Carey Price, picked twice, gets his shot at Cup glory.

Round 3 Analysis
Every year, a new surprise. This year it's a pleasant one for Canadian hockey fans, for the first time in a decade to be represented in the finals. And with little in doubt in the pool standings, no divided loyalties in the hope of the Habs bookending their 1993 win with another this year.

In the pool Kevin Pinto has maintained a record 16-point margin since the end of round 2 and is expected to cruise to victory without that gap closing. The battle will be for second and third, where Lucas Chua and Tom Nicholl have been camping. Whether they can hang on or if challengers Jacob Court, Norrin Ripsman, and Tyler Dominato can overtake them depends on various combinations of Nikita Kucherov vs Brayden Point vs Victor Hedman vs Steven Stamkos as well as who wins the Cup.

Special mention to the two people who picked Montreal to win and had three Habs on their entry: Mouli Ramani and Paula Santin.





The contenders

Tampa Bay win				Montreal win
Kevin Pinto	153 (+10) [proj:178]	Vasilevskiy, Kucherov, Stamkos		Kevin Pinto	153 [proj:178]	Vasilevskiy, Kucherov, Stamkos
Lucas Chua	137 (+10) [proj:159]	Vasilevskiy, Point, Hedman		Lucas Chua	137 [proj:159]	Vasilevskiy, Point, Hedman
Norrin Ripsman	134 (+10) [proj:156]	Vasilevskiy, Point, Hedman		Tom Nicholl	137 [proj:163]	Vasilevskiy, Kucherov, Point
Tyler Dominato	133 (+10) [proj: 158]	Vasilevskiy, Kucherov, Hedman		Jacob Court	136 [proj: 162]	Vasilevskiy, Kucherov, Point
Scott Lee	129 (+10) [proj: 155]	Vasilevskiy, Kucherov, Point		Norrin Ripsman	134 [proj: 156]	Vasilevskiy, Point, Hedman
Allan Crisford	127 (+10) [proj: 152]	Vasilevskiy, Kucherov, Stamkos		Tyler Dominato	133 [proj: 158]	Vasilevskiy, Kucherov, Hedman
Tom Nicholl	137 [proj:163]	Vasilevskiy, Kucherov, Point		Ben Bangs	133 [proj: 158]	Vasilevskiy, Kucherov, Hedman

Would have been the fewest
An Islanders-Canadiens final, apart from an amazing series to watch, would have left the fewest picks around for the final series. With only 16 picks for the Isles and 10 for Montreal, a whopping 98.99% of picks would have been eliminated, smashing the current and still standing 94.5% of 2012 when the Kings beat the Devils. Alas, it was not to be.

Samesies?
This year appears very much like the last, despite the regional division format this year versus the 2020 play-in. Tampa over the Islanders in the East, favoured Vegas losing to an upstart - Dallas last year, Canadiens now. Colorado picks were great while they lasted but out early. Vasilevskiy, Kucherov, and Point dominating the standings. Oh, and Toronto... never mind. What was not the same: the pool championship was very much in contention last year while this year it's a battle for second and third. And I'm going to call no samesies on the Cup outcome as well, so that our Canadian team can triumph for the first time in 28 years.

Kronis' Corner - notes from the pool's stats co-pilot Joel Kronis
We finally have another Canadian team in the Stanley Cup finals. Not the right team but the rivals. As a Leafs fan I really didn't want the Canadiens to go to the finals but at the same time it's a Canadian team who have been underdogs the entire time. Overcoming a 3-1 series deficit against the Leafs, blowing away the shorthanded Jets and beating a very good Golden Knights team, credit to them. On the other side you have the Lightning who won the Cup last year and are still very good. They have proven they're the defending champions beating three tough teams and as good as Carey Price as been, Vasilevskiy has been better. I think that Tampa Bay is going to win this series in 6 games to repeat as champions.

Mitch's prediction
After a going dismal 5-9 on series picks this year you can't really give my final pick much stock. But I did "guess" Montreal in the last round and as a good Canadian (as noted above) I will pick the Habs to win the final series this year! Good luck to me? No, good luck to them!

