Lord Stanley's Pool 2008 - Final Analysis

Memories of 1983? The young superstar-laden Pittsburgh Penguins but up a fight but ultimately fell to the experienced Detroit Red Wings. Will the Penguins be back next year the way the Edmonton Oilers came back in 1984?

With two offensive-minded teams meeting in the finals and a consensus by poolies on the players to pick, the pool was the highest scoring since 2001 and broke numerous records set that year and since.

Many people leaned heavily on Red Wings and Penguins in their picks and this led to a close, competitive pool until the last round. In particular, there were many who accurately picked several of the pool's dream team, most of all Bo Chen who pulled away in the final round to tie the pool record for most points. Karen Savoie led during round three while the first two rounds saw new leaders nearly every day. Final results: First, Bo Chen, $1134; second, Ron Wener, $567; third, Alan Eng, $189. Honourable mentions go to Jerome R. Brouard and Sean Smith who tied for fourth, one point out of the money.

You had to have picked really well to win the pool this year. All of the top fifteen entries and numerous others after that, had six players in the finals, while the winning entry set a pool record for accuracy getting 187 of a possible 200 points. A strong core of six top Wings and Penguins - five top skaters and a goalie - plus decent showings in the other three spots, and you might have been in the running.

Since we began having division standings a few years back, a few have been regular strong performers. The Smith clan's Rice Lake League of Champions, regularly in the running, placed two in the top ten. The UNC division, who had three out of three in the top 15 last year, placed two in the top ten and two more in the top 30. The other notable division this year is the Original Hicks League, with five out of ten in the top 30 including four in the top 15.

Much of the dream team is no surprise as many people took the top guys. The question is who filled out the remaining spots. Of course since the pool rules limit three players per team there were some tradeoffs. Either Datsyuk or Malkin have to give up their spot for a top defenseman, Kronwall or Gonchar. Fleury had to take a seat because Osgood also had 29 points. Similarly, Rafalski, Lidstrom, and Franzen didn't get the honour. Datsyuk and Briere are the only players to return from last year.

Goalie
Chris Osgood, Det, 29 pts. (6 picks)
Defense
*Niklas Kronwall, Det, 15 pts. (no picks) OR Sergei Gonchar, Pit, 14 pts. (65 picks)
Stephane Robidas, Dal, 11 pts. (no picks)
Forwards
Henrik Zetterberg, Det, 27 pts. (118 picks)
Sidney Crosby, Pit, 27 pts. (124 picks)
Marian Hossa, Pit, 17 pts. (23 pick)
*Pavel Datsyuk, Det, 23 pts. (107 picks) OR Evgeni Malkin, Pit, 22 pts. (132 picks)
Mike Ribeiro, Dal, 17 pts. (2 picks)
Daniel Briere, Phi, 16 pts. (1 pick)
* One pick from each of Pit and Det for these players
Team: Detroit, 10
Dream Team Score: 200 points
Winning Score: 187 points

A number of pool records were eclipsed at the end of the fourth round. Bo Chen's phenominal final round tied the all-time pool high score, and set the marks for best accuracy and highest round 4 score. Here is the full list of records for this pool:
- Most points: 187 (tied) - Bo Chen
- Highest accuracy: -13; 93.5% (187-200) - Bo Chen (prev: -14, 93%, 2001)
- Largest margin of defeat (last:first): 147 (40-187) - Patrick Gill / Joy Smith : Bo Chen (prev: 128, 2002)
- Forwards High: 135 - the Fab Five (prev: 125, 2001)
- Most Cup Champ picks: 43 (prev: 27, 2001)
- Highest round 4 score: 40 - Bo Chen (prev: 37, 2001)
- Highest cumulative score after round 4 (excluding bonus): 177 (tied) - Bo Chen
- and of course most entries: 189