micoolwincup





Once upon a time, a fallen star was discovered laying in a secluded forest in the wilds of British Columbia, Canada. A prospector felt something beckon him to this chunk of meteorite in the forest as he was walking, and he brought it home with him. He heated it up in his kitchen oven, and it exploded. Once the light had faded, it was clear that the chunk of meteorite had fashioned itself into what would become the SHL Challenge Cup. The prospector knew what he had to do – he brought it to the SHL Head Office to show them. At first Head Office wasn’t convinced, but then the Cup began to glow again. It glowed so bright it blinded all the board members who were there. After that display of power, the Challenge Cup was forever enshrined as the symbol that would be given to the best team in the league. It is prophecied that one day, it would glow once again when it was held aloft in the hands of a player who was worthy. So far, no one has been proven worthy.

185 words



Milestones Claim +3





Sweden is always a bit of an enigma to me – high TPE, motivated players, but seemingly unable to make it over that last hump. There’s always something in the way whether it be the USA, Great Britain or an underdog Japan. They are just unable to get over the hump and finish the run to the gold medal. I’m always hopeful that each season will be different but you never know what will happen. IIHF is more interesting that way that it can be completely random who does well and who doesn’t because of the smaller sample size, and the greater variability of the Federation Heads running the things behind the scenes. Before I retire I would to love to have a IIHF Gold and a Challenge Cup, and the IIHF Gold feels so tantalizingly close but as always it can still be a thousand miles away because of the one-and-done tournament format of the elimination rounds.
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I chose to play for Sweden as my real life NHL team that I follow, the Vancouver Canucks, have had a proud tradition of Swedish players. This is especially true of the era that I was watching, with Mattias Ohlund leading the way, followed by Markus Naslund, and then arguably the most famous, the Sedin twins in Daniel and Henrik Sedin. More recently, Alex Edler and now Elias Petterson have taken over the mantle for great Swedish players in Vancouver, and the inspiration behind my player. I placed his birth town as the same town that Markus Naslund and the Sedins hail from as well, to cement the association.

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Did you know that Sweden is 977 miles (1,572 kilometers) long and is bordered by Norway on the west and Finland to the east. Three stretches of water separate Sweden from Denmark—the Skagerrak, the Kattegat, and the Öresund straits. Sweden's Arctic north has been called the "land of the midnight sun," because during the summer months the sun never sets. Even in the capital of Stockholm in the south, the summer nights last only four hours and the sky doesn't deepen beyond twilight. But winter lasts until May and the nights are long and the days are short. Perfect for ice cold outdoor hockey rinks!

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