Round 1 Analysis
With Anaheim and Washington going down, there are numerous entries that might take a tumble in the standings next round. Overall, however, the main teams are still in the running and therefore most of the core of the pool is intact. The first round attrition rate of 22.8% of picks is higher than last year, but not unreasonable.

There are still 43 entries that did not lose any picks, and only two that lost everything.

After one round we have a three way tie in first between Alexander Di Battista, Dennis Clayton, and Jeff Brinston with all of them losing two players. It is not until five points back - in 19th - where we find two poolies who didn't lose anybody - David Minuk and Jamie Robichaud. Naturally, they are projected to lead the pool after round 2. See where you rank in the projections below.

Daniel Briere, leading the playoffs with 11 points, is also the top darkhorse pick.

Top players still alive
With Anaheim as the only legitimate upset and Washington the only other popular team to go down, the top-picked players in the pool are all still alive. The most popular player to be eliminated was Alexander Ovechkin, who was the seventh-ranked forward with 89 picks. His nine-point performance, however, appears to be worth the first-round flyer (no pun intended) taken by half the pool. Last year's risk was Sidney Crosby, who had five points for 57 picks (of 132 entries).

Anaheim players Getzlaf (51 picks), Selanne (31), Pronger (27), and Giguere (24) were the other mid-ranked players eliminated.

Briere best darkhorse pick
Daniel Briere led the Philadelphia Flyers to their first round victory and leads the league in playoff scoring with 11 points. So this year's Hindsight Award for the best darkhorse pick is Jim Dart, the only poolie to pick Briere. This is closely followed by Marni Berman, the only one to take Marty Turco. Turco's ten points gives him a second consecutive strong showing - last year when no one picked him he had 18 points on three shutouts and three wins, but lost the seven-game opening series against Vancouver.

Defense: try again
The top notch defensemen didn't perform up to expecatations in round one. The most popular defensemen picked up a few points and stayed alive, but the best performers were eliminated or were not picked by anybody. Phaneuf, Green, and Pronger are gone and Robidas, Brisebois, and Kronwall were ignored by poolies.

Goalie battle adds twist
Detroit's goaltending situation has added some interesting drama for 15 poolies who were split on who to take. Nine entries had Dominik Hasek who appeared to have the upper hand, winning the first two games and causing regrets among Chris Osgood fans. However when Nashville evened the series, the six who took Osgood got a pleasant surprise as Osgood not only took over the reins, but collected a shutout in the decisive game. Stay tuned as the two former Cup champions continue to battle it out.

The Smiths: How to share
Over the first nine years of the pool we had very few cases where two people took the same picks. This year with so many more entries there are more of these cases, plus one group of five. Strangely, it is the Rice Lake League of Champions who are caught up most often. After numerous pools (between Lord Stanley and Shoot for Gold) where the Smiths have brought home cash, they now apparently have a sharing spirit and want to split this year's winnings with others. Perennial contender George Smith is in the Fab Five, while Sean and Tim are tied with others - and Chris and sister-in-law Tracy are tied with each other. We'll chalk it up to corporate social responsibility.

Biggest bust
Detroit's goaltending situation has added some interesting drama for 15 poolies who were split on who to take. Nine entries had Dominik Hasek who appeared to have the upper hand, winning the first two games and causing regrets among Chris Osgood fans. However when Nashville evened the series, the six who took Osgood got a pleasant surprise as Osgood not only took over the reins, but collected a shutout in the decisive game. Stay tuned as the two former Cup champions continue to battle it out.

One entry disqualified
Keen standings watchers may have noticed that last place recently became #189 instead of #190. Unfortunately this year for the first time we have an individual who did not pay by the deadline and was disqualified. I didn't like to do it but rules are rules - and I need to make sure people pay early enough, before "choosing" not to pay if they realize they're not going to win. Thank you to the 189 who paid up and good luck the rest of the way! Grand prize: $1134. 2nd place: $567. 3rd: $189.

