Canes Aid Blackhawks in Savings Deal

To Carolina	Pos	Age	GP	G/W	P	Years	Cap
Teuvo Teravainen	F	21	78	13	35	1	$894k
Brian Bickell	F	30	25	0	2	1	$4 mil
----------------
To Chicago	Pos	Age	GP	G/W	P	Years	Cap
2016 2nd Round Draft Pick
2017 3rd Round Draft Pick

Being a budget team in the NHL has very few perks, but in the case of the Carolina Hurricanes, they have made the most of taking on some salary from the strapped Chicago Blackhawks, as they acquired the pool worthy talent of Teuvo Teravainen.

The downside to this deal was that they did have to part with a couple of draft picks and they will have a lump, like Brian Bickell, in their organization for a season.

Nevertheless, the addition of Teravainen is a pretty good add, since he will bring some much-needed skill and size to the Hurricanes lineup and the 21-year old Finn will likely give a comfort to the recently signed Finns, including youngster Sebastian Aho.  He hasn't quite shown off his full potential quite yet in the regular season, but he has been a good playoff performer, when called upon.  That may not be of much concern to the Hurricanes today, but if this franchise can get off the ground again, he will certainly be a great asset down the road.

As it stands though, Teravainen could log some pretty good minutes in Carolina and whether or not it will be with a kid like Aho or established players like Jeff Skinner or Jordan Staal, he has the potential to lift up his draft ranking in next year's pool, but I wouldn't go too crazy, when doing up his projections for next season.

Last season, Bickell was a buried contract in the minors for the better part of the year and came up, as cap space opened up and the team drew closer to the playoffs.  The depth in Carolina may mean that he will have a place to play in the 2017 season or he could be bought out to save their own cap space and bottom line.  The Hurricanes will have until the end of the month to decide his fate.

The Blackhawks, on the other hand, add some much-needed cap flexibility with this deal, dropping nearly $5 million in cap space.  I currently have their projected roster at 13 players and $59.5 million, with plenty of youth to fill in the gaps, if needed.  Andrew Shaw remains as the key restricted free agent in the Summer.

At the draft, Chicago now has a decent 2nd round pick, something they didn't have before this deal, so they can start adding to their young stock with the 50th overall draft pick next week.

Pool Outlook for San Jose

We have seen some pretty good regular seasons in recent years from the San Jose Sharks, but the 2016 was pretty impressive on its own merits.  Most impressively though, was their playoff campaign, something us poolies have been waiting for, for a long, long time.  It's really a shame, for the sake of players like Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau, that the result wasn't much better than a loss in six games to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Still, there really was nothing to be ashamed of, in terms of the end result for the Sharks, they had never been to the Stanley Cup Finals before and they were fairly convincing through the Western Conference route, no matter how much punch they lacked in those final six games.

After years of believing that they had the framework in place, yet very little to show for it, they can at least be confident in the fact that this framework finally did what they were believed to be capable of and that was to make it as deep as you can go in the playoffs, so now it will be trying to find the right modifications to their formula, so they can finally take that last step.

As for us poolies, confidence will likely be through the roof again for some of these Sharks players and rightfully so.  We'll be looking quite fondly at some of their depth and definitely their goaltending, so I would expect them to be very popular, come September/October.

At this past year's draft, the Sharks were not the most popular team in the Western Conference, only seeing 12 of their players picked up in September, a far cry from some teams.  They did have a 1st round pick in Martin Jones, taken 25th overall, thanks to his new starting job.  Logan Couture was dropped and picked, thanks to his injury and his soon-to-be return in Week Nine, while Tommy Wingels was just dropped.  Week Eighteen saw one more drop and one more pick, but the Sharks also acquired James Reimer at the deadline, which brought their overall total back up to 12 players at the end of the season.

Jones turned out to be quite the bargain at the 25th pick, as he finished 5th overall in pool scoring, thanks to a strong regular season, finishing with 37 wins and 6 shutouts for 86 points.  His strong playoff performance should also earn him a much higher pick position, come this year's upcoming draft.

Joe Thornton, Joe Pavelski and Brent Burns all finished within the 1st round rankings, all finishing within the top 20 in pool scoring altogether, showing some real top end dominance in the regular season.  This was the kind of production a lot of people were hoping for years ago and never saw.

Also having pool worthy seasons were Patrick Marleau, Tomas Hertl, Joel Ward, Logan Couture and rookie Joonas Donskoi up front, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Justin Braun and Paul Martin on the blueline and James Reimer also finished as a worthy keeper, playing between Toronto and San Jose.

