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1. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
While these two teams are no strangers to the Cup finals, we did see some very interesting things this season. Looking back, what do you feel was the most surprising part of the season?


While this season has been great and some may feel like it's a bit of status quo with the finals being yet another BUF VS HAM attraction i have no less than three, yes THREE, massive changes few saw coming.
1: The bottom dropping out on the New Orleans Specters was actually a large shock to many around the league who have spoke about it. Not because the league and its fans felt like NOLA would be good. No i feel most felt they would be third in their division behind a powerhouse Texas and solid Los Angeles. But to not only be challenged by but passed by the San Francisco Pride? I question how many saw that one coming and i am confident that the Season Predictions will mirror this.
2: Toronto's triumphant entrance to the playoffs shocked a decent group of people as well. Like NOLA, Toronto was slated to sit low in a fixed spot. Only this time it was dead last in the Great Lakes. But the North Stars exploded onto the scene and made a strong run to the Final Four in the playoffs too.
3: The absolute rampage that the Texas Renegades went on was amazing. Sure the west is weaker than the east as Edmonton, Calgary, and Los Angeles don't really stack up amazingly vs say Chicago, Buffalo, or Hamilton on paper. But for as good as Texas has been as they rebuilt from the start of the FHM era, nobody was expecting a President's Trophy season out of them out side of likely the team itself.


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4. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
If you're sitting at home watching the Finals: What do you plan on doing differently next season to help your team reach the promised land? If you're playing in the Finals: Is there anything different you plan on doing next season to continue your team's success?


Honestly i dont really know where to go from here? Ruslan Zaporozhets has proven to finally become an elite goal scoring threat with his 37 goals this season. Now barring this being a fluke, him coming into his own should help propel the Toronto North Stars to another playoff berth in S59 in spite of the Division of Doom that is the Great Lakes. Playoff performance is another story all together as in 19 games he only managed 4 goals....I get that the playoffs are a hard beast to tame. You run out of space on the ice faster, the time you had during the season drops off big time. But that is no excuse and, honestly, from the bottom of my heart, if he put out even a 10% better performance, Stargang would be in the Cup Finals right now. But it didnt swing that way. Maybe next year.


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5. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min.)
Which SHL or SMJHL team was the best team to not make the finals this season and why?


Okay, so i am going to go with the SHL here as i have followed it much more closely. Now i would LOVE to go with the homer option and state that the Toronto North Stars but realistically they were the massive underdog against Buffalo going into it, never mind facing down either Texas or Hamilton should they have won game 7. I have to give it to the Texas Renegades here. On paper they can go toe to toe with the best of the Great Lakes and, ironically the one on paper who won that division was the Hamilton Steelhawks who bested them in a 7 game series of their own. I would not be surprised to see the Renes back in the Final Four or even having a few finals appearances as the S60s begin.


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12. Written, up to 4 TPE - Pick up to 4 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words.
a. Hamilton finished 13 points above Buffalo in the standings this season. What is one thing that Buffalo can do to give themselves a leg up despite this?
b. Hamilton was 3rd in the league in GF this season. Buffalo was 2nd in GA. This begs the age old question: what will win out, a great defense or a great offense? Why?
c. Which of these two teams' brandings do you prefer? Take into account colors, logo, name, location, and anything else you consider relevant.
d. It's all come down to this: game seven overtime. Which four players are you sending out to win the game for you. This is in a fantasy sense, so feel free to mix and match from both teams.


a: Now i am sure i covered this already in my Playoff Preview media previously but i'll touch on it here. The Buffalo Stampede have a solid scoring ability of their own as well as their staunch defence. The thing that Buffalo can exploit about the Hamilton Steelhawks is special teams. Particularly their dreadful, last place in the league penalty kill. Get Hammy cutting a route to the sin bin and the Stamps will be hoisting yet another Challenge Cup.

b: Well the old adage goes, "Offence wins games, Defence wins Championships." It is far easier to drag a high flying offence down than to crack a tough defensive nut. That said neither team are much worse than the other in the opposites. Hamilton has a 6th in the league defence but Buffalo beat the Toronto North Stars who were rated 5th in that category. Look for this series to be tight, tough, and of course close.

c: This one is relatively even in most ways so lets dive in. First of all neither Hamilton, Ontario nor Buffalo, New York are big, bright light cities that have the kind of vibrant night life that seems to be high on the list of hockey stars both real and fictional alike. The names are both original yet make sense thematically for their respective cities. Buffalo is all about their Bison and Hamilton is a Steel working town. It comes down to colours and weather or not they stand out to me. In this way there is only one, Buffalo. The Stamps are bold with the combo of green and gold which make the dull grey and steel blue of Hamilton feel muted at best.

d: Aron Hernadivic is showing that he is an expert dish master. Capable of getting the puck to any of his team mates on the ice and setting up golden opportunities which pay off in spades. Particularly in the playoffs. For shooters, i need one who is hot right now and capable. I can pick from both teams? Give me Theo Morgan to tickle the twine after each feed from Fish. Now i need some solid two way defencemen who can do the job for me because i need to stifle opposing chances. Alexander Selich on the right side paired with Hugh Jazz on the left work solidly at shutting down opponents even when there is more space to preform out there. Jazz is more physical but neither men give up the puck too badly. Better yet Selich is more offensivly gifted and both are solid passers. Bonus points for goalies even though nobody asked. I'd take Elizabeth Doyle to backstop my fantasy Buffalo Steelhawks in an OT situation.

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15. Milestones, up to 3 TPE
New this season, Milestones are folded in with CW. So just link your Milestone claim as task 16 for up to 3 TPE towards your 16 total.

S58 Milestones

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16. Written, 1 TPE
I loved this as a mPT when hotdog did it last season, so I'd like to bring it back as a permanent fixture. After all, we could all use a little positivity every now and then. Say something nice about another member or members, no word limit.

I could use this to shout out all of the Toronto North Stars who make for a fantastic locker room to come into day after day. @ml002 and @UrsinZ are joys to work with. @Blastmeaway is fun as hell to be around in any locker room i share with him. @Iamshiny is fun to chat with and spar with in a ribbing match whilst recognizing that it is for fun. There are so many more that i should say positive things about too but you are all amazing.