Round 1 Analysis
An exciting first round had only one upset, and although they were heavily favoured and wagered upon, many have known about the sad San Jose story from years past. Fewer people took them with their picks this year, but far more to win the Cup. Other than #12 Anaheim beating the #2 Sharks, the only other lower team to win was Chicago (#9) over Calgary (#7) which could be called an even match.

So despite the first round attrition rate going up this year over the past two - to 25.9% - most of it is from our new favourite losers from the west - 18.1% of the pool.

In another demonstration of good picking this year, no entries lost all of their players in the first round (there are usually at least a few), and only one that lost eight players. Well done everyone.

Simeon Varlamov has upstaged Alex Ovechkin in the playoffs thus far.

Early line
Judy Wood and Samuel Wexler are tied on top after round one. Sam led most of the round, which is a rarity for round one, as his picks held strong from the opening night to the end of the round. His Pittsburgh, Washington, and Vancouver picks are well positioned to continue on their pace through round two; the only thing that would have topped that off was for New Jersey to hang on for the last minute of game seven, so the Pens and Caps could meet in the third round.

Judy Wood's similar picks to Sam but with the inclusion of two Anaheim players positions her well to surge ahead. An Anaheim victory over Detroit would be big news here, but she will suffer along with her co-leader with the loss of either the Pens or Caps.

The odds-makers will likely give Martha Gill the inside chance if her teams, Pittsburgh, Carolina, and Chicago go through to round three. Martha is only one point behind and is among the few who can get through to round three unscathed. The nearest other who can do this is Aron Slipacoff, eight points behind.

. The dubious but scientific Round 2 Projections are available below... see where you will ficticiously rank!

Most top players alive
With San Jose as the only legitimate upset, most of the top-picked players in the pool are still alive. The most popular player to be eliminated was Joe Thornton, who was the second-ranked forward with 111 picks. Dan Boyle (62), Patrick Marleau (59), and Evgeny Nabokov (53) were the other key players to drop. Jarome Iginla (19) leads the rest of the eliminated players.

The remaining players are tightly bunched in the scoring department. Might we see a Johan Franzen-style round two surge this year?

Biggest Bust
Last year Martin Brodeur became the first multiple-winner of the Lord Stanley Biggest Bust award, but despite his last-minute implosion in game seven, he did not factor significantly enough to get the tag a third time. This year's candidates of course come from San Jose. Joe Thornton would have been an easy choice had it not been for his three-point game, five overall. The winner this year is: Evgeni Nabokov! Fifty-three people pegged him as their goaltender and to show for it, he got a scant two points. Well done.

Biggest busts over the years: 2009 - Nabokov; 2008 - Brodeur; 2007 - Kariya; 2006 - Lidstrom; 2004 - Brodeur; 2003 - Joseph; 2002 - Entire Flyers roster; 2001 - Yzerman; 2000 - Gonchar; 1999 - Yashin; 1998 - Holik.

Light a fire under this guy
Pavel Datsyuk, the third-ranked player in the pool, has but two points for 105 picks. As one of the best in the league much more is expected of him... so he'd better get it going in round two. Fortunately there is a lot of parity in the pool this year so it should only take a couple of big games to put him back in the thick of things.

Numerous darkhorse picks to get that edge
This year darkhorse picks appear to be plentiful, with Ryan Getzlaf - 8 points, 6 picks, Michael Ryder (7, 4) and Ray Whitney (7, 6) leading the way. These are the difference-makers in the pool, who benefit a few owners a great deal because no one else has them. We don't, however, have a clear winner of the Hindsight Award for being the only poolie to pick a particular key player.

Equally interesting this year is the number of players not picked at all who are in the scoring hunt. Chad LaRose, Kris Versteeg, Patrick Sharp, and the top three defensemen - Cam Barker, Tom Poti, and Brent Seabrook are all making a big impact. Four of those six are from Chicago.

