in points for playoffs too, so that mission was definitely accomplished. The defensive game remained quite good too, and Stromberg had fourth most shot blocks among forwards. The powerplay production still dropped from previous season, so that’s something to again improve next season. It still feels that Stromberg, like the whole Timber team last year, had a bit more in them than what they showed. The challenge next season will be to take the last step to really get the maximum performance out, in what will be the final SMJHL season for Stromberg. (155 words)

3. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min.)
FHM's 12-team playoff bracket setup has received a fair bit of scrutiny. It re-seeds after the play-in round and for some reason puts the #1 seed and #2 seed on the same side of the bracket. I challenge you to come up with a different playoff format - can you come up with a format that's dumber/worse than this? be creative! Come up with the worst possible format for a 12-team playoff.

First of all, the “standard” playoff formats hockey leagues around the world use, are the standard for a reason – they are fair and logical, and they give enough significance to the regular season standings to keep things interesting in the regular season. So if we can’t do that, we could as well just randomize the whole thing and make it a draft. After regular season, all teams will be sent to one pool, and all teams have equal chance to win the first selection: they will then be the home team and they get to choose who they play against. We draw teams out of the lottery machine until every team has an opponent. After the first round we do it again, and everyone have equal odds again. (128 words)

4. Written/Graphic, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
If the SHL needed to set up a playoff bubble (like the NHL did in Edmonton/Toronto or the NBA in Orlando), which city would be the best candidate to host as the hub city? What would the players do during their time in a playoff bubble? (For graphic option, make an advertisement [like a pamphlet/brochure] in support of a specific city as the hub city and highlighting the reasons why.)





6. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min.)
Which SHL or SMJHL team was the best team to not make the finals this season and why?
I’m a total homer here and say Maine Timber. Timber was excellent in the last season’s playoffs and surprised a lot of people by going to the finals. This season, although there were some key players lost to the big league, the team should have been even better, and at least better than what they showed. It felt like there was something holding them back and they just never found that biggest gear to really get going. The defense seemed like the weakest area, and it got bolstered with the acquisition of Elwulf Jericson, but even that wasn’t enough to get past the second playoffs round. Maybe with a better regular season and easier playoff match-ups they could’ve made another longer run. (122 words)

9. Graphic, 3 TPE
Design a Challenge Cup championship hat for one of the teams in the finals. (A four-star cup championship hat for the SMJHL is ok as well.)




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

3+2+3+2+3+3=16