Biggest Bust
With few big names going down hard this year and with increased playoff scoring compared to the past, it gets harder to find major busts. This year there were a number of candidates for biggest bust - of the minor variety - including Jason Spezza and Dany Heatley (1 point, 12 picks each), and Marian Gaborik (1 point, 11 picks). But given the importance of goaltending in this pool, the award is given this year to Martin Brodeur, with one point for 11 poolies counting on him to do plenty more. Brodeur is the first player to be bestowed the award twice, the first being 2004 when he had one point for 20 picks out of 102 entries.
Biggest busts over the years: 2008 - Brodeur; 2007 - Kariya; 2006 - Lidstrom; 2004 - Brodeur; 2003 - Joseph; 2002 - Entire Flyers roster; 2001 - Yzerman; 2000 - Gonchar; 1999 - Yashin; 1998 - Holik.

Round 2 predictions
Ok I did not do so well with my first round predictions this year. After going 7 for 8 last year I've got a mediocre 4 for 8 record (1 of 4 in the West). My round 2 predictions: Colorado, San Jose, Pittsburgh, Montreal.

Team and Player Stats:

Top Players
Forwards Team Pts Picks Daniel Briere PHI 11 1 Vaclav Prospal PHI 9 0 Jarome Iginla CGY 9 89 Alexander Ovechkin WAS 9 89 Ryane Clowe SAN 8 0 Mike Ribeiro DAL 8 2 Alexander Semin WAS 8 3 Jaromir Jagr NYR 8 19 Sidney Crosby PIT 8 124	Defense Team Pts Picks Mike Green WAS 7 11 Dion Phaneuf CGY 7 8 Stephane Robidas DAL 6 0         Goalies Team Pts Picks Carey Price MON 14 30 Martin Biron PHI 10 0 Marty Turco DAL 10 1
Teams
IN  Picks  Cups  Detroit 360 43 Pittsburgh 353 15 San Jose 308 71 Montreal 210 23 NY Rangers 44 1 Colorado 22 0 Dallas 11 1 Philadelphia 6 0	OUT Picks Cups Anaheim 160 23 Washington 120 2 Ottawa 30 4 Calgary 30 1 New Jersey 25 4 Minnesota 18 2 Nashville 3 0 Boston 1 0

Projected Round 2 Standings

Here are the projected scores and rankings for after round 2. The projection assumes (wrongly, of course) that the remaining players will produce in round 2 at the exact same rate as in round 1, so Daniel Briere would get another 11 points and Carey Price another two shutouts.

LOST=Players Lost in Round 1
IMP=Impact (pts. by lost players)
IMP%=Impact as % of total pts.