Unknown goaltender's duel
With Evgeni Nabokov's disposal the battle will turn to Tim Thomas and Roberto Luongo as the pool's most wagered goalies. But perhaps the biggest story of the playoffs - and biggest missed opportunity in the pool - is the emergence of two unknown goaltenders to lead the pool overall and in the goaltending department. Anaheim's Jonas Hiller and Washington's Simeon Varlamov each had two shutouts and lead the league with 14 pool points. Of the two, Varlamov's the greater surprise because he started the playoffs on the bench and for good reason - he had played in only five and a half NHL games in his career. Of course Jose Theodore, who he replaced, was wisely avoided by all poolies.

One entry disqualified
Keen standings watchers may have noticed that last place recently became #185 instead of #186. Unfortunately this year like last year we have an individual who did not pay by the deadline and was disqualified. I never like to do it but rules are rules - and I need to make sure people pay early enough, before "choosing" not to pay if they realize they're not going to win. Thank you to the 185 who paid up and good luck the rest of the way! Grand prize: $1110. 2nd place: $555. 3rd: $185.

Round 2 predictions
With Brodeur's last minute choke I was reduced to 5 for 8 correct picks in the first round (Bos, Was, Pit, Det, Van). So I certainly expect to win a clean sweep in round two. This round I will be a little more bold. My round 2 predictions: Carolina with the upset; Pittsburgh; Detroit; Vancouver.

Team and Player Stats:

Top Players
Forwards Team Pts Picks Evgeni Malkin PIT 9 70 Ryan Getzlaf ANA 8 6 Alexander Semin WAS 8 41 Sidney Crosby PIT 8 65 Chad LaRose CAR 7 0 Kris Versteeg CHI 7 0 Michael Ryder BOS 7 4 Ray Whitney CAR 7 6 Three others with 8	Defense Team Pts Picks Cam Barker CHI 6 0 Tom Poti WAS 6 0 Brent Seabrook CHI 6 0         Goalies Team Pts Picks Jonas Hiller ANA 14 0 Simeon Varlamov WAS 14 0 Three goalies with 9
Teams
IN  Picks  Cups  Detroit 323 34 Washington 300 8 Boston 254 36 Pittsburgh 176 18 Vancouver 91 16 Carolina 40 4 Chicago 36 3 Anaheim 14 2	OUT Picks Cups San Jose 302 55 Calgary 43 3 Philadelphia 35 3 New Jersey 34 4 Montreal 8 0 St.Louis 4 0 NY Rangers 3 0 Columbus 2 0

Projected Round 2 Standings

Here are the projected scores and rankings for after round 2. The projection assumes (wrongly, of course) that the remaining players will produce in round 2 at the exact same rate as in round 1, so Jonas Hiller and Simeon Varlamov would both get another two shutouts and 14 points (not likely!).

LOST=Players Lost in Round 1
IMP=Impact (pts. by lost players)
IMP%=Impact as % of total pts.

