We Have A Winner!

After spending some extensive time looking over the point totals for the HBIC Playoff Pool, it dawned on me that there are some extremely talented prognosticators in this group of entrants. Officially, two men will stand out from the rest, but you should all feel pretty darn good about yourselves. This was, by far, one of the most unpredictable playoff years in recent memory, so know that I think this may have been the best group yet. This will show in the final standings posted below when you see how closely everyone finished.

I'll start first with a correction. I shorted Greg C. two points along the way. Thanks to the hired auditing team of Dewey, Cheetham and Howe, this mistake was found and corrected, boosting Greg's point total by a deuce before this round even began. Good eyes on that Greg, and thanks for calling me on the shorting!

Ok, so I was going to post the best score, but then it dawned on me that the two people who broke double-digit point totals in this round actually finished on the prize list. Therefore, I'll run down how the nine prize winners did to finish off the 2013 HBIC Playoff Pool. And this will go in order from ninth to first. Here we go!
 

9. Christopher C. - 77 points: Chris added five points to his total in the Stanley Cup Final. He could have technically finished higher had he picked a tie-breaker team way back before this whole dance started, but he still made the cut, finishing with a prize. Well done, Chris!

8. Brandee T. - 77 points: Brandee also added five points, keeping pace with Chris. If there was one person who insisted on flaunting the rules of the playoff pool, though, it was Brandee. Brandee always submitted picks on time, but I soon found out that Brandee is a Mac user as I kept receiving spreadsheets in .numbers format! Honestly, help a brother out here! In all seriousness, well done on your pool picks, Brandee!

7. Michael J. - 77 points: They say that a strong finish can mean a lot, and it did in this case. Michael went crazy with 13 points in the Stanley Cup Final! He called every game correctly for six points, added Patrick Kane's game-winner in Game Five for another two points, and called Chicago to win the Stanley Cup in six games! And to add a little more salt to the wound, Michael also called Pittsburgh to be his tie-breaker team, finishing well ahead of Brandee's team in Montreal! Well done, Michael, on being this round's best performer, and for jumping into the prizes with those predictions!

6. Thomas O. - 78 points: Thomas only grabbed three points in the Stanley Cup Final, but they helped him earn his prize. Thomas was at or near the top of the leaderboard for the entire playoffs, and i pays off in the end with a prize! Well done, Thomas!

5. John M. - 79 points: John used a six-point Stanley Cup Final to vault up the standings. He was actually tied with Ty F. after the last round, but apparently I omitted him from the standings to make it appear like he came out of nowhere. That was not the case as I went back and did the math, and John finished with his 79 points earned! Well done, John!

4. Westin F. - 79 points: Westin finished the Stanley Cup Final with five points to push him into a tie for fourth-place. However, Westin held onto the fourth-place spot after picking Boston as his tie-breaker team, relegating John to fifth-place as Boston out-penaltied Vancouver fairly easily. Well done, Westin, on a successful playoff run!

3. Tyler J. - 80 points: Tyler, who was in eleventh-place at the end of Round Three, used a nine-point Stanley Cup Final to launch himself into third-place at the final standing! He called four games right and picked Chicago in six games for those nine points, and that boost rocketed him up the leaderboard! Well done on your Stanley Cup Final picks, Tyler, and congrats on the playoff predictions!

2. George C. - 90 points: George was the other peak performer in the Stanley Cup Final as his picks earned him 11 points! George called every game correctly, and knew that Chicago was going to win in six games. With those eleven points, George put some serious pressure on Andy to come through with his picks. Well done, George, on a successful playoff pool!

1. Andy S. - 95 points: Andy pretty much controlled this pool from the opening round right through to the finish. He had 56 points through Round One, and used some smart picks through the next three rounds to keep him ahead of both Thomas and George the rest of the way. Andy earned seven points in the Stanley Cup which was enough for him to win the 2013 HBIC Playoff Pool! Congratulations, Andy, on your excellent prognostications!

It's a holiday weekend in Canada and Independence Day in the US next week, so I've decided that I will begin mailing these packages after Canada Day. I will start sending out emails this weekend to the winners, so keep your eyes on your inbox. If you haven't taken a look at the prizing yet, I'd suggest you do so.

All in all, thank you to everyone who partook in this year's HBIC Playoff Pool. We'll get at this again next year, and hopefully you'll all be back to try to call the games as best as you can.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!