R1 Rank	Proj. Rank	Name	R2 Projection	R1 Pts.	Lost	IMP	IMP%	Cup
19	1	David Minuk	112	56	0	0	0.0%	SAN
19	1	Jamie Robichaud	112	56	0	0	0.0%	MON
30	3	Michel Melanson	110	55	0	0	0.0%	MON
30	3	Georgia Strachan	110	55	0	0	0.0%	SAN
46	5	Kevin Hoey	108	54	0	0	0.0%	SAN
9	6	Norrin Ripsman	107	58	1	9	15.5%	MON
19	6	Gilles Duguay	107	56	1	5	8.9%	PIT
1	8	Dennis Clayton	106	60	2	14	23.3%	ANA
52	8	Jerome R. Brouard	106	53	0	0	0.0%	DET
52	8	Gaston Nowlan	106	53	0	0	0.0%	SAN
52	8	Barrett Boitson	106	53	0	0	0.0%	MON
52	8	Sean Smith	106	53	0	0	0.0%	DET
52	8	Kyle Hogg	106	53	0	0	0.0%	SAN
52	8	Keith Chappell	106	53	0	0	0.0%	SAN
52	8	Marcel Strachan	106	53	0	0	0.0%	SAN
14	16	Mike O'Brien	105	57	1	9	15.8%	PIT
14	16	Hank Shannon	105	57	1	9	15.8%	MON
14	16	Ava Raine Beder	105	57	1	9	15.8%	SAN
65	19	Peter Sadlier-Brown	104	52	0	0	0.0%	SAN
65	19	David Lester	104	52	0	0	0.0%	SAN
14	19	Shad Passmore	104	57	2	10	17.5%	SAN
1	19	Jeff Brinston	104	60	2	16	26.7%	SAN
4	19	Mouli Ramani	104	59	2	14	23.7%	MON
19	24	Jen Reilly	103	56	1	9	16.1%	SAN
19	24	Sam Kern	103	56	1	9	16.1%	SAN
19	24	Bobby Pomerleau	103	56	1	9	16.1%	MON
19	24	Jerry Rynda	103	56	1	9	16.1%	SAN
19	24	Brian Lewis	103	56	1	9	16.1%	SAN
19	24	Harris Beder	103	56	1	9	16.1%	SAN
65	24	Einar Gainforth-Beech	103	52	1	1	1.9%	PIT
73	31	Terry Hoey	102	51	0	0	0.0%	SAN
73	31	George Smith	102	51	0	0	0.0%	SAN
73	31	Julian Vardy	102	51	0	0	0.0%	SAN
73	31	Mark Fahey	102	51	0	0	0.0%	SAN
73	31	Jeff Williams	102	51	0	0	0.0%	DET
73	31	Ron Wener	102	51	0	0	0.0%	DET
73	31	Russell Reed	102	51	0	0	0.0%	SAN
73	31	Duncan Campbell	102	51	0	0	0.0%	PIT
73	31	Jonas Struthers	102	51	0	0	0.0%	DET
73	31	Vincent Galante	102	51	0	0	0.0%	SAN
9	31	Kevin Clarke	102	58	2	14	24.1%	SAN
73	31	Antony Stais	102	51	0	0	0.0%	MON
73	31	Gary Compton	102	51	0	0	0.0%	SAN
1	31	Alexander Di Battista	102	60	2	18	30.0%	MON
73	31	Wayne Wood	102	51	0	0	0.0%	SAN
4	31	Cheryl Wallace	102	59	2	16	27.1%	MON
30	47	Karen Savoie	101	55	1	9	16.4%	PIT
30	47	Aron Slipacoff	101	55	1	9	16.4%	PIT
30	47	Gabe Pretto	101	55	1	9	16.4%	SAN
30	47	Ford Hatchett	101	55	1	9	16.4%	DET
30	47	Mitch Hatchett	101	55	1	9	16.4%	SAN
30	47	Andy Hotson	101	55	1	9	16.4%	SAN
14	47	Patrick Bouchard	101	57	2	13	22.8%	DET
30	47	Mike De Petrillo	101	55	1	9	16.4%	SAN
91	55	Brendan Browne	100	50	0	0	0.0%	DET
91	55	Jay Dart	100	50	0	0	0.0%	DET
4	55	Grace Yu	100	59	2	18	30.5%	MON
91	55	Joel Pollock	100	50	0	0	0.0%	SAN
30	55	Jason Bartlett	100	55	2	10	18.2%	MON
46	60	Ryan Slack	99	54	1	9	16.7%	DET
46	60	Jean-Pierre Reilly	99	54	1	9	16.7%	SAN
46	60	Aaron Pretto	99	54	1	9	16.7%	PIT
46	60	Bryan Wood	99	54	1	9	16.7%	SAN
4	64	Brenden Kennedy	98	59	3	20	33.9%	DET
