Lord Stanley's Pool 2012 - Round 2 Analysis

Round two was marked with more of the same from round one... the favourites going down. The second-tier favourites that emerged with first round victories - namely St. Louis and Nashville - failed four straight and in five games, respectively. The result is only the New York Rangers remaining out of the top eight teams.

Washington managed to lose in the second round as usual, though this time at least they didn't have the high expectations of years past. Meanwhile Phoenix has made it to the Conference Final for the first time in history (including years as the Jets - and 25 years since making it to round 2).

With most of the remaining picks with the Rangers, the pool outcome will depend in most part on which of the team's players contributes on the scoresheet, and which players each entry has on their card. With a sprinking of Devils and Kings, and few Coyotes, also in the mix, there is enough to keep the outcome in doubt (and in close contention) for the time being.

Mike Smith is the top player in the pool after two rounds.

What a difference a year makes
Last year there were twelve entries still with a full slate of nine players after the second round. This year with the pool decimated, there are only twelve entries with more than three players left. Of those, three poolies have pool-high six players left: Stephen Craig, Sophie Wexler, and Brendon Pretty.

Meanwhile kudos go to others who picked rare players that are performing well. Leading goalie (and leading all players in pool points) Mike Smith (19 pts) was picked only be contender Blair Phillips. Defenseman Keith Yandle (7 pts) was taken only by Eli Hammerman (who has three of the pool's five Coyote picks). Forwards Derek Stepan and Justin Williams (7 pts each) were picked by Mike van Steendelaar and pool leader Stephen Craig respectively.

Goaltending battle hot and heavy
All four remaining teams have their goalie in the mix among the top players. With 67 entries having one of these goalies, it is an interesting and relevant battle going into the third round. Mike Smith has one pick and is leading the pool with 19 points. Martin Brodeur (4 picks) has 16 points including a record three assists. Jonathan Quick (3 picks) has 13 points as does Henrik Lundqvist (59 picks).

The contenders
With most entries out of the running (and many completely out of players) it is a good time to examine the contenders for the big pize in June. While much will depend on which players on each team perform, here are the entries in the running:

Contender	Points	Players	Cup	Notes
Stephen Craig	78	6	NJD	3-LOS, 3-NJD (G: Brodeur)
Amy van Steendelaar	78	3	NYR	3-NYR
Blair Phillips	77	5	pit	3-LOS, 1-PHO, 1-NJD (G: Mike Smith
Sam Moncada	77	3	stl	2-NYR, 1-NJD (G: Lundqvist)
Janine Webster	74	4	LOS	3-LOS, 1-NYR (G: Quick)
Juan Arango	74	3	van	3-NYR (G: Lundqvist)
Stuart Klein	73	4	pit	3-NYR, 1-LOS (G: Lundqvist)
Norrin Ripsman	73	3	NYR	3-NYR (G: Lundqvist)
Judah Gould	72	5	nas	3-NYR, 2-NJD
Mark Coatsworth	72	3	bos	3-NYR
Eli Hammerman	70	5	phi	3-PHO, 2-NJD
Sophie Wexler	69	6	NYR	3-LOS, 3-NYR (G: Lundqvist)
Terry Hoey	69	5	NYR	3-NYR, 2-NJD (G: Lundqvist)
Shane Kozlowich	67	4	NYR	3-NYR, 1-NJD (G: Lundqvist)
Brendon Pretty	63	6	LOS	3-LOS, 2-NJD, 1-NYR (G: Quick)

Mitch's predictions
A 2-2 round two puts me at 5-7 on the year but I still have time to get over .500! Let's see if I can nail the last three. I'm calling the Rangers to meet LA in a coast-to-coast megacity final.

