Lord Stanley's Pool 2019

The St. Louis Blues climbed from last place in the NHL halfway though the year into the playoffs and finally to the Stanley Cup, avenging their 1970 loss to Bobby Orr and the Bruins. In the pool, Myeongja Kim was behind by 22 points late in round 3 and used her six remaining players to storm back over the last nine games and win the top prize by seven. Della Santin wins second after leading much of the way. David Schamma, who entered the final round in second place behind Della, hangs on for a share of third as Jay Dart - the other poolie with six - charged up the standings and leaped into a tie for third in the third period of game seven. Geraldine Comeau - tops among the six St. Louis-pickers - tied Adam Marrus for fifth. Congratulations and thanks for playing! See you next year!

The final pool analysis is now available. Check it out for the Key to the Pool, Dream Team, who was hot and not at the end, and some final tidbits from this historic (and stressful) Lord Stanley's Pool. Thanks for playing and congratulations to the winners!

The Stanley Cup will be decided in Game 7 on Thursday in an exciting final game of the year. After a couple months of shocking results in the pool we are down to the final shot in a close finish. The team that wins won't impact the result, but the players will. Myeongja Kim, who just took over first after a huge comeback, has a two-point lead over Della Santin and six players to Della's three. A Tuukka Rask shutout could vault Della back into first, but otherwise she needs a monster game from Patrice Bergeron and for the top Blues to be kept off the board. Myeongja is the likely winner but we've seen a lot of improbable things happen so you never know! Meanwhile David Schamma looks to hold on to third place and has a four-point lead over Jay Dart, who has been steadily on the rise the whole pool. A Jordan Binnington shutout would complete Jay's climb into third but if not, he will need O'Reilly, Tarasenko, Pastrnak and Krug to close the four-point gap against Marchand (and Rask) for David. Good luck to all!

Myeongja Kim, trailing by as much as 22 points just eight games ago, has stormed back and taken the lead over Della Santin. Della was in first since May 6 after taking over from Paul Groba and had a seemingly insurmountable lead given how few players were left. The Round 4 Projection in the end of round analysis had the lead narrowing to 7 points but Myeongja's squad of six doubled their expected performance. Myeongja was in first after round one and last led when tied with Della on April 26. Both have been in the top 5 since about the second week of the playoffs.

Two potential shutouts denied in the second half of the third period may tell the story for two of the positions on the podium. Jordan Binnington's Game 5 shutout bid was ended with 6:28 remaning, keeping Jay Dart and Adam Marrus from passing David Schamma for third. Tuukka Rask's near shutout would have solidified Della Santin's hold on first, but the Blues goal with 7:59 remaining denied that and put Myeongka Kim into the lead. Five points is a lot in the standings, but for both first and third, it may come down to single goals.

With possibly only one game remaining, we have an unexpectedly close race for first place. Della Santin is trying to hold on after leading since the end of round 2, and having a 16-point lead over Myeongja Kim entering the finals. But a comeback this week and a four-point night on Thursday has put Myeongja only two points back. It's Bergeron and Rask for Della against Pastrnak, Krug, O'Reilly, Pietrangelo and Schenn for Myeongja.

The Stanley Cup Finals are down to a best-of-three, and in Lord Stanley's Pool we have two battles playing out for the top three. With Myeongja Kim and Jay Dart - the only two remaining entries with six players - collecting 19 points each in the first four games of the series, the podium picture is suddenly unclear. Battling for first is Della Santin vs Myeongja, and battling for third is David Schamma trying to hold on against Jay and Adam Marrus. Stay tuned for the final showdown.

With a fixed 12-point lead over David Schamma and 16 over the nearest challenger, Della Santin seemed assured of the pool victory. But Myeongja Kim has narrowed that gap to six points, gaining five on a seven-point night in game 4. With six players to Della's three, any Blues goals in the final three (or two) games stand to assist Myeongja's cause. The only questions that remain are whether there are enough goals left in the series to complete the comeback - and whether Tuukka Rask can stop Myeongja's chances with a shutout. Good luck to both final contenders!