Stanley Cup Conference Finals Underway

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The Los Angeles Kings and Phoenix Coyotes got the Western Conference Final underway last night, with the Kings prevailing 4-2. The New York Rangers host the New Jersey Devils tonight in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final.

Our Stanley Cup Playoffs Pool is updated through last night’s game with a single point going to each of Shane Doan, Anze Kopitar and Mike Richards. Nope, no one in our pool picked current Conn Smythe trophy favourite Dustin Brown. The way these playoffs have gone though, are you really surprised?

I adjusted the hockey pool results page defaults to show our Conference Finals and Stanley Cup Final picks. A lot of red x’s across the board at the halfway point of the pool. Still, we have a pretty good race to the finish because a Cup win by any of a Rangers, Devils or Kings should – and I’m only estimating here – result in a different pool champion.

If you are on Facebook, Like our MOP Facebook page. Our FB cover image worked wonders for Kentucky winning the NCAA Men’s Division I basketball tournament (a.k.a. March Madness), but so far is completely opposite for the Stanley Cup. Round 1 we had Marc-Andre Fleury as our cover image. That couldn’t have gone worse. Round 2 I put up Pekka Rinne. This round I replaced Rinne with Martin Brodeur. We’ll see if the old warhorse can break the jinx we’ve got going over there.

Hockey Playoffs Pool Update

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Round 2 is underway and it is time for a quick Stanley Cup Playoffs Pool update. That was quite the first round. A lot of red ink on the results table thanks to first round exits by the Pittsburgh Penguins, Vancouver Canucks and Boston Bruins, amongst others. I think next year I’ll enter simply by picking teams out of a hat. My odds are good it will produce better results, and I’m sitting in 29th as of last night (not terrible out of 74 entries).

Our current top three are Nami87, snowman222 and forensic32. The interesting thing is all three of them have a different Cup winner prediction – Blues, Predators and Rangers. Our fourth place entry, brianbier, has yet another different pick to hoist the Cup, the Kings. It seems way early to make this call, but the odds are good one of these guys will win the pool.

After that, there are a lot of entries with picks for the final that are already eliminated. We have to move all the way down to 25th to find two more different predictions to win the Cup, banger with the Flyers and oman2004 with the Capitals. No one picked the Coyotes and no one picked the Devils to win it all, so overall, we have a six in eight chance of at least one entry earning points picking the Cup winner.

And as for the rest of us… yeah, going to be tough to make up any ground on these other guys. It isn’t usually this apparently hopeless for so many of us. Oh well. I’m still enjoying the playoffs (go Kings!) and maybe I’ll have the Football Survivor Pool up earlier than usual.

Last Call and Picks Reminder for the Hockey Playoffs Pool

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I just sent out two email newsletters. The first is a last call notice to everyone who was in our Hockey Playoffs Pool the last two years and isn’t back in yet (I’m looking at you, defending champ markymark2281). The second was a pick reminder to everyone already in the pool, to submit your final picks.

Both emails hinge on the same thing: Today is the deadline for the pool. That’s right, with the short turnaround from the end of the NHL Regular Season to the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, I give a couple of extra days to enter the pool and make or change your picks.

But today is the day. The deadline is 7:30 pm Eastern, the start of Game 2 of the Pittsburgh Penguins-Philadelphia Flyers series. Damn those pesky Flyers! So with Game 1 from seven of the eight series, plus a quick half hour of Game 1 of the under-publicized (and surely under-attended) New Jersey Devils-Florida Panthers series, which starts tonight at 7:00, that is plenty of action to judge the eventual Stanley Cup winner, right?

Right. So, get to it. Make your picks, or change your picks if you feel it is appropriate to do so. Click your name in the results page to get to your picks form, and make sure to hit submit when you are done. I just finalized my picks and I’ve got the Penguins and Los Angeles Kings going all the way to the final, with the Pens hoisting the Cup.