What I Said Last Year, At This Time...

In 2016, the culture forecast for the Sharks is still pretty stormy with no sign of letting up right now.  The coaching change will play a big part of how the storm plays out, but I couldn't imagine that there will be too many coaches that will want to walk into that public situation.  With management not budging, according to the top brass of the team, the top players not moving, according to their long-term contracts.  The Sharks will need to pay a goalie to play behind the stars and all of these things will decide the severity of the fate of this team.  Until management or the Thornton/Marleau combination moves, I can't see this team making any big improvements.  It's not impossible for this group to get into the wild card, but it is highly improbable at this point in time.

How the hell did they pull this one off?  When things were looking so bleak in San Jose, they turned to Little Joe, gave him the captaincy and all of a sudden, everything fell into line.  The addition of a blossoming keeper in Jones really went a long ways, no question, but it was a remarkable turn of events for this Sharks team.  For a team that I believed to only be battling for a wild card spot to come up big in the playoffs is a huge success and that's all thanks to riding the hot goalie.

2017 Pool Outlook

Forwards	Cap	Defense	Cap	Goalies	Cap
Joe Thornton	6.750	Brent Burns	5.760	Martin Jones	3.000
Patrick Marleau	6.667	Marc-Edouard Vlasic	4.250
Joe Pavelski	6.000	Justin Braun	3.800
Logan Couture	6.000	Paul Martin	4.850
Joel Ward	3.275
Joonas Donskoi	0.925
Tommy Wingels	2.475	Brenden Dillon	3.270
Melker Karlsson	1.625
Chris Tierney	0.712
Timo Meier	0.894	Mirco Mueller	0.925	Mantas Armalis	0.925
Nikolay Goldobin	0.863	Jeremy Roy	0.858	Troy Grosenick	0.600
Danny O'Regan	0.859	Patrick McNally	0.800
Jon Martin	0.801	Michael Brodzinski	0.778
Kevin Labanc	0.718	Tim Heed	0.775
Alex Schoenborn	0.718	Julius Bergman	0.714
Adam Helewka	0.705	Joakim Ryan	0.680
Rourke Chartier	0.703
Nikita Jevpalovs	0.633
Barclay Goodrow	0.627

In my off-season work, I've separated the tables a little differently for the last two teams, but I have also adjusted the salary cap numbers for those entry-level deals that slid and kept their extra year.  On top, we have the pool-worthy players, to which the Sharks are rich in for next season, the middle are the three players that were not worthy, but should have a roster spot, all but locked up.  The latter includes the minor-league and prospect players that will certainly get a look in camp.

Considering how the Sharks did in the 2016 season and how much of that group is carrying over already, their outlook is very positive.

The Sharks are likely looking forward to seeing Timo Meier in their training camp, especially after his impressive run to the Memorial Cup with Rouyn-Nouranda of the QMJHL.  Meier did well to impress a lot of people, both in the run to the Quebec championship and through to the national tournament, which is awfully exciting for the Sharks, who may need to trim some of the larger costs and replace them with some quality youth.

Needs at the 2016 Entry Draft

The Sharks don't have their 1st round pick this year, but you won't hear them complain about that.  In the off-season, they used their pick to acquire their starting goalie and look where it took them.  Boston will instead get to use their pick, which will be highlighted in the mock draft very soon.  The Sharks will have their 2nd round pick, which is a plus, but they don't have their 3rd round pick, adding the Rangers' 4th round pick to their last four picks.  They should be able to get a good number of players to look from in a couple of weeks.

Free Agency and the Salary Cap

The core portion of this team is already signed on for the 2017 season, which has to be good news for the fans and the entire group, By my current count, the Sharks already have 15 players poised to make the roster for next season, coming in at a very reasonable $60 million, including a buyout that is still on their books.

Their biggest commitment to signing a new deal will be Tomas Hertl, who is a restricted free agent, while James Reimer, who is pool worthy, may be asking for a little bit too much, when it comes to being a back-up in the unrestricted free agent market.  I would expect Reimer to test the market, looking for a spot where he has an actual shot at being a number one.

