Poolpicks.xls

The poolpicks spreadsheet is now updated to reflect eliminated players. You may have to click 'Don't Update' when you open the file.

I'll try to stay on top of keeping that sheet current as well.

How Do Ya Like THEM Apples

I'm sure at least a few of us expected some sweeps in the first round, but who can honestly say they thought the Senators would be the only team ousted sans win? And who would have figured Martin Gerber would be the only thing that kept them even halfway respectable? Two points total from Spezza, Heatley and Alfredsson was less than ideal for both Sens fans and poolies like me who counted on at least some offensive production.

Emery has already gone on record saying he wasn't the problem. I'll give him that he's not %100 to blame, and hey, the Rangers are still finding a way to win with a clown in their midst.

Speaking of goaltending, Hasek is out and Osgood is in for the next game now that the Preds have managed to even the series with Detroit. At 2-2 that series is another huge surprise from this playoff season. Gotta love it.

And now on the comedy side of things; watch perennial class act and nice guy Joe Sakic feed Doug Gilmour his right hand 9 years ago. (via Yahoo! NHL Experts Blog)

Business Redirect

As many of you noticed, the site was inaccessible for the past couple days. In the face of my conspiracy theories, it turns out it was a missed payment for the renewal of the domain name that was causing the redirected traffic. It appears to be fine now, and hopefully will remain that way for the remainder of the playoffs.

On the standings page, I've added a 'Players' column which is the number of players remaining on a given team. I'll also be updating the Pool Picks spreadsheet accordingly as teams are eliminated.

Again, sorry for the inconvenience.

Kurtis Foster

It looks like I missed a pretty significant injury in Kurtis Foster who, with a broken leg, stands no chance of coming back this playoff season for Minnesota. In light of that oversight, I have given the people who picked him Kim Johnsson instead, the next highest point scoring defenseman on the Wild. If you would prefer a different player from the 'West Defense 2' group, let me know in the next day or two.

I will not be doing the same for the likes of Daniel Briere, Daniel Alfredsson, etc. who do stand a reasonable chance of playing early in the postseason despite their injuries.

Stats and Picks

In the sidebar you will now find player and goaltending stats tables for the possible selections in the pool. These will also be updated daily with the pool standings for those that like to track the stats. The columns in every table on the entire site are sortable by clicking on the appropriate heading in the blue header row.

I also intend to post all of your picks, in a spreadsheet, after puck drop (~7:05) tonight so you can compare picks, and make sure that I have all your names and team names entered correctly. Send an e-mail my way with your corrections if you have any.

Update: All entries are now in, 29 in total. That makes the prize for 1st $87, 2nd $43.50 and 3rd $14.50 (assuming all outstanding payments come in). Good luck everyone. Go Avs.

Picksheet Now Available

The picksheet is now available in the sidebar. I've checked as best possible to make sure I've only included non-injured players, or players that will have a likely shot at playing in the playoffs. If you see any errors post them in the comments and I'll do my best to fix them.

Please try to get your completed picks back to me ASAP to make it easier to post standings updates from Day 1.

Good luck!

Update: Remember, select one player in each grouping of 4 forwards or 8 defensemen, as well as one goaltender combo for each conference.

Submit your completed spreadsheets to loopool08@gmail.com or paper copies in person.

26 entries (22 paid) so far. (10:02 9-Apr)