I heard Phil loves Crosby

In the never ending quest for ways to improve their writhing brainchild hockey pool, Phil and Dan pondered those pool virtues of trust, neutrality and awesomeness. Though never one to support online poker rooms, Phil came up with the concept of using these rake machines to our advantage and we were able to once again claim those pool virtues as our own.

Phil, Dan, Brian, Aaron and Glen even popped in to witness several hands dealt that wrote part of the story you see below. By finding a random generator that anyone who wanted to could witness, we sidestepped many of the issues that arise from a conducting the first lotto in a pool with an ever increasing geographic base and widely varying schedules.

Dave and Dan drew well in the lotto, while Aaron got hit hard with his two first round picks landing 5th and 7th. Brian was par in the first and cold carded in the second.

Rumour has it Phil was sniffing around pick number 8 when Dan scooped the pick off Mike in pick swap that sent Keith Tkachuk packing. Phil has shown interest in young players of late, this coming off the heals of his JVR and TJ Oshie acquisitions.

The ever present forward vs defense debate was at the forefront as well. Drew Doughty went 2nd overall in the entry draft but was passed by 6 forwards in our prospect draft. Alex Pieterangelo fell to 15th and Zach Bogosian wasn't selected.

RFA is right around the corner. The rulebook has been updated, be sure to have a quick read and then silently agree with the rules, not to be debated until next summer.

It's that time of year again, your baseball pool team is in the cellar and it's time to look forward to hockey pool season. Here's one man's opinion of the Top 40 pieces in the pool. It started out as a top 20 with the elite prospects included in the list and the others lumped into two categories: NHL ready and long term. It expanded from there.

Phil obviously has a strong presence on the board, with 9 of the Top 40. However, in the Top 20 done two summers ago he had 9 of the Top 20 contracts on my board, so there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Dave, Aaron and myself make up more than half the board as the three prospect heavy teams in the league. Brian has two of the top three dudes. Curtis, Mike and Glen show show that the "win now" approach has worn on their asset pool. Glen actually got shut out, pulling out all the stops to double his money and turn around the flopping franchise he inherited.





