Lord Stanley's Pool 2014 - Final Analysis

The best, most exciting team in the NHL won the Cup this year in a dominant final - after plenty of drama on the way there. Eight times facing elimination, including coming back from 0-3 in their first round series, highlights what many have been saying: you can't kill the Kings.

In the pool, what was expected to be a pedestrian final with only a couple of outside contenders vying for the position in the top three, became an unexpected upset when Jonathan Quick stole the show in the final round. His shutout combined with Justin Williams' standout performance lifted two longshots into the top two positions after the Kings' championship. Congratulations to Jessica Thompson on her one-point victory and to Nolan Sarner for placing second. Jessica started the final round in 12th place after being in 46th the round before, while Nolan started the final in 23rd after being in 74th the round before.

Hanging on to third place, just one point behind Nolan are Stephen Craig and Joan Coveny, who share the third prize by virtue of a single scoring play in the final game. Marian Gaborik's goal would have put Samuel Wexler in third - after leading most of the pool - but assists on that play by Jeff Carter and Drew Doughty leapfrogged the pair over Sam, leaving him in fifth place only one point out.

Key to the pool
Picking the teams that win is always the goal in this pool, and sometimes it is only part of the story. This year rather than needing players from both Cup finalists, it was the western conference finalists that you needed to include to be in the running. In the end you needed three players from LA including goaltender Jonathan Quick, and the right two or three from Chicago, to find yourself in the money in 2014. That few people picked Rangers players did not matter - Chicago's forwards had more points.

Hindsight award winner rides Conn Smythe performance to 2nd place finish
The pool's most popular player has only once won the Conn Smythe trophy (last year). This year's winner Justin Williams was picked only by Nolan Sarner - making him a significant beneficiary of that hindsight-worthy pick. Williams' 25 points puts him on the Dream Team and helped lift Nolan onto the podium.

Dream Team
The best picks possible under the rules of the pool, the Dream Team is the combination of players you were going to pick all along (before you changed your mind, right?). This year although Jonathan Quick was the top goalie and part of the key to winning the pool, under the rules of the Dream Team he doesn't make the cut because switching out one of the LA forwards in exchange would result in fewer points. So King Henrik gets the nod - but I'm sure Quick is just fine with the Cup over the Dream Team. Similarly, Drew Doughty was the top defender but doesn't make the cut either.

For Henrik Lundqvist it's his second Dream Team nod in the same year, including Shoot for Gold 2014. Patrick Kane gets his third selection, as do Martin St.Louis and Ryan Getzlaf (although the latter two are there as alternate one-of choices).

See all dream teams here.

2014 Dream Team
Goalie
Henrik Lundqvist, NYR, 19 pts. (6 picks)
Defense
Ryan McDonagh, NYR, 17 (8 picks)
P.K. Subban, Mon, 14 (22 picks) OR Brent Seabrook, Chi, 15 (2 picks)
Forwards
Anze Kopitar, Los, 26 (35 picks)
Justin Williams, Los, 25 (1 pick)
Jeff Carter, Los, 25 (11 picks)
Patrick Kane, Chi, 20 (63 picks)
Jonathan Toews, Chi, 17 (44 picks)
Brandon Saad, Chi, 16 (no picks) OR one of Derek Stepan (3 picks) or Martin St. Louis (9), NYR or Ryan Getzlaf (90), Ana, 15
Team: Los Angeles, 10
Dream Team Score: 189 points
Winning Score: 143 points

Playing the long game
Some years there is more movement in the standings than others, and this year with few favourites knocked out in round 1 and then most eliminated in round 2, there were few opportunities to climb the great distances from the bottom half of the pool. Nevertheless, four people managed to climb from 100th or below after round 1, to enter the top 20 in the end. David Loop made the most significant climb, from 147th after the opening round to 8th while Steve Sealy also started in the bottom half, from 135th to 15th. Craig Endicott and Ryan McLennan both sat in 100th and they made it to 9th and 10th respectively.

Goalie battle mattered in the end
The goalie battle is often the most important single position to watch in the pool, with a healthy battle between groups that picked different goalies. This year's overwhelming choice of Tuukka Rask, with 122 picks (over half the pool), made that battle seem a little less relevant - and in the end Rask performed pretty well with 18 points. But the surge in the end by Jonathan Quick - the second-most picked goalie if only by 16 people - re-shaped the final standings and lifted both of the top two into the money. Lesson learned: the goalie battle is usually relevant through to the end.

This year's pool records
For the first time ever we have had no pool records broken this year! I guess that's a futility record. There are so many silly stats in the records that you'd think we'd break at least one of them. Well anyway, in case you want to, see the pool records here.