
Opening Analysis / Round 1 / Round 2 / Round 3 / Final
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| Carey Price, picked twice, gets his shot at Cup glory. |
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.
| 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 |
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.
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.
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.
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!
| Hot |
Pos. Gain (R2,R3) |
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Hot |
Rd3 Pts. |
| Mike Varriano |
116 (203,87) |
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Norrin Ripsman |
44 |
| Andrew Kichler |
102 (203,101) |
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Herman Wood |
38 |
| Simon Rabinovitch |
94 (207,113) |
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Scott Lee |
35 |
| Mark Matheson |
93 (157,64) |
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Cyril Beaman |
35 |
| Ruth Beder |
84 (134,50) |
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Gary Brewster |
35 |
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Jamie Martin |
35 |
| Not |
Pos. Loss (R2,R3) |
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Not |
Rd3 Pts. |
| Vince Pileggi |
52 (19,71) |
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100 People with: |
0 |
| Dan McGee |
48 (36,84) |
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| John Thompson |
48 (43,91) |
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| Mike Hurley |
48 (51,99) |
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| Jerry Gluss |
47 (7,54) |
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| 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 |
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| 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 |
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| 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 |
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| Teams |
| Tampa Bay | 242 | 20 |
| Montreal | 10 | 2 |
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| Vegas | 283 | 52 |
| NY Islanders | 16 | 0 |
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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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