R1 Rank	Proj. Rank	Name	R2 Projection	R1 Pts.	Lost	IMP	IMP%	Cup
1	1	Samuel Wexler	120	60	0	0	0.0%	PIT
1	1	Judy Wood	120	60	0	0	0.0%	VAN
3	3	Martha Gill	118	59	0	0	0.0%	CAR
6	4	Mike Walsh	114	57	0	0	0.0%	PIT
4	5	Dennis Clayton	112	58	1	4	6.9%	VAN
7	6	David Minuk	107	56	1	5	8.9%	DET
4	7	Mouli Ramani	104	58	3	12	20.7%	WSH
14	7	Julian Vardy	104	52	0	0	0.0%	ANA
14	7	Aron Slipacoff	104	52	0	0	0.0%	VAN
7	10	Aaron Allard	103	56	2	9	16.1%	VAN
9	10	Alex Walsh	103	54	1	5	9.3%	CAR
9	10	Rohit Chandra	103	54	1	5	9.3%	PIT
21	13	Candace Unterschute	102	51	0	0	0.0%	VAN
21	13	Sean Smith	102	51	0	0	0.0%	CAR
21	13	Wayne Wood	102	51	0	0	0.0%	ANA
12	16	Georgina Hubbard	101	53	1	5	9.4%	SJS
26	17	Jen Reilly	100	50	0	0	0.0%	BOS
26	17	Sean Sargent	100	50	0	0	0.0%	VAN
26	17	John Upper	100	50	0	0	0.0%	DET
26	17	Ryan Slack	100	50	0	0	0.0%	DET
14	21	Brent Morris	99	52	1	5	9.6%	DET
14	21	Adam Bloedow	99	52	1	5	9.6%	BOS
33	23	Jerome Brouard	98	49	0	0	0.0%	DET
12	24	Jay Dart	97	53	2	9	17.0%	DET
9	25	Mohan Krishnamoorthy	96	54	3	12	22.2%	SJS
14	25	Richard Doane	96	52	2	8	15.4%	SJS
14	25	Michael Patton	96	52	2	8	15.4%	DET
33	25	Greg Yaroff	96	49	1	2	4.1%	DET
41	25	Kyle Hogg	96	48	0	0	0.0%	WSH
14	30	Peter Sadlier-Brown	95	52	2	9	17.3%	BOS
26	30	Paul Synnott	95	50	1	5	10.0%	BOS
49	32	Barry Potter	94	47	0	0	0.0%	VAN
49	32	Andy Hotson	94	47	0	0	0.0%	CAR
49	32	Becke Gainforth	94	47	0	0	0.0%	WSH
49	32	Einar Gainforth-Beech	94	47	0	0	0.0%	DET
49	32	AJ Stais	94	47	0	0	0.0%	VAN
21	37	Sharon Boitson	93	51	3	9	17.6%	CGY
41	37	Jo-Ann Fahey	93	48	1	3	6.3%	PIT
21	39	Samara McAdam	92	51	3	10	19.6%	SJS
33	39	Li Tan	92	49	1	6	12.2%	PIT
63	39	Bryan Wood	92	46	0	0	0.0%	BOS
63	39	Roger Brouard	92	46	0	0	0.0%	BOS
63	39	Lee Beech	92	46	0	0	0.0%	BOS
33	44	Scott Hamilton	91	49	2	7	14.3%	DET
41	44	Karen Savoie	91	48	1	5	10.4%	PIT
49	46	Peter Holland	90	47	1	4	8.5%	DET
76	46	George Smith	90	45	0	0	0.0%	BOS
26	48	David Hood	89	50	3	11	22.0%	PIT
33	48	Cassandra Jackaman	89	49	2	9	18.4%	DET
49	48	Richard Rikkonen	89	47	1	5	10.6%	VAN
49	48	Chad McVean	89	47	1	5	10.6%	BOS
49	48	Paul Baran	89	47	1	5	10.6%	VAN
26	53	Keith Chappell	88	50	3	12	24.0%	PIT
41	53	Dwight Butler	88	48	2	8	16.7%	BOS
63	53	David Lester	88	46	1	4	8.7%	PIT
86	53	Steven Hawley	88	44	0	0	0.0%	BOS
86	53	Al Champsi	88	44	0	0	0.0%	DET
86	53	Harris Beder	88	44	0	0	0.0%	BOS
86	53	Barrett Boitson	88	44	0	0	0.0%	BOS
33	60	Shane Kozlowich	87	49	3	11	22.4%	SJS
33	60	George Crothers	87	49	3	11	22.4%	SJS
63	60	Michael MacDonald	87	46	1	5	10.9%	CHI
76	60	Sam Fielding	87	45	1	3	6.7%	BOS
76	60	Domenic Vendittelli	87	45	1	3	6.7%	BOS
