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notoriousTRON · 09-21-2020, 02:44 PM

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Tampa Bay will not finish with the worst record this season - San Francisco will

WRONG! I agree it would be good for the league to have a team that is not Tampa or Toronto in the cellar but I just don't see it happening in the stacked East. Buffalo, Manhattan, Hamilton, and Chicago make for a tough schedule for eastern teams. I think the worst team will come out of that conference.

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The Toronto North Stars will finish with fewer points than the Seattle Argonauts

NOT A BOLD PREDICTION! As I said above, Toronto faces much tougher competition than the teams in the west do. While Toronto has an up and coming roster of young talent, they play in the toughest division in the SHL and it's not particularly close. The Great Lakes includes Buffalo, Hamilton, and Chicago. Seattle had a decent draft and they could turn some heads this year.

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Neither expansion team will make the playoffs

WRONG! They playoffs have been expanded to 12 teams. If they had stayed at 4 per conference I would have said Atlanta was the first team out behind Manhattan, Buffalo, Hamilton, and Chicago. However, with two more teams from each conference making it, I think Atlanta will make it. They had a great expansion draft and I expect them to be the better of the two new teams.

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Chicago will win the President's Trophy

WRONG! The Great Lakes division is just too tough. Hamilton outpaces Chicago in TPE and even with the additions of Charlie Schieck and Disisde Dayudie on defense the roster is a bit behind Manhattan. My money is on NOLA to win the President's Trophy as the top team in the weaker of the two conferences.

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Texas will be the top team in the Western Conference

WRONG! Not that Texas is bad, but this prediction is a year or two early. Texas is behind New Orleans, Calgary and maybe Edmonton in TPE. In FHM, management and luck can help swing it for sure, but that's a lot of teams that they have to out work/out luck.

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The winner of the McBride Award (top goaltender) will come from the Atlantic Division

NOT A BOLD PREDICTION! I will start by saying that I think the McBride Award race is wide open. There are probably half a dozen goalies I could see winning the award. I think You probably have to give the edge to a Great Lakes team, though. I can see Chicago's defensive adds really add to Soonika's chances.

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New Orleans will see a significant decline and barely make the playoffs

WRONG! This is is not a good take. Not only do I not see NOLA not regressing significantly this season, I still see them as a president's trophy contender. Sure, they are lacking an elite goaltender, but they still have the highest average TPE among their defense in the league, which will help protect their young goalie and take the edge off of their biggest weakness.

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The long reign of Edmonton and Calgary is over - neither of these teams will finish the season atop the Northwest Division standings

WRONG! Who else? Winnipeg or Minny? I don't see it. Calgary has the highest average TPE in the division among forwards and defenseman and they have arguably the best goalie in the division. Edmonton outperformed their TPE, which suggests that they have something figured out in FHM. I just don't see how Winnipeg can pass them at this point. Not yet anyway.

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Neither Buffalo nor Hamilton will make the Challenge Cup finals

NOT A BOLD PREDICTION! I have Manhattan sneaking in from the East. I think the Great Lake giants will eat each other. Manhattan is quietly a powerhouse team whose window to win is closing. Their management should be pushing hard for a title now. Additionally, while Hamilton got better this offseason, I think losing Eko Van Otter really hurt Buffalo. They've taken a step back this offseason, though they're still among the league's most elite teams.

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There will be no major scandals during the season

WRONG! There is always something. My ridiculous prediction is McZ returns and claims the leadership role in LAP. What follows is a power struggle that ends up being personal, public, and childish. It ends with McZ being shopped and ultimately cut because no one wants to take him on.

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Monkey D Luffy, extra TPE and all, will have a worse season than he did in S55

NOT A BOLD PREDICTION! I said before that I think BUF will take a step back this season and Luffy's numbers will suffer. He's going to be good, no doubt. But missing van Otter will hurt Buffalo's scoring and that includes Luffy.

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Someone from the S53 draft class will win rookie of the year

NOT A BOLD PREDICTION! I don't understand how this is bold at all. S53 has some great talent. My bet is for Ethan Duncan to capitalize on his ice time on a poor but not horrible team to have a pretty good rookie year and take the award.

Sig Cred: Carpy, ML, RainDelay, Donini & Geekusoid

***trashae*** · 09-21-2020, 02:51 PM

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Neither expansion team will make the playoffs

If this is what qualifies as bold nowadays then sheesh. This is the SHL not the NHL, expansion teams aren't given nearly as much opportunity here as the real world. Last season there were 2 new franchises down in the J and they were both at or near the bottom in points. Sure the SHL is a bit different, but the expansion format largely didn't change and I just don't see Atlanta or Seattle finding enough success to make the loffs even with the savy moves they've been making.

