The Hockey Pool Rules

1---You pick all the NHL games for a given day on the NHL Schedule. 

2—The most important games you pick are the first five you list.  If you pick a game correctly then you get a “goal.”  Pick a game incorrectly, you don’t get a “goal.”  It’s that simple.  Therefore, it is possible to score as many as 5 goals. 

3—The remaining games you pick (after the first five you’ve already listed) should be listed in order of priority.  The remaining game you are most confident in should be listed first (or sixth overall since it will be listed after the first five games).  The remaining game you are second most confident in should be listed second (or seventh overall).  And so on.  List all the games for the given day on the NHL Schedule.

4—We play each other in head to head matchups.  Most goals wins a matchup. 

5—If a matchup is tied after the first five listed games, then we go into sudden death overtime.  We look first at the sixth listed game.  If one pooler picked this game correctly and the other pooler’s sixth listed game was not picked correctly, then the matchup has been determined.  If both poolers picked the 6^th listed game correctly or both poolers picked the 6^th listed game incorrectly then we move to the 7^th listed game.  We continue this process until the matchup is determined.

6—If the matchup is still tied after going through all the extra games listed, then we go back to the 6^th listed games and compare the goal differentials.  When we find a difference in the goal differentials, the tie is broken.  (i.e.  If pooler A lists his 6^th game as the Sharks over the Avalanche, and the Sharks beat the Avalanche by 2 goals, then pooler A’s goal differential is 2.  If pooler B lists his 6^th game as the Canadiens over the Penguins, and the Canadiens beat the Penguins by only one goal, then pooler B’s goal differential is only 1.  Pooler A wins the matchup.).  If, after going through all this, the matchup is still tied, then we just call it a tie.

7—Poolers get two points for a win, one point for an overtime loss or a tie, and zero points for a loss.

8—Picks for a matchup are due the day before the matchup.  So long as they are received no later than 11:59:59 PM on the day before the matchup, they are legal.  Picks should be sent to [email protected]. 

9—If you’re in a bind and can’t get to a computer, then you can phone your picks into the NHL Pool Hotline (which doubles as my cell phone number):  (414)-807-9474.  The same deadline as discussed in rule 8 still applies.  Just leave a message on the voicemail.

10—Any ties that occur at the end of the regular season will be broken in the following manner:

            First tiebreaker:  Head to head performance of tied poolers when playing one another (This can be applied to more than two tied poolers if need be)

            Second tiebreaker:  Most goals scored in regular season

            Third tiebreaker:  Fewest goals scored against in regular season

Any additional ties will be broken by a single matchup playoff which will take place in the HCP 1 slot on the schedule below.  If additional HCP slots are needed in order to come up with two poolers in the Hockey Pool Cup, then they may be used.

Schedule:  We play a 24 matchup regular season.   (NOTE:  The Hockey Pool Cup, or HCP, is a best of 5 series between the top two finishers in the Hockey Pool.  Extra matchup dates are listed in the event that some of the HCP matchups are ties.).  Because we have an odd number of participants, any given pooler will play 4 matchups for every 5 listed below (Everyone gets one bye every 5 listed matchups).

Our poolers are:  Mike Schommer (MS); John Jacobson (JJ); John Boudry (JB); Andy Carey (AC) and Naveen Chandra (NC)

Here is the actual schedule using the above table.