Connor McDavid was the MVP of the pool with 33 points.

Final Pool Analysis

You have to beat the champs to be the champs, and that's what Colorado did in the finals, fulfilling the promise of the pool's most-picked team three years running. The last two years while Tampa romped to victory, Colorado was out after round 2, making this their first stab at defeating the Bolts. Colorado is the first team with the most player picks to win since the 2013 Blackhawks, and first with the most Cup picks to win since the 2008 Red Wings.

While the Avs and Lightning were the story in the end, most of the pool was dominated by high offence and smashed records, especially related to the Edmonton Oilers. Until their elimination, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl put up points on pace to beat Wayne Gretzky's 1980s playoff records, lifting their pickers to the leaderboard very quickly.

Not to be overlooked was Cale Makar's 29 points, the fourth-most for a defenseman all-time and most since 1994. Fittingly for the pool's top overall pick (236 picks), Makar took home the Conn Smythe Trophy.

Congratulations to Jeff Wener on the record-high pool championship, along with second-place Colby Foster and third-place Zack O'Gorman.

Key to the pool
Without a doubt, the key to the pool was having Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl on your team. Add three each from Colorado and Tampa and maybe a Ranger, and you're in the running. Will the two Oilers dominate future pools like Gretzky and Co did in the 80's?

Dream Team
This year's best possible picks include two threepeats: Kucherov (5th career Dream Team), and MacKinnon (3rd) are both here for the third straight year. Leon Draisaitl, Mikko Rantanen and Andrei Vasilevskiy are also here for their 2nd times.

In honour of Connor McDavid's first time on the dream team, I've added Retro Dream Teams back to the 1980 playoffs. Naturally Wayne Gretzky is on ten such teams! The dream team score of 246 is naturally the highest in the pool era, and counting retro dream teams is the fifth highest since 1980 and highest since 1994.

See all dream teams here.

2022 Dream Team
Forwards
Connor McDavid, EDM, 33
Leon Draisaitl, EDM, 32
Nikita Kucherov, TAM, 27
Mikko Rantanen, COL, 25
Mika Zibanejad, NYR, 24
Nathan MacKinnon, COL, 24
Defense
Cale Makar, COL, 29
Adam Fox, NYR, 23
Goalie
Mike Smith, EDM OR Andrei Vasilevskiy, TAM, 19
Team
Colorado, 10
TOTAL: 246
Winning Score: 235


This year's pool records
We have a record number of records this year! Thanks to the Oilers, Avs and others, here are the pool records that were beaten this year. Check out all of the pool records.

Most Points: 235, Jeff Wener
Largest Margin of Defeat (last:first): 195 (40-235), Laurena Clark : Jeff Wener
Highest Entry Accuracy: -11 (235-246), Jeff Wener
Highest Entry Accuracy %: 95.5% (235/246), Jeff Wener
Forwards High: 160, Zack O'Gorman
Defence High: 52, 38 entries
Most points in one day: 22, Andrew Wood, May 3
Round 1 High: 85, Stacey Hartley (2022)
Highest Leading Score after R2: 144, ZAI Hammerman
Highest Leading Score after R3: 193, Jeff Wener
Highest Score, players only (excluding Cup bonus): 225, Jeff Wener
Number of Correct Cup Picks: 103
Dream Team Points: 246
Most entries unscathed after round 3 (max 6 players): 42

Who was hot and not in the final round:

Hot	Pos. Gain (R3,R4 - not including Bonus)		Hot	Rd4 Pts.
Desmond Desrosier	74 (227,153)		Laura Tackaberry	38
Brandon Kubis	72 (233,161)		Todd Beaman	37
Della Santin	68 (179,111)		Della Santin	37
Lanny Cardow	63 (202,139)		5 tied with	36
Amina Champsi	60 (176,116)
Not	Pos. Loss (R3,R4 - not including Bonus))		Not	Rd4 Pts.
Shawn Morrison	88 (134,222)		45 tied with	0
Ron Ego	87 (127,214)
Julian Vardy	86 (125,211)
Stacy Martin	81 (145,226)

Team and Player Stats:

Top Players
Forwards Team Pts Picks Connor McDavid EDM 33 114 Leon Draisaitl EDM 32 78 Nikita Kucherov TAM 27 71 Mikko Rantanen COL 25 139 Mika Zibanejad NYR 24 20 Nathan MacKinnon COL 24 213 Gabriel Landeskog COL 22 13 Ondrej Palat TAM 21 0 Steven Stamkos TAM 19 65 Evander Kane EDM 17 7	Defense Team Pts Picks Cale Makar COL 29 236 Adam Fox NYR 23 53 Victor Hedman TAM 19 81 Devon Toews COL 15 6 Mikhail Sergachev TAM 10 0 Anthony DeAngelo CAR 10 22 Goalies Team Pts Picks Mike Smith EDM 19 7 Andrei Vasilevskiy TAM 19 39 Darcy Kuemper COL 16 70 Igor Shesterkin NYR 13 31

Next year: Lord Stanley's Pool 2023
Thanks to everyone for playing the pool this year, I hope you enjoyed it. We will be back next year, so be sure to join us again!