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?

Goku Muerto had an overall below average season even though there were some bright spots. He set a personal career high in assists with 32, thanks in large part to his regular winger Crudelli who was a big time sniper this season. He also got 2 points on the PK this season which was the first time he ever did that. However, otherwise he saw an almost across-the-board decline in all relevant stats. He got 11 points on the powerplay, which was a major drop over previous seasons, which is where he usually got a good bulk of his points, Also his goal scoring dropped by over half, largely because of a dismal shooting percentage. Also way too many giveaways, a terrible +/-, and too many penalties without having many hits at all. Perhaps it is to be expected that his performance won't get much better as he continues to deal with regression. Perhaps he can have a rebound performance next season but chances are he won't ever surpass his peaks. However, another season similar decline and retirement might start looking more and more appealing.

2. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
This offseason will be extra exciting, as it features the rare expansion draft! Write about how you think the expansion draft will play out, either for one or both of the expansion teams or from an SHL team's perspective.

There are a few good prospect players in this draft that an expansion team could use as the foundation for their growth. I don't think there as many top flight players available in this expansion that you could build an immediately-contending team the way NOLA did. But the best players are likely still to get taken as they will at least provide some assets which could be used in trades to gain more prospects or draft picks in the coming seasons. especially near trade deadline as the top teams might be looking to bulk up for a playoff run. Also you pretty much want to go for active rather than inactive players so the early rounds will definitely feature I think active star players and active good young/prospect players. Then your active regressing players, then active mid-range players, and finally the inactives selected to round out the roster. From an SHL GM perspective, the expansion draft will hit different teams harder than others. For Winnipeg, we are going to lose 2 players off our roster that I would rather have kept, that will have to be replaced somehow. It looks like we will have to be pretty busy in the Free Agent period because those players need to be replaced now, not later, and the current prospect pool for WPG has some good players but they aren't quite ready to make the jump yet. Which will obviously affect how we draft because we will have to limit ourselves to 1 or 2 picks just to have money available for attracting new players.


3. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min.)
It's too late for this go-around of expansion, so hypothetically - should there be SHL franchises in other continents? I saw some interesting European proposals in the PT. Should these - or proposals for any other continent that's not North America -
become a reality in the SHL?

While I think it would be fun to have some European teams in the league, I feel you'd probably want to have at least one Euro division of 4-5 teams rather than just 1 random European team stuck in there somewhere. As well, I think you'd have to justify these teams being in cities that obviously have some large hockey following, maybe like in Sweden or Russia or similar. I know my own expansion idea for that PT was to go to Reykjavik, Iceland, but that was more just because that's where my player is from, truthfully it would be probably a hard sell as an actual expansion team. As far as any other place in the world other than Europe or North America, I don't think that would go over very well because there just isn't that much of a hockey culture outside of those markets and to move a team to say, Africa or South America or the like would just be trolling.

4. 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 would say the Chicago Syndicate are the best team out there that so far has been unable to make the finals. This season they seemed to have a few stretches where they just couldn't put wins together, but it's not from lack of talent. They have a top 6 that rivals anyone in the league, and their 3rd line is definitely in the top half, so they can compete at a skill level that few others can. Also their goaltender is very solid and matches up well with most other teams. So why haven't they broke through yet? Because they play in a conference with 2 of the other best teams in the league and it's a dogfight there every season it seems. I hope they don't get discouraged because they are a very good team and if they keep fighting they will make it through soon enough.

7. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.) The two finals teams have decided to team up for a fundraising opportunity to benefit both cities. What noble cause will the teams decide to benefit? What sort of fundraiser will the teams hold together? How will the two teams mesh before the finals start?

It is hard to imagine 2 cities as different as Buffalo and New Orleans - one is a south coast city best known for being a really fun place with great food, music, and festivals; the other is Buffalo. But there is something both have in common and that is a need for better health and fitness amongst the youth - stats say an alarming amount of teenagers are overweight and inactive! This will lead to worsening health as they get older, so in the spirit of preventing rather than curing, both cities did fundraisers with the players showing up around public places and getting the kids to have fun being active, things like 3 on 3 scrimmages, skills contests, but even just showing that getting out and being active can be fun and is not limited to only the 'athletes'. They would also get other local celebrities and public figures to show up and really encourage it. All funds collected would then go to building 'activity' centers in underprivileged areas of the city or in districts where teen health was more of an issue.


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.

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