Final Counts Have Been Tallied

It's taken longer than I had anticipated thanks to life getting in the way, but I am happy to report that the final standings for the HBIC Playoff Pool have been calculated and we can now crown a winner! The race to the end featured a number of people risking their points to make that last-ditch effort to jump to the top of the leaderboard, but I will end the suspense now: no one called a perfect series in the Stanley Cup Final. There were a few who jumped up the leaderboard with some rather smart predictions, though, so let's take a look at who did what in the last series of the Stanley Cup Playoffs!

I want to thank my outside counsel of Dewey, Cheetham, and Howe for tabulating the results. Christine and Dave were kind enough to double- and triple-check my math because I err being human. I trust their findings, and I'm certain they represented the firm well. Thanks, guys, for the help in finding our winners this season!

And with that, we turn to the podium. Our overall winner led from wire to wire in this pool, and his 16-point margin of victory showed just how on-the-ball he was in this year's playoffs. It also helped that he was a Predators fan, but that's besides the point. Second-place actually needed a boost from the Stanley Cup Final, and he got that as he leapfrogged two entrants to land in second-place with a nine-point Stanley Cup Final! And our bronze medalist simply needed to keep pace to remain in the prizes, and he did just that. To the victors go the spoils, and here are the victors!

Congratulations to Peter, Neal, and Westin! I do want to throw out an honourable mention to both Justin S. and Katie S. who made runs at the end to try and chase down a top-three spot. While both fell short, this is one of the closest races for the prizes in recent history. Justin is a former HBIC Playoff Pool champion, but rookie sensation Katie came out of nowhere to stare down the boys and register an incredible first HBIC Playoff Pool. I'm hoping she'll be back next season because it would be great to see the fairer sex stand atop the mountain when the dust settles!

If you want to see where you finished, the leaderboard has been updated. If you notice point totals with an asterisk beside them, these were the brave souls who decided to throw caution to the wind and risk a portion of or all of their points to try and win. It may not have worked out, but nothing ventured means nothing gained, right?

Emails will go out this weekend to the three victors above. To all who participated, thank you for another enjoyable playoff pool. My hope is that you'll all join again next season, and who knows whose crystal ball will have the most right answers then?

Until then, keep your sticks on the ice!