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?

Tony Ford is well on his way towards being one of the top Dmen in the league, which is exactly where he belongs. Im just gonna keep on the up, grinding out that tpe, and meeting those goals. Next few seasons, there should be very few better Dmen in the league, what with the great LAP team surrounding me and the fact that im still on the rise, and while this season wasn't ideal, im happy to keep on grinding and aim for the big time next year, which is award noms. At this stage, there are two aims for Tony, a challenge cup and some individual awards for the mantlepiece, and all of these things are gonna come pretty soon as long as the trend continues. In 3 seasons he's gone from Nothing to everything, so its gonna be exciting to watch the next few. Watch this space.

4. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
S54 IIHF Predictions - with one FHM IIHF season under our belt, we've got a bit more of a sense of how the tournament might play out in the new sim engine. What are your predictions for the S54 IIHF or WJC tournament - how do you think your team will fare this season? Who do you think are the biggest contenders to take home the hardware and why?

The iihf is a tournament that means a lot to me, as a former fed head and multiple medal winner, and I also have a lot of knowledge of the field. That said, IIHF is a place where freak results can happen, like last season, with Czechia overcoming a heavily favoured Canada to reach the final, where alas they were defeated by one of the favourites, the US. This season, it's going to be a battle of the big 3 again, with Team GB, Canada and the USA definitely expected to make up 3 of the semi finalists once again, failing some interesting things going on in the bracket. These teams are so strong, each for different reasons (GB notably has the best defense of the tournament by a country mile). I find it hard to see these teams not taking away at least two and probably all 3 medals, but personally Im going to put down GB taking home the serious hardware, followed by Canada then the USA, which may well be a homer opinion, so don't place any bets on it. It'll be down to the wire!


6. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
Occasionally, broadcast networks will bring an active player into the TV coverage of ongoing finals if their team has been eliminated, and that player is often to give unique insights from a current player's perspective. During this NOLA-HAM finals, which SHL player or prospect would be a good addition to the Challenge Cup TV coverage? Why would that player be a good addition to the broadcast team?

I think this is a no brainer, to explain the defensive aspect of the SHL today, who better than one of the best current SHL players. With one of the highest TPE values in the league, he's got challenge cups to his name, as well as a stellar record in IIHF (having won both best defenseman and best forward in the tournament - the only player to ever win both awards). It is, of course Rex Kirkby. He's insightful, has great knowledge of the teams, especially the steelhawks having played in the east his whole career, and in playoff series against the steelhawks in recent seasons as well. It's hard to think of a player with the experience, knowledge of today's changing game, and defensive acumen that he has, with award noms to boot. It's basically a no brainer that he should be on the SHL network tv coverage.

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.
a. These are absolutely two of the best goaltenders in the league in Cain and Kryyst - which team has the advantage in net in this series?

Kryyst is probably the favoured goaltender in this match up. He's been here before, a lot, and you back him to absolutely nail down the net. That said, the strength of the NOLA attack is such that he may well concede more goals. I guess we'll just have to watch and wait.

b. There are two Johnsons in this series - Gabriel (HAM) and Darnell (NOLA). In fact, the two used to host the Johnson & Johnson Podcast together, but they're now on the ice as bitter rivals. Which team has the better Johnson?

Darnell Johnson is a great player with great insight into the game, but Gabe is older and just a bit more skillful. Neither player should be overlooked by any means, but Gabriel takes the biscuit here, and still has a long and promising career ahead of him, as does Darnell. This should be exciting though.

c. The Specters won both regular season matchups, but Hamilton finished with better team stats overall. Do regular season head-to-heads provide an accurate forecast for a playoff series? (answer predictively if it hasn't happened yet; reactively if it has.)

Turns out the regular season head to heads showed this one absolutely right. Theyre a great thing, and the better stats of hamilton were a mask to the fact they were a weaker team all along, and to be honest would likely have lost to either of the WCF teams in my opinion. The Eastern conference had the weakest teams in the league, while the West was vastly more competitive, and this is the reason for this head to head showing through.

d. If SDCore offered you an all-expenses paid week-long vacation to either New Orleans or Hamilton, which city would you choose to go to? (tough choice I know lol.) How would you spend your time there?

If SDCore offered me anything id look at him suspiciously, and wonder what was wrong with the world, then again hed probably just want to get rid of me for a week. On balance, I think Hamilton has to be the one to go to though, cos canada is just so much nicer.

16. Trivia, 3 TPE

Verification: Wildcats

Total: 16