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| Despite being left off the Olympic team, Mike Green is the most popular defenseman for the second consecutive year. |
Opening analysis / Round 1 / Round 2 / Round 3 / Final
Washinton's outstanding regular season has translated into significant pool support, with about two thirds of the pool loading up their offence with Capitals and almost one third picking them to win.
Capitals players were picked 444 times, a wide margin over Chicago (283) and Pittsburgh (266). These were also the most popular Cup choices, with 61 for Washington, 35 for Pittsburgh, and 29 for Chicago.
Getting modest support was San Jose, 199 players and 21 Cup picks, perhaps tempered by past playoff failures which are bound to be put to rest one year or another. Detroit had strong player support with 175 picks (9 Cups) while Vancouver (158, 18) and New Jersey (142, 14) were also popular.
A second straight season of popular Capitals has put Alexander Ovechkin and Mike Green on top of the forwards and defense pick lists again this year.
Ovie is on 157 of 197 entries, with Sidney Crosby (118) and Ovie linemate Nicklas Backstrom (116) a little ways back. After Patrick Kane's 96 picks are a dozen players in the 30 to 70 pick range.
Joining Washington's Mike Green (128 picks) as a leading defenseman is Blackhawk Duncan Keith (92). From there, there is a big drop to Sergei Gonchar (42), Dan Boyle (39), and Nicklas Lidstrom (39).
Lidstrom's tied-for-fourth-place showing is his worst in the 12 years of Lord Stanley's Pool - he has never previously placed lower than a tie for second.
Washington's wide lead in pool popularity, and Chicago's second place among player picks and third in Cup picks, did not translate into goaltending selections. These teams' goalie tandems resulted in only seven picks each for Jose Theodore and Antti Niemi despite their being named as #1 goalies. Even unknown Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard had more picks (14).
The most surprising result of pool selections, however, is that Martin Brodeur was somehow the beneficiary of this confusion. The Devils were 6th with 14 Cup picks and seventh in player picks but Brodeur was picked 48 times to Marc-Andre Fleury's 33 and Roberto Luongo's 30. So much for the usual pattern of top contending teams providing the top goalie.
Brodeur is most popular despite people getting burned by him in this year's Olympic pool, and despite being the pool's biggest bust on two occasions in the past. The future Hall of Famer still gets plenty of respect and is expected to perform even if his team is not a favourite to reach the finals.
The Senators' return to the playoffs after an absence last year has excited the large contingent of Ottawa fans in the pool, but the reality of facing the defending Cup champions has most expecting a first-round exit. Only 24 player picks were taken though three have bet on them to win it all. They had a strong season and are better than many realize, but are unlikely to take down the Penguins despite their series-opening victory.
My predictions mean absolutely nothing, as past pools will show. So without further ado:
Washington, New Jersey, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, San Jose, Chicago, Vancouver, Detroit. I don't think I'm surprising anyone with these picks - they seem to be the consensus among pundits.
Here are the most common players in this year's pool.
F:
Alexander Ovechkin, Was (158 picks)
Sidney Crosby, Pit (120)
Nicklas Backstrom, Was (115)
Patrick Kane, Chi (97)
Evgeni Malkin, Pit (71)
Henrik Sedin, Van (70)
D:
Mike Green, Was (128)
Duncan Keith, Chi (92)
G:
Martin Brodeur, NJD (48)
Last year:
F:
Alexander Ovechkin, Was (122 picks)
Joe Thornton, San (111)
Pavel Datsyuk, Det (105)
Mark Savard, Bos (89)
Evgeni Malkin, Pit (70)
Henrik Zetterberg, Det (69)
D:
Mike Green, Was (98)
Nicklas Lidstrom, Det (77)
G:
Evgeny Nabokov, San (53)
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