Top 10 in Pool Scoring (Mar. 14)

	Pekka Rinne			G	NAS
	MIN	W	SO	A	P
	3,587	39	4	3	89
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	Steven Stamkos			F	TAM
	GP	G	A		P
	69	50	34		84
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	Evgeni Malkin			F	PIT
	GP	G	A		P
	61	38	46		84
---------------------------------------------------------
	Marc-Andre Fleury			G	PIT
	MIN	W	SO	A	P
	3,341	37	3	2	82
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	Henrik Lundqvist			G	NYR
	MIN	W	SO	A	P
	3,088	32	8	1	81
---------------------------------------------------------
	Claude Giroux			F	PHI
	GP	G	A		P
	65	25	55		80
---------------------------------------------------------
	Jimmy Howard			G	DET
	MIN	W	SO	A	P
	2,923	33	6	1	79
---------------------------------------------------------
	Jonathan Quick			G	LOS
	MIN	W	SO	A	P
	3,487	29	7	2	74
---------------------------------------------------------
	Jason Spezza			F	OTT
	GP	G	A		P
	70	29	44		73
---------------------------------------------------------
	Phil Kessel			F	TOR
	GP	G	A		P
	70	34	38		72

It has been a little while since I have been able to post a top 10 list of pool scoring, the last one was in the middle of January, so a lot has changed since then.  The runaway leader at the time, Jimmy Howard, has dealt with injury and has since dropped down a number of places, but still remains one of the best picks in the pool this season.

It does continue to be a great year for goalies in the draft, as five of the top 10 players are coming from the crease, including our scoring leader, Pekka Rinne, who continues to put up great numbers this year.  The Predators are poised to make a lot of noise in the playoffs and it is on the shoulders of Rinne, who will see if he can translate this wonderful regular season into a playoff performance.

A race for 2nd is going on between a couple of the most dominant players on the scoresheet this season, as Steven Stamkos has now hit 50 goals this season and Evgeni Malkin is letting the Penguins downplay the possible return of Sidney Crosby on Thursday with a monster season.  Stamkos was the 1st overall pick in the draft this year and he is rewarding the pick with an excellent season, even if he is 2nd by way of the tie-break.

Jason Spezza is another notable player on the list, as he has quietly put together a marvellous season in the hockey pools, nearing the 80-point plateau for the first time since the 2008 season.  Spezza has been a huge part of a re-tooled Senators team and a playoff spot is getting much closer.

I think it's quite important to note that only three of the top 10 scorers in the pool today were actually taken in the top 10 of the draft this year... Stamkos (1st), Henrik Lundqvist (2nd) and Marc-Andre Fleury (10th).  Rinne was taken 17th, Malkin was taken 20th, Quick was taken 22nd, Howard was 24th, Giroux was 27th, Spezza waas 77th and Kessel was 89th.

Top 10 in Pool Scoring (Jan. 19)

	Jimmy Howard			G	DET
	MIN	W	SO	A	P
	2,268	27	5	1	65
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	Pekka Rinne			G	NAS
	MIN	W	SO	A	P
	2,327	24	3	1	55
---------------------------------------------------------
	Craig Anderson			G	OTT
	MIN	W	SO	A	P
	2,408	24	1	4	54
---------------------------------------------------------
	Jonathan Quick			G	LOS
	MIN	W	SO	A	P
	2,337	20	6	2	54
---------------------------------------------------------
	Evgeni Malkin			F	PIT
	GP	G	A		P
	38	22	30		52
---------------------------------------------------------
	Henrik Sedin			F	VAN
	GP	G	A		P
	47	11	41		52
---------------------------------------------------------
	Steven Stamkos			F	TAM
	GP	G	A		P
	45	31	20		51
---------------------------------------------------------
	Daniel Sedin			F	VAN
	GP	G	A		P
	46	20	30		50
---------------------------------------------------------
	Claude Giroux			F	PHI
	GP	G	A		P
	40	18	32		50
---------------------------------------------------------
	Phil Kessel			F	TOR
	GP	G	A		P
	45	24	25		49

It's been a long while since I posted the first top 10 list of the year, I thought I might try and do this regularly, but that didn't seem to want to happen, time constraints and all.

By the look of things, it appears we are in the midst of another Year of the Goalie, as we have four keepers occupying the top end of the scoring standings, while our skaters have the last six spots in the table.  This is one of the main reasons why goalies do go so quickly and so early in the draft, because when they are on, they can pick up a lot of points.  Whether or not each of these four hang on to these spots is another argument for another time, but they are here and they do mean business.

Since the first table was published, Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard has not relented on his excellent season, expanding his lead up to 10 points over the next goalie, Pekka Rinne.  The Red Wings have been rolling along nicely and Howard is there to clean up the points.  Stacey C. has relied heavily on Howard this year, but only sits in 3rd place at the moment, after a brief stop in 1st place.

Only four other players are repeat performers on the table, between December 9th and now, Jonathan Quick, Daniel Sedin, Claude Giroux and Phil Kessel.  There has been some shifting of positions, compared to where they were last time around, but they are still in the conversation.

No one team is running away with more top 10 players than anyone else, there are just 10 teams present in the list, so we can't really judge anything from that.  This list does give us a pretty good idea of who has been hot this year and I think it is very close to appropriate to how valuable these players are, both in the pool and to their NHL teams.

Top 10 in Pool Scoring (Dec. 8)

	Jimmy Howard			G	DET
	MIN	W	SO	A	P
	1,304	15	3	1	37
---------------------------------------------------------
	Claude Giroux			F	PHI
	GP	G	A		P
	26	17	19		36
---------------------------------------------------------
	Phil Kessel			F	TOR
	GP	G	A		P
	28	17	18		35
---------------------------------------------------------
	Daniel Sedin			F	VAN
	GP	G	A		P
	27	12	21		33
---------------------------------------------------------
	Marc-Andre Fleury			G	PIT
	MIN	W	SO	A	P
	1,278	14	2	1	33
---------------------------------------------------------
	Jonathan Toews			F	CHI
	GP	G	A		P
	28	17	15		32
---------------------------------------------------------
	Joffrey Lupul			F	TOR
	GP	G	A		P
	28	13	19		32
---------------------------------------------------------
	Tim Thomas			G	BOS
	MIN	W	SO	A	P
	1,024	13	3	0	32
---------------------------------------------------------
	Jonathan Quick			G	LOS
	MIN	W	SO	A	P
	1,340	11	4	2	32
---------------------------------------------------------
	Mike Smith			G	PHO
	MIN	W	SO	A	P
	1,299	13	2	1	31

I thought I would try and post a new list every once and a while, showing the top ten in pool scoring, since I generally include goalies in my scoring lists.  Might be a talking point among my poolies as well.

Jimmy Howard rules the roost on the table at the moment, but he only took top spot not long after he had a Player of the Week nod in Week Six.  Howard has been good for the Red Wings, picking up win after win, so he was a pretty good pick-up for Stacey C. this year.

Five of the top 10 players on the list are goalies, so when the big rush on goalies in the draft went early, you can see why now.  Only one of the five goalies on the list were actually taken in the top 10 of the draft and that would be Marc-Andre Fleury, who was taken 10th overall.

The team with the most players in the top 10 is... Darren S., who currently sits in last place in the pool.  He had Mike Smith from the original draft and since he was in last place for the waiver draft, he was able to snag Joffrey Lupul, which gives him two.  Eight teams each have one player in the top 10, which is quite funny.