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***39alaska39*** · 11-17-2023, 12:23 AM

1. Frost

2.
a. Edmonton impresses me with the fact that they are so much more competent than their NHL counterparts that it’s amazing to see. I think they have one of the best brandings in the SHL and it’s great to see them be successful at any level with this group of players and prospects that are coming up. WC: 56
b. Usually I think you would want to be the team that’s been there before and managed to get the job done because you understand the level that you need to reach in the Final to win the games and get it across the line. I do wonder how much getting that first ring would motivate sometimes though, and it’s a hard decision. WC: 62
c. 100% Edmonton getting past Winnipeg was the harder series and the better victory between the two teams in our Final this year. Winnipeg has been nothing short of a juggernaut and for Edmonton to win that series is a huge victory. It was very impressive to see and I think it sets them up well for this Final. WC: 58
d. I think that at the end of the day Edmonton gets it done and wins the Cup. While Philadelphia has the experience necessary to win as they’ve already done it with this group, Edmonton is the scrappy up and coming team that is going to be hungry for their first win and their first Cup for most of these players. WC: 60

4. When you look at Edmonton and their attempts to rebuild, it certainly hasn’t been a quick process as they were last successful when my first player was still around. I’m currently on my third for reference’s sake. They took their time and sometimes with a rebuild, you see these moments where a team will false start and think that they are farther along in their rebuild than they are. Edmonton had some of those moments, but everything came together with this group to finally get over that hump and get past their rivals in Winnipeg who have been successful for quite a while. It’s not to say that it’s an impossible thing for teams to pull off, I just think that teams need to be aware that they might have those false starts and those times where they think, this is the group, when in reality they need to be patient and find the right moment to strike while the iron is hot.
WC: 163

Total TPE: 8

Alex Winters (retired)
Matej Winters (retired)
Dominik Winters
S45 Jesster Trophy Winner
Challenge Cup Winning Goal Club: S52

LampLighter · 11-17-2023, 12:26 AM

1. Dog +3 TPE

10. As far as the IIHF goes for this upcoming season, I am hoping that team Latvia can have a turn around and be better than the previous IIHF season. Last season did not go the way that was planned for team Latvia, having come in last place with only one win. That is not what any of us had in mind for how last season would go and hopefully going into the season we will have a better plan with the players that we have to give us the most productivity on the ice to be able to make a run into the medal rounds. As far as being better, I think that it will be due to us being better only requires us to get two wins which would be doubling our win total from last season. Obviously, we are hoping to win as many games as possible no matter what and we will give it our best try going into the season. If we can make it out of the round robin play and at least into the quarterfinals, I would say that is a productive season for us. +3 TPE

12. The champions for this season are the Edmonton Blizzard. They defeated the Philadelphia Forge in seven games. The reason I believe that Edmonton won the cup was because they had an all-around well-balanced three forward lines who could all and score goals when needed. Another reason why Edmonton won was because of their solid goaltending during the playoffs. Their goalie during the playoff run had a 2.86 goals against average, which was best in the league during the playoffs. As far as Philadelphia goes, I don’t know that they could have changed much of what they were doing because they took Edmonton to a seven game series and played that seventh game to a 4-3 loss. Philadelphia gave it everything that they could but Edmonton just ended up being too strong in the end, outlasting Philadelphia to win the cup. +2 TPE

***eddiesnothere*** · 11-17-2023, 12:38 AM

1. Trivia: reciprocity

2. Grab Bag
a. I can't say many teams have impressed me like the Philly Forge, one of the best two-way teams we have seen in a long time. Their mix of strong, powerhouse offense and blitzing, stone-hard defense is something as a group we rarely see in the league (or any).
b. The Forge have to be the more desirable situation in this matchup, because in their eyes, many teams do not get the opportunity to play in another Challenge Cup. For them, a return trip means more than anything else, perhaps more than the desire of their opponents to finally win one.
c. The Blizzard have done what many thought impossible in booting the budding Monarchs from the playoffs, who some saw as a dynasty in the making. Despite the Forge's tribulations, I have to give the advantage in the great paths these two teams have forged to the Final to the Blizzard.
d. Due to certain issues within my own mind and soul and body to ably perform the task of completing this prompt in a time that was necessary to preempt the completion of the series of games that resulted in the victory for the Philadelphia hockey club, I have had to filibuster to get to 50 words.