LordBirdman · 09-21-2020, 03:30 PM

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Someone from the S53 draft class will win rookie of the year

This is not a very bold prediction, it is a lukewarm milquetoast prediction because Sven Svenson is going to win the rookie of the year and he is in the S53 class. How is he going to do it you might wonder? Well, it's a fair question because he is on the gutter dumpster fire tanking San Francisco Pride. This is how he's going to do it: through the love and power of his Swedish overlord King Carl. King Carl will empower Sven to probably score somewhere from 50-70 points, likely 35+ goals. It doesn't matter that he will probably have linemates that long ago flamed out, he will do it all on his own while King Carl smiles upon him from across the ocean.

reid · 09-21-2020, 03:39 PM

Quote:Tampa Bay will not finish with the worst record this season - San Francisco will

This one is tempting, but I am arguing AGAINST. San Francisco blew it up, but has a few distinct advantages: Their goaltending chief among them. Geezus Kryyst and Cillian Kavanagh are both 1K TPE+ goalies who might be able to steal a few games for the Pride. Tampa Bay has a 700 TPE IA goalie who will not be doing them any favours. The only reason they won a handful of games last season was their 1100 TPE goalie, but he is retired. Tampa also plays in the East, which is decidedly tougher than the West this season. We should see San Francisco sneak out some wins against lower quality opponents.

Quote:The Toronto North Stars will finish with fewer points than the Seattle Argonauts

Death, taxes, the North Stars in purgatory. I am arguing FOR this one. Toronto is still stuck in one of the worst divisions with Buffalo, Hamilton and Chicago. All of whom only got better this season. That is 18 games that they have to play that are almost guaranteed losses. Add to that teams in the East like Manhattan - who should beat them easily, and New England/Atlanta who are solid, and Toronto does not have too many easy games. Seattle on the other hand, gets to compete with Winnipeg, Minnesota, San Francisco and LAP - at least 20 games where it should be about an equal playing field. I wouldn't expect Seattle to have way more points than Toronto, but they will certainly beat them.

Quote:Neither expansion team will make the playoffs

AGAINST! Assuming that the top 3 teams in each division make the playoffs, Atlanta is an easy shoo in to make it. In that division, Manhattan is the clear #1 choice. But after that, it leaves New England, Atlanta, Baltimore and Tampa Bay to fight for 2 spots. If you have been paying attention, you know that Baltimore and Tampa are rebuilding hard, and that Atlanta struck gold in free agency, bringing in a lot of high TPE players. This means that Atlanta will fight for 2nd in that division, and almost certainly make playoffs.

Quote:Chicago will win the President's Trophy

AGAINST. Chicago does not stand a chance in this race, sorry Syndicate fans. Buffalo is still a powerhouse, despite losing 2 2K players. Hamilton loaded up, gaining 2 2K forwards and rebuilding their defense. They also started entering their contention window with some solid players entering their prime (Johnson, Michaud, Jazz). Add to this the fact that the West is weaker, and a team could dominate there and Chicago looks like a long shot for the Presidents trophy.

Quote:Texas will be the top team in the Western Conference

I am going to say FOR this one. Texas is a long shot, but I am feeling bold. NOLA lost several steps this offseason, pivoting to a sub 1K TPE goalie, running a bottom pairing of sub 500 TPE players, and also had to trade away Fox for Kenny Kreller, a 600-700 TPE downgrade. Calgary is looking solid, but has yet to perform up to standard in the FHM era. Edmonton also lost a lot - Bo Kane, Theo Morgan, Tor Tuck, Brady McIntyre among them. With a line of full rookies, they will be in a tough spot. With Texas underperforming last season, I could see them stepping up and winning the conference. They lost a few players to expansion, but have the callups to replace them. They are a trendy pick this season, so we will see.

Quote:The winner of the McBride Award (top goaltender) will come from the Atlantic Division

I could see this, and will argue FOR. The only goalie I could see making sense in this situation would be Peter Larson from the Manhattan Rage. The Rage are in a really strong position this season, and have the positive of not having to compete as much with BUF, HAM, or CHI. They are a clear step above ATL and NEW, and being the best team in a division clearly is something that no other team can claim. This probably lends to the fact that they can perform very well defensivly, which will help one of the top goalies in the league - Peter Larson.

Quote:New Orleans will see a significant decline and barely make the playoffs

This is a two parter. I am going to say FOR in terms of NOLA taking a significant dip. This is because they lost depth all over, to the tune of having to call up several prospects too early. They also lost goalie Aleister Cain - a significant issue for them going forward. What I am saying AGAINST about is that NOLA will barely make the playoffs. Despite the losses, NOLA is easily a top 2 team in the division. They are clearly better than LAP and SFP, so will make the playoffs top 2 in their division.

