Scoring Is Complete

Here we are, ladies and gentlemen. All of the games have been played, the hardware handed out, and scoring is now complete for the 2010 HBIC Playoff Pool. Some of you might be a little bothered by the fact that I didn't update the Stanley Cup Final Round until tonight, but I decided that rather than spoil the fun, I'd keep everyone in suspense as to who finished where. Why? Because that's what makes contests so great - the anticipation of finding out where you finished. I seriously had a lot of fun running this contest, and I'm happy to report that 22 of the entrants will be going home with a prize. However, we have a little paperwork to do first.

First off, I want to thank each and every one of you who entered the 2010 HBIC Playoff Pool. There were a bunch of guys, and a few ladies, who did very well in their prognostications, and I'm impressed with the final scores. It takes a lot of time and patience to work through four rounds - not to mention a little luck - and come out on top of the pile. But one person did, and we'll get to him below. Thank you, everyone, for making this year's Playoff Pool so much fun!

As for the "Best In Show" for this round, one person went on a rampage in racking up points. By doing so, he moved himself into the prize list as well. Daniel W. scored an incredible 15 points in the Stanley Cup Final! He did this by predicting all six games correctly for six points. He also correctly predicted the game-winning goals by Ville Leino in Game Four and Dustin Byfuglien in Game Five. And because he correctly predicted the series to be won by Chicago in six games, he earned another five points. Put that jumble of numbers together, and Daniel scored 15 points in the round.

Congratulations, Daniel, on your excellent Stanley Cup Final! For everyone else, you'll see why those game-winning goal scorers became so important once the final standings are posted below.

We'll get the tie-breakers out of the way right now by explaining how they were calculated.

I had asked everyone at the start of the playoffs to select the one team you thought was going to be the leader in penalty minutes by the end of the playoffs. While some people continually gave me a team each round, I stuck with your original pick for the team with the most penalty minutes. As a result, here is the final standings for PIM in the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs:

1. Philadelphia Flyers - 110
2. Chicago Blackhawks - 98
3. Montreal Canadiens - 96
4. Detroit Red Wings - 76
5. Boston Bruins - 68 (in 13 games)
   
6. San Jose Sharks - 68 (in 15 games)
7. Vancouver Canucks - 64
8. Pittsburgh Penguins - 59
9. Ottawa Senators - 41
10. Phoenix Coyotes - 39
11. Buffalo Sabres - 36
12. New Jersey Devils - 35
13. Los Angeles Kings - 31 (in 6 games)
14. Washington Capitals - 31 (in 7 games)
15. Colorado Avalanche - 30
16. Nashville Predators - 23

Now, there were a few people who had selected the same team as their PIM leader for the playoffs. In order to break those ties, I simply went back and looked at the number of correctly-predicted games you had made in the Stanley Cup Final. If still tied, I went back to the Conference Finals, and so on and so forth. This solved all the tie-breakers, so this works fine for me. After all, your predictions won you a prize, so your predictions will also determine your standing.

And that brings us to the most important part of your day: the final standings. These standings have been verified by an independent, non-participating individual to ensure that all calculations and point totals are correct. I can safely say that my brother, who did not participate in the contest, worked the calculator feverishly and has double-checked the totals. If you have a question about the final standings, please send it to me here.

Here are the final standings of the 2010 HBIC Playoff Pool prize winners:

1. Ben T. - 79
2. Andy S. - 78
3. Mari N. - 78
4. Shannon P. - 76
5. Rick K. - 75
6. Luigi P. - 74
7. James W. - 74
8. Kerry M. - 74
9. Tom O. - 74
10. Cole V. - 73
11. Forrest B. - 73
12. Scott M. - 72
13. Robert M. - 72
14. Konrad W. - 70
15. Justin S. - 69
16. Greg C. - 68
17. Frank M. - 68
18. Daniel W. - 68
19. Ty F. - 66
20. Aaron D. - 66
21. Jonathan C. - 65
22. Kirk H. - 65

Now, there was one other entrant with a total of 65 points. James H. racked up enough points to be in the tie-breaker, but lost out due to Pittsburgh's lack of penalty minutes. A lot of people, including my points-verifying brother, said that it would suck to be James because he simply missed the cut due to the Penguins not taking penalties.

I sat here thinking about the truth to that statement, and realized that, while he did predict the Penguins to have the most penalty minutes, James did play through all four rounds religiously. Is it fair to have him lose out on the tie-breaker? Yes, it's very fair. Everyone knew about how the tie-breaker worked. However, Teebz isn't here to tell someone that his work fell short because a team refused to put its penalty-killing units on the ice.

In that regard, James, I'll be in contact with you about a prize as well. I simply can't count you out because, like the New York Rangers, you lost in a shootout on the final day of the regular season. I'll make this work, and you'll get something too.

Emails will start on Saturday regarding your prizes, and I'll be emailing everyone in the order that they finished. If you finished in first place (Ben), you'll get your choice of all the prizes. If you finished in second (Andy), you'll get your choice of the 21 remaining prizes after Ben has selected his, and so on.

If there are no prizes on the list you would like once your name comes up for the prize list, I understand if you decline a prize. However, if you decline, there is no alternate or second-chance at prizes. So I suggest taking a prize if offered as there's only regret if you don't choose one.

Once again, thank you everyone for entering, and I'll be in contact with Ben on Saturday to start the prize carousel. Keep your eyes on your inbox for the following few days after Saturday so you can claim your prize!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!