Who's Hot and Who's Not: We've seen comebacks before but never such a massive turnaround in a single round as Judah Gould's rocket climb from 206th to 9th. Here are the Hot and Not lists for round two:

Hot	Pos. Gain (R1, R2)	Hot	Rd2 Pts.
Judah Gould	197 (206,9)	Judah Gould	41
Dryden Craig	151 (214,63)	Amy van Steendelaar	35
Brendon Pretty	135 (172,37)	Terry Hoey	32
David Loop	118 (194,76)	Sophie Wexler	30
Terry Hoey	116 (129,13)	Brendon Pretty	29
Jim Dart	96 (172,76)	Blair Phillips	29

Not	Pos. Loss (R1, R2)	Not	Rd2 Pts.
Patrick Gill	122 (21,143)	25 Entries	0
Barrett Boitson	111 (51,162)
Russell Reed	110 (59,169)
Dave Poitras	110 (42,152)
Ken Shuter	101 (51,152)

Team and Player Stats:

Top Players

Forwards Team Pts Picks

Claude Giroux PHI 17 28

Daniel Briere PHI 13 2

Ilya Kovalchuk NJD 12 42

Dustin Brown LOS 11 3

Brad Richards NYR 11 64

Travis Zajac NJD 10 0

Jakub Voracek PHI 10 1

Anze Kopitar LOS 10 8
Andy McDonald STL 10 8

Marian Gaborik NYR 10 81

Defense Team Pts Picks

Michael Del Zotto NYR 8 20

Daniel Girardi NYR 7 0

Keith Yandle PHO 7 1

Goalies Team Pts Picks

Mike Smith PHO 19 1

Martin Brodeur NJD 16 4

Jon Quick LOS 13 3

Henrik Lundqvist NYR 13 59

Teams

IN Picks Cups

New York 239 37

New Jersey 85 3

Los Angeles 31 2

Phoenix 5 0

OUT Picks Cups

Nashville 153 8

St. Louis 131 11

Philadelphia 66 8

Washington 35 3

Projected Round 3 Standings

Here are the projected scores and rankings for after round 3. The projection assumes (wrongly, of course) that the players you have alive will produce in round 3 at the same average rate as in rounds 1 and 2, so Martin Brodeur would get half an assist, while Mike Smith would score another shutout.