With Thornton and Marleau turning 37 this Summer, questions are abound about how much longer they have, playing at this high level and trying to make it deeper and deeper into the playoffs, as they still played a big role in their push this year.  The team is in pretty good hands though, as Pavelski, Couture, Burns and Jones are already starting form a fresh core, taking over at just the right time to ensure consistent playoff berths.  The big push over the Summer will be to upgrade their depth, aiming to have a more complete team for the next step.  I don't think the Sharks will have any problem making the playoffs next season, but with how wide open and competitive the conference is, the Sharks are no lock for the Conference Finals or a return to the Finals, but they'll certainly compete.

Top Prospect Signings (Jun 13)

If the rookie scoring pool makes its return to the draft next season, you may want to consider Carolina forward Sebastian Aho, who signed his 3-year entry-level deal.  Aho was highlighted in the Hurricanes' Pool Outlook last month, as one to watch.  Aho has showcased himself well in international tournaments and then will get a chance to debut in North America before joining the NHL, when he plays for Finland at the NHL/PA World Cup.

The 2015 2nd round pick was a point a game player in the Finnish Elite League last season, 45 points in 45 games, leading his team in scoring.  He's still only 18 years old and he's only 5'10" tall, but his offensive upside is pretty high right now.  Keep an eye on this one, for sure.

The Hurricanes were not done there either, signing another Finnish prospect, forward Aleksi Saarela, to his entry-level deal.  Saarela was a 2015 3rd round pick by the Rangers, acquired by Carolina in the Eric Staal deal.  The 19-year old Finn had 20 goals in the Finnish Elite League as well, playing for Assat Pori, ranking 3rd on the team in points.  The Canes were pleased with their return in the Staal deal, so Saarela will be an interesting prospect to see in camp.

Fringe Signings (Jun 13)

On Monday morning, the official start to the silly season, the Montreal Canadiens announced that they signed depth defender Mark Barberio to a new 2-year deal, reportedly worth $1.5 million, working out to about $750,000 per year against the cap.  The 26-year old avoided restricted free agency after a pretty good season, where he appeared in 30 games and picked up 10 points, a scoring rate that would have been more than worthy of a pool selection, he had played a full season or so.

Montreal's depth on the blueline may make it difficult for Barberio to get that full-time swing with the club, but just about anything can happen between now and the end of next season, so he'll be one to watch this year for them.

The Nashville Predators' goaltending situation still has some elements to be decided upon, like who will get to play behind Pekka Rinne, as Carter Hutton might go to unrestricted free agency this Summer.  This could open the door to Marek Mazanec, who signed a 1-year deal on Monday morning, but it is a two-way deal, which doesn't guarantee him anything at this point.

Mazanec didn't play last season, but made some appearances in the 2015 season, where he played fairly well.  With Hutton's uncertainty moving forward, someone will have the chance at a pool-worthy back-up spot for next season, which definitely puts Mazanec on the fringe.

Morning Player Notes in the Playoffs - It's Over! (Jun 13)

It's all done!  The Pittsburgh Penguins are indeed the Stanley Cup champions for 2016 and they did so in fine, convincing fashion yet again.

The Penguins not only kept the pressure on at the San Jose end, they were also able to restrict the number of shots that the Sharks had in their own end, giving it a very good two-way effort, something that somewhat went under the radar in this series.

A 1st period marker from depth blueliner Brian Dumoulin got the Penguins well on their way, which could have been derailed by the 2nd period goal from Logan Couture, if Kris Letang didn't own the play shortly after, finishing a quick feed from Sidney Crosby, less than two minutes later to take the lead back.  The game was sealed away by a Patric Hornqvist empty-netter late and that was all she wrote in this one.  A 3-1 final and a Game 6 victory, the series concluding at 4-2.

Letang had the bonus point for the winner, while Crosby had a pair of assists, being the only notable players in the finale, but that was really how the pool turned out in a nutshell anyways.

Well, despite the Stanley Cup win for the Penguins, they don't have the honour of having the Playoff Pool MVP, which belongs to Martin Jones of the Sharks.  No, Jones was again amazing in Game 6, but it didn't add up to a whole heck of a lot in the end, but he was the best player in the pool this year, so that means something to us.

This Playoff Pool had the worst luck this year for goaltenders, since Matt Murray unseated Marc-Andre Fleury as the playoffs got started and his momentum carried him through, right to the end.  Fleury got a grand total of 79 minutes worth of action and wasn't able to register a win, which was bad news for his four teams that selected him.

The result for the Sharks was not indicative of Jones' play in the Finals, because he was certainly working his hardest to keep his team in every game, but they certainly couldn't repay the favour.  The acrobatic saves he was making, each and every night, were keeping the Sharks in it, but the offense couldn't quite make it through the Pittsburgh defense.

