Round Three Starts Now!

These late games are killing me. With San Jose and Colorado finally done and the other three series of the Stanley Cup Playoffs' second round completed, we can now move on to Round Three! The third round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs starts tomorrow, so you'll need to get this one in quick. However, I once again realize that time zones and work hours and all the things that are a hundred times more important than this pool, so I'm going to take some of the pressure off for those with busy lives and give everyone more than 24 hours to submit the next wave of predictions, guesses, and prognostications. You've got time on your side this time, so use it wisely!

We'll start with the most important part of Round Three: here's the new spreadsheet for third round. Same rules as before - rename it with your name AND ADD "R3" AT THE END, and then send it to me at this email address.

Again, there are no player selections for each division this time. Your scorers that you chose at the beginning are your scorers for the playoffs. No exceptions and no changes. After everything that has happened in the previous two rounds, no one has more than one scorer remaining - hint: they're all San Jose Sharks - and everyone else has zero scorers remaining. Upsets and surprises continue to haunt this pool, so the third round could prove to be very interesting.

In terms of relieving some of the chronological pressure, I'll gift-wrap the first game in the Boston-Carolina series tomorrow night since there is less than 24 hours between the end of the second round and start of the third round. Everyone gets another free point for simply getting the sheet in prior to the San Jose-St. Louis game on Friday. Whoever the NHL schedule-maker is, he or she needs to allow everyone to take a breath between rounds. As it stands, it seems like the NHL is hellbent on getting these playoffs done as fast as they can.

Just like the last round, the leaderboard will be updated some time on Friday, so make sure you check in and see where you are in the standings. Again, you have an extra day, so you can mull over who will win, who will score, and how long it will take to determine the Stanley Cup finalists, and I'll get everything updated by Friday.

The third round starts now, so get your entries in!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!