That Magical Time Of Year

With all of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoff seeds now determined, we get to a regular feature on this blog that I know a lot of people enjoy. The HBIC Playoff Pool is a fun way to show off your prognostication skills without having to know a lot about each team's roster. I made a change to the way the Playoff Pool is run last season, and it turned out to be a lot of fun for each of the contestants. Why? Well, everyone loves getting a prize, and HBIC is aware of this fact. Much like last year, prizes are being accumulated as you read this, and I can tell you that there will be a ton of excellent prizes this season. And, similar to last season, I will try to get as many prizes as possible so that everyone comes away with something. That's how HBIC rolls.

Straight from last year's Playoff Pool rules, here is the format for the 2010 Hockey Blog In Canada Playoff Pool.

• Entrants will be required to pick the winner of each game for each series. In doing so, one will also choose the number of games played by the two teams in each series.
• Entrants will be required to pick the game-winning goal scorer for each game.

Sounds pretty easy, right? No real strategy as to which team will go further, who is playing whom, and all that jazz.

Points will be based upon your predictions.

• For each correctly-predicted team that wins the game, one point will be awarded. For correctly predicting the series length, two points will be awarded. For correctly predicting the series length and winning team, five points will be awarded. If one correctly predicts the series length and winning team, the two-point option is overrided by the higher-scoring option.
• For predicting the player who scores the game-winning goal per game, that entrant will receive an additional two points per game per correctly-chosen player.

The following example should help you weed through the rules:

• For the Pittsburgh-Ottawa series, I predict that Pittsburgh will win Games 1, 2, 4, and 6. Ottawa will win Games 3 and 5. I also predict that Evgeni Malkin will score the game-winner in Game 1; Chris Kunitz in Game 2; Jordan Staal in Game 4; and, Bill Guerin in Game 6. Daniel Alfredsson will score Ottawa's winner in Game 3 while Mike Fisher will score in Game 5.
• If I correctly predicted the entire series (highly improbable with my record of prognostications) of Pittsburgh winning in six games with all my game-winner scoring choices being right, I would earn 23 points (6 for each correct game + 5 for correctly predicting length and series winner + 12 for each game-winning goal scorer).

The catch to this whole thing is that no one will be eliminated until the Stanley Cup is handed out. With each new round beginning, each entrant will be required to send in their picks just as they did in the previous round. This way, everyone has a chance at some free shwag. And everyone loves free shwag.

I would hazard a guess at there possibly being a tie between two or more people, so your tie-breaker, required at the start of the first round, is to name the team who will accumulate the most penalty minutes. Those who are tied will have their answers reviewed, and the entrant who picked the team with the higher PIM total for the playoffs will be crowned as the winner. Secondary tie-breaker, in case two entrants pick the same team for PIMs, will be number of series correctly predicted in length of games.

For example, if Entrant A picks Boston and Entrant B picks Detroit, and Boston has the higher PIM total, Entrant A would be the winner.

The best part of the HBIC Playoff Pool? It's FREE! That's right, kids. You can enter at no cost, and the shwag is up for grabs. The only thing I ask, to be fair, is that you only enter once, please. Make sure to include your full name on your email with your first round picks, and we'll get the show on the road on Wednesday night. The subject should read "HBIC Pool R1" so that I can keep track of all the entrants. You don't want your Poolie Picks to go missing in my disorganized mailbox, do you?

Also, if you want to be eligible for all prizes, you need to play all four rounds of the 2010 Playoff Pool. I don't think it's fair if someone is forced to take a lower prize if they finish lower than someone else who didn't participate right through to the end. For those only play one round and do well, complain all you want about this rule, but showing up is the first step in any activity.

Please send your emails with your first-round choices and tie-breaker choice to me ASAP. I'll get your picks recorded, and we'll see who is the best predictor in this year's Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!