In the end, Jones finished with 13 wins and 3 shutouts, picking up 32 points and was the best player overall, taken only twice in the pool.

Usually throughout the playoffs, I would make good use of this GIF for the game-winning goals, but I just wasn't feeling it at all this year.  It wasn't a great year for scoring this year and the pool numbers were quite low, but we'll get through these pretty quick.

On the players' side, Joe Pavelski had the pool-high in game-winning goals, leading the way with 4 bonus points this Spring.  Three other players, Sidney Crosby, Tyler Johnson and David Backes all finished with 3 bonus points as well, making for good playoff years for them as well.

From a team point of view, Kristy's team ended up with a great season in the bonus point department, finishing with 16 game-winners from her team, taking the title.  11th place, Bill, was 2nd in the pool with 14 and Stuart, our pool-winner, not to mention Chris, who finished 5th, each had 13 winners.

I don't think the bonus points played a huge role in this year's pool, but that's the way it goes sometimes.

So, we're paying out the top two teams for the pool this year and all the money goes into the pot, when it comes to the playoffs, so $350 will go to Stuart for the win and Kristy will receive a cool $150 for 2nd place.

We'll have the money out this week to our winners.

Thanks everyone for joining the pool again this year, this was one of the better populated playoff pools in recent years, so thanks for that.  Sorry, the sheet wasn't very receptive to all of these back-up goalies that went a long ways or these 4th line contributions that we saw throughout the playoffs.

We'll have a World Cup pool announcement at the end of the month, we'll have more information on next year's draft, likely in August and stay tuned to the blog for all your silly season updates, that have more bearing on how our hockey pool draft may go forward.

Have a great Summer, all!

Fringe Signings (Jun 11)

The Montreal Canadiens announced on Saturday morning that they came to terms with potential restricted free agent Sven Andrighetto, who worked his way into the everyday lineup before the end of the 2016 season.  Andrighetto signed a 1-year deal, that we know for sure, but his cap hit was not disclosed immediately.

The 23-year old Swiss forward had 7 goals and 17 points in 44 games, scoring at a better rate than a couple of the Habs' pool worthy forwards in Lars Eller and Dale Weise, which should give him some consideration, at the very least, for a late round sleeper pick in the draft, if we're still 27 teams deep.

Montreal will do well to have Andrighetto under contract in a sub $1 million deal this season, as they are getting up there against the cap already.  If he turns into that everyday winger that they want from him, he will be a certain bargain by the end of the year.

Fringe Deal (Jun 11)

There is going to be a lot of talk about some budget teams taking on extra cap space and getting handsomely rewarded for it. The Florida Panthers were one of those teams, but due to recent success, they want to spend their money on players that are going to be in their lineup, hence the deal to move Marc Savard's LTIR-eligible cap hit and a 2018 2nd round draft pick to the New Jersey Devils, receiving two minor-league forwards, Paul Thompson and Graham Black, in return.

Savard's contract has the 2017 season left on it, with a cap hit north of $4 million, was a pretty big lump to have on the books.  In Savard's case, he is still getting paid, as he deals with his post-concussion symptoms and once his contract runs out, he'll officially file his retirement papers.

The Devils are certainly a budget team and may not even need to use the Long Term Injury Reserve, when it comes to Savard's deal or even Ryane Clowe, who is very much in the same boat, so they are able to absorb the cost and they get a pretty good pick in return.  Even if the Devils find a way to jump up to the cap ceiling, they will qualify for relief.

By my count, with Savard and Clowe on the books for next season, I have their current counting roster at 12 players, worth $42.4 million.  Both players would hit the Injured Reserve at the beginning of the season to open up roster spots, but they will still count against the cap at that point.

The Panthers are going to be an interesting team to watch this Summer, because you get the feeling that this is just the start.

Morning Player Notes in the Playoffs (Jun 10)

Hold the phone!  Put the Cup back in its suitcase, we're heading back to San Jose.  Okay, WE are not heading back to San Jose, but the Sharks and Penguins are, getting ready for Game 6 on Sunday night.

The Sharks can thank Martin Jones for that.  Jones was good for 44 saves in Game 5, as the Sharks squeaked out a 4-2 win.  This one didn't start off too hot for either Jones or his counterpart, Matt Murray, as it was 2-2 before the 6-minute mark of the 1st period, but soon, both keepers would settle in and get the job done.  The Penguins pressed, but couldn't level the game and a late empty-netter sealed the deal for the Sharks.

