
Opening Analysis / Round 1 / Round 2 / Round 3 / Final
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Ben Bishop has had a dominating performance in the pool with three shutouts and three assists to go with his 12 wins. |
Round 3 of Lord Stanley's Pool 2015 was one for the ages. Both series were classic seven-game matchups with high scoring and shutouts - and pool records were smashed in a number of measures. What started out as quite a low-scoring contest in round one has turned into the highest-point pool in LSP history.
Of note in round 3:
***Most points in round 3*** - the previous record of 63 (2011) was smashed by Dave Spedding, the new record holder at 72, along with six others plus another two who tied it. Prior to 2011 the record was only 46 points, so that makes only two out of 17 pools with more than 46 in round 3.
***Highest leading total after round 3*** - Sarah Wardell's near-perfect entry (more on that below) has 171 points which smashed the previous after-R3 high of 155 set in 2009. Two others also beat the previous high. The all-time pool high of 187 is in serious jeopardy.
***Most points on one night in round 3*** - May 26 had Kento Onishi collect 14 points, a new record for games in round 3, beating the previous high of 12.
Ben Bishop collected his ***second shutout-plus-assist game*** in the same playoffs, an astounding feat considering they were both game 7 2-0 victories, and that shutout-assist games have only happened six times in the previous 16 pools and never two in the same year. In fact only one goalie, Martin Brodeur, had done this twice, but years apart.
Entering the final round we have 18 poolies with a roster of six players, more records to be broken, and an exciting finish so stay tuned!
Sarah Wardell's round-3 record 171 points was not simply a product of high scoring games. Sarah has picked as nearly-perfect an entry as we have ever seen in Lord Stanley's Pool. With the exception of picking Steve Stamkos instead of Tyler Johnson (and who in their right mind would have done otherwise), every other player Sarah picked is on the current dream team - a variance of just four points. After game 5 it had been just one point off. Now since Sarah picked the Ducks for the Cup bonus those ten points will also be missed in the end, but it has been a remarkable feat thus far. Congratulations! Sarah might want to offer consulting services to poolies next year.
As a completely irrelevant fact, it is also the second consecutive year that the leader through rounds 2 and 3 has the initials "SW". Look it up!
As we often see in the final round, most of the contenders have some of the same players, so the difference-makers are fewer than it appears. But this year took it to the next level: five of the six players of all top contenders are the same. Essentially deemed irrelevant for the finals are Bishop, Stamkos, Kane, Toews, and Keith. The challengers will have a single player that needs to out-perform a single other player.
In the case of a Chicago win, Sarah Wardell has first place essentially wrapped up. She has a six point lead with Nikita Kucherov ahead of second place Harper Christie-Allard who has defenseman Victor Hedman. Hedman would need six points more than Kucherov for Harper to catch up. Dave Spedding is four points behind Harper and has Tyler Johnson - certainly a possibility for him to catch Harper for second. Sherri Rowe and Jessica Thompson, the top two who picked Chicago, would be longshots to reach the podium in third, but some shutouts by Corey Crawford would help Jessica's chances (the only exception to my note above about Bishop).
If Tampa Bay wins, Harper Christie-Allard has the edge by four points over current leaderSarah Wardell and Dave Spedding who would be tied for second. Both would certainly have a chance to win, Sarah needing Kucherov and Dave needing Johnson to close the four-point gap against Harper's Hedman. This would be the closest and most exciting finish to watch. The nearest challenger would be Norrin Ripsman, starting six points out of the money with Ondrej Palat as his difference-maker.
Good luck to all!