Who's Hot and Who's Not:

Hot	Pos. Gain (R2,R3)		Hot	Rd3 Pts.
Mike Varriano	116 (203,87)		Norrin Ripsman	44
Andrew Kichler	102 (203,101)		Herman Wood	38
Simon Rabinovitch	94 (207,113)		Scott Lee	35
Mark Matheson	93 (157,64)		Cyril Beaman	35
Ruth Beder	84 (134,50)		Gary Brewster	35
			Jamie Martin	35
Not	Pos. Loss (R2,R3)		Not	Rd3 Pts.
Vince Pileggi	52 (19,71)		100 People with:	0
Dan McGee	48 (36,84)
John Thompson	48 (43,91)
Mike Hurley	48 (51,99)
Jerry Gluss	47 (7,54)

Team and Player Stats:

Top Players
Forwards Team Pts Picks Nikita Kucherov TAM 27 47 Brayden Point TAM 20 52 Alex Killorn TAM 17 0 Steven Stamkos TAM 17 12 William Karlsson VGK 16 5 David Pastrnak BOS 15 46 Nathan MacKinnon COL 15 169 Tyler Toffoli MON 14 2 Mathew Barzal NYI 14 8 Nick Suzuki MON 13 0	Defense Team Pts Picks Victor Hedman TAM 16 63 Charles McAvoy BOS 12 10 Alex Pietrangelo VGK 12 11 Shea Theodore VGK 10 63 Cale Makar COL 10 132 Goalies Team Pts Picks Andrei Vasilevskiy TAM 32 57 Carey Price MON 17 2 Marc-Andre Fleury VGK 15 50 Cam Talbot MIN 13 0
Teams
IN Picks Cups Tampa Bay 242 20 Montreal 10 2	OUT Picks Cups Vegas 283 52 NY Islanders 16 0

Projected Round 4 Standings

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!

