Round 1 Report

In the Lead
Jacqui Snow leads the pool at the quarter-pole. Trying to avenge a 30th place finish last year, she already has more points this pool than she did for all of 2000 and 1998. Vince Brescia, the 1999 pool champ, is a close second.

But with the surprising upset of Detroit in Round 1, the pool's Top 5 will be under siege. Only eight of 40 people did not lose a pick in round 1, of which three are tied for 7th place. Anita Coulter, Patrick Sheahan and Ron Wener are poised to make a challenge for the lead.

Hit Hard
Not faring quite as well are Ian Fleming and Richard Gretzinger. Ian lost five players as well as his championship pick, while Richard lost four players.

Ottawa Burns Again
Yes, I've been burned again by picking Ottawa players, this makes three years in a row. And I will eat my words after taunting Christian Pitcher that Gary Roberts would be out after one week. Bruce Garrioch also lost Ottawa players, as you would expect from the Sens scribe. There were other Ottawa fans who were hit, but they'll remain nameless so they won't be attacked by shameless Leaf hooligans. Meanwhile, I'm proud to announce my new e-mail address: gosens0102@yahoo.com.

Unlikely Heroes
Not many would have expected Buffalo to have the league's leading scorers, but Satan, Gratton, and Zhitnik are at the top of the scoring lists ...and nobody took them (the only Sabre taken in the pool was Hasek). Only three of the top ten forwards were regular picks in the pool.

Top Darkhorse Pick: Pierre Turgeon, 9 pts. (Tim Smith, Camilo Cipriano)
Biggest Bust: Steve Yzerman, 0 pts. (10 pools)
Biggest Active Bust: Ray Bourque, 0 pts. (6 pools)... c'mon Ray! The Cup should be yours this year!

Eliminated Players:
Detroit: Lidstrom (13 pools); Yzerman (10); Shanahan (9); Fedorov (5); Holmstrom (1); Osgood (1)
Ottawa: Yashin (10); Redden (3); Alfredsson (1); Hossa (1); Lalime (1); McEachern (1)
Philadelphia: Desjardins (2); Cechmanek (1)
San Jose: Nolan (1); Selanne (1)
Edmonton: Weight (1)
Washington: Gonchar (1)

LEADERS

NHL Leaders Forwards Miroslav Satan Pierre Turgeon Chris Gratton Bobby Holik Joe Sakic Mario Lemieux Jozef Stumpel Ryan Smith Sergei Fedorov Defence Nicklas Lidstrom Alexei Zhitnik Steve Duchesne Eric Brewer Goalies Martin Brodeur Curtis Joseph Dominik Hasek Johan Hedberg

Team Buf StL Buf NJ Col Pit LA Edm Det Team Det Buf Det Edm Team NJ Tor Buf Pit

G 2 2 5 4 4 4 3 3 2 G 1 1 2 1 W 4 4 4 4

A 7 7 3 4 3 3 4 4 5 A 7 5 4 5 ShO 2 2 1 1

Pts 9 9 8 8 7 7 7 7 7 Pts 8 6 6 6 Pts 14 14 9 9

Pools 0 2 0 0 38 27 0 0 10 Pools 13 0 0 0 Pools 27 0 2 0

Pool Leaders Forwards Pierre Turgeon Mario Lemieux Joe Sakic Sergei Fedorov Scott Gomez Chris Drury Jaromir Jagr Peter Forsberg Doug Weight Defence Nicklas Lidstrom Sergei Zubov Rob Blake Chris Pronger Goalies Martin Brodeur Dominik Hasek Chris Osgood

Team StL Pit Col Det NJ Col Pit Col Edm Team Det Dal Col StL Team NJ Buf Det

G 2 4 4 2 2 4 1 2 1 G 1 1 1 0 W 4 4 2

A 7 3 3 5 4 2 5 4 5 A 7 4 4 4 ShO 2 1 1

Pts 9 7 7 7 6 6 6 6 6 Pts 8 5 5 4 Pts 14 9 7

Pools 2 26 38 5 1 2 18 27 2 Pools 13 5 25 3 Pools 27 2 1