(R1)
(R2)
Proj. Rank
Name
Score
Alive
Cup
Rd3 Projection

4 1 1 Stephen Craig 78 6 NJD 106
11 3 2 Blair Phillips 77 5 PIT 103
206 9 3 Judah Gould 72 5 NSH 96
129 13 3 Terry Hoey 69 5 NYR 96
31 7 5 Stuart Klein 73 4 PIT 95
100 13 5 Sophie Wexler 69 6 NYR 95
5 3 7 Sam Moncada 77 3 STL 94
51 1 8 Amy van Steendelaar 78 3 NYR 92
21 5 8 Janine Pileggi 74 4 LAK 92
5 5 10 Juan Arango 74 3 VAN 91
172 37 10 Brendon Pretty 63 6 LAK 91
3 7 12 Norrin Ripsman 73 3 NYR 90
68 20 12 Shane Kozlowich 67 4 NYR 90
42 11 14 Eli Hammerman 70 5 PHI 88
42 9 15 Mark Coatsworth 72 3 BOS 86
21 13 15 Becke Gainforth 69 3 NYR 86
15 13 15 James Beder 69 3 NYR 86
31 18 18 Douglas Wilkinson 68 3 VAN 85
59 11 19 Sean Sargent 70 3 NSH 84
42 20 19 Sean Smith 67 3 PIT 84
42 20 19 Evan Hoey 67 3 DET 84
5 23 19 Brent Morris 66 3 VAN 84
15 23 23 Oliver Porebski 66 3 NYR 83
51 23 23 Julian Pessole 66 3 NYR 83
15 31 25 Mike Melanson 64 3 NYR 81
15 31 25 Siyeon Lee 64 3 NYR 81
15 31 25 David Hart 64 3 PIT 81
1 13 28 Jason Feltz 69 2 PIT 80
51 29 28 John Upper 65 3 NYR 80
21 37 28 Don Colangelo 63 3 PIT 80
21 37 28 Shane Davey 63 3 NYR 80
21 37 28 Brendan Browne 63 3 NYR 80
21 37 28 Stefano Pileggi 63 3 NYR 80
21 37 28 Joseph Roul 63 3 NYR 80
21 37 28 Tracy Smith 63 3 NYR 80
21 37 28 Blair Miller 63 3 VAN 80
1 18 37 Frank DiGirolomo 68 2 NYR 79
51 23 37 Nathan Kress 66 3 PIT 79
83 23 37 Shawn Robichaud 66 3 PIT 79
83 23 37 Joel Borgida 66 3 PIT 79
31 31 37 Mouli Ramani 64 3 NYR 79
31 48 37 Scott Poitras 62 3 NYR 79
31 48 37 Kyle Hogg 62 3 NYR 79
42 48 37 Laurena Clark 62 3 VAN 79
31 48 45 Dustin Hall 62 3 NYR 77
100 31 46 Martha Gill 64 3 PIT 76
59 37 46 Richard Gretzinger 63 3 NYR 76
59 58 46 Kevin Hinch 59 3 NYR 76
83 37 49 Kevin Boomer 63 3 PIT 75
51 55 49 Dennis Clayton 60 3 PIT 75
83 63 49 Reuben-Apollo Jackaman-Slipacoff 57 3 VAN 75
68 31 52 Jordan Ford 64 2 STL 74
83 63 52 Dan Sullivan 57 3 PIT 74
138 63 52 Luke McEachnie 57 4 PIT 74
11 55 55 James McAndrew 60 2 PIT 72
68 61 55 Della Santin 58 3 NYR 72
42 61 55 Andrew Ryan 58 3 PIT 72
68 72 55 Rachelle Gaudet 56 3 NJD 72
172 76 55 Jim Dart 55 3 NYR 72
194 76 55 David Loop 55 3 NSH 72
5 37 61 Aaron Vedder 63 2 STL 71
151 58 61 Jeff Brinston 59 2 WSH 71
113 63 61 Graham Haines 57 3 VAN 71
113 63 61 Frank Pileggi 57 3 PIT 71
113 63 61 Mitch Wexler 57 3 PIT 71
214 63 61 Dryden Craig 57 3 NYR 71
68 55 67 Marco Pazzano 60 2 PIT 70
113 76 67 Jake Poitras 55 3 NYR 70
138 90 67 George Smith 53 3 NYR 70
138 90 67 Kevin Hoey 53 3 NYR 70
59 58 71 Keith Chappell 59 2 PIT 69
11 48 72 Carl Pledger 62 1 PHI 68
59 48 72 Patrick Bouchard 62 1 PIT 68
31 63 72 Andy Hotson 57 2 PIT 68
83 76 72 Peter Clark 55 3 PIT 68
31 54 76 Len Neglia 61 1 VAN 67
31 72 76 Whitt Newbauer 56 2 NYR 67
68 72 76 Laura Tackaberry 56 2 VAN 67
182 115 76 Connor Brewster 50 3 NYR 67
68 76 80 Brandon Kubis 55 2 NYR 66