(R1)	(R2)	(R3)	Proj. Rank	Name	Score	Alive	Cup	Rd4 Projection
4	1	1	1	Kevin Pinto	153	3	TBL	178
6	3	2	2	Tom Nicholl	137	3	COL	163
8	4	4	3	Jake Court	136	3	CAR	162
21	2	2	4	Lucas Chua	137	3	TBL	159
13	11	6	5	Tyler Dominato	133	3	TBL	158
2	4	6	5	Ben Bangs	133	3	COL	158
2	6	8	7	Mike Johnson	132	3	COL	157
149	32	5	8	Norrin Ripsman	134	3	TBL	156
1	8	9	9	Adam Pileggi	130	3	COL	155
34	20	10	9	Scott Lee	129	3	TBL	155
21	16	11	11	Tina Speciale	127	3	COL	153
21	16	11	11	Avery Spedding	127	3	COL	153
66	11	11	13	Allan Crisford	127	3	TBL	152
8	13	15	14	Bobby Score	126	3	TBL	151
79	14	11	15	Frank Pileggi	127	3	VGK	148
167	28	16	16	Brandon Poitras	125	3	BOS	147
16	20	18	16	Josh Martin	122	3	COL	147
16	20	18	16	Paul Martin	122	3	TOR	147
6	28	23	19	Martin Lefebvre	119	3	TOR	144
135	84	26	19	Herman Wood	118	3	VGK	144
21	15	17	21	Dylan Cosford	124	2	COL	143
38	20	20	21	Danny Cameron	121	3	TBL	143
8	20	20	21	Jesse Juranka	121	3	TOR	143
49	36	29	24	Phil Larade	117	3	TBL	142
211	51	20	25	Cyril Beaman	121	3	TBL	141
8	25	23	26	Rye Sawatzky	119	3	COL	140
149	63	26	26	Hinz Chan	118	3	TBL	140
34	28	29	26	Ron Wener	117	3	TBL	140
49	92	38	26	Gary Brewster	114	3	TBL	140
4	16	26	30	Christina Laronga	118	3	COL	139
29	32	29	30	Nathan Slack	117	3	TBL	139
13	28	29	32	Tim Day	117	3	COL	138
121	99	40	32	Jamie Martin	113	3	VGK	138
38	43	34	34	Michael Sinclair	115	3	TOR	137
38	43	34	34	Brenden Kennedy	115	3	COL	137
49	8	23	36	Paul Groba	119	3	BOS	136
66	49	38	36	Nicholas Nicodemo	114	3	PIT	136
149	99	44	38	Wayne Kubis	109	3	TBL	135
66	27	33	39	Zayn Champsi	116	2	TBL	132
26	25	34	39	Cody Cabral	115	2	COL	132
21	32	40	39	Adam Marrus	113	2	COL	132
8	36	43	39	Steve Sealy	111	3	COL	132
29	69	44	43	Mike Cuddemi	109	3	VGK	130
29	10	34	44	Scott Poitras	115	2	COL	129
91	69	44	44	Ryan Chirnomas	109	3	COL	129
16	51	48	44	Samuel Wexler	108	3	EDM	129
29	32	42	47	Cale Phibbs	112	2	VGK	127
211	134	50	47	Ruth Beder	105	3	VGK	127
91	112	50	47	Shawn Glassford	105	3	PIT	127
121	112	50	50	Stacy Martin	105	3	EDM	126
135	112	50	50	Dennis Winkler	105	3	VGK	126
38	75	54	52	Mike De Petrillo	104	3	COL	125
38	75	54	52	Diego DeMarco	104	3	COL	125
121	157	64	54	Mark Matheson	98	3	STL	124
121	36	44	55	Eli Hammerman	109	3	VGK	123
49	57	58	55	Desmond Desrosier	103	3	EDM	123
66	84	59	55	Marie Loop	102	3	COL	123
26	57	54	58	Sam Raso	104	2	TOR	120
16	81	62	59	Steve Feltz	99	3	TOR	119
49	36	49	60	Muhammad Kazmi	106	2	COL	118
66	75	60	61	Ryan Courville	101	2	COL	117
79	134	64	61	Marc Ennis	98	2	VGK	117
49	153	71	61	Daryl McGee	95	3	TBL	117
79	107	64	64	Dylan Montague	98	2	COL	115
121	43	60	65	Dave Poitras	101	2	BOS	113
49	112	69	65	Francis Kennedy	96	3	VGK	113
66	51	62	67	Tyler Robinson	99	2	COL	111
135	144	79	67	Ted Kennedy	92	2	EDM	111
135	203	87	67	Michael Varriano	89	3	TBL	111
108	63	67	70	Corey Messer	97	2	COL	109
13	81	71	70	Mark Brewster	95	2	COL	109
149	69	69	72	Will McGee	96	2	BOS	108
91	43	67	73	Jonah Rabinovitch	97	1	COL	106
26	7	54	74	Jerry Gluss	104	0	COL	104
