1. CW TRIVIA, 3 TPE max - 1 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.

angy


2. Written, 3 TPE, GM stands for Great Man (150 words min.)
There have been some good and some bad GMs in SHL history. (Mostly bad) Pick a GM you think was outstanding and explain why you think they were one of the better GMs in SHL history. Point to trades/signings/trophy wins/locker rooms to support your claim.

So I’m going through all-time trade trees right now thanks to Luke’s transaction database. I’m tallying the relevant stats for fantasy points, and then totalling those for the whole trade tree to see who came out on top in the end. I’m only six trades in, but there’s already two that feel like great blunders in trade-dealing.

The first trade in SHL history saw the 1st overall pick change hands in exchange for a 1st and 2nd rounder. Sounds pretty reasonable, right? Problem: no team has any players at this point, and the building block to any team is a goalie. Cezar, GM of Calgary and recipient of said first overall, then picks a franchise goaltender who plays for 14 seasons, while the picks he moved played one and two seasons respectively.

Leafs4ever may have been the one giving up first overall, but in the second trade he received Ron Mexico and a player who’d never play in exchange for two players (one who’d play 9 games and the other who’d play one season) and a 4th that was later traded in a trade not yet added to the tree. Mexico would go on to play 12 seasons for Winnipeg and join the hall of fame.


3. Written, 3 TPE, Draft Busts (150 words min.)
There are a lot of "could-have-been" draft picks in the SHL, but let's have some fun thinking about someone that busted hard. Write about their potential and where they were picked, and how that franchise could look *if* they had in fact panned out.

A strong defensive talent in one of the deepest draft classes in SHL history, Chris Fekete went 9th overall in the SMJHL draft to the Montreal Impact. An effective and efficient offensive defenceman, he was in the running for the Quilha Agante Trophy in his rookie season. Even with this success though, Fekete would become infamous. You see, not too many players, successful or otherwise, guarantee themselves to go first overall, especially early in their career. After this momentous declaration, Fekete must have lost steam, as he would drop off the face of the SHL as so many do, and was drafted 67th overall to Calgary.

He had some real competition in going first overall, but for fun let’s assume he does go to Manhattan at 1st and doesn’t bust. Fekete had already shown he had a leg up on his classmates, and could’ve gotten off to a great start as he was young. Compared to the other first round defencemen of his class, we could probably expect consistent 30-40 point seasons out of Fekete for 10-13 seasons. In fact, that’s just the career Chuck Goody had, the real first overall pick, however spending only four seasons in Manhattan. The early S20’s were strong years for Manhattan, with a cup win in S22 and a game seven conference final loss in S23, however not much afterwards. I don’t think we’d see a dynasty if Fekete were to replace Goody, but perhaps we’d see another cup? Who can say.


12. Milestones, up to 3 TPE
Milestones are folded in with CW. So just link your Milestone claim as task 12 for up to 3 TPE towards your 16 total.

+3 TPE


15. Written, 2 TPE, The yearly IIHF task (100 words min.)
Write your predictions for this year's IIHF tournament or WJC if you care about that more. Will there be surprises? Will any players make their country proud? Who's gonna suck? Be bold!

Czechia’s best will always make us proud. Daniil Nikiforov, Aron Hernadivic, Luke Thomason, Michael Scarn, Simon Takshak, Mikkel Asmus Sondergard, Ambacas Cuddles, and Name Redacted. These are our heroes and they will fight for the nation. While we do not have Switzerland or Japan in our group and cannot win those small victories, everything is but a stepping stone on the path to our first gold.

UCORCAL’s run in the WJC was a rocky one on the other hand. Mostly Czechs, it seemed as if the team was on its back foot for much of the tournament. Petr underperforming at the World Juniors seems commonplace at the moment. I can only hope that this doesn’t translate to the IIHF.


18. Written, 3 TPE, Apocalypse Now 150 words min
In the not so distant future (s64), 4 Texas Hamilton finals in a row have seen most of the SHLers quit out of spite. Only a select few remain. Head Office reeeeaaally likes having 20 teams so they have now allowed every user to have 5 players to fill the void of everyone who left. Name your other 4 players that aren't your current player, select their positions, and decide their focus and path in the league. Postulate where they end up after the draft and how the players pan out.

In this 1984 future I have thought about writing for Czechia and what inspired me to make Petr Svoboda, there is only one option.

Now introducing the S64 starting lineup for Czechia:
At left wing, Petr Svoboda!
At far left wing, Petr Svoboda! (My current Petr)
At right wing, Petr Svoboda!
At slightly behind both wings and to the right, Petr Svoboda!
At rover, Petr Svoboda!

They are all made from the same genome as the first and current Petr, so what you have is five identical players on the ice at once, perfect humans all of them. There is one problem though: as a result of being copied, there is no specialization in this lineup. When on the ice together, all five will attempt to play winger, crowding the sides of the ice looking for breakout passes. None of them will be willing to take a faceoff or play defence. All of them have a shoot-first mentality, as such there will be times where all five will converge on the net expecting a pass only for none to come.

Their path is simple: never accept a deal that breaks up the unit, and the minute one of the Petr’s is moved to another line, assassinate the coach who thought they could get away with such a treasonous offense to the government of Czechia. They will go 1st through 5th overall, refusing anything less and all to the same team, of course. While the SHL may not be their focus, it provides adequate training for the real competition, and that is where they’ll shine. The IIHF will cower in fear at the offensive powerhouse frontlining the Czechs and they will win gold every year until the Petr’s retire (all at the same time, of course).