12. Procrastinator Special: God, how this series was one of the greatest in recent memory. The Blizzards made it an epic fight, but in these sort of series, the bigger, defensive team will be the one to succeed, and the Forge were likely the biggest and best of these teams. They won with superb offensive talent and relying on their defense to keep the pressure up at a pace that, be as talented as they are, the Blizzard just couldn't survive. It would have been easy to say that at the beginning of the series, the result was not in doubt, but hockey is hockey.

8 TPE Claimed (9 Reached)

JNH · 11-17-2023, 01:26 AM

1. JNH

4. The thing that the Edmonton Blizzard did right in their rebuild is that they made sure to get a healthy dose of Newfoundland Berserkers both young and old. This is a franchise that just sleeps, eats and breathes success and their prospects that come through the system only know what winning feels like and what it takes in order to win. When you have this culture coming through your ranks, it’s hard for a team like Edmonton not to eventually find success. They also had strong leadership from their GM who did a great job committing to the rebuild and a vision for their future without selling the farm or deviating from it at any point. It helped that he too is a former Berserker, so the thought of success wasn’t at all something that was a foreign concept to him. He knew what it took to win and he applied it to Edmonton. In reality, this is a cup win for the Newfoundland Berserkers, I’ll expect my profile badge soon.

2. Grab Bag:

2a) What impressed me most about the Edmonton Blizzard is their ability to generate as much offense as they have when they have Jeffie on the team. Anyone who’s played Chel with Jeffie knows how cursed he is offensively and that rubs off on everyone else on the ice. The fact that they’ve eaten this curse and managed to overcome it thus far is commendable and should be studied.

2c) Edmonton had the more impressive path to get here. They took down the Aurora who on top of being the defending champs also just squeaked past the powerhouse Syndicate in 7 games. This was a team that was now battle tested and took down a Chicago team that was widely regarded to be the favourite. To look at that Winnipeg game and then dispose of them like Edmonton did took guts, and I’m surprised they weren’t more fazed by the fact Winnipeg beat Chicago.

Crazytomato · 11-17-2023, 01:44 AM

Trivia
FreeTPE

Code:
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.

diacope · 11-17-2023, 02:24 AM

1. 3/2 TPE
woooohoooo

10. 3 TPE
Never really look into specifics when I prepare myself for games but I do like our defenders a ton and think they'll be a perfect support system for our goaltender, now I'm not sure how the scoring will do, we have plenty of shooters but it's nowhere close to the other top countries, unless we get lucky more times than not and tighten everything up in all corners of the ice I see us as a mid-tier team, that's a lot better than recent years.. If the sim wants to say nah than we'll probably do exactly the same as usual. Defense wins championships. offense makes it even easier and it's already an uphill climb for us looking at the other fierce offenses. Maybe I should look into specifics before I go up against some of the worlds best talents, thanks for the heads up! 152

11. 3 TPE
The Baltimore Platoon have plenty of IIHF players who is or who have been with their countries and the group just keep getting better with rookies coming up in the pipeline recently. I'm not sure if things do carry over to the tournament stage though because I think my manager is the only one whose been able to adjust my player in a way to be super useful and having different members taking on roles in the international department has lead my player to be inconsistent, just being honest, not sure how it has all translated for everybody else. I will say that it is a treat not knowing what'll happen each game and representing my country is the only thing that matters so should they find a way to play me better? I don't care as long as everybody is having some fun and I have a Russian jersey waiting for me in the mailbox when it's go time! 163

TOT. 9/8 TPE

*Scrufdaddy* · 11-17-2023, 03:00 AM

8/8

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.

CW TRIVIA LINK

scruf

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 new finalists mark the end of a dynasty in the west and the return of an old heavyweight in the east. Pick either of our finalists, and tell me what about them impresses you the most!

b. The Forge have won a cup with this core, while the Blizzard are sniffing this air for the first time in a while. Who would you rather be - the veteran team that's been here and won it before, or the hungry youngsters taking their first shot at glory?

c. The Blizzard upended a long-time nemesis in the Aurora to get here, while the Forge avenged several previous losses to the Wolfpack as well. Who had the more impressive victory to punch their ticket to the cup final, and why?