172 105 80 Jack Moncada 51 3 NYR 66
68 29 82 James Smith 65 0 PHI 65
83 76 82 Ryan Thompson 55 2 PIT 65
100 90 82 Maxwell Brewster 53 3 PIT 65
206 134 82 Einar Gainforth-Beech 47 3 NJD 65
83 83 86 Jamie Robichaud 54 2 VAN 64
100 83 86 Roger Brouard 54 2 PIT 64
100 83 86 Dan Leggieri 54 2 VAN 64
113 98 86 Tommy Juranka 52 3 VAN 64
42 90 90 Brandon Poitras 53 2 CHI 63
129 90 90 Pasqi Porco 53 2 PIT 63
194 105 90 Paul Groba 51 3 BOS 63
206 134 90 Jamie Duggan 47 3 BOS 63
68 72 94 Ruth Beder 56 1 PIT 62
113 90 94 Mohan Krishnamoorthy 53 2 PIT 62
113 90 94 Dwight Butler 53 2 PIT 62
172 105 94 Allan Boynton 51 3 BOS 62
11 76 98 Adam Bloedow 55 1 BOS 61
59 98 98 Jeff Bangs 52 2 DET 61
113 105 98 Shadd Dales 51 2 VAN 61
100 115 98 Max Porebski 50 2 NYR 61
151 124 98 Pat Moncada 49 3 PIT 61
172 134 98 Brendan Hoey 47 3 NYR 61
113 105 104 Avery Spedding 51 2 PIT 60
113 105 104 Tyler Robinson 51 2 PIT 60
194 128 104 Karla Webster Gill 48 3 VAN 60
214 128 104 Paula Santin 48 3 PHI 60
100 83 108 Sam Fielding 54 1 NSH 59
83 83 108 Ray Amarsi 54 1 PIT 59
100 105 108 David Minuk 51 2 VAN 59
129 115 108 Steven Kjellberg 50 2 PIT 59
113 98 112 Frank Iusi 52 1 VAN 58
129 98 112 Shannon Brewster 52 1 VAN 58
194 128 112 Ryan Courville 48 2 STL 58
228 143 112 George Crothers 46 3 NSH 58
83 63 116 Mike Siegler 57 0 VAN 57
129 98 116 Nick Mechar 52 1 NSH 57
100 105 116 Vincent Galante 51 1 PIT 57
172 134 116 Steven Hawley 47 2 VAN 57
42 105 120 Fraser Macdonald 51 1 PIT 56
68 115 120 Shane Firth 50 1 PIT 56
151 143 120 Ron Wener 46 2 PIT 56
228 177 120 Ragulan Vathsalan 41 4 NYR 56
138 134 124 Todd Beaman 47 2 PIT 55
15 83 125 Harris Beder 54 0 BOS 54
151 83 125 Brad Hotson 54 0 PHI 54
5 90 127 Cooper Levens 53 0 STL 53
83 115 127 Jeff Drisdelle 50 1 PIT 53
138 115 127 Rob Sutherland 50 1 NSH 53
218 128 127 Mathew Seemann 48 1 BOS 53
83 134 127 Alex Barron 47 1 PIT 53
206 169 127 Kristoff Porebski 42 2 CHI 53
5 98 133 Jerry Rynda 52 0 PIT 52
83 98 133 Ethan Craig 52 0 STL 52
151 134 133 Chris Vigna 47 1 PIT 52
100 143 133 Mark Brewster 46 1 PIT 52
100 143 133 Mark Norman 46 1 VAN 52
83 105 138 Steve Feltz 51 0 PHI 51
113 143 138 Brad MacDonald 46 1 BOS 51
83 143 138 Marc Dupuis 46 1 PIT 51
68 115 141 Peter Holland 50 0 BOS 50
31 115 141 Ryan Chirnomas 50 0 VAN 50
59 115 141 Julian Vardy 50 0 PHI 50
100 152 141 Jacqui Snow 45 1 PIT 50
138 158 141 Scott Morgan 44 2 PIT 50
31 124 146 Samara McAdam 49 0 BOS 49
68 124 146 Dave Spedding 49 0 PIT 49
68 124 146 Aron Slipacoff 49 0 BOS 49
138 158 146 Chris McCluskey 44 1 PIT 49
129 128 150 Brett Kirkpatrick 48 0 PIT 48
113 128 150 Carol Phillips 48 0 PIT 48
194 162 150 Peter Hogg 43 1 PIT 48
51 134 153 Paul Smits 47 0 PIT 47
83 134 153 Marilyn Beaulieu 47 0 DET 47
206 169 153 Brenden Kennedy 42 1 BOS 47
151 169 153 Beth Foster 42 1 PIT 47
68 143 157 Alison Sargent 46 0 BOS 46
21 143 157 Patrick Gill 46 0 PIT 46