1	Alexander Ovechkin	BRIAN	WAS	5	$10	Alex was the best contract in the pool before Brian signed him. He holds onto the title after a legendary season, leading the league by 13 goals
2	Evgeni Malkin	PHIL	PIT	4	$8	Will Crosby help Malkin reach the 120 point plateau? Me thinks so
3	Nicklas Backstrom	BRIAN	WAS		Prospect	82 point pace from December on. Back-to-back four assist games in January speak to big things to come alongside Alex
4	Henrik Zetterberg	PHIL	DET	4	$13	Sixth in league in scoring at a price where most GMs are happy to get 63 points.
5	Henrik Lundqvist	AARON	NYR	7	$5	Second to 'Evgeni the Great' in goalie points last season, this contract gave Aaron reason enough to trade Kipper
6	Jonathan Toews	AARON	CHI		Prospect	Should add 25+ points to last years total. Glen got hosed here for 1 year from Savard and a 2nd place finish
7	Corey Perry	DAN	ANA	7	$1	Played at a point per game clip for a 24 game stretch in December/January
8	Anze Kopitar	DAN	LA		Prospect	Anze was selected with Tarnstrom trade pick and is now looking to break the 80 point mark amidst a youth movement in Tinseltown
9	Patrick Kane	DAVE	CHI		Prospect	Led all rookies in scoring, gift wrapped #2 prospect has Dave telling all his Empire Gardening customers of his eye for talent
10	Brian Campbell	MIKE	BUF	4	$1	Mike scooped him in the auction after a single 44 point season and pulled the trigger on a 6 year deal. His future keeps getting brighter
11	Ryan Getzlaf	DAVE	ANA	6	$10	What's with Dave? 9th overall prospect pick in his inaugral '06 draft. After an 82 point season, Dave's got a franchise player
12	Peter Mueller	AARON	PHO		Prospect	This Coyote had Aaron howling at his laptop last offseason. Big kid, bright future
13	Kyle Turris	DAN	PHX		Prospect	#1 prospect pick last summer raised a few eyebrows. A slow-roasted project compared to his colleagues, Turris's upside remains unknown
14	Roberto Luongo	PHIL	VAN	4	$1	An off year for the filthy contract tender. Always something good to hear when the guy who won by 126 points has rebound candidates
15	Jason Spezza	PHIL	OTT	6	$20	That deke on Souray and Theodore is worth at least $20 per season
16	Ales Hemsky	BRIAN	EDM	6	$11	The Edmonteaser is still only 25 and has all the tools to establish himself as an elite forward
17	Dany Heatley	DAN	OTT	5	$25	Heater absolutely rules. He's awesome. I like him. He usually scores lots of goals and makes me happy
18	Dion Phaneuf	DAVE	CGY	4	$8	50 and 60 points the last two years, plus he looks like he'll obliterate anyone skating across the blueline
19	Alexander Radulov	AARON	NSH		Prospect	Steady improvement in sophmore year, this piece of the '07 opening night blockbuster has a very high ceiling
20	Cam Ward	AARON	CAR	7	$1	Firmly entrenched as #1 on a team that recovered from an off 2006-07. 6th in goalie points last year
21	Sam Gagner	DAVE	EDM		Prospect	Another steal for Dave in the prospect draft, 10th overall looked like a pro as an 18 year old NHL regular
22	Thomas Vanek	DAN	BUF	5	$10	Phil's December 2003 prospect toss in to Mike has come a long way. Now he looks to rebound from a sour 2007-08
23	Mike Richards	DAVE	PHI		Prospect	#2 prospect pick in summer '06 shocked a few, as did his arrival this year. 1.00 ppg checker extraordinaire
24	Daniel Sedin	PHIL	VAN	2	$3	Nothing wrong with a couple years left of $25+ value
25	Mike Ribeiro	CURTIS	DAL	3	$11	27 year old improved by 24 points in five fewer games
26	Olli Jokinen	PHIL	FLA	4	$9	Off year, 1.00 ppg in his 'happy with the direction of my team' sleep
27	Andrei Kostitsyn	MIKE	MTL	5	$10	Premature signing clicked in December, produced at a 67 point pace from Dec 6th on
28	Joffrey Lupul	DAN	PHI	7	$2	72 point pace before ankle injury in Feb
29	TJ Oshie	AARON	STL		Prospect	Steal of last summers prospect draft, I hear good things
30	Jakub Voracek	BRIAN	CBJ		Prospect	More promising than Brian's other baby Blue Jacket, big year in the Q
31	Justin Williams	PHIL	CAR	3	$2	Underated player and contract, a lock for 75 points in Carolina
32	Nikolai Zherdev	DAN	CBJ		Prospect	Enigmatic Ruskie could make big step forward this year
33	Eric Staal	DAVE	CAR	1	$4	The Poti bid mini-signing hits the market next summer
34	Patrick O'Sullivan	DAN	LA		Prospect	Prize from the 0607 opening night blockbuster with Rob played at a 67 point pace from Dec 10th
35	Henrik Sedin	DAVE	VAN	2	$7	Hank the Helper feeds Daniel on a consistent basis, $20+ value at todays prices
36	Rick Nash	PHIL	CBJ	5	$10	As if Phil needs this guy locked in for five more years. 70 points with upside
37	Alexander Semin	AARON	WAS		Prospect	If he shows consistency and finds a niche in Washington he'll be a beauty
38	Alexander Frolov	PHIL	LA	2	$3	Tail end of a contract, at the cusp of a Top 20 season in LA
39	Shawn Horcoff	CURTIS	EDM	5	$10	Edmonton's #1 center by default appears to be a solid bet for 70+ points when healthy
40	Brenden Morrow	CURTIS	DAL	2	$6	29 year old power forward finally broke through with 74 points in a healthy campaign

Honourable Mentions:

Datsyuk, Gaborik, St Louis, Doan, Kessel, Horton, both Whitneys, Markov, Gonchar, Miller, Brassard (health hexed), Ryan and JVR (years away), Hudler (2nd half disappearance??)