My five players are concussion twins Sidney Crosby and Jonathan Toews, plus Brad Richards, Patrice Bergeron and Mike Richards. Yep, all Canadians. What can I say?

Good luck in the pool, and remember to like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and/or whatever it is supposed to be on Google+ for pool updates throughout the playoffs.

Stanley Cup Playoffs Start Tonight, Pool Deadline Friday

Posted on April 11, 2012 by Mike MacGregor

Stanley Cup Playoffs kick off tonight starting with the much anticipated tilt between the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins. I’m jumping on the Penguins bandwagon, half because I want Sidney Crosby to showcase his talent, and half because I hate the Flyers. I used to love them as a kid, especially Pelle Lindbergh, but really soured on them since. Game 1 of that series is at 7:30 Eastern.

Then there are two more games on the opening night schedule, Nashville Predators at Detroit Red Wings at 8:00 and Los Angeles Kings at Vancouver Canucks at 10:30. This is when we start the very late nights for those of us in the Eastern time zone if you plan to stay up to the end of the west coast games. God help me if those games go into overtime. Of course if the Kings give the Canucks any trouble, it will be like the scene of a car crash. I just won’t be able to turn away.

Our annual Hockey Playoffs Pool is filling up nicely. I just added a status counter in the top-center of the results page showing the number of entries and prize for 1st, 2nd and 3rd. We are at 31 entries as of this morning.

For those who paid for entries in the pool by INTERAC email in the past (Canadians only), that is still perfectly fine, but you need to transfer the money to me first and I will then manually add you to the pool so you can make your picks. The way the pools are set up now, people cannot enter their picks and then pay, which prevents the potential for deadbeat entries I always found frustrating in the past. INTERAC is great though, so send it over with enough time before the deadline and we’ll get you set up.

Speaking of the pool deadline, a reminder it is this Friday at 7:30, the start time of Game 2 of the Flyers-Pens series. This gives us a little more time to get more entries in the pool (spread the word!) and research our picks with Game 1 in the books for most of the series.

Best of luck, and bring on the playoffs!

Hockey Playoffs Pool Ready to Roll

Posted on April 8, 2012 by Mike MacGregor

Finally! Hockey’s second season is here! It is time to join the Hockey Playoffs Pool!

We’ve heard more than enough griping from Leaf Nation on sports radio call-in segments in the last month. It is time to turn our attention away from the hack golfers and put the spotlight back on the guys on the ice who have a shot at the Holy Grail of sports trophy hardware – the Stanley Cup.

The NHL announces their schedule for the opening round of the playoffs today at 1:00 pm Eastern, but as of last night we know definitively what teams are playing each other. We know some of the series are starting this week on Wednesday night. Our annual Hockey Playoffs Pool, now in its seventh year, is ready to roll.

Eastern Conference	Western Conference
#8 Ottawa Senators vs. #1 New York Rangers	#8 Los Angeles Kings vs. #1 Vancouver Canucks
#7 Washington Capitals vs. #2 Boston Bruins	#7 San Jose Sharks vs. #2 St. Louis Blues
#6 New Jersey Devils vs. #3 Florida Panthers	#6 Chicago Blackhawks vs. #3 Phoenix Coyotes
#5 Philadelphia Flyers vs. #4 Pittsburgh Penguins	#5 Detroit Red Wings vs. #4 Nashville Predators

The format is the same as the past few years, where each entry picks the entire playoff bracket from the opening round winners to the Stanley Cup champion. Pick how many games each series will last. Also pick five skaters to earn points for goals and assists they earn through their (hopefully long) playoff run.

New this year, the five players must each be from a different NHL team. No loading up picking both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. You can only pick one of them at most. There won’t be any entries with both Daniel and Henrik Sedin. We are splitting up the twins. Pick wisely, as the player points go a long way towards finishing in the top 3 in this pool, which is where the cash and bragging rights are earned.

It is $20 per entry, enter as often as you like. Prizes to the top 3. In last year’s pool we had 46 entries and first place winner markymark2281 won over $500 as one of only a few who picked the Boston Bruins to topple the Vancouver Canucks in the final.