108	203	101	74	Andrew Kichler	85	2	TOR	104
79	57	74	76	Jack Walker	94	1	BOS	103
149	112	75	76	Len Drewnowski	93	1	TOR	103
49	69	79	78	Sam Fielding	92	1	COL	101
262	169	91	78	John Walsh	88	2	TOR	101
167	207	113	80	Simon Rabinovitch	83	2	TOR	100
167	141	87	81	Steve Kerlin	89	1	CAR	99
135	69	79	82	Doug Frazier	92	1	VGK	97
121	92	83	82	Adam Kazmi	91	1	COL	97
108	19	71	84	Vince Pileggi	95	0	COL	95
91	57	84	84	Jacqui Snow	90	1	COL	95
49	57	84	84	Al Champsi	90	1	COL	95
79	36	75	87	Francesco Varriano	93	0	COL	93
49	36	75	87	Pierre Allard	93	0	VGK	93
188	51	75	87	Andre Dube	93	0	COL	93
224	99	91	87	Rachelle Gaudet	88	1	VGK	93
211	169	126	87	Austin Neilson	79	3	COL	93
135	43	79	92	Peta Allard	92	0	VGK	92
224	112	95	92	Della Santin	87	1	BOS	92
91	157	118	92	David Gibbons	81	2	COL	92
242	153	101	95	Amina Champsi	85	1	COL	91
242	192	118	95	Thomas Cheyne Matheson	81	1	VGK	91
149	144	126	95	Mouli Ramani	79	3	MTL	91
38	36	84	98	Dan McGee	90	0	VGK	90
16	107	101	98	Azra Champsi	85	1	CAR	90
79	183	132	98	Domenic DeMarco	78	2	VGK	90
91	84	87	101	Jeffrey Burke	89	0	TOR	89
121	63	87	101	Brett Bowman	89	0	CAR	89
149	92	107	101	David Wong	84	1	TOR	89
34	69	91	104	Mohan Krishnamoorthy	88	0	VGK	88
49	43	91	104	John Thompson	88	0	COL	88
242	219	152	104	Brock Larade	73	3	TOR	88
135	49	95	107	Donna Thompson	87	0	COL	87
49	51	95	107	Elaine Weidner	87	0	TOR	87
49	75	95	107	Edward Levens	87	0	CAR	87
255	92	99	110	Howie Kamen	86	0	VGK	86
108	51	99	110	Mike Hurley	86	0	CAR	86
108	144	132	110	Dan Meister	78	2	COL	86
255	183	150	110	Paula Santin	74	3	MTL	86
108	84	101	114	Steve Kent	85	0	VGK	85
108	57	101	114	Brandon Kubis	85	0	BOS	85
66	63	101	114	Brian Bird	85	0	TOR	85
121	63	107	117	Stephen Craig	84	0	COL	84
66	63	107	117	David Lester	84	0	COL	84
135	84	107	117	Joel Greenstein	84	0	COL	84
135	84	107	117	Lizzy Freed	84	0	COL	84
188	124	107	117	Sean Sargent	84	0	TOR	84
91	124	126	117	Alistair Viegas	79	1	COL	84
135	99	113	123	Kerry McShane	83	0	VGK	83
211	99	113	123	Christopher Mossey	83	0	VGK	83
149	75	116	125	S Ripsman	82	0	COL	82
121	75	116	125	Phil Wiper	82	0	BOS	82
188	106	118	127	Zack O'Gorman	81	0	VGK	81
167	81	118	127	Graham Haines	81	0	COL	81
167	107	118	127	Adam Jamieson	81	0	VGK	81
211	207	144	127	Peter Seemann	75	1	VGK	81
267	128	123	131	Siyeon Lee	80	0	BOS	80
167	84	123	131	Andrew Ryan	80	0	BOS	80
108	84	123	131	Matt Steeves	80	0	COL	80
49	92	126	134	Fraser Macdonald	79	0	TOR	79
211	92	126	134	Todd Foster	79	0	COL	79
121	92	126	134	Ariel Aziza	79	0	COL	79
149	107	132	134	Lori Winkler	78	1	WPG	79
149	99	132	138	Greg Baca	78	0	COL	78
167	112	132	138	Christopher Cito	78	0	CAR	78
34	99	132	138	Shane Kozlowich	78	0	WPG	78
242	243	173	138	Barbara Kennedy	68	1	TBL	78
188	132	138	142	Shane Davey	77	0	VGK	77
211	128	138	142	Brett Babkirk	77	0	COL	77
188	107	140	144	Samara McAdam	76	0	COL	76
121	112	140	144	Steve Vinette	76	0	CAR	76
167	134	140	144	Karen Stern	76	0	VGK	76
66	112	140	144	Tyler Quigley	76	0	PIT	76