59 143 157 Mel McNulty 46 0 PIT 46
172 177 157 Avie Flaherty 41 1 PIT 46
182 184 157 Mike van Steendelaar 39 2 PIT 46
223 190 157 Tim Smith 38 2 CHI 46
68 152 163 Dan Salerno 45 0 STL 45
151 152 163 Carter Reed 45 0 VAN 45
42 152 163 Dave Poitras 45 0 PIT 45
51 152 163 Ken Shuter 45 0 PIT 45
151 152 163 Campbell Clark-Smith 45 0 PIT 45
83 158 168 Sascha Bloedow 44 0 STL 44
151 158 168 Paula Brinston 44 0 WSH 44
51 162 170 Barrett Boitson 43 0 PIT 43
218 162 170 Darlene Boitson 43 0 STL 43
138 162 170 Colin Laird 43 0 PHI 43
182 162 170 Hanna-Marea Kennedy 43 0 PIT 43
138 162 170 David Schamma 43 0 PIT 43
138 162 170 Kara Spedding 43 0 PIT 43
151 177 170 Diego DeMarco 41 1 PIT 43
100 169 177 Randy Stewart 42 0 PIT 42
59 169 177 Russell Reed 42 0 BOS 42
113 169 177 Samuel Wexler 42 0 VAN 42
151 169 177 Colin McSweeney 42 0 PIT 42
129 169 177 Brad Moulton 42 0 PIT 42
206 197 177 Steve Sealy 37 1 PIT 42
138 177 183 Marie Loop 41 0 PIT 41
182 177 183 Alexander Bondarenko 41 0 VAN 41
206 184 183 David Valenti 39 1 VAN 41
151 182 186 Fred Slade 40 0 STL 40
113 182 186 Deric Chow 40 0 STL 40
151 184 188 Lee Beech 39 0 PIT 39
218 184 188 Steve Lusk 39 0 VAN 39
172 184 188 Andrew Hamilton 39 0 VAN 39
129 184 188 Rob Phillips 39 0 PIT 39
224 211 188 Aaron Allard 34 1 PIT 39
182 190 193 Peter Seemann 38 0 PIT 38
113 190 193 Sanjay Talwar 38 0 PIT 38
151 190 193 Adam Jamieson 38 0 PIT 38
206 190 193 Ava McAdam-Beder 38 0 PIT 38
172 190 193 Leo Gaudet 38 0 PIT 38
138 190 193 Pierre Gainforth-Beech 38 0 PIT 38
194 197 199 Karen Savoie 37 0 PIT 37
151 197 199 Joy Smith 37 0 PIT 37
194 197 199 Aaron Pretto 37 0 PIT 37
129 197 199 Ian Winsor 37 0 VAN 37
138 202 203 Scott Strachan 36 0 PIT 36
182 202 203 Rohit Chandra 36 0 PIT 36
151 204 205 Jay Dart 35 0 PIT 35
151 204 205 Mike De Petrillo 35 0 PIT 35
151 204 205 Al Champsi 35 0 BOS 35
151 204 205 Azra Champsi 35 0 PIT 35
228 204 205 Jeff Jacobs 35 0 WSH 35
151 204 205 Max-Zeb Jackaman-Slipacoff 35 0 PIT 35
151 204 205 Mike Newbauer 35 0 PIT 35
182 211 212 Gabe Pretto 34 0 PIT 34
226 211 212 Cheryl Wallace 34 0 VAN 34
233 211 212 Colin Kennedy 34 0 NSH 34
172 211 212 Craig Laird 34 0 CHI 34
194 211 212 Alvin Gainforth 34 0 PIT 34
224 226 212 David Van Kula 31 2 PIT 34
182 217 218 Martin Lefebvre 33 0 PIT 33
182 217 218 Rhonda Morris 33 0 VAN 33
182 217 218 Chris Smith 33 0 BOS 33
182 217 218 Ryan Slack 33 0 PIT 33
182 217 218 Nolan Sarner 33 0 PIT 33
194 222 223 Laura Hoffer 32 0 VAN 32
194 222 223 Alan Eng 32 0 PIT 32
194 222 223 Jerry Daleez 32 0 PIT 32
194 222 223 Sharon Boitson 32 0 PIT 32
218 227 227 Noah Bloedow 30 0 VAN 30
214 227 227 Denis Melanson 30 0 PIT 30
214 227 227 Richard Tattersall 30 0 VAN 30
218 230 230 Stephanie Gawur 29 0 CHI 29
228 231 231 Ted Kennedy 28 0 VAN 28
232 232 232 Ron Ego 26 0 OTT 26
226 233 233 Cyril Beaman 25 0 BOS 25