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| Daniel Sedin did not have much competition in being the most popular pick in the pool. |
Opening analysis / Round 1 / Round 2 / Round 3 / Final
The Vancouver Canucks' outstanding regular season has made them the clear favourite to win the Cup and the most popular team in the pool. Half (102 of 205) of the entries have picked the Canucks to win, and three quarters have loaded up on its players.
Canuck players were picked 452 times, a wide margin over Washington (274) and San Jose (258) while Boston (203) also had significant support.
These teams also had moderate support for a Cup win, with the Sharks getting 35 picks, and Boston 23, though Washington was only chosen on 16 entries - due either to their famous playoff futility, or their question marks in goal.
Getting modest support was Detroit, 159 players and 7 Cup picks, and Anaheim with 150 and 6, while Philadelphia (115, 5) and Tampa Bay (103, 4) were also popular.
A changing of the guard at the top of the player popularity charts has Daniel Sedin in first with 157 picks, a comfortable margin over brother Henrik (127) and Alexander Ovechkin (126).
Daniel's presence on 77% of the entries effectively nullifies him as an impact player in the pool, though along with Henrik's and Ovechkin's 61%, they will be expected to produce in a big way.
On defense, however, there wasn't quite as clear a consensus as in the past. San Jose's Dan Boyle (69 picks) edged out a resurgent Nicklas Lidstrom (68) to take top spot, while Zdeno Chara is close behind with 52. The top teams aren't represented on defense until Christian Ehrhoff's fourth place ranking with 41 picks. Numerous other defensemen can make an impact this year due to the parity of these picks. Look for one or more of these players to make a difference in the outcome of the pool.
After last year's break from tradition due to Cup contenders having goalie tandems, this year's goalie picks return to the familiar pattern of strong goalies backing people's Cup picks. Roberto Luongo leads goalie picks by a wide margin, with 85, far ahead of Boston's Tim Thomas at 8. Antti Niemi, last year's emergent goalie from Cup-champion Chicago, has 34 picks this year with San Jose.
In the cases of Boston and San Jose, it is perhaps their strong goaltending that gave poolies the confidence to pick them to go the distance more often than other teams, though Thomas got additional picks from others less bullish on his team.
For Luongo, with over 40% of the goalie picks, the pressure will be on to carry his team as well as the half of the pool looking for Vancouver to bring the silver chalice back to Canada.
Last year's conference finalists, with the exception of Vancouver, don't seem to be given much credibility for a long run this year. Cup finalist Philadelphia was given only half of the player support as Boston, and only six Cup picks. Montreal and Chicago combine for only 36 players and one Cup pick. The Blackhawks dismantled and barely made the playoffs - and play the Canucks in the first round - but few seem to expect the same playoff magic by the Flyers or the Habs this year.
My predictions mean absolutely nothing, as past pools will show. So without further ado:
Washington, Philadelphia, Boston, Tampa Bay, Vancouver, Los Angeles, Detroit, Anaheim. I'm going with LA and TB for the upsets and sticking to my original plan to take Boston even though I'm writing this late nd they're down 2-0.
Here are the most common players in this year's pool.
F:
Daniel Sedin, Van (151 picks)
Alexander Ovechkin, Was (127)
Henrik Sedin, Van (126)
Nicklas Backstrom, Was (77)
Patrick Marleau, San (67)
Corey Perry, Ana (63)
D:
Dan Boyle, SJ (69)
Nicklas Lidstrom, Det (68)
G:
Roberto Luongo, Van (85)
Last year:
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)
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