105	64	Steve Sealy	98	49	0	0	0.0%	SAN
91	64	Grace DeSantis-Peragine	98	50	1	2	4.0%	SAN
105	64	Georgina Hubbard	98	49	0	0	0.0%	SAN
52	68	Puya Vakili-Zad	97	53	1	9	17.0%	PIT
46	68	David Hood	97	54	2	11	20.4%	PIT
52	68	Della Santin	97	53	2	9	17.0%	MON
112	71	Alan Eng	96	48	0	0	0.0%	DET
91	71	Daniel Wiseman	96	50	1	4	8.0%	DET
30	71	Shane Kozlowich	96	55	2	14	25.5%	DET
30	71	Mohan Krishnamoorthy	96	55	2	14	25.5%	SAN
73	71	Pette Chappell	96	51	2	6	11.8%	PIT
65	76	Patrick Mitchell	95	52	1	9	17.3%	SAN
30	77	Bo Chen	94	55	2	16	29.1%	DET
119	77	Alvin Gainforth	94	47	0	0	0.0%	SAN
119	77	Cavin Bennett	94	47	0	0	0.0%	SAN
119	77	Deric Chow	94	47	0	0	0.0%	SAN
9	77	Marni Berman	94	58	3	22	37.9%	DAL
73	82	Judy Wood	93	51	2	9	17.6%	ANA
73	82	Ian Winsor	93	51	2	9	17.6%	SAN
73	82	Robert Struthers	93	51	1	9	17.6%	SAN
19	82	Renee Loubert	93	56	3	19	33.9%	ANA
112	86	Kevin Hinch	92	48	1	4	8.3%	SAN
30	86	Sophie Wexler	92	55	3	18	32.7%	MON
4	88	Bill Dawkins	91	59	4	27	45.8%	PIT
91	88	Al Sibille	91	50	1	9	18.0%	SAN
112	88	Brad Hotson	91	48	1	5	10.4%	SAN
140	91	Tracy Smith	90	45	0	0	0.0%	SAN
140	91	John Upper	90	45	0	0	0.0%	SAN
140	91	Chris Smith	90	45	0	0	0.0%	SAN
140	91	Rica French	90	45	0	0	0.0%	SAN
91	91	Mike Walsh	90	50	2	10	20.0%	SAN
140	91	Jacques Lirette	90	45	1	0	0.0%	MON
52	91	Shawn Robichaud	90	53	3	16	30.2%	SAN
65	91	John Crossingham	90	52	2	14	26.9%	SAN
119	91	Johnny Bouchard	90	47	1	4	8.5%	SAN
105	100	Mary Sue Strickland	89	49	1	9	18.4%	DET
19	100	Corgan Rikkonen	89	56	3	23	41.1%	CGY
105	100	Blake Wood	89	49	2	9	18.4%	PIT
30	100	Camillo Cipriano	89	55	4	21	38.2%	SAN
65	104	Camilla Marion	88	52	3	16	30.8%	SAN
9	104	Joel Elash	88	58	4	28	48.3%	MON
65	104	Sam Fielding	88	52	2	16	30.8%	NYR
91	107	Jim Dart	87	50	3	13	26.0%	ANA
105	107	Adam Jamieson	87	49	2	11	22.4%	ANA
52	107	Sanjay Talwar	87	53	3	19	35.8%	DET
150	107	Paul Markowski	87	44	1	1	2.3%	MON
112	107	Dan Greenstein	87	48	1	9	18.8%	SAN
112	112	Allan Moeser	86	48	2	10	20.8%	PIT
154	112	Mike van Steendelaar	86	43	1	0	0.0%	SAN
91	114	Richard Gretzinger	85	50	3	15	30.0%	DET
91	114	Richard Rikkonen	85	50	2	15	30.0%	SAN
105	114	Lee McLeod	85	49	4	13	26.5%	MON
30	114	Samuel Wexler	85	55	4	25	45.5%	SAN
73	118	Abraham McAllister	84	51	2	18	35.3%	DET
112	118	Vince Brescia	84	48	3	12	25.0%	ANA
52	118	George Crothers	84	53	3	22	41.5%	SAN
159	118	Judah Gould	84	42	0	0	0.0%	DET
9	118	Sharon Boitson	84	58	4	32	55.2%	MON
119	123	Andrea Ford	83	47	3	11	23.4%	ANA
91	123	Colin Kennedy	83	50	4	17	34.0%	SAN
91	125	Chris Kelley	82	50	2	18	36.0%	PIT
140	125	Dan Salerno	82	45	2	8	17.8%	DET
154	125	Alex Walsh	82	43	1	4	9.3%	DET
140	128	Steven Kjellberg	81	45	1	9	20.0%	DET