The deadline is extended past Game 1 of each series. The entry deadline is the drop of the puck of the first Game 2 of the opening round, which is currently estimated as this Friday at 7:00 pm Eastern. You can enter the pool and change your picks any time and as often as you like up to the pool entry deadline. Last year Boston lost their opening playoff game and looked horrible in the process, so don’t be too swayed by Game 1 results.

Spread the word about the pool to your friends and co-workers. Use the buttons found near the top of the pool pages to share on your social network hangout. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Google+ for pool updates, and get revved up for some hard hitting hockey!

March Madness Survivor Final Four Round

Posted on March 29, 2012 by Mike MacGregor

Final Four of March Madness is almost here, which ends a week of anguish for 16 of you still alive and figuring out who to pick for this crucial round of the survivor pool. Well, maybe not all 16 were suffering anguish with the decision, as a few are down to just a single team to pick. Some have two teams, some have three.

This March Madness tournament had some big upsets, like early exits for Duke and Missouri, but with no true Cinderella team making it to the Final Four, we have more entries alive at this stage than ever before. With so many entries it is very difficult to guess the picks we can expect to see at the pick deadline, tipoff of the Louisville-Kentucky game at 6:09pm Eastern on Saturday. Ohio State-Kansas goes right after at 8:49.

Probably, probably, the ultimate winner (or winners) of the pool will need to pick not only a winner this round, but also the winner of the NCAA tournament. But, you never know. Everyone who has Kentucky could pick Kentucky, they lose, and then one of ADGIB7 or evan0202, the only entries without a Kentucky option, will win the pool.

About the only thing I can give to potentially help the anguish – I mean decision – is show all of the alive entries with the teams they have available, and, a reminder to check the tie-breaker rules. In fact, I’ll copy the tie-breakers after the table of available picks for this round.

ADGIB7	Louisville, Ohio State
Coachd21	Kentucky, Ohio State, Kansas
Eugenius	Kentucky, Kansas
evan0202 #2	Kentucky
evan0202 #5	Kansas
Jake_from_Texas #2	Kentucky, Ohio State, Kansas
letsgobuffalo #2	Kentucky, Louisville, Ohio State
liverob	Kentucky, Ohio State, Kansas
mroliversson #2	Kentucky, Louisville, Ohio State
paulkney	Kentucky, Ohio State, Kansas
rydel	Kentucky
skyhawkbasketball	Kentucky, Louisville, Ohio State
stess10	Kentucky
ToddTheBod	Kentucky, Ohio State
tous14	Kentucky, Kansas
yoletmein #2	Kentucky, Louisville, Kansas

An entry that survives a round but does not have any teams left to pick from is deemed to have survived further than an entry that does not survive that last round.

An entry that can pick a team but loses in a round is deemed to have survived further than an entry that had no teams to pick from at the start of that round.

Congrats to all of our contestants who made it this far in the pool, and good luck the rest of the way. Only two rounds to go. Two big rounds. Should be some exciting basketball on Saturday night.

March Madness Survivor Sweet 16 and Elite Eight Rounds

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After a short breather from the madness, the NCAA’s Division I men’s college basketball tournament is back on today and it is time for two more heart stopping rounds of our March Madness Survivor Pool over the next four days.

Thursday and Friday is the Sweet 16 round. We have 21 entries alive heading into the Sweet 16, and this is where the rubber really hits the road, to see who can maneuver this and set themselves up for the run to the end. And it just might take another four straight correct picks to win this thing.

In last year’s pool, we had 18 entries alive for the Sweet 16. Only half of those won and advanced through the Sweet 16 round, and ultimately, it was decided in the Final Four. For the 2010 tourney, 20 entries were alive for the Sweet 16. Most made it through that round, but the pool champ needed a pick alive in the Championship game to outlast two other entries that got there, but ran out of available picks.

