|
Team
|
Average Ranking
|
#1 Rankings
|
Highest Ranking
|
Lowest Ranking
|
Standard Deviation
|
Commentary
|
|
The
Favourites
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Washington Capitals
|
3.09
|
17
|
1
|
9
|
2.40
|
The Capitals are the
clear favourite again, winning the President's Trophy for the second
consecutive year...but can they finally overcome their history of playoff
underachievement, to win their first Stanley Cup?
|
|
Chicago Blackhawks
|
3.43
|
12
|
1
|
12
|
3.43
|
In contrast to the
Capitals, the Hawks have won the Cup three times in the last eight years,
so it’s unsurprising they’d be the favourite team in the west...with an
unusually high standard deviation for a favourite team though, there are
clearly some non-believers...
|
|
The
Dark Horses
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Pittsburgh Penguins
|
4.36
|
6
|
1
|
11
|
2.47
|
The Penguins are the
defending champs, although by failing to win the tough Metropolitan division,
they are in the unenviable position of facing a tough Blue Jackets team in
the first round...
|
|
Montreal Canadiens
|
5.40
|
4
|
1
|
13
|
3.18
|
The Habs
are the top Canadian team, despite facing a first-round opponent (the
wild-card Rangers) with only one point less in the final standings...
|
|
Anaheim Ducks
|
5.69
|
1
|
1
|
16
|
3.07
|
The Ducks eked out first
place in the Pacific division, giving them the wild-card Flames in the first
round, which apparently gives plenty of confidence in them advancing at
least beyond the first round, and one entry even has them going all the
way...
|
|
The
Longshots
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Edmonton Oilers
|
6.43
|
0
|
2
|
15
|
3.62
|
The Oilers finally make
the playoffs for the first time in a decade, and they’re generally favoured
to win in the first round, but go no further than that...
|
|
Minnesota Wild
|
7.64
|
0
|
2
|
14
|
3.06
|
The Wild are narrowly favoured
to beat the Blues in the first round, but with a fairly small standard
deviation for a team in the middle, plenty of entries are apparently
hedging with them near the middle...
|
|
The
Faint Hopes
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Boston Bruins
|
9.19
|
0
|
3
|
16
|
3.51
|
The Bruins are the sole
consensus underdog pick in the first round, which frankly mystifies me,
given that the Senators owned them in the season series...but perhaps I'm
just a little biased ;-p...
|
|
San Jose Sharks
|
9.55
|
1
|
1
|
16
|
4.04
|
The Sharks have this
year’s largest standard deviation, meaning that their fate is certain to
impact the outcome of the pool...
|
|
New York Rangers
|
9.71
|
0
|
3
|
16
|
3.56
|
The Rangers were a wild-card
team only because they’re in the Metropolitan division, and they finished
the season with more points than seven other playoff teams, and only one
less than their first round opponent Canadiens,
so they are perhaps surprisingly low in the rankings...
|
|
Ottawa Senators
|
9.93
|
0
|
2
|
16
|
3.54
|
The Senators come in as
the Atlantic division second seed, so I’m surprised to see them so low in
the rankings...but I must still admit to being a little biased...
|
|
St. Louis Blues
|
10.02
|
0
|
2
|
16
|
4.00
|
The Blues keep up their
traditional perennially high standard deviation (second-highest this year,
after being highest for three straight years) but the general consensus has
them losing in the first round this year, so they may need to win a few to
have much impact...
|
|
Columbus Blue Jackets
|
11.64
|
0
|
5
|
16
|
2.77
|
The Blue Jackets finished
fourth in the league, so it’s a bit surprising to see them ranked so low,
but facing Pittsburgh in the first round, and most likely Washington in the
second round, might explain it...
|
|
Nashville Predators
|
12.74
|
0
|
2
|
16
|
3.05
|
Facing the top team in
the west in the first round, the Predators aren’t given a lot of confidence
to get beyond the first round, although a standard deviation above 3 indicates
that there are some dissidents...
|
|
Calgary Flames
|
13.02
|
0
|
8
|
16
|
2.12
|
With a highest ranking of
only 8, there’s little confidence in the Flames even getting out of the
first round...
|
|
Toronto Maple Leafs
|
14.14
|
1
|
1
|
16
|
2.98
|
One of the ironclad
guarantees of running this pool is that no matter how narrowly the Leafs
(or Habs) squeak into the playoffs, there will
always be some joker who ranks them first...this year it’s 1995 pool
champion Paulo, who will have a fine tale to tell if he actually
repeats...but with the lowest average ranking, clearly most people don't
share his true blue optimism...
|