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The long reign of Edmonton and Calgary is over - neither of these teams will finish the season atop the Northwest Division standings

FOR. The Northwest division is looking much more competitive this season. I think Winnipeg can surprise some people and come out on top this season. EDM and CGY are weaker this season, and that will result in a few dropped wins to SEA and the revamped MIN.

Quote:Neither Buffalo nor Hamilton will make the Challenge Cup finals

AGAINST: Buffalo might not make it this season, but I can almost guarentee Hamilton will. with several 2K players, HAM can run 2 mega lines, and an insane defense. Their only "weakness" is in net, but with a D core of 1800, 1400, 1400, 1200 they will most likely be ok. their firepower will be enough to bring them to the finals.

Quote:There will be no major scandals during the season

AGAINST. NOLA is still in the league after all... and with several new GMs, we are definitely going to have some picks traded twice or some backup games being missed.

Quote:Monkey D Luffy, extra TPE and all, will have a worse season than he did in S55

FOR. Buffalo lost a step going into S56. With Cassius Darrow, Viktor Marius, and Michael Scarn all gone, Buffalo won't be quite as good. Luffy is also a clear target for teams to gameplan against and neutralize. I think Luffy has an amazing season, but he might not be quite as MVP worthy as in S55.

Quote:Someone from the S53 draft class will win rookie of the year

FOR. The bulk of the S53 class graduated this season, so there are a lot of options here. Steve Harrington in particular is over 1K TPE and should play top 6 minutes for Buffalo - one of the best teams in the league. This is a recipie for success and should see him get 30+ points - and a really good shot at rookie of the year.

Quote:The Nevada Battleborn will win the Four Star Cup

Lol. Nah. AGAINST. If we are picking expansion teams, QCC looks a lot better. Vancouver should also have a really good season, as they did not get wrecked by callups like NL or CAR. Maine is also an outside shot after their cinderella run to the four star cup finals last season.

Quote:The Detroit Falcons will return to dominance and be a top 3 team in the SMJHL regular season

FOR. After @notorioustig finally let the franchise get a winner for a GM, @nour will pilot us to victory. The GM award was just named after him, so I expect nothing but 4 star cups from him as a manager

Nerio · 09-21-2020, 03:48 PM

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Neither Buffalo nor Hamilton will make the Challenge Cup finals

Disagree. Not a bold prediction, just the way these teams perform and the way the playoffs get setup with divisions and what not, more often than not these teams will not meet each other until the second round, and odds are at least one of them wins their first round matchup, so if both of them win their first round matchup it's guaranteed that one will be in the finals. Even if they were to matchup in the first round, that guarantees one of them has a shot at the finals. And I don't see a world where either of them miss the playoffs, so in general it just seems very likely considering only 1 team in Chicago could currently compete.

***Hallsy*** · 09-21-2020, 03:50 PM

Tampa Bay will not finish with the worst record this season - San Francisco will

I don't think this is bold at all. San Fran had to move a lot of bodies to remain under the cap and they had to bring in some poor players that will definitely make their roster a lot worst. I have a funny feeling that San Fran does end up in last this season.

HanTheMan_ · 09-21-2020, 03:58 PM

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Neither Buffalo nor Hamilton will make the Challenge Cup finals

I think this one will be false! The Hamilton Steelhawks had a super busy off season! They did some insane trades and swaps, surely they will strong enough to make it to the finals are even win.
(37 words)

canes2112 · 09-21-2020, 04:25 PM

Neither Buffalo nor Hamilton will make the Challenge Cup finals

This seems to be a wrong prediction from my perspective. Hamilton has loaded up this offseason and is posed to make a run and the team that can most likely stand in their way is Buffalo. I really can't see any other teams in the east competing with either Hamilton or Buffalo. Manhattan has the best chance to compete and if I were to pick a team that would advance past Hamilton and Buffalo it would be them.

***FuzzSHL*** · 09-21-2020, 04:38 PM

Quote:New Orleans will see a significant decline and barely make the playoffs

This is not necessarily a bold statement. New Orleans lost 3 veterans in Michael Fox, DeMaricus Smyth, and Aleister Cain. Facing cap issues and without a truly filled out roster, the team is scrambling to fill the final spots. With a downgrade at each position, New Orleans will see a significant decline. However, with the updated playoff layout, New Orleans should continue to make the playoffs for now.

