Prager's Brackets - 2010 edition

Wow, we've got 14 already.

I'm going to have to figure out how to gather all the input. It's not a big deal in the early rounds, but by the last one you really can't know other people's picks before making yours. I'll need an impartial observer to gather the input.

Last call. The playoffs are almost upon us. Only a couple more team positions to be decided tonight. Check here for the latest summaries of who can end up where:
http://espn.go.com/nhl/playoffs/matchups

In the East, a Philly win (over the Rangers, who will miss) will put them ahead of the Habs. All other positions are decided.

Over in the East, LA will move ahead of Nashville if they get a single point. They can also move ahead of Detroit if they get 1 point more than the Wings. If Detroit wins they remain in 5th -- and, frankly, 5th is where everyone wants to be to face the playoff-virgin Coyotes.

We've got 14 people in the pool. Still time for a few more to join. Once the playoff brackets have all been decided I will send out a group PM (remember, the group names is "Brackets" -- you can all use it to trash talk). When sending in your picks just tell me the name of the series winner and the number of games. For example, Sens in 5, or Sens5. Don't over-complicate things, or mention the loser's name, like Pens get swept, or Sens over Pens in 7. Trust me, I don't need any extra help to screw up

All the picks will have to be PMd to me before puck drop of the first game in each round. If I don't receive picks in time I will pick the home game in 7 on your behalf.

All of these rules will be repeated in the PM that is to come.

I just sent out the following PM to the Brackets group. If you did not receive the PM but want to be in the pool, I either missed you or you never said you wanted to be in. There's still time to join. You've got two days.

The rest is the PM I just sent out:

Everybody into the pool!

The match ups are all set. Puck drop for the first game is set for approximately 7:05 PM Wednesday, April 14. Please send me your picks by PM or e-mail before then. I'll get an impartial observer to collect the input for the later rounds (maybe as early as the second round) to preserve the integrity of the results. It really doesn't matter at all in the first round, but by the last round, for sure there could be some strategic picks (for example, if only one poolie can catch you, as long as you have the same picks as him/her you are guaranteed to win).

The match-ups are as follows (home team in bold):

East:
MTL@ WSH
PHI@ NJD
BOS@ BUF
OTT @ PIT

West:
COL @ SJS
NSH @ CHI
LAK @ VAN
DET @PHX

(In case anyone is wondering, those TLAs -- Three Letter Acronyms -- are what I'll be using in the tracking spreadsheet; if I can find it.)

Good luck to all.

Please send me your picks by MP or e-mail before then.

I'll send my picks to my MP and have his people tell your people.

wprager wrote:We've got 10 in the pool with a week to go. Not bad.

I'm assuming there will also be a points pool (pick players) started by someone soon. Anyone? Beuhler?

I have that one ready to go, I'm just trying to figure out how to post it, I might have to e-mail it to everyone.

I would like to be in this pool as well.

Exciting times, let the madness begin!!!

I sent my message to my MP so he could send it to Prages already just as Prages informed us to do. That or you could email it to him directly I suppose.

BTW who won last year?

A - to you for rubbing it in.

To be fair it took a big gamble picking the Penguins to get it done though.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:

Please send me your picks by MP or e-mail before then.

I'll send my picks to my MP and have his people tell your people.

We are a bilingual province, are we not? You don't want me to report you to the Bloc, do you?

wprager wrote:

Cap'n Clutch wrote:

Please send me your picks by MP or e-mail before then.

I'll send my picks to my MP and have his people tell your people.

We are a bilingual province, are we not? You don't want me to report you to the Bloc, do you?

Good point. Boy is my MP going to be confused when he gets my bracket picks though.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:To be fair it took a big gamble picking the Penguins to get it done though.

OK, fine, a + for the gamble.

It's not too late to join in. We've got 20 players in this pool (well, 20 entrants, but only a few of us are playas if you get my drift -- yeah, let the trash-talking commence!) but Excel lets me put in some ridiculous number of columns, so there's always room for more! Just send me your picks (PM or e-mail) before puck drop tonight, no questions asked.

Well, at least not until next round.

Aaaargh! Went to upload the spreadsheet and GetDropBox.com is under maintenance. I'll try again later, but in case I don't get to upload it before game time, just to be on the up-and-up, here are my picks:

WSH5
NJD5
BUF7
OTT6
SJS5
CHI5
VAN7
DET6

Here it is:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/955066/2010_PlayOffs_Pool.xls

Take a look and double check all your picks.

Well, here's puck drop, I'll check my PM and e-mail Inbox one last time.

Quick explanation of the spreadsheet.

1. Look for your 'handle' in row 2.

2. Your total will be in row 3; there's just a 4 there now, since none of the series are over. Rows 5-8 hold the points accumulated from individual rounds.

3. To "predict" where you will be given a particular outcome, enter that outcome in column AE in the appropriate row. For example, let's say you want to know what happens if the Sens sweep -- enter OTT4 in cell AE15.

4. The scoring compares the 1st three letters of your pick with the 1st three letters in column AE; if it matches you are awarded the 2 points (and this doubles in each round) and then it checks the last character of your pick with the last one in AE, and awards you the bonus point if the digits match.

5. When we actually have some differences in the totals then the cell colour in row 3 will indicate your place in the pool. A red background means you are in 1st (as, currently, everyone is), followed by yellow for 2nd and light blue-ish for 3rd. If there's a tie for 1st then there's no-one in second and so on. Right now everyone is tied for 1st so there are no yellow or blue totals.

6. You can also enter just a team's TLA (three letter acronym) in column AE to see what will happen if a particular team wins (but no bonus points will be given out). You can see that, currently, if the winner of the first game wins each of the series that started, Dash and Mark will share the lead.

7. I am *so* glad I went with my heart and not my head. I was >this< close to picking Pens in 7. It still could go that way, but at least now I can cheer for the Sens with no regrets.

wprager wrote:Here it is:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/955066/2010_PlayOffs_Pool.xls

Take a look and double check all your picks.

cool!