167	112	144	148	Jeff Wood	75	0	COL	75
91	112	144	148	Jordan Ungerman	75	0	COL	75
135	141	144	148	Marc De Sousa	75	0	VGK	75
66	124	144	148	Michelle Heaphy	75	0	CAR	75
91	112	144	148	Andy Hotson	75	0	COL	75
79	169	164	148	Dustin Hall	70	1	TOR	75
49	124	150	154	Anthony Bruno	74	0	TOR	74
66	128	152	155	Douglas Wilkinson	73	0	COL	73
188	128	152	155	Dennis Clayton	73	0	COL	73
224	144	152	155	Geraldine Comeau	73	0	PIT	73
167	153	152	155	Tracy Smith	73	0	TOR	73
108	192	173	155	Kevin Douglas	68	1	TOR	73
149	237	191	155	Mike van Steendelaar	65	2	COL	73
79	132	157	161	Sean Smith	72	0	COL	72
277	169	157	161	Mark Norman	72	0	VGK	72
211	134	159	163	Neil Poitras	71	0	COL	71
167	134	159	163	Theo & Dimitri Soudas	71	0	COL	71
91	134	159	163	Jonah Wood	71	0	COL	71
66	162	159	163	Ron Weidner	71	0	VGK	71
91	134	159	163	Chiara DeMarco	71	0	TOR	71
167	162	164	168	Andrea De Petrillo	70	0	VGK	70
38	141	164	168	Greg Seemann	70	0	COL	70
135	169	164	168	Arely Marquez	70	0	VGK	70
234	214	191	168	Trevor Labrecque	65	1	BOS	70
135	144	168	172	Daisy Marquez	69	0	COL	69
121	144	168	172	Micheal Nguyen	69	0	COL	69
224	144	168	172	David Loop	69	0	BOS	69
188	144	168	172	Sean Desjardins	69	0	COL	69
234	144	168	172	Marc Dupuis	69	0	CAR	69
285	285	245	172	Jeff Bangs	56	2	TBL	69
38	192	173	178	Ron Ego	68	0	TOR	68
167	183	173	178	Joel Kronis	68	0	COL	68
149	183	173	178	Andrew Ford	68	0	COL	68
234	153	173	178	Colby Foster	68	0	BOS	68
201	183	179	182	Sidney Gluss	67	0	COL	67
29	157	179	182	Jay Dart	67	0	COL	67
66	157	179	182	Ethan Craig	67	0	COL	67
167	157	179	182	Nolan Ash	67	0	CAR	67
38	162	183	186	Aaron Beder	66	0	TOR	66
91	162	183	186	John Coulton	66	0	COL	66
167	203	183	186	Grant Gillan	66	0	VGK	66
91	162	183	186	David Hart	66	0	COL	66
224	162	183	186	Nolan Sarner	66	0	CAR	66
188	207	183	186	Claudia Scarciolla-Winkler	66	0	EDM	66
211	192	183	186	James Smith	66	0	COL	66
38	162	183	186	Dave Spedding	66	0	COL	66
38	169	191	194	Joy Smith	65	0	COL	65
108	169	191	194	Russell Reed	65	0	TOR	65
167	169	191	194	Stephanie Paquette	65	0	COL	65
49	169	191	194	Rachel Parent	65	0	TOR	65
108	169	191	194	Ava McAdam-Beder	65	0	COL	65
91	169	191	194	Ace Mandel	65	0	FLA	65
167	207	191	194	Daniel Levay	65	0	VGK	65
49	169	191	194	Cooper Levens	65	0	TOR	65
79	169	191	194	Larry Coole	65	0	CAR	65
108	169	191	194	Manny Amaral	65	0	TOR	65
108	214	203	204	Denise Allard	64	0	VGK	64
91	183	203	204	Emily Clayton	64	0	FLA	64
280	223	203	204	Isaac Nielsen	64	0	VGK	64
279	183	203	204	Amy van Steendelaar	64	0	BOS	64
121	183	203	204	Owen Thompson	64	0	PIT	64
121	183	203	204	Jeff Williams	64	0	CAR	64
211	192	209	210	Jessica Thompson	63	0	PIT	63
211	223	209	210	George Smith	63	0	TOR	63
201	219	209	210	Tim Sowden	63	0	VGK	63
234	237	209	210	David Schamma	63	0	TOR	63
262	192	209	210	Michael Parak	63	0	EDM	63
79	192	209	210	Hugh MacPhie	63	0	COL	63
211	192	209	210	Blair Miller	63	0	COL	63
149	192	209	210	Michael McShane	63	0	PIT	63
