Ducks Are Gone

TEAM ........................... PTS .... REM
Dewhirst Destroyers ............ 217 .... 8
Halos .......................... 201 .... 6
NO SHOOTOUTS - REAL HOCKEY! .... 177 .... 6
Fourn-Y-A ...................... 165 .... 6
Scammer & Z-Dog ................ 163 .... 5
Team Slim Shady ................ 162 .... 6
Sherpa's Yaks .................. 160 .... 5
Corndogs Rejects ............... 160 .... 4
K-9 Fornicators ................ 159 .... 5
Pony Boy 2 ..................... 155 .... 3
1st Pick ....................... 152 .... 5
D-Wall ......................... 151 .... 6
The Shaving Moes ............... 150 .... 5
Bubbs .......................... 142 .... 6
Wallace ........................ 138 .... 3
Bailey's Team .................. 138 .... 2
Wilson St. Samsquanchs ......... 136 .... 3
Get Bent!! ..................... 133 .... 2
Big Feet ....................... 130 .... 3
Zambonies ...................... 129 .... 3
Favourites #1 .................. 129 .... 3
Impact ......................... 129 .... 3
Eleven River Dogs .............. 128 .... 5
Little Joe Riders .............. 120 .... 5
Pony Boy 1 ..................... 120 .... 3
Team Stompin' Tom .............. 119 .... 3
Pwest .......................... 118 .... 1
Lucky 1 ........................ 110 .... 4
Big Tom ........................ 109 .... 5
Les Mascouches ................. 105 .... 2
Gilmore ........................ 104 .... 5
It's Not That Bad .............. 102 .... 3
Phuck U ........................ 101 .... 2
Favourites #2 .................. 100 .... 2
Team Chevy ..................... 98 ..... 3
Rick's Red ..................... 96 ..... 4
Snipers ........................ 95 ..... 4
Red, White & Blue .............. 92 ..... 0
Thanx For Comin' Out ........... 91 ..... 2

There's actually a little bit to report tonight, as I had some problems with my hardware and didn't have the playoff pool available to me until tonight. As you can see there is a little bit of a difference in the pool standings, as the Destroyers have moved even further ahead and Red, White & Blue, the only team in the pool with zero players left is now two points away from permanently being in last place. Ouch.

So... I guess I'll have to start with Game 4 in the East. The Sabres were looking to pull ahead in the series 3-1, but the Hurricanes and Martin Gerber had other ideas... namely a 4-0 decision to tie the series up at 2 games a piece.

Gerber's first start in just over a month paid immediate dividends to the Hurricane cause on Friday night. His 22 save effort earned him a solid four-point decision and finally became the big player that six pool teams thought he would be. The other multi-point 'Canes were Mark Recchi, who got the bonus point for his opening score, which turned out to be the winner, and Bret Hedican who added a goal and an assist. Eric Staal extended his point streak to 14 games with the other pool counting goal, while Frank Kaberle, Aaron Ward, Ray Whitney, Doug Weight, Justin Williams & Cory Stillman all added assists for the pool's cause as well.

Keep reading for Game 5's result...

Yup... the Mighty Ducks are finished in these playoffs. Anaheim couldn't climb back into the series at home in Game 5 on Saturday night. The Oilers won the game 2-1 and sent the Edmonton faithful into a frenzy, as this will be the first final for the Oilers since 1990.

Dwayne Roloson again was a stalwart in the net for Edmonton making 32 saves and despite giving up the first goal of the game. His 28 points now extends his pool lead in points and the Destroyers are still the only team to cash in on him. Unfortunately, for the Oil-favouring pool picks, there were only two assists from the Oilers' 2 goals that counted. Marc-Andre Bergeron and Shawn Horcoff each recorded points on the two goals, scored by Ehtan Moreau and Raffi Torres, neither of which were on the selection sheet. But now they'll all get to rest up, including those pool players, as they've had enough hockey to tire out the best of the marathon runners. At least a six-day rest is in their calendar as the Finals won't start until at least the 3rd of June.

As for the Ducks, they only registered two assists in the pool in the loss. Scott Niedermayer and Teemu Selanne registered their last two points in the pool in the loss. The Ducks were not a substantial force in the pool points-wise... but they were for knocking out some of the big teams before getting eliminated. They were responsible for 117 selections being taken out of the pool, in Calgary and Colorado picks, but there were only 22 Ducks picked to make a run.

Points from players that were eliminated:
Ilya Bryzgalov, 6W 3SO
Teemu Selanne, 7G 7A 2GWG
Joffrey Lupul, 9G 2A 1GWG
Scott Niedermayer, 2G 9A 1GWG
Ryan Getzlaf, 4G 4A
Sean O'Donnell, 2G 3A 1GWG
Jean-Sebastien Giguere, 3W
Jeff Friesen, 3G 1A
Rob Niedermayer, 1G 3A
Vitaly Vishnevski, 4A
Corey Perry, 3A

Sunday night... Game 5 in the East. The pivotal game that neither team wanted to lose. No one wanted to face elimination in Buffalo on Tuesday, so the pivot was then set in Game 5. Martin Gerber started his second consecutive game and Ryan Miller started yet again for the Sabres. But it was neither or the starting goalies that would get the better of decisions... rather Gerber was pulled in the second after going down 3-1 and Cam Ward came in to salvage a 4-3 overtime win in Game 5.

Ward came in and made 15 saves in the last 46 minutes of the game, including overtime for his 10th win in the playoffs. Now the Hurricanes are just one win away from meeting the Oilers in the Finals. Cory Stillman had 3 points, including the winner and an assist in the game to be the big gamer for the Hurricanes. Mark Recchi had another goal, Doug Weight, Frank Kaberle & Ray Whitney each added assists as well. Eric Staal also had an assist to extend his scoring streak up to 15 games in these playoffs. He's also the leading point skater in the pool.

For the Sabres, Chris Drury & Toni Lydman each had a goal and Jay McKee had the only other pool worthy assist in the game. The Sabres will look to even the series on Tuesday in Buffalo in Game 6.

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