Team Canada: the greatest hockey team in the world!

Canada Brings Home the Gold!
Pool winners: George Smith, Gold ($144); Ian Winsor, Silver ($72); Vince Galante, Bronze ($24)
It ended like we all knew it would -- and should! Canada saved its best game for last and brought home the gold medal. An exciting finish to the pool saw five potential winners going in on the final day... and a four-way tie on top.

Thank you to all participants for a great pool! Two more are coming up soon: the March Madness Pool, in March, and the Lord Stanley's Pool, beginning April, are both in their fifth seasons. Check back at Mitch's site soon or e-mail him for more information.

Joe Sakic's big game lifts George to the gold Feb. 24
Four poolies began the day tied for first, and the lead changed hands several times during the final game. But when it was done, Joe Sakic's big game lifted George Smith to top spot and the gold medal. Sakic also put Ian Winsor back into second, for the silver, after it looked like he'd drop right out. Vince Galante hung on for the bronze. The former leader, Julian Vardy, needed more from his American players, and dropped to a tie for fourth with Scott Riddell. Making a charge to sixth, only two points out of the bronze, was Wally Mikulski, after a slow start. Congratulations to all of them!

Dream Team: Shoot for Gold 2002 Feb. 24
As usual, we provide the ultimate pool team, to see where you went right - and where you went wrong. Here it is:
Mats Sundin, Swe, 17; John LeClair, USA, 14; Joe Sakic, Can, 12; Steve Yzerman, Can, 11; Brett Hull, Can, 11; Nikolai Khabibulin, Rus, 14.
The Dream Team, with Canada chosen to win the gold, totalled 84 points.

Top players nobody took Feb. 24
Remarkably, nobody took Martin Brodeur, who got 12 points. All the Toronto homers took Curtis Joseph instead -- the pool's biggest bust.
Scott Young of the USA was the top skater that nobody took, with 9 points. Not that anybody would have recommended taking him before the tourney started. John LeClair was the top darkhorse pick, with 11 points for Neil Rodgers. Steve Yzerman (Rodgers' Team Canada) and Brett Hull (Julian Vardy) were other players on the Dream Team only picked once.

Top Five: George Smith, 67 ($144) Ian Winsor, 65 ($72) Vince Galante, 62 ($24) Scott Riddell, 61 Julian Vardy, 61 Daily Stars: Sunday Joe Sakic, Can, 7 Jarome Iginla, Can, 5 Saturday Alexei Kovalev, Rus, 5 Friday Steve Yzerman, Can, 4 Wednesday Nikolai Khabibulin, Rus, 8

Results: Sunday Canada 5, USA 2 Saturday Russia 7, Belarus 2 Top Stars: Mats Sundin, Swe. 17 John LeClair, USA, 14 Joe Sakic, Can, 12 Steve Yzerman, Can, 11 Brett Hull, Can, 11 Scott Young, Can, 9 Nikolai Khabibulin, Rus, 14 Martin Brodeur, Can, 12 Mike Richter, USA, 11

Mats Sundin was the pool MVP.

A Canada win makes it close Feb. 22
While Julian Vardy has a five point lead -- and would likely win with a U.S. victory -- a Canada gold medal would drop him into a tie in the current standings. That would leave the top five positions only two points apart! Talk about a photo finish. And since we all know Canada will be standing in the end, the pool's open for the taking. Question is: who is Julian rooting for?

Russian picks could make the difference Feb. 22
Ironically, it's the Russian picks that might decide the outcome of the pool. Despite losing their semifinal, they could take advantage of a bronze-medal game against Belarus to rack up points. That said, here's hoping that the Belorussians produce another miracle for bronze against the demoralized Russian squad.

The Contenders: Feb. 22
The following assumes a Canada victory and a current margin of two points between 1st and 5th. As well, all the contenders have Khabibulin in net, so he becomes a non-factor.
Julian Vardy Kariya, Guerin, Hull, Kovalchuk. Julian needs a goals from the US (ie. Hull) even in a Canada win. If not, he will hope that Kovalchuk can pull him through against Belarus.
George Smith Lemieux, Sakic, Modano. George needs Lemieux and Sakic to out-produce Kariya, and hopes for few or no US goals unless they're from Modano. But Modano has yet to score.
Ian Winsor Sakic, Tkachuk, Fedorov. With Tkachuk injured, Ian needs a huge game from Fedorov against Belarus, otherwise he'll find himself out of the money.
Vince Galante Kariya, Lemieux, Modano, Bure. Vince is well positioned with both Kariya and Lemieux. Add Pavel vs. Belarus, and we could have our winner.
Scott Riddell Iginla, Guerin, Tkachuk. With Tkachuk injured, Scott needs a huge game from Iginla -- with Canada's big guns silent. Longshot. But not a bad showing from the Aussie contingent.