Despite there being six goals scored in this one, there wasn't a great deal of big points in this one.  Logan Couture, however, did have himself a great game, scoring a goal and adding a pair of helpers for a 3-point night, while Jones' win continues to add to his totals, putting another pair of points on them.

It was another non-pool player that captured the bonus point, as Melker Karlsson scored later in the 1st period, giving the Sharks the 3-2 lead, and that goal held up for the bonus point.  He added an assist as well, so if he was in the pool, it would have been a 3-point night in his spot on the sheet.

The Penguins rained down the offense in Game 5 and almost seemed destined to finish the series or at the very least, force overtime, but that wasn't to be.  The Sharks rode their hot goalie, tried their best to limit the chances from that high-powered offense coming straight at them and they live to fight another day.  Surely, if it wasn't for Jones, this series would have been done before this game was even needed.

Chris continues to roll as the best pool team in these finals, as the Jones win got him up to 21 points, followed by Brenda at 19 points and Scott at 17 points.  It's unfortunate that none of these three teams have a shot at the money these days or else this pool would be all kinds of exciting down the stretch.

Oh well, there's always next year.

Afternoon Player Notes in the Playoffs (Jun 9)

If it wasn't bad enough that this Stanley Cup Final hasn't been much of a series, the two or three days between games is a bit hard on the people, anxious to really take full advantage of Summer and not have to worry about not going outside or continue to check their smartphones, looking for scores.

Game 4 was on Monday night, but here we are on Thursday afternoon, waiting for Game 5 and hoping that the Pittsburgh Penguins put us all out of our misery or else we won't see Game 6, in San Jose, until Sunday night.

We already know that Tomas Hertl won't be available for tonight's game, his lower-body injury is seeing to that.  Hertl was hurt in Game 2 of the series and the Sharks had already won Game 3 without him.  Nevertheless, the Sharks will have to find the back of the net without one of their top scorers in these playoffs.

For the Penguins, they have been using up their maintenance days, but there isn't any expected changes in their lineup.

Martin Jones against Matt Murray in net... here we go!

Morning Player Notes in the Playoffs (Jun 7)

The Pittsburgh Penguins have scored first in every game in this series and if it wasn't for one resilient effort from the San Jose Sharks in Game 3, this series would be long over by now.  Instead, the Sharks are behind the 8-ball, heading back to Pittsburgh, thanks to a 3-1 victory on Monday night and the Penguins are safely ahead, 3-1, in this series as well.

It was a hearty welcome back to the scoresheet for Evgeni Malkin, who finished with a goal, including the bonus point for the winner, and an assist for a 3-point night, helping to lead the way for his club.  Phil Kessel wasn't too far behind, adding a couple of helpers, now leading the sheet pool players on the team with 21 points, with no bonus points.

The Sharks have been outclassed in this series from the drop of the puck and no matter what kind of inconsequential story lines that the media are going to drum up, like faceoff circle antics, the Penguins have been doing the job, like they've been here before and the Sharks are getting a quick lesson in these finals.

If the Sharks are going to force this series back to the Shark Tank, then Thursday's game will have to play with an immeasurable amount of desperation, something we haven't seen from this club yet.  Martin Jones has done all he can do in most cases, but that run support just isn't there.

After four games in this series, Chris continues to lead the pool with 14 points through four games, followed by both Scott and Brenda, each having 12 points. Eric & Miller Jr. have also crept up into the conversation, now up there with 10 points.

Scott's hot streak in these finals have narrowed the lead between 2nd and 3rd place to 9 points... that is all.

Afternoon Player Notes in the Playoffs (Jun 6)

It certainly wasn't a fluke, that the San Jose Sharks were able to pull off a Game 3 win, but it was just as plausible, if not almost expected, that with the way the Pittsburgh Penguins played that game, they could have been up 3-0 in this series.

Somehow, the Sharks are going to have to find another gear, if they want to convince the masses that they are worthy of being in these Finals.  The reports are in, Tomas Hertl will miss Game 4 with his mysterious lower-body injury, but the coaching staff will stay fast with the fact that he's day-to-day, even if he really isn't.  Hertl has been a key figure in this run, so they'll need to make up for his absence somewhere in their lineup.

The superstars for the Penguins haven't exactly been shooting out the lights in this series, thus far, but what they have been doing is driving the bus and helping their depth along, keeping them motivated and for the most part, it does seem to be working.  Staying the course will be their best option and maybe a guy like Evgeni Malkin can find his way into this series and really put the lean on.