Tampa Bay win | |
| | Chicago win | |
Harper Christie-Allard | 165 (+10) | Bishop,Stamkos,Hedman,Kane,Toews,Keith | |
Sarah Wardell | 171 | Bishop,Stamkos,Kucherov,Kane,Toews,Keith |
Sarah Wardell | 171 | Bishop,Stamkos,Kucherov,Kane,Toews,Keith | |
Harper Christie-Allard | 165 | Bishop,Stamkos,Hedman,Kane,Toews,Keith |
Dave Spedding | 161 (+10) | Bishop,Stamkos,Johnson,Kane,Toews,Keith | |
Dave Spedding | 161 | Bishop,Stamkos,Johnson,Kane,Toews,Keith |
Norrin Ripsman | 155 (+10) | Bishop,Stamkos,Palat,Kane,Toews,Keith | |
Sherri Rowe | 147 (+10) | Stamkos,Johnson,Hedman,Kane,Toews,Keith |
Kento Onishi | 151 (+10) | Bishop,Stamkos,Johnson,Kane,Keith | |
Norrin Ripsman | 155 | Bishop,Stamkos,Palat,Kane,Toews,Keith |
Aaron Allard | 146 (+10) | Bishop,Stamkos,Johnson | |
Jessica Thompson | 145 (+10) | Stamkos,Johnson,Hedman,Kane,Toews,Crawford |
Maria De Marco | 153 | Bishop,Stamkos,Johnson | |
Maria De Marco | 153 | Bishop,Stamkos,Johnson |
Donna Thompson | 152 | Stamkos,Kane,Toews,Keith | |
Donna Thompson | 152 | Stamkos,Kane,Toews,Keith |
Ken Wilcox | 149 | Stamkos,Johnson,Kucherov,Kane,Toews,Keith | |
Kento Onishi | 151 | Bishop,Stamkos,Johnson,Kane,Keith |
Hot |
Pos. Gain (R2,R3) |
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Hot |
Rd3 Pts. |
Chris Mossey |
102 (201,99) |
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Dave Spedding |
72 |
Frank Pileggi |
91 (117,26) |
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Norrin Ripsman |
70 |
Mark Coatsworth |
83 (170,87) |
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Kento Onishi |
69 |
Becke Gainforth |
81 (218,137) |
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Sarah Wardell |
68 |
Mike De Petrillo |
79 (222,143) |
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Harper Christie-Allard |
67 |
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Not |
Pos. Loss (R2,R3) |
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Not |
Rd3 Pts. |
Fred Slade |
114 (82,196) |
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14 People with: |
0 |
Shannon Brewster |
102 (77,179) |
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Jonathan Carter |
90 (77,167) |
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Paula Santin |
89 (125,214) |
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David Schamma |
87 (109,196) |
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Top Players |
Forwards |
Team |
Pts |
Picks |
Tyler Johnson |
TAM |
21 |
60 |
Patrick Kane |
CHI |
20 |
87 |
Ryan Getzlaf |
ANA |
20 |
117 |
Nikita Kucherov |
TAM |
19 |
13 |
Jakob Silfverberg |
ANA |
18 |
2 |
Corey Perry |
ANA |
18 |
84 |
Jonathan Toews |
CHI |
18 |
116 |
Steven Stamkos |
TAM |
17 |
138 |
Alex Killorn |
TAM |
16 |
0 |
Derick Brassard |
NYR |
16 |
37 |
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Defense |
Team |
Pts |
Picks |
Duncan Keith |
CHI |
18 |
76 |
Sami Vatanen |
ANA |
11 |
14 |
Keith Yandle |
NYR |
11 |
63 |
Hampus Lindholm |
ANA |
10 |
1 |
Dan Boyle |
CHI |
10 |
2 |
Brent Seabrook |
CHI |
10 |
5 |
Cam Fowler |
ANA |
10 |
6 |
Victor Hedman |
TAM |
10 |
30 |
Goalies |
Team |
Pts |
Picks |
Ben Bishop |
TAM |
30 |
27 |
Frederik Andersen |
ANA |
16 |
9 |
Corey Crawford |
CHI |
14 |
20 |
Petr Mrazek |
DET |
13 |
1 |
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Teams |
IN |
Picks |
Cups |
Chicago |
340 |
41 |
Tampa Bay |
296 |
25 |
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OUT |
Picks |
Cups |
NY Rangers |
447 |
79 |
Anaheim |
251 |
18 |
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Continuing my pattern of one miss per round, I'm now at a respectable 11-3, even if my pool picks did not quite pan out the same way. For my final pick I still don't like to see the name "Tampa Bay" on the Cup (again), even if I like the players and Stevie Y. And you should never count out Chicago. So... go Hawks!
Here are the projected scores and rankings for after
round 4, not including the Cup winner bonus. The projection assumes (wrongly, of course) that the players you
have alive will produce in round 4 at the same average rate as in the first
three rounds. Of course, if you have no players left, you will definitely have the same score as you have now!
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