Quote:1. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
While these two teams are no strangers to the Cup finals, we did see some very interesting things this season. Looking back, what do you feel was the most surprising part of the season?

I think the most surprising part of the season was that we got some really exciting performances from some teams that aren't just the same old same teams finding success. It was pretty fun to watch teams like Texas get pretty far in the playoffs, but also a few teams that didn't go that deep into the playoffs, like San Francisco, who played a lot better than many people expected them to (or maybe I just didn't give San Francisco enough credit and everybody already knew they were going to do that well besides me, I don't know). I think in the coming seasons we are hopefully going to see a lot more of that, because I think that kind of thing keeps the experience of the league fresh and interesting as opposed to the same two or three teams always fighting it out while everybody else just gets to watch and be bored.

Quote:4. Written, 3 TPE (150 words min.)
If you're sitting at home watching the Finals: What do you plan on doing differently next season to help your team reach the promised land? If you're playing in the Finals: Is there anything different you plan on doing next season to continue your team's success?

Next season I am going to continue to do my best to fight regression. I have started to realize that the sim engine just has a mind of its own no matter what I decide to do, because my play has been absolutely all over the place for the past few years. I had a career year my first season into regression, but despite having nearly an identical build all of this season, I didn't quite hit the same numbers. This season, I should be slightly above my post-regression total from last year because I've worked pretty hard to earn as much TPE as possible, and I should be able to afford equipment early again, so I will be interested to see how Gunnar performs in his third regression season. I do think I am going to distribute points a little differently this year post regression - last year I wasn't sure what order in which to adjust things back to their pre-regression levels and I'm curious whether tinkering with that will get me back to that S57 level of play that I thought I'd be surpassing this season.

Quote:5. Written, 2 TPE (100 words min.)
Which SHL or SMJHL team was the best team to not make the finals this season and why?

Well it was obviously my team the Chicago Syndicate, wasn't it? The Great Lakes giveth and the Great Lakes taketh away, and this year we were the team that drew the short straw. It could easily have gone very differently, but at the end of the day we lost some easy games that we should have won and it came back to bite us in the ass there at the end when we were trying so hard to make up those few last points we needed to squeak by. It sucked, but really if we'd won just two or three other games during the rest of the season we wouldn't even have been in that spot, so hopefully we can stay focused and not drop those games that should be very winnable for us next year.

Quote:12. 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.
c. Which of these two teams' brandings do you prefer? Take into account colors, logo, name, location, and anything else you consider relevant.

I prefer Toronto’s Buffalo’s branding because Hamilton’s branding triggers a very strong nausea response in me so it’s going to be Toronto Buffalo just based on the fact that it doesn’t make me want to barf. Also, I really like making graphics with the North Stars Stampede branding, it’s just a fun logo and fun colors to do stuff with.

Quote:d. It's all come down to this: game seven overtime. Which four players are you sending out to win the game for you. This is in a fantasy sense, so feel free to mix and match from both teams.

It’s gonna be Carpy Doyle in goal (obviously), and then two really talented forwards, Bobby Lane Dick Clapper and First-Name Last-Name Matt Kholin, and against a team that's as much of an offensive powerhouse as Hamilton, I'm probably going to roll with some defense out there as well, so we will send Adam Barron Nicholas Owens out there to shut them down.

Quote:15. Milestones, up to 3 TPE
New this season, Milestones are folded in with CW. So just link your Milestone claim as task 16 for up to 3 TPE towards your 16 total.

+3 Milestones

Quote:16. Written, 3 TPE
I loved this as a mPT when hotdog did it last season, so I'd like to bring it back as a permanent fixture. After all, we could all use a little positivity every now and then. Say something nice about another member or members, no word limit.

I love everybody, you all know that about me. Even Hamilton despite how much shit I constantly talk about them. But I will shout out a few people who have been pretty cool lately, specifically the entire Chicago Syndicate locker room (especially @JNH and @"lespoils" and @Nhamlet and @Naosu and @SDCore who have been keeping me entertained during this very dark offseason for us. I will throw @SecondSucks22 in here too because it sucked when he was gone and he's a real one. And then a couple more people I've been talking to more lately, @hhh81 and @Carpy48 who are both terrific and I should have talked to a lot more way sooner. Also @reid for putting up with me dragging him for no reason in the one million discord servers we share. OH let's throw another one in there - @StamkosFan for running the good ship King Carl, and I'm not going to tag every single person on team Sweden but that LR is one of my favorite places, there is absolutely no drama ever and we all just have a fun time so shoutout to all my Swedish Mafia and Swedish Fish, I can't imagine playing for anybody else internationally and I never intend to.