No changes in net expected, as it will be Matt Murray against Martin Jones, both goalies have been very good to this point.

Fringe Signings (Jun 5)

The Los Angeles Kings signed one of their potential restricted free agents on Saturday, giving defenseman Brayden McNabb a 2-year contract extension, believed to be worth $3.4 million in total, a $1.7 million cap hit per year.  McNabb didn't quite hit the top 108 defensemen in the 2016 season, but he wasn't too far off and the 25-year old may still yet make himself worthy of a hockey pool selection in his career.  Last season, he finished 125th among all blueliners, thanks to 2 goals and 14 points in 81 games.  Not huge totals, of course, but if he can keep a top six job, he will have the potential for a few more points.

Arguably, the Kings' blueline may have been what cost them the chance to move far into the playoffs, due to the lack of depth and now they have the better part of that blueline already signed on for next season.  Are there more moves to come from Los Angeles?

Morning Player Notes in the Playoffs (Jun 5)

Well, if the San Jose Sharks were going to make a series of this Stanley Cup Finals, they would have to start doing something in Game 3, their first game home at the Shark Tank (or the SAP Center).

For the longest time in the San Jose opener, it looked like the Pittsburgh Penguins had a lot of the answers, taking a couple of leads, thanks to non-pool defenseman Ben Lovejoy, non-pool goalie Matt Murray had most of the answers to what few chances the Sharks had and they just kept pumping shots on the other net, keeping Martin Jones busy.  The ice seemed tilted in the wrong direction for the home side, but once San Jose made it to overtime, thanks to a Joel Ward slapper in the 3rd, it was all down to one chance.

Both goalies were sharp in this one and it would have to take a great shot to beat them, fortunately for San Jose, Joonas Donskoi had that shot in the extra frame and the Sharks avoided the 8-ball and climbed back into this series with a 3-2 overtime win.

Thanks to the bonus point, Donskoi had a 3-point game in the pool, but they went uncollected, but Joe Thornton had a pair of assists and Jones, the keeper, earned his first 2 points of the series as well.

There was one actual player note in this one, as San Jose forward Tomas Hertl wasn't available for Game 3, but of course, the team won't disclose why he is unable to play, nor will they disclose how long they expect him to be out.

Chris continues to have a good Cup Finals, leading the pool with 11 points in the round, but Scott, thanks to the Jones win, also climbed into the race for the best series, tying Brenda for 2nd place, with 10 points.

As for the actual standings, there was no change, thanks to this result.

Islanders Re-Sign Cizikas

The New York Islanders are not wasting any time with their free agents, already inking three potential free agents to new deals, including pool worthy forward Casey Cizikas.

The 25-year old was set to become a restricted free agent at the start of July, which pretty well meant that he was going to remain in the organization, but the Islanders made sure of that, signing him to a new 5-year, $16.75 million deal on Thursday afternoon.

Cizikas played in 80 games last season for the Islanders, scoring 8 goals and 29 points, which had him ranked 208th among all forwards in scoring, just sliding in to the pool worthy conversation.

The Islanders still have three potential pool worthy free agents to consider before July 1st and it does become relatively easier, with the affordable cap hit ($3.35 million) of this deal here, moving forward.  In rough terms, at the early part of the Summer, you could ink 16 players onto their roster for next season, coming in at around $56.7 million, leaving plenty of room for those remaining spots.

Morning Player Notes in the Playoffs (Jun 2)

The San Jose Sharks still had a shot at leveling the series, heading into overtime in Game 2, despite being outplayed by the Pittsburgh Penguins through regulation, but it wasn't to be in the end.  A faceoff win by Sidney Crosby in the extra frame, set up the eventual winner by non-pool forward, Conor Sheary.  The 2-1 overtime win means that the Penguins took full advantage of playing at home in this series and will now head to San Jose with a 2-0 series lead.

It was another crappy night for the hockey pool, with no players on the sheet picking up multiple point in this one.  Phil Kessel scored his 10th goal of the playoffs and there was a smattering of single points here and there, but that's about it.

With the crappy scoring in the first two games, the cement is drying on the money positions, but I don't think there was a great deal of hope left... I've been trying to kill hope for a while now.

Chris now leads the series in scoring with 9 points, followed by Brenda's team, which has 8 points, and Kristy's, which sits at 7 points.  It's not much, but its something.