Aleksi Kettu

Mika_Kandinsky · 09-21-2020, 05:06 PM

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Neither Buffalo nor Hamilton will make the Challenge Cup finals

This is so wrong. Those teams are so good and far above the competition. They dominate the East and I can't see a way that one of them wouldn't be the champion in the East. Not to mention Buffalo is the returning champs and I don't think they are going to fall off very much this season at all.

Rindiee · 09-21-2020, 05:06 PM

Neither Buffalo nor Hamilton will make the Challenge Cup finals.

I highly doubt that two of the best teams in the league, including the defending champion will not make the CC finals. Obviously there has been some regression due to the two new expansion teams jn the fold, but FHM has really treated these two teams quite nicely and I don’t see that changing this season.

***Leafs4ever*** · 09-21-2020, 05:26 PM

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The Nevada Battleborn will win the Four Star Cup

Very bold, but not gonna happen. They're coming off an expansion season and finished dead last in the SMJHL. There's no way they can improve enough and add enough to go all the way to winning the trophy. They'll be improved, but no chance they can win it all.

Guy Incognito - D - #24
Texas Renegades
Season 76
0-0-0
Regular Season - [G 0] [A 0] [Pts 0] [+/- 0] [PIM 0] [Hits 0] [SB 0]
[Image: ERs3IrD.png]

majesiu · 09-21-2020, 05:53 PM

There will be no major scandals during the season

Duh, we are all here for the casual conversation and interesting sims, just like the 2020 is the year when humanity finally started going in the right direction, uniting for a common goal and putting an end to all meaningless conflicts.

MCP_ · 09-21-2020, 05:59 PM

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Tampa Bay will not finish with the worst record this season - San Francisco will

Not that bold. With more teams trying to get into the tanking pie, it's gonna be tougher for Tampa to be at the absolute bottom. However, with the fact they're bringing in numerous rookies this season, many with less than 800 TPE, they're gonna keep pace at the bottom.

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The Toronto North Stars will finish with fewer points than the Seattle Argonauts

Really tough to say, but I think this is very possible by virtue of their conferences. Toronto has to face against teams with much higher TPE averages like Buffalo and Hamilton all season long, while Seattle has a much easier path.

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Neither expansion team will make the playoffs

Once again, not entirely out of the question. However, I do think Atlanta could make a run for a playoff spot, given how shit the rest of the division is.

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Chicago will win the President's Trophy

There we go! That's BOLD! With Buffalo and Hamilton still going strong, and the fact Hamilton got even MORE stacked, It's a fat chance in hell they get the president's trophy.

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Texas will be the top team in the Western Conference

The events surrounding Edmonton and New Orleans definitely could make this potentially true, but I think EDM and NOLA keep the top seeds when all things are said and done.

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The winner of the McBride Award (top goaltender) will come from the Atlantic Division

Very much a hot take. Considering wins are very important, it's gonna be an uphill battle for any goaltender, especially those on TBB, BAP, and NEW, to even be considered.

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New Orleans will see a significant decline and barely make the playoffs

Significant decline? Sure. Barely making the playoffs? Hot take. Yes, they are considerably weaker, but they shouldn't have any trouble making the playoffs.

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The long reign of Edmonton and Calgary is over - neither of these teams will finish the season atop the Northwest Division standings

As much as I would love to see this, it's a hot take all over. I don't see the Jets overtaking either of these teams yet, and Minnesota still has a long ways to go before they're even competetive.

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Neither Buffalo nor Hamilton will make the Challenge Cup finals

You're trolling at this point. One or the other will make the finals.

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There will be no major scandals during the season

That's like saying rain falls upwards relative to us. It's a fucking lie.

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Monkey D Luffy, extra TPE and all, will have a worse season than he did in S55

Depends on how Buffalo uses him. Even though BUF did lose a big piece, they'll still do major damage. As for Luffy... he'll probably do just fine.

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Someone from the S53 draft class will win rookie of the year

Have no idea who all the rookies are, so I can't really comment on that.

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The Nevada Battleborn will win the Four Star Cup

Nah. Other teams have more TPE on average, and Newfoundland is still kicking. Considering that... Nevada ain't going that far.

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The Detroit Falcons will return to dominance and be a top 3 team in the SMJHL regular season

Sure. They got a decent lot of players, so it's not completely out of the question.

**Rich** · 09-21-2020, 06:11 PM

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The Toronto North Stars will finish with fewer points than the Seattle Argonauts

Not bold at all. This is very likely. I wouldn't call it certain, but I wouldn't bet against it. We probably won't get a win in our own division. I could see Seattle taking games off of Minnesota. That alone is enough for me to think this will happen.

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