Opening Pool Analysis The favourites have emerged from this year's
picks, but not as decisively as last year. While half the pool is betting
on Detroit and a selection of common key players, most are hedging their
bets with an assortment of underdogs.
Mats Sundin
Mats Sundin is the most-picked player, in 31
of 39 pools, with Joe Sakic (30) and Brendan Shanahan (29)
close behind. This compares with Sakic's 38 of 40 entries last year.
On defense, however, the pool has focused more narrowly on Rob Blake
(28 picks) and Nicklas Lidstrom (26), and fewer longshots. Of these,
Bryan McCabe has an impressive 8 picks and Brian Rafalski
7, but it drops off from there.
There were 11 forwards, 3 defensemen, and 2 goalies picked only once.
Detroit a safe bet, not a sure bet Detroit was once a sure bet to win the Cup this
year, but only half the pool (21 of 39) took them. Colorado and Toronto
are also popular picks (6 each). And while there were 90 player picks
for Detroit (down from Colorado's 108 last year), people have gambled
with their 5th and 6th picks on teams like Boston, Philadelphia, and Vancouver.
Surprisingly, St. Louis received only 3 picks and San Jose -- a darkhorse
Cup contender in some circles -- only 11, with no Cup predictions.
Pool could be decided by the underdogs Increased gambling on underdogs mean that it's not
only important which favourites go down early, but also whether the underdog
takes advantage and puts the puck in the net in the following round. And
if the favourites go through, the right combination of players from those
teams will be critical.
Common
player card: Forwards:
Mats Sundin, Tor (31)
Joe Sakic, Col (30)
Brendan Shanahan, Det (29)
Sergei Fedorov, Det (14)
Patrik Elias, NJ (14)
Bill Guerin, Bos (12)
Defense:
Rob Blake, Col (28) Nicklas Lidstrom, Det (26)
Goalie:
Patrick Roy, Col (14)
Cup:
Detroit
Team
(Cup/Picks) :
Detroit (21/90)
Colorado (6/78)
Toronto (6/58)
New Jersey (3/39)
Boston (1/31)
Philadelphia (2/23)
Vancouver (0/12)
San Jose (0/11)
Los Angeles (0/5)
St. Louis (0/3)
Ottawa (0/1)
Carolina (0/0)
Chicago (0/0)
Montreal (0/0)
NY Islanders (0/0)
Phoenix (0/0)
Peter Forsberg
could be a candidate for top darkhorse pick as only 4 people
took the oft-injured centre.