95	65	Jeff Hammond	86	43	0	0	0.0%	DET
95	65	David Loop	86	43	0	0	0.0%	CHI
95	65	Dan Salerno	86	43	0	0	0.0%	BOS
33	68	Judah Gould	85	49	3	13	26.5%	SJS
41	68	Patrick Provost	85	48	3	11	22.9%	SJS
49	68	Mike Melanson	85	47	2	9	19.1%	PIT
41	71	Rhonda Morris	84	48	3	12	25.0%	SJS
49	71	Patrick Bouchard	84	47	3	10	21.3%	SJS
112	71	Richard Gretzinger	84	42	0	0	0.0%	VAN
112	71	Gabe Pretto	84	42	0	0	0.0%	DET
63	75	Michael Clowater	83	46	2	9	19.6%	PIT
49	76	Mike De Petrillo	82	47	3	12	25.5%	PIT
49	76	Nina Lozano	82	47	3	12	25.5%	DET
95	76	Hank Shannon	82	43	3	4	9.3%	VAN
41	79	George Roman	81	48	4	15	31.3%	PHI
63	79	Rob Phillips	81	46	3	11	23.9%	SJS
63	79	Mary Sue Strickland	81	46	3	11	23.9%	SJS
95	79	Chris Kelley	81	43	1	5	11.6%	DET
63	83	John Crossingham	80	46	3	12	26.1%	SJS
76	83	Brendan Browne	80	45	3	10	22.2%	SJS
76	83	April De Mello	80	45	3	10	22.2%	SJS
76	83	Patrick Gill	80	45	3	10	22.2%	PIT
112	83	Steve Sealy	80	42	1	4	9.5%	PIT
41	88	Jeff Drisdelle	79	48	4	17	35.4%	SJS
86	88	Daniel Wiseman	79	44	2	9	20.5%	SJS
95	88	Colin Kennedy	79	43	2	7	16.3%	VAN
112	88	Max-Zeb Jackaman-Slipacoff	79	42	1	5	11.9%	BOS
112	88	Fraser Macdonald	79	42	1	5	11.9%	DET
112	88	Isa Boucher	79	42	1	5	11.9%	BOS
123	88	Marilyn Beaulieu	79	41	1	3	7.3%	PIT
76	95	Gabriel Strachan	78	45	3	12	26.7%	DET
76	95	Andrew Hamilton	78	45	3	12	26.7%	VAN
86	95	Lee McLeod	78	44	3	10	22.7%	SJS
86	95	Ron Wener	78	44	3	10	22.7%	SJS
86	95	Brenden Kennedy	78	44	3	10	22.7%	SJS
86	95	Vincent Galante	78	44	3	10	22.7%	SJS
95	95	Aaron Pretto	78	43	3	8	18.6%	WSH
95	95	Alvin Gainforth	78	43	2	8	18.6%	BOS
63	103	Duncan Campbell	77	46	4	15	32.6%	SJS
63	103	Puya Vakili-Zad	77	46	3	15	32.6%	BOS
76	103	Ford Hatchett	77	45	3	13	28.9%	BOS
112	103	Todd Beaman	77	42	3	7	16.7%	DET
95	107	Mitch Hatchett	76	43	3	10	23.3%	BOS
95	107	Mark Fahey	76	43	3	10	23.3%	PIT
95	107	Russell Reed	76	43	3	10	23.3%	SJS
95	107	Tracy Smith	76	43	3	10	23.3%	SJS
123	107	Deric Chow	76	41	2	6	14.6%	WSH
95	112	Jean-Yves Bouchard	75	43	3	11	25.6%	SJS
112	112	David Van Kula	75	42	2	9	21.4%	DET
95	114	Brian Labonte	74	43	3	12	27.9%	SJS
112	114	Georgia Strachan	74	42	3	10	23.8%	DET
112	114	Kristie Baran	74	42	3	10	23.8%	SJS
133	114	Jason Roy	74	40	2	6	15.0%	DET
95	118	Ryan Chirnomas	73	43	3	13	30.2%	DET
123	118	Ashleigh Harrington	73	41	3	9	22.0%	SJS
133	118	Elliott Silverstein	73	40	2	7	17.5%	BOS
155	118	Steven Kjellberg	73	38	1	3	7.9%	DET
166	118	Della Santin	73	37	1	1	2.7%	BOS
63	123	Lindsay Adams	72	46	4	20	43.5%	SJS
123	123	Vicki Lewis	72	41	3	10	24.4%	PHI
123	123	Brad Hotson	72	41	3	10	24.4%	WSH
123	123	Joy Smith	72	41	3	10	24.4%	SJS