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

a. I'm really impressed that Edmonton really has no holes in their roster. Everyone on the team finished the playoffs in the positives on both the scoresheet and corsi. Their top power play unit was entirely different from their top penalty kill which is a neat sign that the whole team pulls the rope instead of just the stars.

b. I think I'd rather be in the position of the veteran team. My first instinct is that the youngsters are taking just their first shot and they will be back again later while the veterans are desparate since their time is more limited. However, it's not granted that you will make it back even for a young roster. Teams can take step backs instead of steps forward. Both teams really have the same thing to lose, one good shot at glory, but the veterans have a mindset of both experience and desperation.

c. It's a tough call to make. Both teams had a 4-1, 4-0, and 4-2 series on their way to the finals. I think Philadelphia edges out the tougher path to the finals based mostly on the matchup against New England. First round match ups cancel out with New Orleans (7th in the West, 13th overall) and Tampa Bay (7th in the East, 15th overall). Second round starts to favor Philadelphia more with Los Angeles (4th in the West, 10th overall) and Atlanta (4th in the East, 6th overall). Third round tips all the way with Winnipeg (2nd place in the West, 5th overall) and New England (1st place in the East, 1st overall). It also seems like earning their spot in the East was also more of a challenge.

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

Looks like [TEAM] won Season 73! Who won and why? What could the other team have done differently to change the result? What was your favorite part of the series?

Congratulations for Edmonton for blizzarding their way through the playoffs. After 3 lopsided series to reach the finals, the entire cup came down to a single goal with 2 minutes left in the 3rd period of game 7. From that one game alone, it looks like a matchup of skill vs depth. Edmonton got goals from the 4th line and a top pair D that has been middle of the line offensively. Philadelphia got all their goals from a hat trick by their top line center. However, it's hard to find box score statistics that support that narrative. Both teams have a similar spread of scoring down the lineup over the course of the playoffs.

I think the main difference was controlling the play. Edmonton dominated the corsi along their entire roster while Philadelphia was trying to outscore a weakness at the bottom.

Runningman434 · 11-17-2023, 03:05 AM

1. CW TRIVIA

aero

12.The Procrastinator Special!

Well, S73 has come and gone, and Edmonton has one the cup. Fair play to them, they've built an impressive roster and have been on the cusp for a few seasons now, so kudos to the Blizzard for their success this season. It's hard to pinpoint where one team got the edge in such an even series, although no home team lost, so arguably the Blizzard "got ahead" by locking up the 1 seed in the West with a dominant regular season and cementing home ice advantage through the playoffs. The highlight of the series has to be the late goal by Louise St. Martin that proved to be the difference, putting Edmonton up 1 with just 2:03 left in game 7 to secure them the series.

**Lime** · 11-17-2023, 03:22 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.

Lime

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. The Forge have won a cup with this core, while the Blizzard are sniffing this air for the first time in a while. Who would you rather be - the veteran team that's been here and won it before, or the hungry youngsters taking their first shot at glory?

c. The Blizzard upended a long-time nemesis in the Aurora to get here, while the Forge avenged several previous losses to the Wolfpack as well. Who had the more impressive victory to punch their ticket to the cup final, and why?

b. No question that first cup is like nothing else. Win or lose, and I lost a few before winning, its a thrill to be up on that stage with your legacy on the line. A returning champ will never have quite that same fire but sometimes greed will do it too.

c. I think the Blizz grinding it out against that Winnipeg power house and not giving up hope is the story here. Very impressive to see a team go from the bottom to the top with no punches pulled on them. Both teams still have gas in the tank so it will be interesting to see if the Blizz will take up the Peg's mantle as titan of the west.

Code:
3. Written, 3 TPE, Forged in Fire (150 words min.)

The Forge and the Patriotes both won cups in recent memory, but while the Patriotes called it a window and tore everything down to the boards, their expansion brothers in Philadelphia have found a way to get back to the dance. How did they do it? Can they keep it up? What should teams like Winnipeg and New England learn from them?

I think that tearing everything down is the quick and easy choice, but it takes a lot to stick through it. Most GMs don't have the guile to see it through and they end up in middling team hell. I think only time will tell if Montreal will make it back. Keeping it going when you have a good team is tough... windows expire and players get restless. This is where the tough GMs prove their worth. Winnipeg made it through and I think the Forge learned from that blueprint to keep their fire fueled. The forge has the spirit to keep going and maybe get another cup out of their team. Blizz certainly earned this one though. I think Winnipeg and New England don't need to learn anything, they had a great run and the chips fell where they did. Nothing to take away from them as they went all the way to the top and that's what its all for.

8 teep

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