Meanwhile, on the flip side Feb. 22
There's been a changing of the guard at the bottom of the pool! For the first time, Neil Rodgers' Team Canada entry has risen out of last place. This thanks to a 7-1 victory against Belarus, and a big game from Steve Yzerman.

Advantage: Khabibulin Feb. 20
Nikolai Khabibulin's shutout over Dominik Hasek and the Czech Republic gave a big boost to the eight people in the pool who picked him. The eight who picked Hasek are out of luck while the eight who picked Joseph, well... you know. Khabibulin has solidified his position as the top goalie in the pool and could mean the difference between who's in the money and who's left out. All of the current top five picked the Russian goaltender..

Put a fork in this guy's chances Feb. 20
After a short-lived surge into 2nd place, you can put a fork in Mitch Wexler's chances of winning the pool. He lost four players to elimination, along with Pater Sadlier-Brown (who also lost his gold medal pick). Russell Reed, Christian Pitcher, Tony Ruffolo, and Andrea Swanson each lost three picks. With Sweden, Finland and the Czechs out, all other teams are guaranteed two games until the end. Tim Smith and, of course, Neil Rodgers' Team Canada lost no players.

Big points on big Monday night Feb. 18
With four games and lots of goals, Monday night made a significant impact in the pool. Julian Vardy has taken over the lead with Ian Winsor dropping to third. But the best night was had by the trio of George Smith, Russell Reed, and Mitch Wexler, each with 15 points to jump up the ladder.

Goalie picks all wrong Feb. 18
It's official: Curtis Joseph is the biggest bust of the pool. The third of the pool that picked him (8 entries) could not have liked seeing him watching from the stands in Canada's last game. But no worries, Hasek and Khabibulin (the other two goalies picked) have only one win apiece, for three points. Who are the best goalies so far? Oddly, the leader is Mike Dunham, with 8 points (a shutout and a win in his single game), followed by Tommy Salo (Sweden) and Jani Hurme (Finland), with six points (two wins) each.

Darkhorses making a big difference Feb. 18
Aside from Big Mats, the pool's leading producers are the ones picked by the fewest people. John LeClair, picked only by Neil Rodgers, is second on the list with 11 points, with Brett Hull's eight points (for Julian Vardy) in third. Teemu Selanne, picked in two pools (Bill King, Mitch Wexler) has seven points. Next, after Jaromir Jagr, are Daniel Alfredsson (Scott Riddell) and Martin Havlat (Mitch) with six points each. Whether it was luck or insight, they're making a big difference in a tournament so short.

Mats mans the torpedo Feb. 17
Mats Sundin scored his second game-winning goal and third of the tournament to become the early MVP. His 9 points have given a big boost to the half of the pool who chose him (not to mention the Swedish hockey team). Mario Lemieux, on the other hand, is the early "biggest bust", with no points for the 13 entries that picked him.

Two for Teemu Feb. 16
Teemu Selanne scored two goals for Finland in an 8-1 romp over Belarus. One was the game winner, giving 5 points to both Bill King and Mitch Wexler. Selanne and John LeClair are early candidates for best darkhorse pick with only three picks between them...

Winsor jumps out to early lead Feb. 15
Ian Winsor jumped out to an early 4-point lead on big nights from Sundin, Jagr, and others. But while these superstars were picked in numerous entries, Neil Rodgers had the best darkhorse pick of the night: John LeClair. LeClair's hat trick led the U.S. to a 6-0 defeat of Finland. Mike Dunham, who got the shutout, wasn't picked by anybody.

Only three goalies picked Feb. 15
While picks for skaters were spread out -- 33 different players, with 27 of them picked 5 or fewer times -- only three goalies were taken. Hasek, Khabibulin, and Joseph were each chosen eight times. But Cujo fans may be out of luck after Canada's 5-2 loss... if he finds himself on the bench for the rest of the tournament.

Mario, Mats picked 13 times to lead pool Feb. 15
Mario Lemieux and Mats Sundin were both picked 13 times to become the pool's most popular players. But this is no where near the consensus of last year's playoffs, when 38 of 40 entries took Joe Sakic. Sakic was taken in 10 entries this time, followed by Paul Kariya (9) and Mike Modano (8). Twelve different Canadians were picked, while Teemu Selanne was the only Finn.