133	123	Ian Burrows	72	40	3	8	20.0%	BOS
170	123	Ted Kennedy	72	36	0	0	0.0%	WSH
123	129	Mike Newbauer	71	41	3	11	26.8%	DET
123	129	Kevin Hoey	71	41	3	11	26.8%	SJS
123	129	Ian Winsor	71	41	3	11	26.8%	SJS
133	129	Mike van Steendelaar	71	40	2	9	22.5%	BOS
143	129	Red Macaw	71	39	2	7	17.9%	BOS
123	134	Marco Pazzano	70	41	3	12	29.3%	PIT
133	134	Jeff Williams	70	40	3	10	25.0%	SJS
133	134	Jim Dart	70	40	3	10	25.0%	SJS
143	134	Adam Jamieson	70	39	2	8	20.5%	BOS
133	138	Stuart Klein	69	40	3	11	27.5%	SJS
133	138	Grace DeSantis-Peragine	69	40	3	11	27.5%	SJS
133	138	Mitch Wexler	69	40	3	11	27.5%	DET
143	138	Roger Savoie	69	39	3	9	23.1%	BOS
143	138	James McAndrew	69	39	2	9	23.1%	VAN
143	143	Laura Wood	68	39	3	10	25.6%	SJS
143	143	Renee Loubert	68	39	3	10	25.6%	SJS
155	145	Nicholas Gafuik	67	38	2	9	23.7%	DET
133	146	Tim Smith	66	40	4	14	35.0%	CHI
143	146	Brendan Hoey	66	39	4	12	30.8%	DET
155	146	Pierre Gainforth-Beech	66	38	3	10	26.3%	SJS
155	146	Terry Hoey	66	38	3	10	26.3%	SJS
155	146	Bo Chen	66	38	3	10	26.3%	SJS
155	146	Paul Markowski	66	38	2	10	26.3%	BOS
170	146	Jonas Struthers	66	36	2	6	16.7%	BOS
49	153	Stephen Craig	65	47	6	29	61.7%	NJD
76	153	Kevin Hinch	65	45	6	25	55.6%	WSH
95	153	Jean-Pierre Reilly	65	43	4	21	48.8%	DET
155	153	Abraham McAllister	65	38	3	11	28.9%	BOS
63	157	Norrin Ripsman	64	46	5	28	60.9%	NJD
166	157	Cheryl Wallace	64	37	4	10	27.0%	PIT
155	157	Reuben-Apollo Jackaman-Slipacoff	64	38	3	12	31.6%	SJS
155	157	Jordana Wexler	64	38	3	12	31.6%	SJS
155	157	Shadd Dales	64	38	3	12	31.6%	SJS
166	162	Scott Strachan	62	37	3	12	32.4%	SJS
170	162	Matthew Stiles	62	36	3	10	27.8%	SJS
95	164	Blake Wood	61	43	6	25	58.1%	VAN
112	164	Shawn Robichaud	61	42	6	23	54.8%	SJS
143	164	Edwin NewmanJones	61	39	5	17	43.6%	SJS
166	167	Craig Endicott	60	37	4	14	37.8%	SJS
174	167	Chris Smith	60	35	3	10	28.6%	BOS
143	169	Bill Hammond	59	39	5	19	48.7%	SJS
155	169	Gaston Bouchard	59	38	4	17	44.7%	SJS
174	169	Joel Pollock	59	35	3	11	31.4%	SJS
170	172	Stephen Kennedy	56	36	4	16	44.4%	BOS
176	172	Carol Hatchett	56	34	4	12	35.3%	BOS
176	172	Alan Eng	56	34	3	12	35.3%	SJS
178	175	Nam Nguyen	51	33	5	15	45.5%	CGY
181	175	Don Fudge	51	29	3	7	24.1%	DET
143	177	Richard Ciano	49	39	6	29	74.4%	DET
143	177	Ryan Spencer	49	39	6	29	74.4%	NJD
143	177	Sophie Wexler	49	39	6	29	74.4%	NJD
181	180	Patrick Mitchell	48	29	4	10	34.5%	SJS
178	181	Jerry Rynda	46	33	5	20	60.6%	SJS
180	182	Andrew Ryan	41	31	6	21	67.7%	DET
184	183	Dan Sullivan	40	28	6	16	57.1%	BOS
181	184	Emma and Andrew Fielding	37	29	6	21	72.4%	PHI
185	185	Hanna-Marea Kennedy	29	22	8	15	68.2%	CGY