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.

DicktorHelstrom

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.

It is the end of season 62, and the New England Wolfpack has just won its 2nd consecutive Challenge Cup. Their captain, Matthew Sawful, skates up to take the prize. He lifts it overhead and screams in joy. The entire locker room is going nuts. He leads them around a parade on the ice before handing the cup off to the rest of the team. It is the moment where NEW has broken in to the good ol boys club as a perennial contender. Free agents are all itching to get signed to continue to turn this once middling team into a full dynasty. Hamilton is yesterday's news, it is all about the Wolfpack now.

Oh wait, that didn't happen at all. Matthew Sawful instead fizzled out in juniors due to lack of training. Rumor is, he was scared of having to go toe to toe with [Name Redacted] in the bigs, so he didn't bother showing up.

6. 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. What is worth more to you, a cup win in the FHM era or the STHS era?

I'd say that a cup win in the FHM era is probably worth more. From what I have heard, STHS had a lot more randomness baked in, so you could sneak through and get a win on RNG. FHM seems to be way less swingy. If you are dominating the league, you are playing the game well.

b. Be honest, would we have seen the same final 4 as last year (Chicago, Texas, Hamilton, Buffalo) had BUF/HAM and TEX/CHI not run into each other in the second round?

We absolutely would have seen the same final four had the bracket not made this impossible. There has been little to no change in league parity, it is silly to think that any of the other teams had even a small shot of making it in. I am happy to see that there was at least one upset, though. Go FHM.

c. Hamilton has a population of roughly 5 people. Where would you relocate the franchise?

I would move Hamilton's team to the moon because I want them to play with extreme jet lag every away game. Also, they would be so used to the low gravity that they would suck ass in Earth gravity. This would at least give some of the other teams a chance.

d. Who is the best player to NOT make the final in the past 2 years?

I'd say that Pojo Biscuit has a good claim to the title of best player to not make the finals in the past 2 years. He's been holding together the defense in Seattle really well with his shot blocking and is scoring at a pretty good clip as well. He's got the potential to get that Seattle team to the finals.

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.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Post your claim in the milestones thread for tpe earned per stat, and then link that post in your CW submission. This is done because the person who grades CW will be a different person than double-checks milestones.

https://simulationhockey.com/showthread....pid3152589

13. Written, 3 TPE, Parody (150 words min.)
hahahahahaha remember this task from last season? The one where everyone was like "nah we're good, tampa and BAP will be in the finals soon and you'll see that the old guard will make way for the new young teams". Now that we have the exact same fucking teams in the final again, let me ask, is parity an issue in the SHL? How do we combat this?

Yeah, parity is a pretty big issue in the SHL. It's not really going to impact the die hard sim fans or the people who have been doing this for multiple players and are deeply ingrained in the community...they are in and most likely going to stick around unless a comparable league comes to be. Having a parity issue is going to impact new player retention though, as those players are going to soon realize that they really have no shot at winning a cup unless they were drafted to a small handful of teams. You can hang around in a locker room and make friends without having a player or trying hard at the game, so motivation to really try and play the game is going to be low.

As far as how to fix it I suggest limitations on testing and devising a fair way to keep the same people from gravitating toward the same teams repeatedly.

Sixteen out of Sixteen