Shoot for Gold 2010

Canada's thrilling overtime victory over the USA gave the host country a record 14 gold medals at the Olympics and the coveted top prize in hockey. Congratulations to Jokir Groesch on a hard fought pool victory. Second place went to Samuel Wexler only two points back with Andrew Hamilton climbing into third as the winning goal was scored. Honourable mentions to Eric Sorenson and Mouli Ramani, who tied for fourth only one point back. All three of the money winners were in the bottom half of the standings after round one - with Groesch and Hamilton in 61st and Wexler in 42nd - and made an incredible surge in the medal round. Thanks to everyone for participating and stay tuned for Lord Stanley's Pool 2010 coming soon to this web site.

These pools often see two polar opposite strategies: maximize the top players from the winning team, or go for diversity with the top player from many quads. Lord Stanley's Pools have shown the latter strategy to get you first-round glory, but ultimate failure; there you need three players from both teams in the Finals. But for Shoot for Gold, with no three-player limit and all teams playing nearly the same number of games, either strategy can work. First and third-place finishers Groesch and Hamilton both took all-Canadian rosters. Wexler, in second, had five different teams represented even though better selections could have been made from some of those teams.

The Key to the Pool: what was the winning formula for this pool, that you needed to do if you wanted to win? In this case, as in some past pools, was to pick the right goaltender. You definitely needed either Ryan Miller or Roberto Luongo if you wanted to stand a chance, as evidenced by 11 of the top 13 entries (and a sweep of the top eight) having one of them. Beyond that, there were numerous combinations of players that could have brought you over the top. As for the Biggest Bust: that would be Alexander Semin of Russia, with 25 entries but only two points to show for it. "Dis"honourable mentions go to Joe Thornton and Martin Brodeur - both of whom have had the biggest bust distinction in the past - each had three points for 19 selections.

The pool's Dream Team - the best possible picks because hindsight is always 20/20 - has a collection of players from all four medal contending teams, and no one from outside. Zach Parise (USA) (8 picks) and Jarome Iginla (CAN) (9 picks) led all skaters with 14 points; Niklas Hagman (FIN) (no picks), defenseman Brian Rafalski (USA) (no picks), and Marian Hossa (SVK) (one pick) had 12 points each. The goaltender could have been either Roberto Luongo (CAN) (4 picks) or Ryan Miller (USA) (11 picks), both with 18 points. These with Canada selected as the champion, would net 87 points. Notably, only Miller from this group had ten or more picks while two players were not picked at all. The pool's most popular players had reasonable, but not standout success proving that this one was truly anyone's contest to win.

Congratulations to Jokir Groesch on a close, exciting pool victory! He wins the $474 prize by two points over Samuel Wexler ($237) with Andrew Hamilton ($79) coming in third. The pool was decided, with Crosby's winning goal, by Luongo's three points for the win - lifting Jokir into first and Andrew into third. Had the USA scored that final goal, Sam would have been first, followed by Peter Holland and Mouli Ramani. Congratulations to all winners and indeed to all participants for a well fought, well selected pool.

It figures that the golden moment would be courtesy of Sidney Crosby. Despite not being the top player in the tournament or even in the game, getting the right shot at the right moment is what champions are made of. So after giving up a 2-0 lead and letting USA tie the game in the dying seconds, Sid the Kid made a quick shot from a sharp angle to seal it for the home country. Zach Parise and Patrick Kane had strong outings for team USA to secure the final pool results but it was not enough for the young Yanks. Congratulations to Canada on this and 13 other gold medals at these Olympics. As James Duthie put it, "Canada won the Olympics in overtime."

Looking at the contenders for the pool podium, most of the top ten entries may have a better chance to win if Canada scores goals, but loses the game. Eight of the top ten have Miller as their goalie; the remaining two - Jokir Groesch and Andrew Hamilton - have Luongo. A Canada win would put Jokir in first place and Andrew in third prior to any points by their five Canadian skaters. Leading the secret USA cheering brigade is Sam Wexler who would actually like Canada to win a low-scoring, non-shutout game with Parise scoring for the Americans. Others helped by USA scoring are Peter Holland (who absolutely needs USA to win) and dark-horse contender Judah Gould who has a few players on each side. Mouli Ramani also needs a USA win or low scoring Canada victory with Marleau producing. And finally, trying to win on the back of Heatley, are Julian Vardy, Tom Juranka, and Andy Hotson - each of them can get additional help only from Staal, Thornton, or Marleau respectively and no one else. It's going to be a wild finish! Good luck and may the best entry win. Oh, and Go Canada Go!

Slovakia couldn't hold on to a 3-1 3rd period lead, as the Finns, led by Olli Jokinen, come back and win the game and the medal. Della Santin collected five points in the also-ran category, but the biggest impact is the two points for Samuel Wexler from Marian Gaborik, putting him in first place - for tonight at least. Gaborik's missed shot in the last minute may prove to be the difference between Sam winning the pool or missing by that much.