You guys can I'm sure help me out...Here's the format for the office playoff pool.

Pick TEN players and ONE goalie. Max SEVEN players from any single team.
One point per goal or assist. Two points for a goalie win, six total points for a shutout.

Ten more points for picking the stanley cup winner. I'm probably going to put in 3 or 4
separate entries. Have at 'er poolies....

Um...what's the time period where they'll be racking up the goals and assists? That'd be the difference for picking Ovechkin or not depending on if this was for next week or the playoffs.

And 10 points for picking a Cup winner? Meaning, when an individual (one of the 11) you choose makes it to the Cup, you get extra points? Or do you mean the team you pick?

It's a playoff pool. And you get 10pts for picking the TEAM that wins the cup, sorry if that was unclear.

When is the lineup due?

If you can hold out until the playoff teams are set and seeded, do so. That way, you can avoid choosing players that will face each other in the first round (for instance, Daniel Briere and let's say Ryan Smyth for the sake of argument) because the one sure thing is that one of them won't see the second round because Buffalo being the #1 seed and the Isles being the #8 seed, only one team will advance.

Try to stock your team with players from each conference that have a good chance of seeing the Conference Final, and you should go far. As far as goalies, those extra shutout points are going to be huge, and Marty Brodeur only has a dozen of them this season. Jersey may not hoist the Cup, but you can get a lot of mileage out of him while they're in it.

If the season ended today, I'd take:

Daniel Briere
Thomas Vanek
Sidney Crosby
Jaromir Jagr
Joe Thornton
Paul Kariya
Jason Spezza
Dany Heatley
Marian Gaborik
Evgeni Malkin

G - Martin Brodeur

Cup Win - Buffalo

Silly! You picked Brodeur, 2 Pens, and 2 Sens in your list. Two of these teams are definitely facing each other in the first round. Follow your own advice! I would balance my team more between the conferences. You are also carrying 8 of 11 players from the East, so I'd swap a couple guys from the West in. I would definitely wait until the seeding is done to really hammer out your final picks. For example, if things ended today and the Pens finished as the 2 seed, I would consider choosing a second Pens forward because they would be playing Tampa Bay in the first round. I am very confident that the Pens PP will light up TB's suspect defense/goaltending and advance to the next round. However, if the Pens finish as the 4/5 seed, I would only take Crosby because I would be much less confident that they would advance. I'd still want Crosby because the series would likely go at least six games.

I would take Datsyuk over Malkin. I would take a Western Conference goalie because those games will certainly be lower scoring, but exactly which one would depend on the potential first/second round match ups. The bottom seeds in the West won't be final until the season's end, so this will be tough to pick ahead of time. I'd probably go with Giguere or Luongo, though, choosing whichever team is not facing San Jose. I think Jagr is a good pick if the Rangers end up playing Atlanta in the first round, which they would if the season ended today. I would have to choose between Spezza and Heatley. The Sens have such a history of choking in the playoffs that I can't put faith in them lasting more than two rounds. I would probably go with Spezza, since goals/assists are worth the same, since I like centers. I think taking both Briere and Vanek is fine, especially if you are picking Buffalo to win it all. That pool sheet can be boom or bust, but I'd heavily lean towards boom. I would take Selanne over Gaborik, but that's just because I've been burned for three seasons by Gaborik (FU holdouts and groin injuries). I think the Ducks have a much better chance to make a deep run than Minnesota.

I'm not sure who I would replace Heatley with. It would come down to match ups, I suppose. I wish the NHL would change the seedings for the top 4 teams like the NBA did last year. Of the top five teams in the east, the Southeast division winner is the weakest. That sucks because #1 Buffalo would play #4 Ottawa in round 2, rather than a much worse SE division winner Atlanta team (or, even worse, Tampa Bay). Same deal with #1 and #4 in the west, with Detroit and Nashville potentially facing each other in the second round. Anyhow, what all of that means is this: by the end of round two, you would be guaranteed to have lost at least one of your three teams' players, between Buffalo, Ottawa, and Pittsburgh, and possibly two of the three. I'd have a hard time taking a second forward from Pittsburgh or Ottawa because of this, even though I think both teams will light the lamp a lot as long as they are in the playoffs.

So, my list would look like this:

From the East:
Daniel Briere
Thomas Vanek
Sidney Crosby
Jaromir Jagr
Jason Spezza
Evgeni Malkin (If and only if the Pens finish as the #2 seed. Kid has a history of playing sick in the playoffs.)


From the West:
Pavel Datsyuk
Joe Thornton
Paul Kariya
Teemu Selanne

G - J.S. Giguere / Roberto Luongo

If the Pens don't finish as the #2, I think I'd go with Zetterberg (He's practicing again, so should be back and healthy for the playoffs) or go with a flyer and take someone like Jarome Iginla or Vincent Lecavalier.

Oh, btw... First post! I've lurked around FCP since mid-2005. Just discovered the hockey forums this week and finally decided to register and post. I am adding to the ranks of Pittsburgh natives and Penguin fans on these boards. We are taking over!