The first game tips off tonight at 7:15 Eastern, Wisconsin versus Syracuse. That is followed by Louisville vs. Michigan State, Cincy vs. Ohio State and Florida vs. Marquette. Friday’s games are Xavier vs. Baylor, Ohio vs. North Carolina, Indiana vs. Kentucky and North Carolina State vs. Kansas. Can I say it again? Friggin’ Georgetown!

After the Sweet 16 wraps up at around midnight on Friday night, I will input the entire schedule for the Elite Eight round. I don’t want to put it a partial schedule earlier than that, so people can see all of their choices when making their next round pick, assuming you make it through.

That gives less than a day from the time the schedule goes in, and the start of the first Elite Eight game on Saturday. Make sure to check in either late Friday or on Saturday to get your pick in. You can also email me your pick if you know it prior to the end of the Sweet 16 round. With a cool $1,600 on the line, and now, pretty darn good odds to win this thing, I’m sure everyone can make time and won’t forget to submit a pick for the next round.

Good luck to all of our remaining alive entries. Enjoy the games!

March Madness Survivor Ready For The Sweet 16

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Wow, what a crazy four days, as it is every year during the March Madness men’s college basketball tournament and for our March Madness Survivor Pool. Exactly one-quarter of our entries advanced through all four days, last Thursday to Sunday, to get to the Sweet 16 Round.

It was nearly somewhat less, and yes, I’m bitter about the VCU-Indiana game. VCU had a nice lead through most of the fourth quarter, but were throwing up bricks like nobody’s business. Two missed free throws late left me gripping the TV remove control with all of my might. Still, VCU had a chance to win it on the final shot. A nice open 3-pointer… short. Damn it. That would have got me through almost exactly the same as last year when I picked VCU in an upset, and ten entries who picked Indiana wouldn’t have made it past Saturday.

These games are so close though, that is sometimes the way the ball bounces. Georgetown cracked under the pressure Sunday and wiped out nine entries, plus Florida State for one exit, dropping us down to the 21 still alive at this moment. A lot of people picked Florida yesterday, and I would have been right there with you, if I hadn’t already used them in Round 1!

The pool is now set up for the Sweet 16, and picks must be in for this round prior to tipoff of the first game, which is Thursday evening. For those of us on the sidelines, we’ll sit back and see who can get through Thursday plus Friday’s Sweet 16, and move on to the Elite 8 next Saturday and Sunday. Good luck! Plan ahead!

March Madness Survivor Pool Now Open

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I am about 24 hours behind schedule getting the March Madness Survivor Pool up and running, but we’re there now. It is ready to go, so step right up, buy your entries and make your picks on the quest to dominate the most edge of your seat college hoops pool going. Deadline Thursday at 12:15 pm Eastern!

The reason for the holdup is because of unexpected issues overhauling the MyOfficePool.ca website. You can see some of the changes so far, and hopefully they are to your liking. I’m still not done, so not to worry, the other pools haven’t disappeared forever, but there are some changes you should be aware of:

Entries must be purchased prior to submitting picks in the pool. This helps me because I don’t have to track down people for payment after the fact.
To purchase one or more entries, go to the sign up page. Once you click through to our credit card payment processor, PayPal, you can update the number of entries you want. Existing members should login prior to going to the sign up page.
Anyone who normally pays with INTERAC email, that is still cool. You’ll just have to send it to me and I’ll add your entries to the pool after I receive it so you can make your picks.
Use the forgot password box on the login page if you can’t remember your password, or shoot me an email if you need help accessing your account.

If you notice any errors or broken links with respect to the pool, then please let me know. We’ll see if we can exceed the big bump in entries we had last year from 2010. Now the big question weighing on me is do I take Virginia Commonwealth out of the gate this year, or hold back a round or two? Good luck!

March Madness Survivor Available Soon

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2012 March Madness Survivor Pool will be ready soon! If you were in last year’s pool, you should receive an email when it is ready. Thanks for your patience! Here are the results from the 2011 pool.