119	128	Shadd Dales	81	47	3	13	27.7%	ANA
52	128	Angela Keenlyside	81	53	3	25	47.2%	DET
65	128	Jeff Drisdelle	81	52	4	23	44.2%	ANA
119	128	Azra Champsi	81	47	3	13	27.7%	ANA
131	133	Al Kostiuk	80	46	3	12	26.1%	SAN
131	133	Steve Kennedy	80	46	2	12	26.1%	SAN
159	135	Dave Dufour	79	42	1	5	11.9%	MON
150	135	Max-Zeb Jackaman-Slipacoff	79	44	3	9	20.5%	DET
91	135	Sarah Trusty	79	50	3	21	42.0%	SAN
131	138	Patrick Provost	78	46	3	14	30.4%	DET
91	138	Jeff Hammond	78	50	3	22	44.0%	SAN
131	138	Blair Miller	78	46	3	14	30.4%	ANA
140	138	Isa Boucher	78	45	3	12	26.7%	SAN
140	138	Sean Sargent	78	45	3	12	26.7%	PIT
159	143	Mandy Ng	77	42	3	7	16.7%	DET
180	144	Ashleigh Harrington	76	38	0	0	0.0%	DET
154	144	Craig Battle	76	43	2	10	23.3%	DET
119	144	Ryan Spencer	76	47	4	18	38.3%	SAN
131	147	Tim Smith	75	46	3	17	37.0%	ANA
131	147	Stuart Klein	75	46	3	17	37.0%	ANA
119	147	Rhonda MacSporran	75	47	4	19	40.4%	DET
140	150	Altaf Champsi	74	45	3	16	35.6%	DET
119	150	Art French	74	47	4	20	42.6%	NJD
181	150	Lyn Gainforth	74	37	0	0	0.0%	DET
131	150	Becke Gainforth	74	46	4	18	39.1%	SAN
150	150	Matthew O'Rourke	74	44	4	14	31.8%	SAN
112	155	DianMarie Winsor	73	48	5	23	47.9%	NJD
131	155	Dwight Butler	73	46	4	19	41.3%	DET
159	157	Mike Newbauer	72	42	3	12	28.6%	ANA
119	157	Ryan Whittle	72	47	4	22	46.8%	DET
119	157	Andrea Dawkins	72	47	4	22	46.8%	DET
173	157	Jason Roy	72	39	3	6	15.4%	OTT
168	161	David Loop	71	40	2	9	22.5%	ANA
164	162	Andrew Ryan	70	41	3	12	29.3%	ANA
168	163	Candace Unterschute	69	40	3	11	27.5%	DET
164	163	Michael Patton	69	41	3	13	31.7%	DET
173	163	Emma Fielding	69	39	3	9	23.1%	MIN
173	163	Sandy Morrison	69	39	2	9	23.1%	DET
159	163	Mitch Wexler	69	42	4	15	35.7%	MIN
173	168	Angie Lockett	68	39	3	10	25.6%	MON
105	168	Brendan/Evan Hoey	68	49	5	30	61.2%	NJD
150	168	Susan Sinclair	68	44	4	20	45.5%	SAN
168	171	Lori Robinson	67	40	3	13	32.5%	DET
173	172	Tony Vanderdrift	66	39	3	12	30.8%	DET
154	172	Andrew Hamilton	66	43	5	20	46.5%	OTT
173	172	Lee Beech	66	39	3	12	30.8%	ANA
168	175	Steven Hawley	64	40	4	16	40.0%	ANA
164	176	Li Sang Tan	63	41	4	19	46.3%	ANA
173	177	Scott Strachan	61	39	6	17	43.6%	OTT
182	178	Marilyn Beaulieu	58	35	4	12	34.3%	DET
131	178	Roger D. Brouard	58	46	6	34	73.9%	ANA
182	178	Ken Shuter	58	35	3	12	34.3%	ANA
154	181	Paula Brinston	57	43	6	29	67.4%	WAS
184	182	Ted Kennedy	48	34	5	20	58.8%	OTT
186	183	Laura Wood	45	30	5	15	50.0%	ANA
189	184	Keith Beaulieu	44	27	4	10	37.0%	MON
185	185	Noah Pollock	43	31	6	19	61.3%	NJD
164	186	Pierre Gainforth Beech	41	41	9	41	100.0%	WAS
168	187	Patrick Gill	40	40	9	40	100.0%	ANA
186	188	Joy Smith	37	30	6	23	76.7%	MON
188	189	Carol Hatchett	35	29	5	23	79.3%	DET