No One's Perfect, But...

It's all over. The greatest achievement in hockey has been competed for over the last couple of months, and we finally have a winner. If you think I'm talking about the Stanley Cup, you haven't been following the intrigue and drama of the HBIC Playoff Pool! We had a player who led wire-to-wire through the first three rounds, and he was looking to wrap up the 2015 edition of the HBIC Playoff Pool with a solid final round. There were players hot on his heels, though, and they were looking to catch and overtake him for their own shot at glory. Today, we narrow it down to the five entrants who can claim a prize and we find out who finished atop the leaderboard!

I want to point out that the totals with an asterisk are a little more special due to these men risking it all. I decided that, in the interest of fun, I wasn't going to deduct any points and post your actual totals had you not risked anything. That being said, I am going to post the amount of points these brave individuals risked so that everyone can see what real courage is all about. Because none of them posted a perfect a round. But it took guts to say "I'm laying it all on the line", so well done, gents. You are the winners of the inaugural HBIC Courage Patch for your bold wagers!

1. Daniel W. risked 74 points.
2. Dan F. risked 25 points.
3. Greg C. risked 51 points.
4. LJ S. risked 61 points.
5. Neal L. risked 10 points.
6. Tony T. risked 55 points.
7. Ty F. risked 25 points.
8. Westin F. risked 63 points.

While that's something that isn't actually a physical prize, you're welcome to copy it and post it as an avatar, stick it on your website, add it to business cards, and use it anywhere else you like. You eight are the boldest of the bold this year despite the perfect round eluding you. There is a silver lining, though.

Not one person correctly predicted the Stanley Cup Final. However, one entrant did gaze deep into his crystal ball, and he picked himself up the highest point total of the final round. Jared R. went off in this round by calling Games One, Two, Four, and Six correctly for four points. He correctly predicted Chicago winning the Stanley Cup in six games for another five points. And to close out this impressive series for him, he called the game-winning goals in Game Four by Brandon Saad and in Game Six by Duncan Keith. All said, Jared collected 13 points in the Stanley Cup Final! Well done, Jared!

So who finished where? Did Jared's fantastic last round push him up the leaderboard? Who won the whole darn thing and by how much?

Finishing in fifth-place with a total of 86 points was Matt H.!
Finishing in fourth-place with a total of 93 points was Connor N.!

Let's go to the podium for the remaining scores...

The victory for Jeremie G. over Andy S. literally came down to the tie-breaker. Jeremie's prediction of Chicago having 150 PIMs was only 12 off their total of 162 PIMs in the playoffs. Andy's prediction of 198 PIMs for the St. Louis Blues was 150 PIMs off their total of 48 PIMs. Andy, you're welcome to blame St. Louis due to their first-round exit because that was the difference between first-place and second-place in this year's HBIC Playoff Pool.

Congratulations to Jeremie G. on winning his first HBIC Playoff Pool! Congratulations to Andy, Jared, Connor, and Matt for being prize-winners in this year's pool as well. And thank you to everyone who participated in this year's HBIC Playoff Pool. Once more, it was a ton of fun, and I really enjoy running it year after year. Emails will begin to go out this weekend to the prize-winners, so keep an eye on that inbox if you're one of the five entrants named above!

Until next year, keep your sticks on the ice!