PBE Affiliate +3

Quote: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?

Okay, well, I played even worse than I did last year, but for some reason I felt better about it. I don't know. It's exhausting. I'm working out so hard during the off season, I'm trying to listen to everything my coaches say, and somehow, with more TPE this year, I played worse. I'm trying not to let it get to me, but I'm not going to lie, it sucks. The most frustrating thing is I have no idea what to attribute it to. I'm doing all the assignments, I'm putting in the points, and I'm just not seeing results. I don't know, maybe something's wrong with my build, maybe we just had a harder schedule this year, but that's the hardest part of this, is not knowing what I need to do to fix it. If I could just say "oh Gunnar you need to work harder" then I could do that, but not knowing what to fix is super discouraging.

Quote: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?

I absolutely think there should be an expansion team outside of North America. I have made my pitch for having a team in Sweden, which I think would be a great idea. Sweden is a country that has produced a lot of star SHL players, and I think there are several locations there that would be worthy of a team. I know people argue stuff about time zones but that is honestly just silly because we have a team in Alaska that nobody complains about traveling to, so realistically, time zones are basically not an issue at all. There's no practical reason for not having a team there besides some notion of "reality" to which I say .... it's fake hockey. Get over it.

Quote: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 mean it was very obviously the Chicago Syndicate. I couldn't pick any other team besides my own. We worked so hard and we keep getting garbage playoff matchups (I know, that's our own fault, we lost some games we should have won, etc), but it's frustrating to get the boot in the first round again because we had to play stupid sexy Buffalo. We beat up on them pretty bad in the first game and I think that made them feel insulted or something so they felt like they had to teach us a lesson. Anyway, we have a really strong team and I expect we'll make it further sooner or later especially with expansion on the horizon, but it was still a huge bummer

Quote:13. 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. (+3)

c. Based on FHM player ratings, New Orleans has higher average ratings in bravery, aggression, and fighting? Will that toughness have any impact on this series?
Everyone knows that aggression is the only way you win anything. STRIKE FIRST STRIKE HARD NO MERCY. So I would have to give New Orleans the nod there if it was based on aggression alone. Unfortunately for New Orleans I think Buffalo found a way to counter that, perhaps with some aggression of their own. I did not watch the games but I imagine both teams punched each other in the face a lot and ran a bunch of all goon lines or something.

d. What is your favorite name from a player appearing in this series? Why do you like that player's name?
My favorite player name in this series is Elizabeth Doyle, because I think there are just not enough women in this league. My mom is a terrific athlete and I would love to see more opportunities for female athletes in this league. It is really inspiring for me to see female players succeeding at this level, and especially one who is younger than a lot of the other players.

e. There are several animal names in this series - which of these animals is the coolest? sloth, hippo, otter, monkey, fox, kirby.
Fox is my favorite name in this series because fox is closest to my favorite animal, which is dogs. Foxes are kind of like dogs and kind of like cats but also all their own thing, and I looked into getting one as a pet once but it turns out they are kind of crazy and they like to wreck all of your stuff while you are gone so I just decided having a dog was good enough.

Quote: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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