201	219	209	210	Aaron Allard	63	0	VGK	63
79	192	209	210	Shannon Brewster	63	0	FLA	63
79	192	209	210	Vincent Galante	63	0	COL	63
242	219	220	221	Graham Milner	62	0	VGK	62
91	203	220	221	Amelia Thompson	62	0	COL	62
91	207	222	223	Peter Tanner	61	0	COL	61
188	230	222	223	Andrew MacIntyre	61	0	VGK	61
149	214	222	223	Kamerni Pillay	61	0	VGK	61
201	237	222	223	Brett Kirkpatrick	61	0	TOR	61
201	237	222	223	Cathy Bruno	61	0	VGK	61
167	230	222	223	Jack Budd	61	0	VGK	61
167	207	222	223	Bruce Bird	61	0	TOR	61
234	207	222	223	Alex Cleveland	61	0	TOR	61
188	223	230	223	Nolan Coole	60	1	CAR	61
201	214	230	232	Ryan Thompson	60	0	COL	60
201	214	230	232	Zackary Winkler	60	0	COL	60
267	249	233	234	Mike Siegler	59	0	WSH	59
149	223	233	234	Mathew Seemann	59	0	VGK	59
224	249	235	236	Lisa Slack	58	0	TOR	58
167	223	235	236	Thomas Smith	58	0	TOR	58
255	262	235	236	Jonas Struthers	58	0	TOR	58
224	223	235	236	Carl Pledger	58	0	COL	58
149	223	235	236	Hugh McShane	58	0	COL	58
281	230	240	241	Silvio Memme	57	0	BOS	57
149	230	240	241	Ryan Slack	57	0	TOR	57
149	230	240	241	Todd Beaman	57	0	COL	57
167	230	240	241	Tony Bruno	57	0	TOR	57
224	230	240	241	Harris Beder	57	0	TOR	57
188	249	245	246	Richard Gretzinger	56	0	TOR	56
262	262	245	246	KC Swink	56	0	FLA	56
211	254	245	246	Dave Michael	56	0	TOR	56
201	241	249	249	Paul Ornstein	55	0	COL	55
188	241	249	249	Steve Anderson	55	0	COL	55
262	267	249	249	Harper Christie-Allard	55	0	PIT	55
255	243	252	252	Dan Cleveland	54	0	COL	54
224	249	252	252	Frank Iusi	54	0	TOR	54
281	271	252	252	Erin Jones	54	0	PIT	54
242	259	252	252	Shawn Morrison	54	0	VGK	54
242	259	252	252	Laura Speciale	54	0	VGK	54
255	243	252	252	Paolo Scarciolla	54	0	PIT	54
201	243	252	252	Gareth Neilson	54	1	COL	54
234	267	259	259	Dave Keystone	53	0	VGK	53
224	247	259	259	Colin Kennedy	53	0	TOR	53
201	247	259	259	Anna Kwan	53	0	TOR	53
242	271	262	262	Judah Gould	52	0	TOR	52
272	267	262	262	Duncan Campbell	52	0	TOR	52
234	249	262	262	Andrew Wood	52	0	COL	52
242	271	262	262	Rob Phillips	52	0	VGK	52
242	254	266	266	Mitch Wexler	51	0	PIT	51
242	254	266	266	Jon Tafler	51	0	TOR	51
272	271	266	266	Connor Brewster	51	0	VGK	51
255	254	266	266	Adam Bloedow	51	0	BOS	51
242	254	266	266	Tommy Juranka	51	0	TOR	51
267	271	266	266	Estella Mae Charlotte Kennedy	51	0	VGK	51
188	259	272	272	Phil Victor	50	0	CAR	50
272	271	272	272	Miriam Pokorski	50	0	TOR	50
267	262	274	274	Andrew Mckenzie	49	0	TOR	49
135	262	274	274	Dan Salerno	49	0	TOR	49
281	277	274	274	Hanna-Marea Kennedy	49	0	VGK	49
262	262	274	274	Dryden Craig	49	0	COL	49
272	267	278	278	Eddie J W Kennedy	48	0	BOS	48
285	278	278	278	Hugh Freedman	48	0	TOR	48
255	278	278	278	Katarina Ornstein	48	0	VGK	48
234	280	281	281	Tim Smith	42	0	TOR	42
272	281	282	282	Chris Smith	39	0	TOR	39
281	286	282	282	Colin McSweeney	39	0	EDM	39
277	282	284	284	Jeff Lucas	38	0	BOS	38
242	282	284	284	Karen Savoie	38	0	TOR	38
267	282	284	284	Campbell Clark-Smith	38	0	PIT	38
287	287	287	287	Fraser Gallop	26	1	EDM	27