GO PENS!

Um...it was early?

Good call, and best first post ever.

Welcome to the forums.

Seconded, definitely. Thanks man. I do have the luxury of waiting to submit picks, I think Apr. 11 is the deadline.
Keep the info and opinions coming. Like I say, I'm putting in at least 3-4 teams. Thanks guys.

it was a great first person until the HUGE go pens.

welcome man.

Good post, I think this is especially important, since in these pools all the big names are going to be on a lot of teams. A good sleeper pick or two (from a Cup finalist especially) can often be the difference. Think Langenbrunner/Niedermayer in 03, Richards/Kipper in 04, Stillman/Pronger last year.

Good call, taking someone like Jason Pominville or Andy McDonald could make a big difference.

I've been posting here for a while and I still don't know how to make big letters like that.

Good first post.

One of the names I was thinking of for this year. Langenbrunner could end up with good totals again if the Devils go deep, he's been clutch in the playoffs for years. Others could be Rolston if the Wild make a run, or Gonchar for the Pens.

The Malkin part is the only thing I don't get...

If you are talking about my comment regarding him playing well in the playoffs, you should check out his stats for the Russian Super League playoffs, the Olympics, and the IIHF World Championships. I'm not at home, so I can't find his RSL playoff numbers, but the other two:

2006 Olympics: 7GP 2G 4A 6Pts 31PIM +5; named team MVP despite playing on the third line
IIHF World Championships: 6GP 3G 5A 8Pts 6PIM +5

with all due respect the Russian Super League Playoffs are not the NHL playoffs...And international hockey doesn not compare with the tough and rough NHL Playoffs

Ok guys, I'm gonna reopen discussion, since now the teams are set, and I have to have this handed in by tomorrow...

10 players, one goalie max 7 from any team.

1. Daniel Briere - BUF
2. Maxim Afinogenov - BUF
3. Chris Drury - BUF
4. Tomas Vanek - BUF
5. Jason Pomminville - BUF
6. Tim Connolly - BUF
7. Brian Campbell - BUF
8. Joe Thornton - SJ
9. Patrick Marleau - SJ
10. Jonathan Cheechoo - SJ
G. Evgeni Nabokov - SJ


GL

1. Daniel Briere
2. Joe Thornton
3. Chris Drury
4. Teemu Selanne
5. Sidney Crosby
6. Evgeni Malkin
7. Milan Michalek
8. Thomas Vanek
9. Jonathan Cheechoo
10. Jaromir Jagr

G - Ryan Miller

I like what you've done here, loading the team with basically two squads and hoping they go deep.
I may put in 3-4 entries just like this, so keep em coming guys

Just a word of caution, while Nabakov has earned the #1 spot, Toskala is healthy and eager to play. If Nabakov has a few bad games, he will probably be replaced. Most teams would stick with their #1 through thick and thin, but the Sharks have the luxury of having two #1s. Nabakov could have fewer wins than Miller ever if SJ wins the cup over Buffalo.

"Two points for a goalie win, six total points for a shutout."

Nabokov should pick up more shutouts along the way though.

Here's the three teams I put in, let me know what you think DM. I made a few small modifications.

Team #1

Daniel Briere - buf
Thomas Vanek - buf
Sidney Crosby - pit
Jaromir Jagr - nyr
Jason Spezza - ott
Pavel Datsyuk - det
Joe Thornton - sj
Markus Naslund - Van
Teemu Selanne - anh
Patrick Elias - NJ

Goalie - J.S. Giguere - ANH
Cup Win - ANH


Team #2

1. Daniel Briere - BUF
2. Maxim Afinogenov - BUF
3. Chris Drury - BUF
4. Tomas Vanek - BUF
5. Jason Pomminville - BUF
6. Jason Spezza - OTT
7. Dany Heatley - OTT
8. Joe Thornton - SJ
9. Patrick Marleau - SJ
10. Jonathan Cheechoo - SJ

G. Ryan Miller - BUF
Cup Win BUF


Team #3

1. Jaromir Jagr - NYR
2. Michael Nylander - NYR
3. Vincent Lecavalier - TB
4. Martin St. Louis - TB
5. Sidney Crosby - PIT
6. Evgeni Malkin - PIT
7. Henrik Zetterberg - DET
8. Pavel Datsyuk - DET
9. Teemu Selanne - ANH
10. Scott Niedermeyer - ANH

G. Dominik Hasek - DET
Cup Win - Det

Obviously it depends on who other people pick but it's my belief that it's best to load up on 2 teams with maybe a player or two from a 3rd team. Look at last year's top playoff scorers and you will see it dominated by Carolina and Edmonton players. I like your 2nd team the best (except for Cheechoo who was injured in game 1). From my experience playoff pools are boom or bust. Take your third team for example. In order for it to do well you need a lot of points from a couple of Rangers, a couple of Pens and a couple of Lightning players. Only one Eastern team can make the finals so even if the Rangers were to make it you would be a dog to a team with numerous Ranger players.

Good luck!