
Opening Analysis / Round 1 / Round 2 / Round 3 / Final
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| Malkin and Crosby are the top two in the playoff scoring race, but will not factor into the pool outcome in the final round. |
The Stanley Cup playoffs always seem to have an interesting storyline and this year's is no exception. A new Cup winner will be crowned - either the Capitals breaking the D.C. curse or the improbable (and pre-season odds-defying) Golden Knights winning in their expansion year. For the Capitals, it is their second Finals appearance - the first being in 1998 during the inaugural Lord Stanley's Pool.
As expected in Round 3 - or perhaps quicker than expected - there was a march up the standings and on to the leaderboard by those who survived the Nashville-Pittsburgh cull. Joy Smith claimed the lead and then built it up to a nine-point margin over second place and ten over the next entry that could get the 10-point Cup bonus. There are three Vegas-pickers in the top ten and two Washington-pickers, with a few more longshots a bit further down. See the podium contenders below!
For years the Washington Capitals have had a division-winning team and poolies would bet on them to win - because why not? They had all the ingredients necessary to win. Or so they thought, until year after year they were knocked out early. Similarly Braden Holtby has been the top-picked goalie by a wide margin, in both of the last two years, with well over 100 picks each year. But this year in a strange turn of events, even with the Caps winning the division, Holtby did not receive a single pick. (His backup, Philip Grubauer, even got two.) His response: carry the Capitals to its first final in 20 years. Tough luck for poolies who took other goalies, except for Marc-Andre Fleury.
For the third straight year Marc-Andre Fleury is in the Cup finals, and for the second straight he enters the final leading all goaltenders in Lord Stanley's Pool. The difference this year is that despite winning the Cup the last two years, he has something to prove (like all of the Vegas players). Fleury was relegated to backup status two years ago, and last year, after stepping in for Matt Murray and leading his team most of the way (and leading the pool) he was pushed aside for the final round. Now he's the leading candidate for the Conn Smythe trophie, and far away the top goalie in the pool.
Joy Smith is in a strong position to win no matter the outcome in the final. She has a big lead which no one will come close to if Vegas wins, while she would only need Marchessault and Carlson to get one more point than Schmidt to fend off King James (Jacob) if the Caps win. Ryan Chirnomas has a lock on second if Vegas wins, but only fourth if Washington prevails unless Fleury gets a couple shutouts. Otherwise a Caps win would see Jacob battle with Barbara Ellen Kennedy for third. A Vegas win would have Jacob and Larry Coole battling Maria Chappell for third. So without further ado, the contenders!
Good luck to all!
| Vegas win | |
| | Washington win | |
| Joy Smith | 170 (+10) | Fleury, Marchessault, Karlsson, Kuznetsov, Ovechkin, Carlson | |
Joy Smith | 170 | Fleury, Marchessault, Karlsson, Kuznetsov, Ovechkin, Carlson |
| Ryan Chirnomas | 157 (+10) | Fleury, Marchessault, Karlsson, Kuznetsov, Ovechkin, Carlson | |
King James (Jacob) | 160 (+10) | Fleury, Karlsson, Schmidt, Kuznetsov, Ovechkin |
| Maria Chappell | 154 (+10) | Fleury, Marchessault, Karlsson | |
Barbara Ellen Kennedy | 156 (+10) | Marchessault, Karlsson, Kuznetsov, Ovechkin, Carlson |
| Larry Coole | 161 | Fleury, Karlsson, Kuznetsov, Ovechkin | |
Larry Coole | 161 | Fleury, Karlsson, Kuznetsov, Ovechkin |
| King James (Jacob) | 160 | Fleury, Karlsson, Schmidt, Kuznetsov, Ovechkin | |
Tom Sheahan | 150 (+10) | Kuznetsov, Ovechkin, Backstrom |
| Robert Struthers | 158 | Kuznetsov, Ovechkin, Carlson | |
Robert Struthers | 158 | Kuznetsov, Ovechkin, Carlson |
| Jacqui Snow | 145 (+10) | Fleury, Karlsson, Carpenter, Ovechkin | |
Ryan Chirnomas | 157 | Fleury, Marchessault, Karlsson, Kuznetsov, Ovechkin, Carlson |
| Hot |
Pos. Gain (R2,R3) |
|
Hot |
Rd3 Pts. |
| Fred Brown |
147 (211,64) |
|
Joy Smith |
53 |
| Ryan Dempsey |
135 (202,67) |
|
Robert Struthers |
47 |
| Rahul Gangolli |
127 (211,84) |
|
Ryan Chirnomas |
43 |
| Chris Hebb |
119 (247,128) |
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Larry Coole |
41 |
| Joel Greenstein |
111 (166,55) |
|
Barbara Ellen Kennedy |
41 |
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| Not |
Pos. Loss (R2,R3) |
|
Not |
Rd3 Pts. |
| Shain Griffin |
118 (43,161) |
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52 People with: |
0 |
| Erin Jones |
112 (29,141) |
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| Steve Corda |
108 (48,156) |
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| Amelia Thompson |
104 (102,206) |
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| John Thompson |
101 (122,223) |
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| Top Players |
| Forwards |
Team |
Pts |
Picks |
| Evgeny Kuznetsov |
WAS |
24 |
31 |
| Alex Ovechkin |
WAS |
22 |
65 |
| Jake Guentzel |
PIT |
21 |
0 |
| Blake Wheeler |
WPG |
21 |
131 |
| Sidney Crosby |
PIT |
21 |
177 |
| David Pastrnak |
BOS |
20 |
36 |
| Mark Scheifele |
WPG |
20 |
51 |
| Jonathan Marchessault |
VGK |
18 |
31 |
| Brad Marchand |
BOS |
17 |
81 |
| Nikita Kucherov |
TAM |
17 |
162 |
|
| Defense |
Team |
Pts |
Picks |
| John Carlson |
WAS |
16 |
40 |
| Dustin Byfuglien |
WPG |
16 |
43 |
| Torey Krug |
BOS |
12 |
34 |
| Kris Letang |
PIT |
11 |
47 |
| Victor Hedman |
TAM |
11 |
107 |
| P.K. Subban |
NAS |
9 |
157 |
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| Goalies |
Team |
Pts |
Picks |
| Marc-Andre Fleury |
PIT |
33 |
24 |
| Braden Holtby |
WAS |
23 |
0 |
| Connor Hellebuyck |
WPG |
19 |
49 |
| Pekka Rinne |
NAS |
17 |
151 |
|
| Teams |
| IN |
Picks |
Cups |
| Washington |
164 |
12 |
| Vegas |
141 |
10 |
|
| OUT |
Picks |
Cups |
| Tampa Bay |
452 |
50 |
| Winnipeg |
376 |
40 |
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After being nearly perfect in the first two rounds I stumbled in round 3 going 0-2. And out went the rest of my pool picks! I'm now 11-3 so here goes... to go 12-3 I pick Vegas to spurn the long-suffering Capitals.
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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